Introducing MousibaldQ

[mousibaldq]

Hello Crowdfunders!

I am MousibaldQ. (Or Mouse, or Mousibald, or just Q)
I am currently brainstorming ideas for a crowd funding project. I mainly draw, I also do some painting, jewelry, sewing, knitting, crocheting. I am a very crafty person. I love the idea of crowd funding. I think it helps you find an audience that really does enjoy what you do and is willing to show it. I'm not quite sure what sort of project will do for you all but I thought i'd write an intro post and let you all know about me and what you would be funding.

My funding project is...

Send me to Japan!

My best friend since childhood, perfectworry, is currently living in Japan and I really want to go visit her. I would like to provide you guys with art and whatever else I decide to do for money to help me get there.  As it is hard for me to keep a job, because of currently undiagnosed disabling health problems, I can't work and save up through conventional ways. But every day with the energy I have I enjoy making art and crafting. Without you guys this wouldn't be possible.
So, Lets do this thing!

If you have any ideas for me just let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading,

~Mousibald Q

EDIT:

Drawing examples~
http://mousibald.tumblr.com/post/64127522565/drawing-dump
http://mousibald.tumblr.com/post/64127308513/drawing-dump

Comments

[pyraxis]

Do you have some examples of your work somewhere?

[mousibaldq]

Yep, I will edit the post to add the link.

Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I am MousibaldQ. (Or Mouse, or Mousibald, or just Q) <<

We're delighted to have you here.

>> I am currently brainstorming ideas for a crowd funding project. <<

I recommend that you browse the Memories in this community, and also visit my Crowdfunding archive. Both have many resources on what this business model is, how it works, and what you can do with it.

>> I mainly draw, I also do some painting, jewelry, sewing, knitting, crocheting. I am a very crafty person. <<

Well, that gives you two broad options. You can aim for something that already has an established pool of people donating to it; illustrations are very popular. There would be plenty of people interested, but more competition. Or you can aim to fill a niche with very little activity, such as sewing doll clothes or 3D character illustration in knitting. You'd have to build an audience almost from scratch, but there would be minimal competition. I've seen two projects that mixed writing and jewelry, both successful ones; and that's another option, teaming up with other creators.

Most of the crowdfunding projects in this community are either art or writing. But even within those, there are low-traffic high-interest areas. Only a handful of us write poetry; most literary projects are fiction. We had one story illustration project that was enormously popular while active; most art projects are icon days or character portraits. As with the jewelry/writing examples, mixed media projects are possible; you could give people an option of character illustration in 2D or 3D, for example. So keep thinking about what you like to do and compare it to what other people are making and sponsoring.

>> I love the idea of crowd funding. I think it helps you find an audience that really does enjoy what you do and is willing to show it. <<

That matches my observations. The diversity here is whole orders of magnitude above the mainstream. You can create anything you want, and make some money with it provided you can find an audience. It turns out that what people want to buy is much wider than the marketers believe.

I will say that audience interaction is a leading prediction of project success: that's one of the most effective ways to find people whose interests match your own. So for instance, if you look at my blog, you'll see that my regular posts (links to nature photos, activism stuff, essays about representation in entertainment) parallel the kind of stuff I often write for prompters (poems about nature, mocking or fixing social problems, and diverse characters). I also have an option for scrapbooking poems, which nets me a few requests a year.

>> I'm not quite sure what sort of project will do for you all but I thought i'd write an intro post and let you all know about me and what you would be funding. <<

Those are good ideas. Do some preliminary planning; you can ask for advice here and probably get more input. Then try a sample project and ask people what they think of it.

>> My best friend since childhood, perfectworry, is currently living in Japan and I really want to go visit her. I would like to provide you guys with art and whatever else I decide to do for money to help me get there. <<

Awesome! perfectworry is one of my audience members too.

>> As it is hard for me to keep a job, because of currently undiagnosed disabling health problems, I can't work and save up through conventional ways. But every day with the energy I have I enjoy making art and crafting. <<

Bummer. That's a savvy solution though.

>> Drawing examples~ <<

I'm intrigued. I like the sinuous, flowing look that some of your pictures have. You do "cute" very well, and we don't have a lot of people doing that style. I also note your excellent monster; I have a series called Monster House with some nonhuman characters.

If you have pictures of the 3D stuff like jewelry and knitting, I'd enjoy seeing that too.

Re: Welcome!

[perfectworry]

Awesome! perfectworry is one of my audience members too.
You gave us the idea!

Re: Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith]

That's good to hear. I'm glad you found my activities inspiring. I hope this works out for you two.