Picture books, paper goods & pretty things.
With various craft fairs coming up I wanted to add to my collection of cards a little and I've been particularly thinking about offering cards that people can send 'just because'. My latest mini collection is all about kindness and keeping going and will be on sale in my Etsy shop by next week.
I'll be adding some stocking fillers to my shop very soon including these six new notebook designs. My hygge design is proving popular so I thought it would be fun to have a product with it on and the other designs are all brand new. Each notebook will have a spotty or starry inside cover to give a little extra splash of colour and 48 plain pages for notes, sketches and ideas. I really hope that you like them and will enjoy jotting your own creative ideas down in them!
I'm using Awesome Merchandise to print these. Print feels like it can be quite complicated (!!) and they have been super helpful handling my queries. They also have lots of very helpful templates so that you can ensure that you have the right dimensions and the correct amount of space at the edges of designs to ensure that they get trimmed correctly. I can't wait for the notebooks to be delivered so I can share some pictures with you!
As I've mentioned, I'm busy creating lots of little stocking fillers for the upcoming craft fairs that I'll be attending. This morning, my to do list got interrupted by a sudden need to draw this little character accompanied by a phrase that I say to the little ones in my life all the time (with a cheeky smile of course). I think she'll be finding her way onto some stocking fillers very soon!
I enjoyed a really nice browse around the Renegade Craft Fair in London yesterday. As I'm busy planning my first few craft fairs I wanted to do a bit of research about how to set up a stall and also to meet some of the makers and to buy a few treats!
I picked up some really useful tips about how to display greetings cards, how to add a bit of sparkle to your display and ensuring there is a bit of height to things so that you can easily catch the eye of prospective buyers as they walk by. There were some absolutely lovely stalls that looked really professional and inviting. I chatted to several creatives about their products and about how nerve-wracking it is doing fairs for the first time. Every one advised me that all their fellow makers are lovely and that half the fun is chatting to people who are in the same situation as you. It feels like a really lovely community to be a part of.
Here's a little glimpse at a couple of the treats I bought! Links to the makers websites below.
1. Annie Dornan-Smith - www.anniedornansmith.co.uk
2. Plewsy - www.plewsy.com
3. Oh Squirrel - www.ohsquirrel.co.uk
I love taking part in various drawing challenges on Twitter and occasionally post a contribution to the #pinchpunchpost hashtag. Each month they name an animal to draw and everyone posts on the 1st of the month. This month the theme was an owl and although I was a little late I couldn't resist taking part. I was feeling particularly inspired by the fact that the little ones are so obsessed with Harry Potter at the moment. So this little owl has a very important delivery to make... And he's feeling a little daunted!
I sketched my owl on a bumpy train journey and sat down to draw him in Photoshop last night. I wanted to try out some Kyle T Webster brushes that I haven't used very much yet to see what I could do with them. I created the animated gif below so that you can see the layers that went into the finished piece. I'm so excited about the possibilities with the brushes. It's like a whole world of texture has opened up to me!
For those who use (or want to use) Kyle's brushes, I used the following to create my little owl.
* Gouache A-Go-Go
* Gouache Less Dry
* My New Favourite Inker
My Christmas cards arrived super speedily from Printed.com so this morning I was able to photograph them to pop them onto my Etsy shop. The light was just right with a lovely autumnal blue sky and I had already bought some *props* (aka snacks) in preparation.
Once again I used white card as a base so that the photos had a clean, light background and I sprinkled some silver stars around to add a little bit of sparkle. I took several snaps of each card to ensure I had plenty of pictures to choose from and then tweaked them a little in Photoshop before adding my new listings to Etsy while enjoying a very yummy mince pie.
I'll soon be adding more Christmas cards and some little stocking fillers to my shop but in the meantime please enjoy a little browse around (preferably while eating a mince pie).
A little while ago I designed a logo for the foodie website Eat Your Words.
The lovely ladies who started the site are now branching out with their own YouTube channel. The channel will be launching later this week but in the meantime here's their trailer.
I love how they have taken the logo and 'Monty Python'ed it.
This week my desk has been all about Christmas! I popped my fairy lights on and put Arthur Christmas on Netflix to get me in the mood and got started on the first of my Christmas cards. The four designs below will be in my Etsy shop and on Choosey.com late next week. There are two more designs to come, plus a little collection of Christmas stocking fillers that I am working on. I also used it as a good excuse to have my first mince pie of the season. Let the festivities begin!
I started my little business four years ago today on what would have been my nana's 100th birthday so I'm celebrating this morning with cake for breakfast! I like the fact that my nana is part of my company's story as she inspired me with kindness and creativity. She used to potter endlessly in her garden and would talk to us about the plants. If she wasn't gardening, she was baking delicious shortbread and cakes or knitting us cardigans and leg warmers or letting us play our new 7" singles on her old Dansette record player. I remember making pom poms with her and thinking it was some kind of magic that you could make this fluffy ball out of a piece of wool. And I remember sitting in the kitchen while she listened to the Archers and being told firmly to 'shush'!
Today, I find my company somewhere I didn't know it would be. My love for illustration has grown and grown over the last two years and while I still work in event management by day and write whenever the feeling grabs me, every spare moment I have is consumed by drawing. I am never without my sketchbook and have an ever growing collection of sketches for pretty little products that I am working on bringing to my shop.
I sometimes stop for a moment and wonder how I got here. It's like illustration has come out of the blue and said, "Pick me!" I find it meditative in such a good way. For me it's an antidote to the speeding world and has given me somewhere totally joyful to 'go' when I need to retreat.
As I wrote a few blog posts ago, I thought a lot about what I want my brand to be. I settled on warm, kind and cosy. I want my products and The Quiet Life blog to give people the same feeling I get when I'm drawing. One of complete contentment (often accompanied by cake).
It sounds daft but once your Etsy shop is alive and kicking, it somehow comes as a surprise when buyers actually start to order things from you. After spending so much time and care creating something behind closed doors, it feels like such a compliment that someone likes your products enough to buy them. It's lovely to earn a few pennies but it's so much more than that. Creating for me is about sharing a little bit of myself, it's making something tangible that expresses a part of myself and it's so nice when someone connects with that.
To manage expectations and to allow me to prioritise and schedule my time, I state on my Etsy shop that I send orders out on Fridays and Saturdays. So yesterday, I found myself wrapping up the first ones. Each with a candy stripe paper bag, And So We Begin sticker and a personalised message. I love thinking about someone receiving something lovely in their letterbox rather than a bill and then sending their cards out and sharing that love with someone else. It's so simple but makes me very happy indeed.
As an independent you really do find yourself having to be a jack of all trades sometimes. Setting up an Etsy shop is really satisfying and also takes several skills. After creating your products the next step is to make sure they all look super tempting to your potential buyers by putting your photography skills to the test.
Here are my top four tips for good product photos for your Etsy shop.
1. Take photos in natural light.
I have a real aversion to flash photography as it makes things look slightly unreal and over-exposed. Position your products near a window and make sure there aren't any unsightly shadows. If it's a bit of a dull day, you can always brighten your images up in Photoshop or a photo app before uploading.
2. Ensure you have a white background.
A clean, clear background will help to show your products at their best. I faked my white surface by using white card as a base underneath my products. Limit clutter and ensure the product is the focus of the image.
3. Use props.
I think it's quite fun to take photos of products in an environment so that buyers can see them in context. I look for pictures like this when I buy products on Etsy as I feel it puts them in context and sells a 'feeling' as well as the design to the buyer. I wanted my greetings cards to look cosy, fun and warm so I added sparkly stars, cake, party poppers and candles to my pictures. You can see all of my finished pictures on my Etsy shop!
4. Show your packaging.
I love the small details that Etsy buyers add to their products. Many add a personal card, a sticker or pack their products in tissue paper or a pretty bag. I like to show my packaging in my photos as I hope it shows that I really care about every single order and every single buyer.
I hope that you find these points helpful. Have a browse around my shop and let me know what you think!
I'm also taking part in the #inktober challenge on Twitter by drawing black and white ink illustrations. My Etsy photoshoot gave me great inspiration today (and was also a great excuse to eat all of the leftover cake!)
Welcome to my new website! I've been spending the last couple of weeks having a virtual declutter and spruce and I really hope you like the new look.
I've really enjoyed using Squarespace for my site refresh. I've noticed their logo at the bottom of a few sites I've liked so I spent some time browsing through their templates and watching the Getting Started video. I wanted something that was really easy to use, clean cut and flexible and they really fit the bill.
I know that the idea of building a website can be quite intimidating and I have to confess I do have some experience of building websites from a previous job but I think that a complete beginner would find Squarespace easy to use. Their whole premise is built around using blocks. You can add pages, blog posts, forms, images and galleries really easily at the touch of a button and there's a style editor that means changing fonts and style elements across your site is super easy. I think the best way to overcome any fear about trying is to have a go. Squarespace offer a free trial so if you are hoping to start your own web presence, have a go!
Here are five things I enjoyed about using Squarespace.
1. It's cheap and cost effective at only $12 a month for a personal site when you pay annually.
2. You can use your own domain name by asking your host (or domain parking service) to help you to redirect it.
3. The look is really clean cut and you can incorporate images really easily. If it's helpful to know, I'm using the Native template.
4. You can integrate a shop into your site. I'm working on this at the moment but it appears to be really simple. I've had an Etsy shop up until now but am looking forward to having a shop within my own site.
5. It's super flexible and because of this, it's easy to keep updating things to keep your site fresh. This is a really great when you are a small (i.e. one person!) business and doing everything yourself.
Today was an exciting day as the first batch of greetings cards for my Etsy shop arrived from the printer. Whenever I open a box of new products that I've created I feel like George McFly when he opens his box of books in Back To The Future. It's so fun seeing something you've put so much time and effort into come to life.
I've used a variety of printers in the past and this time I used Printed.com. I wanted an uncoated matte finish with Kraft style envelopes and flexibility to use my own designs on the front and the back. Printed.com offered all of these things and I'm really happy with the results.
If you are sending some of your own designs off to print for the first time, here are my top five things to think about.
1. File type
Make sure you save your files exactly as the printer needs them. Each print service details their requirements on their site. Most will be happy with 300dpi jpgs or pdfs. If you've got any questions or concerns, contact the printer before you commit to your order.
2. Colour profile
Ensure your print files are saved as CMYK so that the colours are true to your design. I am not an expert so check this with your printer first but I have only come across one printer who preferred RGB colour settings. As I understand it, if your file is RGB you should never simply re-save as CMYK as this will upset the colour balance.
3. Bleed
Printers will advise what bleed they require at the edge of your files. This is essentially a bit of extra space around the file to allow the finished product to be trimmed therefore allowing the colour to print right to the edge.
4. Card type
I've tried a few different card types in my last couple of print runs of greetings cards. Some printers offer 'Trucard' which is said to be specifically for cards. It has a silky finish on the outside and is uncoated inside (for easy writing). However, I find it a bit too pristine and prefer the more simple and basic finish of uncoated card. If you're not sure, ask for some samples before committing to your order.
5. Envelopes
Check if your printer can provide envelopes and if so what colours and textures are available. Envelopes are part of your product and help to the set the tone of your brand. I've chosen brown 'kraft' envelopes as I wanted to add a cosy, homely feel to my cards.
My next step is to set up a photoshoot for my cards to show them off in my Etsy shop. I'll write another blog post about this soon!
I'm trying out a new product in my Etsy shop this Autumn and have ordered some A5 prints that will be available very soon. I've created four designs which will be printed on 300gsm recycled white card. I'm really excited to see how they look when they get back from the printers. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the illustrations. Let me know which one you like best!
I'm so excited and pleased to have been approached by Choosey.com to design some greetings cards for them. My first batch of designs will be live on the site within the next two weeks with lots more being added soon. Choosey launched in February this year and allows you to send cards directly from the site across the miles. Excitingly and uniquely, Choosey also lets you add a video to your card to send an extra little bit of you to your friends and family.
Here's a peek at my first designs and I'll update you here when my designs are live!
In the past six months, while being wrapped up in freelance event work, I have been giving a lot of thought to the direction I want to go in with And So We Begin. In 2012, I started out wanting to tell stories and although writing will always be my first love, drawing and illustration have sneaked up on me, like an unexpected gift.
When I started drawing in 2014, I decided to share pretty much everything I created on social media. I didn't quite understand this decision at the time and I thought it was to do with wanting to take away the fear of being judged. I've since realised it's much more about wanting to share something that I love so much. Drawing to me is light and fun, challenging and absorbing, meditative and so, SO enjoyable. When I am lost in a drawing I feel cosy and warm. I wanted to somehow share this feeling with other people.
As part of my thought process, I visited PaperFest at Top Drawer London last week. I saw several talks, two of which made a real impression on me. The first was by Audrey Woollen from Urbanic who spoke about her passion for her company even after ten years of trading. She explained how she loves to bring a little joy to the every day and how she really enjoys the one to one interactions with her customers. Her genuine love for what she does really moved me.
Secondly, was The Brand Stylist, Fiona Humberstone who spoke about creating your brand. What seemed like practical advice was again underpinned with genuine passion and care. Fiona advises that you write down ten words that describe your vision of your brand and then narrow this list down to three words. I did this exercise and found it really hard to keep the initial list to ten. Then narrowing these down was even harder. Eventually I settled for warm, calm and kind.
Another idea I've been reading a lot about lately is the Danish concept of hygge. Hygge is not simply feeling cosy, it's simplicity, being with loved ones, warmth, indulgence and kindness. I really want And So We Begin to feel all of these things.
There's one illustration from my childhood that has stayed with me. It's this image from The Story Of Father Christmas by Ann & Dennis Mallett. This book, and this picture in particular, made me feel like everything was ok. To me, it embodies hygge, with it's candles, camaraderie and cosiness.
I would love every card, print and gift from And So We Begin to give you the same feeling of warmth, calm and kindness. Who doesn't love a lovely piece of snail mail appearing in their letterbox in amongst the bills and sales pitches? Something that says someone has thought of you in the middle of their busy day and puts a smile on your face.
I really hope you enjoy my new ideas. Please get in touch via my contact form if you have any comments or suggestions. I'd love to hear from you.
And So We Begin has been on a short hiatus while my freelance events work has been busy bees and all of my energy has been taken up with spreadsheets and short haul flights. While my day job takes up the physical hours of my day, my mind is quietly ticking away as always, planning creative projects. Behind the scenes, I'm working on lots of designs for my Etsy shop, practicing drawing nearly every day, sending my children's novel and script off to agents, plotting out a new novel and making plans for Angel's Great Escape for this Christmas. More on all of those things soon!
Meanwhile, I have found a small way to spark my creative mind and to ensure that however much I am consumed by logistics and planning, I am always looking out for the magic in the everyday. And so, I started a hashtag #littlebitofpretty. I use it on my Twitter and Instagram posts when I see something that makes me smile. This could be a little splash of colour, some yummy food or just the heart-shaped finish to my morning latte. Have a look for #littlebitofpretty on social media and why not use it yourself as a simple way to brighten your day. I'll look out for your posts : )
What a lovely Christmas treat! Angel's Great Escape was featured on the super-popular Read It Daddy website this week as part of their annual Booky Advent. We're featured alongside such classics as A Christmas Carol and The Night Before Christmas and this week we've found ourselves second only to Stick Man in the What's Hot list which is making me feel very happy and Christmassy : )
We would like to thank Read It Daddy for their kind and continuing support and to wish them a very Merry Christmas!
I've been loving taking part in #illo_advent over on Twitter. It's a daily drawing challenge where you create something Christmassy from 1st - 25th December and it's great to get you in the Christmas mood! I also really like it as it 'makes' me draw something everyday and is helping me to come up with ideas and to practise. Please click through the slide show below to have a look at a few of my drawings so far.
