Zachary Bear® Store and Studio

It was Friday the 13th

2011-05-18T14:35:00.000-04:00

OK, my second day of restarted blogging should have been on Friday the 13th but when I signed in the blog from the 12th was gone!

Then life happened again and now it is Wednesday, almost a week later. We are in the season of school gifts, making gift items that celebrate and commemorate life events. It may be something for a graduation, or recognition and thanks to a great teacher. This week is kept busy with an order for 55 mugs for one school. If you are not close enough to come to our store in Webster, NY - then click the link below to see some great cards with our images at Greeting Card Universe.
Teacher Appreciation Cards on our Greeting Card Universe Page

We are in Webster, New York which is a suburb of Rochester, New York. Rochester is know for its Lilac Festival, click the next link to get to festival information.
Lilac Festival - May 13 to 22, 2011

Restart My Blog

2011-05-12T13:09:00.000-04:00

Now is the time... to restart the Zachary Bear blog!

As you can see it has been some time since my last blog. Blogging is like jogging or any other exercise program. You really need to do it on a regular basis to see any results. While I did start with good intentions to blog about Zachary Bear and all of our designs, it did not seem to spark any interest. Recently a friend who is a pastor encouraged 'friends on facebook' to get moving... Right now I am trying to walk on a regular basis and I will try to blog on a regular basis as well.

With a variety of things to write about in the areas of art, art shows, selling art, photoshop and raising a family, I hope to generate a greater interest in my future blogs. While I am writing under the banner of Zachary Bear, any views or opinions are my own. I am Ed at the Zachary Bear Store in Webster, New York. My background is in Audiovisual Technology, although AV Tech in 1974 was a lot different than what it is today. I learned to create page layouts in a cut and paste manner long before it was done on a computer. In recent years, I taught myself to use PhotoShop and have developed a variety of tips and tricks that I will share with you here. I also learned PageMaker layout software which became InDesign.

I have all good intentions of writing again tomorrow. We will see what happens. - Ed

April 15th - Tax Day

2010-04-15T11:44:00.000-04:00

Happy Tax Day!
The Zachary Bear® designs for Tax Preparer look stressed out, but they made it to tax day! This is a good day to send a card or order a gift for your tax preparer.

You know that they would not have had time to open a card before today.
So today is a good day to send a thank you note.

Feb 11 - Valentine, Anniversary and Wedding Couples

2010-02-11T11:14:00.002-05:00

Trying to get back on track after some family illness and such...
Life goes on and the right things happen at the right times.

Today we will look at three designs featuring Zachary Bear® and Sarah as a couple. Of coarse this is the time of year to look at the Valentine design. Flowers and candy to celebrate and commemorate the special day. The area at the top with "Be My Valentine" printed may be personalized in any of many ways. We can personalize this spot with the couples name (lady's name is usually first since she is on the left. It could also be done with a special date or a short dedication.

Next is the Anniversary design, which may be used to commemorate any anniversary. Again we suggest the lady's name goes first since she is on he left. This also has options for personalization in addition to the name. A date of the anniversary may go below the names (but the names will be smaller) or in the space below the rug. When it is a special year that is being celebrated it is fun to write that in the space above their heads on either side of the heart. This would be something like Happy 25th, or Happy 45th or any significant number of anniversary. The other place that we like to personalize is on the Wedding Album. Since they are looking back on their wedding day this would be personalized with the date they were married.

Our final design for this blog is the Wedding design. This makes a very special way to celebrate and commemorate the special day. When it is hung in the couple's new home it is a great way for the husband to remember the right anniversary date. Can you tell the I have trouble remembering mine? The good news is the I remember it to be a day earlier than it actually is...

So with this design I always recommend that you include the date with the names. The date can be put in the banner with the names a little smaller or put in the white space at the bottom below the feet.

280 designs to go, 323 days to go...

Jan 21 - Cooking

2010-01-21T16:26:00.001-05:00

I thought today should be a post of the Zachary Bear® design, Cooking. Since the idea of blogging the way through the Zachary Bear collection was inspired by the movie Julie & Julia, it is most appropriate to personalize this design for Julie.

This design has two places to personalize. The name goes at the bottom in the frame where we have put Julie. The frame on the back wall with "I (heart) French Cooking" can be personalized for your favorite cook. It could be the name of a cooking school they have attended or any school they have graduated from. Personalization can also be a favorite phrase (ie. Kiss The Cook) or simply Sarah's Kitchen.

The whole idea of the Zachary Bear collection is to celebrate or commemorate the things that people love to do. What do you love? It could be a sport, a hobby, an occupation or a family life event that you wish to celebrate. The pink that you see around this picture represents the mat around a matted or matted and framed print. We offer three sizes of prints which come in a mat with an outside dimension of 5"x7", 8"x10" or 11"x14" in size. Our standard mat colors are pink, blue, red, green, tan or ivory. We offer frames that are gold or silver tone metal or walnut colored wood. If we put a picture on a t-shirt or other gift product it is printed without a border around it. So you could have this picture matted, framed and personalized to hang in your favorite cooks kitchen. You could also have an apron or a mug made with this fun design. Lori has fun drawing these designs and you should have fun giving them.

283 designs to go / 344 days left

Jan 19 - Meteorologist

2010-01-19T16:29:00.003-05:00

When you live in Rochester the weather is always changable. Around here we say, "if you don't like the weather wait five minutes and it will change." With that in mind we pay tribute to Lori's meteorologist design. As hard as they try, they can't get it right. It is a science that is subject to the "winds of change." Meteorologists predict as best they can, they model all the possibilities and the determine the most probable based on science but are always at the whim of nature.

As you see in the designs, Lori usually does a male and a female version of each design. She pays great attention to detail and finds as many facts as possible to pay tribute to the profession, hobby or special occasion that she is depicting. She will also have a content specialist review for accuracy.

To further clarify, Zachary Bear and friends live in Webster, NY which is a suburb of Rochester, New York. We have been told that there are very few cities with fewer gray days than we have. I believe Seattle, Washington was one of these.

If you have a friend who is a meteorologist, this would make a great gift in one of many ways. They can be matted and framed for the wall. They may be printed on a mug or mouse pad. They can be printed on a shirt along with a favorite saying. Just give us a call or send us an email at zachary@zacharybear.com

284 designs to go / 346 days left

Jan 15 - Happy Birthday

2010-01-15T13:33:00.002-05:00

After celebrating Lisa Fox's birthday it seems like the perfect day to do the Birthday Bear design.

While you see the design here with the banner filled in with Happy Birthday, this is an area that may be personalized in many ways. We have used it to say Happy 50th are any other significantly large birthday number. You could have a name or a favorite saying in the banner. There are times that you need a second area of personalization and in that case we write on the table cloth. This area may be used for a name, a favorite saying, a special date or dedication.

As you can see this group is having a great time being together celebrating a significantly large birthday. This birthday is so large it can not be represented with individual candles, here the whole cake is ablaze!

This design has been used for many years in our shop, printed in three sizes with mats and frames. We have also printed it on mouse pads, shirts and mugs. Because it works so well from a group, this card has been a favorite as a business birthday card from a group. Click here to see our business birthday card at Greeting Card Universe.

285 designs to go with 350 days left in the year

Jan 13/14 - Snowmobile

2010-01-14T10:43:00.001-05:00

Day 3 of blogging, today we will look at the Snowmobile design and its variations.

You can see from this design some of the great diversity the Lori puts in the artwork is also induces a great level of frustration for the rest of us. There are at least seven ways to print this design.

The variations that can exist are:

Adult Male
Adult Female
Adult Couple
Male with son
Male with daughter
Female with son
Female with daughter

The sign in the woods can be personalizes with the place where you usually go snowmobiling or a favorite phrase (ie. Think Snow). Then on the sled is a banner that can be personalized with a name, initials or favorite phrase.

All of Lori's designs are about celebrating and commemorating special times. You will see great fun and humor in all of this artwork.

One of our fun things to celebrate at Zachary Bear is birthdays.
Today, Jan. 14th is Lisa Fox's birthday - she is our calligrapher at Zachary Bear and we wish her a wonderful day!

Day 12 - Bubble Bath

2010-01-12T10:53:00.002-05:00

Bubble Bath was one of the first Zachary Bear® designs that I remember seeing from Lori. This design is copyright 1983 so it among her first creations. Lori first started selling her art at places like the Park Avenue Festival in Rochester and art shows in the local malls. At that time she had a black and white outline printed on art paper that she would add water color to. These pictures were matted and framed to a finished size of 11 inches x 17 inches.

When she brought Bubble Bath to me we started making full color prints in three sizes. These sizes framed out to 5"x7", 8"x10" and 11"x14" in gold metal or wood frames. In the early days of Zachary Bear® Lori's father-in-law Don Aman would hand cut all the mats. Today would have been Don Aman's birthday, a great day to mention him in the blog. Lori's husband Bill carries on this tradition of hand cutting all the mats for the Zachary Bear® prints. He learned from the best...

Today you can still buy this print in three sizes through the Zachary Bear Store and Studio in Webster, New York. It makes a cute addition to a bathroom and may be personalized in the white space below the wood tub. You may have it personalized with an individual or family name (ie. Jane's Bathroom or The Smith Family). Over the years we have added many products to the line of gifts that we print in Webster. We can print this design on a ceramic coffee, a mouse pad, shirts and many other products. We have also made our designs available at Zazzle and CafePress.

This is day 12 of the New Year and my second day of intentional blogging. One design down and 287 to go in 353 days to go. Click below to start following our journey through 2010.

So, what do I do when I am not blogging? Yesterday I added new Kaleidoscope designs to our Zazzle site and scanned new dog designs by Lori. As of this morning there are 9 new dog cards available at Zachary Bear's Store at Greeting Card Universe and more in the pipeline. I have added the Bubble Bath design today so that will be available in a few days.

Peace,
Ed

New Year's Resolution - To POST...

2010-01-11T10:52:00.004-05:00

Wow, I have been remiss on posting (but I am not sure if anyone is out there).

OK, so now I am inspired by Julie & Julia it was a fun movie about two amazing women.
Similarity ends there....
I am not going to blog through a cookbook
But I do have a goal, to tell you about all the Zachary Bear designs over the next year.

OK, first problem determining how many designs there are, I just counted 288 titles but I think that Lori has created some new art that did not get a title header. So the goal is 288 titles in 365 days. Let's change that already and say by the end of 2010. We are already into the eleventh day so make that 288 titles in 354 days.

I also want to tell you about the cool kaleidoscopes that Lisa has been making so there may be more than one post a day depending how busy the store gets. This store/studio is never static and Lori as an artist is never still so I will also be telling you about the dogs she has been drawing for greeting cards. We make cards in our studio and we license the artwork to neat web site in California called Greeting Card Universe. They sell you bulk cards or send them out to individuals for you.

As we travel through the designs in the Zachary Bear® collection you will learn more about the four of us that make up the Zachary Bear® Store and Studio.

I am Ed, the computer guy at ZB. (I'll use ZB as a way of shortening the Zachary Bear® Store and Studio.) I started doing desktop publishing in 1988 and needed a copier. At that time I saw a color copier and dreamed of the possibilities of providing a link between art and technology. In most cases the tech people don't understand the artists and at the time I started most artists didn't understand technology. I considered that link to be a segue or a transition between art and technology. I called my company Segway (long before the famous scooter) and went looking for artists. Bill Aman came to have Lori's artwork reproduced and the rest is history... enough back story.

Makin' Memories with Zachary Bear®

2007-03-27T09:12:00.000-04:00

That is what it is all about, Makin' Memories!

What is your next memory making occasion? Easter is coming up, April 8th. A photo gift lasts longer than candy. Then there is Professional Secretaries Week, April 22 to 28. This is a time to say the "thank you" that you should say more often. Take a look at our humorous "Stressed Out Secretary. We can personalize with a name and a place of business and put it on a mug, a mouse pad, a paper weight or other gift item.

May is a month that we better start getting ready for NOW! On May 6th we thank our Nurses and our Teachers celebrating a special day for each. We have Zachary Bear designs for teachers and nurses along with our collection of calligraphic art that speaks to the dedication of both professions.

Most important of all days in May is Mother's Day on May 13. Celebrate all that Mom has done for you on her special day.

Family Tree / Tree of Life for your Family Reunion

2007-03-26T09:50:00.000-04:00

We have just posted a watercolor tree ready to personalize for your family reunion. When you add your information to this design it looks like a custom design for your family. Make shirts to where at the reunion, magnets and other gifts for favors. We even have an easy to customize invitation to the event, just fill in the blanks. You can get custom postage, too!

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

Need more ideas, order the same design on different color shirts for different family group! Order a tote bag to give to the one who traveled the furtherest to get to the reunion. Fill it with travel supplies to get home with. Make other gifts for the oldest or youngest. Have fun with this design. Click in the panel to order through Zazzle. Customize this design with your family information. You may add the date or location of the event, change type style and color all online at the Zazzle site.

Make memories with Zachary Bear! This "Tree of Life" is a watercolor by Lori DeLeonardis-Aman, the creator of Zachary Bear. Use this tree design to make your reunion memorable.

Menopause

2007-02-14T12:21:00.000-05:00

The diversity of Lori's artwork is amazing. She even has a menopause consultant! This design was requested some years back to honor a health professional.

We are all aging and change is factor of aging. We can worry and complain about charge or we can make light of it and help others ease into it.

So accept menopause for what it is... (what is it?) and celebrate it like a badge of honor. Below you will see our products available at Zazzle with this design. The cool thing about Zazzle (or should we say the HOT THING!) is the ability to add your own personalization. See how you can put your own message on the back of the mug or shirt or magnet. Buy something for yourself or something to share with a friend!

If this design is not what you are looking remember it is just one of over 300 titles with over 700 variations. Teacher gifts are already available at the Zazzle site or our Yahoo store and we will be adding spring sports soon! So click through and see how neat these designs are!

Teacher Totebag - Personalized

2007-01-30T09:49:00.000-05:00

Wow - our new association with Zazzle gives you the opportunity to personalize your own products live on line. While we no longer print tote bags at our store in Webster you may not order a variety of tote bags from Zazzle with our Zachary Bear® teacher images.

The Elementary Teacher is available now, many more designs will be added soon. We will start you with a teacher name for you to edit (Be sure to check the spelling). You may also add more text blocks for the school year, grade or subject,favorite quote or a dedication. Have Fun...

See my gallery at Zazzle

Teacher desk name plates have been very popular and are still available through the Yahoo Store and will ship from Webster.

Zachary Bear and his friends are on Zazzle!

2007-01-26T10:05:00.000-05:00

Check this out, it is our first item on Zazzle. What is cool is the technology for you to add your own personalization to our gifts. This is on line and in real time. COOL!

For clearity, ZazBear at Zazzle.com is a place for artwork by Lori DeLeonardis-Aman that features characters and subjects other than Zachary Bear®. This area will feature dogs, cats, lighthouses and more...

See my gallery at Zazzle

A Singing Valentine...

2007-01-18T09:29:00.000-05:00

Is your funny valentine a singing one! Many barbershop men and women provide singing valentines. So what kind of a valentine do you get for your favorite barbershopper? One the celebrates their hobby. Click on the picture above to the the great gifts for barbershoppers or even children or grandchildren of barbershoppers. Many gifts to choose from, shipped direct to you from CafePress.

Zachary Bear® is all about Making Memories!

We are here to help you in many ways. We make gifts with Zachary Bear pictures, drawn by Lori Aman. We make gifts with beautiful calligraphic artwork by Lisa Fox. And we make gifts with your favorite photos and your artwork.

Valentine's Day Is Coming

2007-01-15T14:41:00.000-05:00

Yes, Valentine's Day is coming on February 14th this year!
This cute golden retriever puppy was drawn by Lori and is available on a variety of gift items. She has been drawing Zachary Bear since 1982 and likes to have a change of pace from time to time. Lori has drawn many cute dogs and cats. This one is perfect to tell someone how much you love them! Click on the picture to see all the products this cute picture is available on.

Lisa Fox provides the beautiful calligraphy at the Zachary Bear Store. In addition to personalizing the Zachary Bear pictures she creates many inspirational pieces of calligraphy. To the right you see her "Love Always" which is available on many products. Click on the picture to see more.

In the beginning...

2007-01-10T13:31:00.000-05:00

In the beginning there was a bear. It was drawn by Lori DeLeonardis-Aman while vacationing in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. Lori, an elementary art teacher, she loves kids and she loves to draw. So with the encouragement of her husband, she created a bear character and named him Zachary.

She wanted to make a storybook character and write a book. But people liked the friendly bear so much, they asked to have pictures made for their children's rooms with the child's name on it. Soon Lori was in the personalized gift market. Lori's husband Bill started a company to sell her art and gifts. He took two parts of Lori's name (Lori DeLeonardis-Aman) to come up with Loram Productions. Bill incorporated the business and together they took the show on the road. The first sales were made at local art shows in the Rochester, New York area.

The first designs were mainly storybook style settings. Some of the first designs were: Evening Prayer, Goodnight Zachary, Bubblebath, to name a few. These designs were placed in mats which were 11" by 14" on the outside edges. To mass produce these images Lori first made a black and white line drawing of the scene. This line drawing was printed on watercolor paper and all of the original series were watercolored by hand. Name personalization was added and then matted and framed. These were the original Zachary Bear® Pictures, in the beginning.