Happy October!

With the autumn equinox last week, this month's desktop wallpaper for my email subscribers has all the autumn feels.
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This sweet little Jack Russell and his friend Jenny Wren are enjoying the rich and fruitful autumn harvest.  This illustration is very much inspired by the Somerset countryside.
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September was a busy, inspiring and reflective month for me.

I was very lucky to get to a couple of fantastic and much needed networking events.

It can be very isolating and lonely running a small business from home and even though we all know the importance of meeting up with other likeminded souls, it's often easier said than done when there are lots of responsibilities in your life.  Like many others in their 40s, we're caught between two generations as ours is a family coping with children and older relatives who also need some of our care and attention.  So to get to two networking events in one month feels like a massive result for me and it has been immensely worth while...

The first event was my first ever Somerset Etsy Team meet up.  I've been wanting to get to one of their meet ups for at least a year now, but the timing never seemed to work out for me.  I am so glad that I was able to attend this meet up.  It was wonderful to get to know so many other designer makers who live so close to me.  This event was on the back of the recent Etsy summit, so our team representative who attended it fed back all the details about the changes and updates that Etsy has made.  Also, Becka Griffin, one of the UK's top Etsy sellers and Etsy Liverpool Team Leader, came and gave us a very helpful and insightful talk to help bust the myths that fly around about Etsy and help us know how to get the most out of our Etsy shop.  Becka's talk was fantastic and I learnt so much from it. It was a day that seemed to fly by and my head was buzzing by the end of it.  The next day, I was raring to go and feeling all empowered by what I'd learnt and started to implement it, confident that it would be time well spent.  

Thanks has to go to Joanne Hawker, our Etsy Team Leader, for organising such a great event and also to Company in Taunton for providing the perfect venue...

The second event I escaped to, was one I've been excited about going to since the last one, last autumn.  Creatival is an annual networking event for Creative Businesses.  This year there were two events in Sept, one in Manchester and one in Exeter to ensure both ends of the country are covered.  The Exeter one was based at Powderham Castle - a glorious and grand setting for a glorious and grand event!

I road tripped down to the event in great company with Quantock Makes and The Crafty Cabin, two lovely creative business owners from my town.  The day out really began from the moment we all set off together, with plenty to chat about on the way there.

The agenda for the day was packed, we were greeted with lots of inspiring talks and break out sessions with opportunities to learn about aspects of running a creative business we felt most relevant to us.  I did break out sessions on planning and legal.  The day was filled with energy, enthusiasm, warmth, friendship, ideas and creativity.  All made perfect by the setting and the sunshine.  It was a day to remember for all the right reasons and I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who worked so hard to deliver such a great event.  Especially my friend Helen from The Creative Business Network, who organised and hosts the events and puts her all into each one - she did us all proud!  Credit where it's due - a couple of the images above are from The Creative Business Network and were taken by the very talented Georgia De Lotz.

For me there was a particular talk at Creatival that really helped install a new sense of motivation and determination - that was a talk by Sas Petherick.  It's one of those that arrives at the right time with the right message.  The message being don't stand in your own way by allowing self doubt to thwart you, there are ways to quieten that nagging voice and move forward with growing confidence. During her talk she did a quick exercise with us all on how to turn negative self doubt thoughts into realistic, positive thoughts to help move past them.  It was a definite 'a ha!' moment for me and a strategy I can carry forward from now on.  Working on your own throws up lots of those negative doubtful thoughts.  However, in my experience, none have ever been helpful and have often turned out to be untrue in the long run.  Yet those thoughts have sapped so much time and energy from me over the years.  To have something I can do to help move past those thoughts is gold dust for me and my business.  

​Here's a link to the Sas Petherick website, after hearing her talk, I think it's definitely worth a bookmark:

https://www.saspetherick.com

Alongside all the event attending, I also had a new collection of paper craft kits launch with Create and Craft TV!

"Whimsical Woodland' is a collection to follow on from my first one a couple of months ago 'Summer In Bloom'.  This one has a far more autumnal feel with plenty of woodland animals, toadstools and foliage to play with.  And play with them I did!  The image above was from when my artist's sample packs arrived with me.  Here's a link to view the new collection:

Whimsical Woodland, Create & Craft, Paper Craft Kit Collection

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And finally!
Thank you for getting this far on this long blog post.
My last piece of news is that my 2020 calendar has arrived and is now listed over at my Etsy and Folksy shops.  It's 26 pages, each page is A4 sized with the top page being a full page image and the bottom page being a full page for the months dates.  That gives you 12 full page illustrations that can be recycled into framed wall art at the end of the year, making it a gift that just keeps giving.  Also, like last year, £1 from every sale will be going to a local wildlife rescue charity.

Here's a link to the Etsy listing so you can take a closer look at the illustrations for each month:

2020 Wall Calendar

I hope you have a wonderful October!
Best Wishes

Happy August!

The summer holidays are here and it's time to reveal this month's desktop wallpaper for my email subscribers.  
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August is all about days out with plenty of ice cream. It's also the month when fruits ripen, harvest arrives and there's plenty of action in those hedgerows around the village fete for those who choose to look.  Like these cheeky blackbirds feasting on the cherries and sloes.
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Talking of birds, berries and 'Summer In Bloom'.  Last month saw the launch of my first collection of paper craft products with Create & Craft called 'Summer In Bloom'.  The launch meant a big trip away from my desk to the studios of Create & Craft TV to appear on the launch show.

I have never, ever done anything like that before so it was very nerve wracking and exciting all rolled into one.  I am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to do it as it was a wonderful experience and I couldn't have been better looked after by the Create and Craft team, they are so welcoming, kind and helpful. The thing I was most excited about and a little overwhelmed to see, was what the team of crafters had made with the products with my designs on.  Seeing the collection all laid out as made up decoupage cards and pictures in lots of different ways, for the first time ever was a moment I will always remember and treasure.

When I started out creating my own illustration collections, I would never have imagined I would see my designs on kits and paper craft products for Create and Craft just a few years later, I really did have to pinch myself to check it was real....

Turns out it was real and the products are very real too and they are available from the Create & Craft website here:

SUMMER IN BLOOM PAPER CRAFT COLLECTION

The other thing I was up to last month was gathering stock to add to a wonderful pop up shop in my home town.  The Crafty Collective in Angel Place, Bridgwater are a team of like minded creative businesses, who collectively have taken on a short term lease of what has often been an empty unit in a prime retail location in the town.  They have filled it with lots of lovely gifts by local artists and crafts people and now they have let me have a shelf in their shop.  At the end of July I dropped off lots of prints, planners, posters and notebooks which will now be available from their shop.

I love what they have done and hope that this pop up becomes a long term feature of our high street.  I've certainly been supporting it and love that more and more towns are having pop ups like this spring up thanks to communities of creative businesses.  This is a movement I am very happy to get behind and whole heartedly support as it makes our town centres a much more exciting and vibrant place to be....

I hope you have a wonderful August!

​Best wishes

 'How you started'

For me it all began when my children were babies, I knew that was my window of opportunity to go for it.  I had planned and saved to be able to spend the first couple of years at home with my children.  Back in 2010, I set up a blog and began taking part in weekly illustration challenges.  On the back of that I set up a Folksy shop and ordered my first collection of greetings cards to sell from my Folksy shop.  It all grew from there. 
A few years ago, the story of how I started my little business was used as a case study in a book by Emma Jones from Enterprise Nation ' Start A Business for £99'. It was from those very small steps and a small investment at the beginning that things grew. 

​Obviously, the £99 headline on this very helpful book, is just to get the first things started (initial set up costs). You will need cash to live on and to invest and grow the business. It takes a few years of consistent, dedicated, hard work before things start tipping into feeling like a viable job with growth potential. Often that means building multiple income streams to help make the business stable and sustainable.  This all takes time. Which is why, if you are starting out and don't have savings in place, you may need to work a second job to give you the cash you need to keep going in those early years. 
Everything has to start somewhere, often it just needs a few small actions to get things moving and then bit-by-bit, day-by-day it grows if you keep at it. If you love what you do, it makes it all worth everything!

'Full or Part-time'

'I swapped 9 to 5 for 24/7'
I think most self employed people will resonate with this statement!
This is more than my job, I think about it all the time. I've always had ideas for images, designs and can't remember not ever thinking about drawings, art, things to make and create.  I daydream in full technicolour and felt most 'myself' at art college - it was a very natural habitat for me!  After Uni I lost a bit of that, trying to make my way in the world, but found a little bit of that creative environment working in advertising and spent a good decade working with lots of bright and imaginative people.  However, it was never quite right for me. Looking back, it felt like a piece of me was missing and not true to myself.  It was always my aim to get back to that full creative life I had at uni. To be able to do that working around my children was my dream. Now I feel very lucky to be able to work the hours my children are in school doing creative work.  Sometimes I work at the weekend or in the evening, but only because I want to... and it's not really work, it's portfolio building which I LOVE doing!

'You' 
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This is me, lovely to meet you! 
I am a mother of two girls and designer of stuff who loves drawing most of all. I'm also a Generation X, music lover, novice gardener and cake fanatic. I love escaping to the coast to sit by the sea with a good book, or explore a city or town on foot... but don't get as much chance to do that as I used to, bringing up girls and running a creative business, so now I relish those opportunities even more!

'Workspace'

This is my corner empire!
A comfy space to bring drawings to life with colour and to carefully pack orders. It's very cosy on dark winter days and light and bright on sunny days.

.I hope you enjoyed a brief round up from my Instagram #MarchMeetTheMaker.

I'll sign off today with an image of my Easter card selection, available from my Etsy shop.

Have a wonder April and Easter!
Best wishes