growth #002
It’s been quite a while since my last entry and a lot has happened.
Sometimes it feels like time goes by like a snail’s pace when you hardly have any sales nor interest in your art. My Instagram following is tiny at 250-ish. Eyeballs on my Etsy shop are next to none. If any, they are most likely from my colleagues (from Liz Kohler Brown’s Studio Membership) who are also learning the ropes too.
I kept busy though and managed to surprise myself:
I designed, proofed and listed onto my Etsy a Christmas card collection of 10 designs. Shortly after, I pitched them to about 10 greeting card companies. Absolute crickets, but at least I gave it a try. (I re-pitched 2 weeks later… crickets)
Wanting to be able to sell my cards separately, I listed them on to UK online greeting card company Thortful. They have been absolutely the best in terms of one on one communication. They even reached out to me and asked to upload more designs, to which I happily and immediately obliged.
Seeing that my cards were not selling on Etsy, I altered the card designs and launched a 2025 calendar “Cozy Nooks and Crannies” there as well. For bonus points, I made a Monday to Sunday, Sunday to Saturday for both North American and EU/UK customers
The artwork from the Cozy Nooks and Crannies calendar turned into tea towels and wall hangings after some design alterations and are now available on my Spoonflower page
I designed yet another 2025 Calendar: a tea towel and wall hanging on Spoonflower featuring teas and desserts.
Ceramic ornaments in the form of various illustrated Trubbs designs in a wreath were launched after glass and wooden ones failed.
I designed casebound hardcover notebooks I call Windy Days series. They are available for EU/UK and working on North American versions.
Best of all, I was accepted by Inkwell Modern Handmade to have a selection of my Christmas cards and My Nova Scotia Illustrated cards in their beautifully curated store. I also produced Sleepy Cat gift tags exclusively for them.
From my association with Inkwell, local artists that I admire took notice of the giveaway that Inkwell hosts for new artists and now “follow” me on IG. Incredible! My IG “followers” are now at a solid 320.
Aside from business, I finished 2 embroidery projects from 2023, published a YouTube video finally, and travelled to France in September to October.
Us with Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix, France / Windy Days hardcover notebooks / Special delivery to Inkwell modern Handmade / favourite Trubbs ornaments / My first calendar! / Finally published a youtube video
I list all of this not to toot my own horn, but rather a way to remind myself how far I’ve come in terms of my skills and confidence. Trust me, I need to during those slow sad days when I haven’t a sale. It’s also a life saver when existential crisis mode and imposter syndrome kicks in.
Reflecting on these past few months, I have been rethinking how I want to run my business. I’ve been considering keeping an inventory of my products at home and self ship. To be honest, it gives me a panic. I hate waste and have never shipped en masse. It would also pain me that my artwork never sells, never finds a home. The other anxiety is the wildfire of 2023 in Nova Scotia when thousands, including us, were evacuated from our home. Etched in my brain is the sight of the fire across the lake in the next subdivision. The possibility of my artwork inventory going up in flames sends me into paralysis mode. They’d say “it’s just objects”, but it’s a lot of hard work! However, I realize this is a fear based mindset that I need to change.
Being part of a local community is also at the front of my mind. I already have a supportive online community with Liz Kohler Brown and now Jennifer Nichols of Leila and Po. Yet, there’s something to be said of getting first hand, face to face contact with customers, vendors and other artists. Having my cards at Inkwell is a wonderful first start and hopefully a long relationship. They were one of the first stores we went into when we first moved here in 2021. I even printed a screengrab of their store and clipped it to my vision board! Manifesting indeed! I’m so proud to have my cards bearing the “NS” sticker. Now I feel a little less “from away”.
Vending at local markets is also a goal of mine, which means I need to get over my social anxiety. So if you happen to meet me and I seem really awkward, let’s just say the world pandemic didn’t really change my day to day life a whole lot. Being an artist provides a perfect environment for an introvert like me: head down, totally immersed on a piece, the world miles away. However, I need to grow as an artist, and be physically and socially be present if I want my artwork out in the world.
For now, I’m taking baby steps. Products that I plan to stock at home will be mindfully inventoried. My products are sourced from the US and UK, and it perfectly suits my customers, since that is where they reside. In any case, it will have to do for now since sadly, Canada Post issued a country wide strike today which cripples a lot of small business.
