Deborah Carney

Where I Celebrate Life

Article about CafePress and How I Used it to Sell My Art

Like many other people I get Google alerts for my name. One popped up in my email box today linking to an article that I hadn’t thought about in a long time! It was published by Corel back before I became involved with CafePress as their affiliate manager, it details how I used CafePress as a shopkeeper to sell my digital art and photography. I used mainly Paint Shop Pro back then and still do for a lot of my digital art creation, when I have time! There are a few inaccuracies, but it was written in early 2005, lots has changed since then!

Here is that article:

New York Photographer Combines Power of Paint Shop Pro with the Internet to Earn a Living

Deborah Carney has been a professional photographer for 30 years. The Rochester, New York, resident’s photos chronicle her passion for the special things in her life, most notably New York and Maine Coon cats.

In 1999, Carney set up a CafePress shop and began selling her photographs on products ranging from T-shirts and mugs to framed prints, greeting cards, and custom postage. CafePress.com is an online marketplace and e-commerce solution that allows anyone with digital photos or images to create and sell products online without the risk of overstock or financial outlay.

At the time, Carney was using L View to scan and crop her photos. Back in the day, she says, L View was “the bomb,” but it had limitations.

Having had some success making her life’s interest her business in the form of her CafePress shop, Debbie was on a constant quest to find a better solution to manage her photography. In 2002 she discovered Paint Shop Pro, and suddenly her business began to take off.

CafePress allows Debbie to offer an unlimited number of her photographs for sale on more than 80 different products. The limitless capabilities of the CafePress system combined with the timesaving features of Paint Shop Pro has allowed her to create an image catalogue of 3,000 images and an online offering of 9,000 products.

By using Paint Shop Pro’s dynamic features and a watercolor plug-in, Carney can scan and process a thousand digital photos overnight.

Recently Carney mastered the Paint Shop Pro Text Tool, and now she can venture into a whole new area of the CafePress Shops — customization.

“I’d recommend that new users get comfortable with the Text Tool early on because it provides you with a lot of personalization options, which is great for your CafePress customers,” she said. Carney recently designed a custom Framed Print Anniversary keepsake for one of her buyers: “Joe and Jean’s Wedding Day, Las Vegas Oct 20, 2000.”

Carney is still discovering all that Paint Shop Pro can do. “With all the text tools, tons of plug-ins, frames and borders options, there are millions of ways to apply them to the photos I’ll use on the CafePress products,” she said.

In fact, she enjoys using the Picture Frames to turn her images into different shapes like hearts and ovals for romantic gifts.

Her best tip for new users: “Learn how to crop right away and set those timesaving defaults.”

“I can’t even imagine running my CafePress shops without Paint Shop Pro,” she said.

CafePress is a quick, easy and free way for artists and photographers like you to start an online business, simply by sharing your creativity with the world. Knowing Paint Shop Pro gives you a competitive edge on creating well-designed product and a well-stocked shop.

Who said artists have to starve?

Start your own CafePress store, sign-up today!

Life is TOO Short…

I started a thread in a forum on a day that turned into a day when 2 people I loved ended up in pain. When I started the thread all was well. By the end of the day someone was in the hospital. Both people that had issues that day recovered, but it was a day that scared the heck out of me.

Losing 2 children shocked my system to the core, losing the first set me on the path to serious affiliate marketing. I needed to work at home to be with my other child. I couldn’t cope with being with people that thought the “important” things were whether the coffee was made or the door was too squeaky.

I can’t say enough that life is absolutely too short. Please enjoy your friends and family, do work you don’t hate and take time to enjoy your life. It has taken me a very long time and very special people to get me to be able to function well again and stop being a workaholic to run from the world. Too many of *us* right here use our self employment as an excuse to work when we should take a break. And others choose to spend their time on activities that are not productive nor enjoyable.

Balance. Life is too short, so enjoy it with balance.

June 25th 2009 2 icons died. Children lost their parents, parents lost their children, the world lost people they loved. Controversial or not, they were both loved.

The point of posting this is just to give us a reminder to be good to ourselves and those we love, re-read the posts that have good advice.

Hug someone you love, go offline and play with your kids, call someone far away. Tomorrow they may not be here. And that isn’t said in a mean way, or a condescending way. I said goodbye twice without a clue that it would be the last time.

Sometimes tomorrow doesn’t come.

Need inspiration to follow your passion?

Originally posted elsewhere on September 19, 2007:

Today is my son Daniel’s birthday. He would have been 27 today. Over the past 6 years I try every year to get through his birthday without anguish. For those that don’t know, he died in a car accident in 2002. On Mother’s Day.

Why post today? Why not just hide away like I planned? Because his story is one of passion and ambition and brilliance. And unlike so many other people, he *did* what he was passionate about. He didn’t talk about doing things, he did them. And he had obstacles, oh did he have obstacles. He didn’t finish high school because he had panic attacks. And he went on to attend Hofstra University and got into the highly competitive NYU Dramatic Writering program. I lived with him at NYU in the dorm for a year (well, it was almost a year) because he went there right before 9/11. When the buildings came down, they weren’t concerned with finding a health aide for a 20 year old in a wheelchair, they had bigger issues to deal with. But that’s another story for another day.

He wrote his first complete novel when he was 10. It blew me away. It is no longer around, the files got corrupted on the computers it was on, the hard copy is no where to be found. It wasn’t meant to be his legacy.

Passion… when you think about how hard it is to do what you love… think of Daniel and how he managed to do what he loved, and know that he was poised for greatness when the universe claimed him back. He followed his passion… to the day he died. He had a movie in independent pre-production, he had an internship with the Emmys, he was ready to fly.

The Movies

Slay the Demons – When a random act of violence forces Brent Fischer to relive the traumas of his past, he’s forced to finally face down his demons or let them destroy him forever.

Age of Experience – An exploration of the difference between age and maturity seen through the eyes of two male prostitutes and a disabled college student. It’ll suck the funny right out of the room. And then you’ll get to the climax.

kiuljuk – An online plea from an old college friend fills Greg Mitchell with confusion. Because what happens online isn’t real life. That is, until it is.

kilran – Death in a funny suit

Go do what *you* are passionate about and don’t make excuses why you can’t.

A wise man told me in May, “just keep thinking of the future”. And today he said “go forward, go forward”. I am going forward and not dwelling on the past, but the past has some issues I need to deal with now and then. And Dan’s accomplishments going unnoticed are one of the things that bother me now and then.

Daniel was also a huge positive influence on people that knew him. He made a huge impact on a community of script writers, Project Greenlight. Most people only know that now because of the tv show, but it started as a community, a forum, where a young man named dfogg had a huge influence and following. He met his girlfriend there, he made friends that were his business partners, he inspired other people to write and attempt to market their writing, when they were too shy or lacked confidence to do so. Sound familiar?

He stirred controversy, went to live events – in LA, and believe me flying cross country was not easy on us. Especially the trip that all three of us went. Neither Dan or Chris could sit in an airplane seat comfortably, and airlines don’t really know what to do with 300 pound wheelchairs. I sat between them, taking turns letting them lean on me or holding them up. But I digress….

He started on a message board and made people do what they were afraid to do. He inspired people. So maybe that is why I am so pushy about inspiring people myself.

And he *is* the reason I repeat “life is too short”. His life was too short. He is the reason I pressure some people to get out of their comfort zones and do certain things.

Follow your passion, follow your heart.

What Would You Do if You Won 168 Million Dollars?

The holidays are always a tough time for me but this year my daughter who lives far away has been giving me a lot of updates on how she is making a great Christmas for her son. I sent him his present early, a guitar, so I was “Done” with Christmas. I also gave a guitar to my boyfriend, surprising him in early December instead of waiting for the actual holiday.

On a message board I frequent, a member asked the question “What would you do with 168 million dollars” which was a particular lottery’s prize for I think a Christmas Eve or Christmas Drawing. Here is what I posted:

So here’s my story, I’m a little sappy tonight so bear with me 🙂 Way back when I was a single mom of teens the lottery started being pretty hefty now and then. So when it got really high we would play a few dollars and talk about what we would do with the money if we won:

Don’t tell our friends (which like now are far flung around the country, back then mostly east coast) – then surprise them by having a limo show up at their houses and take them to a plane that brought them to a party catered by Emeril Legasse, probably in NYC since that was where he filmed his show. They wouldn’t need to pack because we would have them in a nice hotel with everything they needed.

Next we would create a foundation that would fund several projects:
Research into their own medical condition (Spinal Muscular Atrophy)
Research into cancer treatment and cures (My sister died of lung cancer – very quickly)
Scholarships for young writers and actors to go to good schools and get grants for writing

Since Dan was a writer and Chris an actor, we needed a completely handicapped accessible home in NYC and LA, with lots of room for friends to stay with them.

And finally buy a private plane that accommodated them to sit in their wheelchairs during flight so they could fly cross country easily without their equipment being damaged by baggage handlers and waiting for literally an hour or more after a plane landed to get their wheelchairs brought to them. Ideally their custom van could fit in the hold of the plane so we had transportation at the other end.

Would I give up working? No. I would always be a photographer and an educator. I would have also been the person managing the foundation.

Since the boys are gone (Dan died in 2002 and Chris in 2006), I would now just want to create a foundation to fund the projects that the boys believed in, put Liz in charge and spend my time helping small businesses, mostly artists and photographers, get started. Many times I’ve been told I should create the next great POD (Print on Demand) company. But I think that would take more than 168 million. I would also be sure to send anonymous gifts and messages to people that needed them. I’m a big believer in anonymous acts of kindness, because after my sons died, especially after the shock of Daniel’s death in a car accident, there were many times that out of no where someone sent an anonymous card, sometimes with a small gift, sometimes with a memento, sometimes with just a message that I was in someone’s thoughts.

My Christmas wish is for someone that will be able to appreciate and enjoy that amount of money win it. Too many people become instant millionaires and are paupers again just a few years later. It isn’t money that buys happiness, it is what you do with it that does.

Life’s To Short to Not Accept That Some Days You Will Still Grieve

There are birthdays and there are the “anniversaries” and I know that even as time passes they don’t get easier… even if we want them to. So on “those days” (for me today is one for Chris) I try to do something that reminds the world about how special those we love are and how hard it is when they are gone.

It’s been easier to deal with adults that leave us, my dad, my sister – but even when your children are adults it tears your heart out and leaves a whole to big to fill. Even when your life finds a new path, and that path is a good one, there are still times when the memories and the pain resurface.

I write this because life it too short to not acknowledge the pain, take a day with the memories, do something that honors that child (brother, uncle) that you lost and understand that it is still ok to grieve even though it makes those around you feel sad that they can’t “fix it”.

Chris was my life, especially after his brother died. He was a quietly wonderful man, he drew (I don’t have his drawings), he played Gemstone IV online incessantly, he was an actor (which is why he loved the online roleplaying). So I don’t have anything “tangible” from him, but great memories of his love for animals, his love for his nephew, his passion for acting.

Some of you met him in person or virtually. He was part of your lives too. Today we can grieve again and tell people to listen to the Doors (he was a huge Jim Morrison fan) and have a shot of Stoli…. and remember that life is just too short.

(Chris left us this day in 2006 – he had been in the hospital for a few days, he went back home with his girlfriend, they got up in the morning and he had trouble breathing. She went to get him a drink and when she came back in the room he had stopped breathing. She did CPR, called 911, but it was done. He died quietly and quickly.)