2013 - A Look Back Over The Year

Hello! today's blog post is dedicated to looking back at how 2013 has been for me and my little business. This post is a long one as there are number of thank yous I need to say along the way. Please grab a brew and get comfy...

Living The Dream Gift Wrap Design - New Summer 2013

It's been a funny old year for me.  There have certainly been highs and lows.  All in all, 2013 has been a year where I've made braver decisions and really stopped and thought things through properly because early in the year I could feel my work sliding in the wrong direction leaving me feeling frustrated and increasingly unhappy - and that can't do, especially when my work overlaps with my home life so much...

Blue Tits Gift Wrap - New Design Autumn 2013

So, I took a step back, grabbed the figures, looked at the amount of time I was spending on my business and how I was spending that time.  Then I tried to assess my business as if it was not mine and I was looking at it as an objective business consultant seeking ways to make everything leaner and fitter - with the main goal of sustaining a way to spend more time working on the stuff that makes my heart sing and more time fully focused on my family as that was the main reason for setting up the business in the first place.    Consequently I sought counsel from nearest and dearest to check I was not completely bonkers in my thinking.  I'm very grateful to be surrounded by so many lovely, kind, generous and candid people - thank you to everyone who has patiently listened and provided me with advice and guidance this year - I couldn't do any of this without you.  Especially my husband John, who not only provides advice, but also helps with admin, packing orders, post office runs on his way to work and making a decent cup of tea when I need it most - he really is a star...

New Products 2013

 Basically everything this year boiled down to working out what I really want to get out of this and not just in the short term. I found Etsy's Sellers Handbook to be a great source of reference for tools to help me plan my way towards a brighter looking future.  One particular article 'How to write a creative business plan in under an hour' was extremely helpful.  I completely recommend doing this as an exercise if you want to get clear plans in place for your small business:
https://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2013/how-to-write-a-creative-business-plan-in-under-an-hour-2/

  Another source of inspiration was a BBC TV interview I saw a few months ago that got me thinking about every aspect of my work.  In the episode, Peter Jones (from Dragon's Den) interviewed the contagiously energetic Michael Acton Smith (head of Mind Candy - the creators of Moshi Monsters) & the amazing Laura Tenison, founder of JoJo Maman Bebe.  The program gave a wonderful peep into the world of the Moshi Monsters empire where Michael said that he regularly set his team a 'BHAG' - which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  Well I think I've finally worked out a few BHAGs of my own this year and feel very inspired to chase after them as we approach 2014.

Here's a nice link to another interview Michael did for wired.co.uk with his 10 Steps to build a killer start-up.  It makes great reading for anyone trying to succeed in business whether your business is big or very small:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/31/how-to-build-a-killer-startup-michael-acton-smith

2013 has been a busy year work wise and plenty of positive developments and opportunities have arisen.  As I continue to work closely with my friends at Art Eco Designs and The Heart of a Garden - they've taken my designs to two key trade events this year.  In February they took lots of my new designs to Spring Fair International.  Then in July during some particularly hot days they made the extremely long journey from Redruth to Harrogate Home and Gift, where they showcased my designs alongside their ever growing portfolio of photographic and art cards.  I'd like to say a massive thank you the team at Art Eco Designs for all their continued support  - I have great fun working with you all and I am looking forward to coming to see you again in just over a month at Spring Fair (it comes around quicker every year!)...

This year has provided me a chance to spread my wings a little and look at new ways of getting my designs out there.  It was the year I joined Society 6, become a 'Westcountry Maker' with Elsie and Fleur and created my profile on the MOYO directory.  My designs are continuing to be stocked by some branches of Waterstones and National Trust Shops.  Tower Bridge Exhibitions and some branches of RNLI shops are two notable additions to the list of new stockists.  Also, I was delighted to add Hestercombe Gardens shop as another new stockist as they enable me to have a great local outlet to test new products...

http://society6.com/angiespurgeon

http://www.moyodirectory.com/angiespurgeon

http://www.hestercombe.com/

There have been lots of sightings of my cards in shops over the year.  I am always blown away when people make time to photograph my work on display and then get in touch and send me the photo - it really is the most amazing thing to think that someone has taken the time and effort to do that, thank you to everyone who has done that over the past year, it means so much to me and keeps me going when things get tough...

My order book for general custom branding work may have been closed since the beginning of the summer, but there have been plenty of exciting collaboration projects bubbling away behind the scenes.  Here are a couple I want to share with you as I really enjoyed working on both projects - both great briefs to work on from two very lovely ladies.

Above is a little peep at some of the collaborative work I've developed for Tigerlily Makes.  Lisa, the creative force behind Tigerlily Makes had a little lamb icon as part of her brand 'Lily the Lamb'.  I was asked to develop Lily as a character that could be applied to all sorts of new products for Tigerlily Makes.  These are a couple of gift wrap and tag designs that I developed from that brief...

Another fantastic collaboration project I worked on this year was for The Beverage Bag Company and their innovative product The Bevgo Bag.  Wendy at The Beverage Bag Company asked me to come up with some designs aimed at girls (both young and slightly older pre-teens).  These designs were to go on the new lunch bag designs they were developing to house their  Bevgo Bag so that children no longer needed a separate, chunky water bottle with their packed lunch.  These lunch bags contain a refillable drinks bag with tap dispenser and matching cup making it lighter, cleaner and neater for lunches on the go.  This brief was a great opportunity to work on something very different and also dip my toes into designing for children, which is something I'm keen to do more of in the future...

I've worked with some fantastic people this year and have enjoyed having regular online chats and giggles with lots of lovely ladies working in a similar, creative way.  I feel so fortunate to be part of such a wonderful community of talented and inspiring people and want to say thank you for helping keep my spirits up and remain positive whilst I worked my way through a tricky year. 

Another big thank you goes to Porcupine PR for all their help this year.  As I've mentioned in recent posts, they've been allowing me to come and boss them around in THEIR photography studio and drink all their tea in order to get the product shots I want for my online shops.  They really are a lovely team to work with and have been a great support these past few months, I feel very grateful to them...

So here we are, just a few days away from Christmas and I'm currently working on my new range for 2014, a garden themed collection called 'Bloomin' Lovely' which I'm hoping 2014 will turn out to be!

  

Here are a couple of designs from that range which will be off to Spring Fair International with Art Eco Designs at the beginning of February.  I'm also working on lots more occasions cards, so will have plenty of new designs to share with you soon...

Before I sign off I want to say a heartfelt thanks to a few more people:

Thank you to 

Everyone I have worked with this year, 

Everyone who has ordered prints and products from my online shops,

Everyone who has bought products with my designs on from my stockists,

Everyone who has supported my social networking efforts - every like, share, comment, pin, re-tweet etc

Your commissions, purchases and support enable me to make a living doing the thing I love most and for that I am truly grateful. 

Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy Peaceful New Year to you all!

Best wishes

New Greeting Card Designs

Hello, 

The advent calendar is up and I really can't quite believe we are in December already - 2013 soon zoomed by.  December for me is not just all about the festive season, it's also about getting new designs done as it means Spring Fair International is just around the corner.  In among getting Christmas orders sent out from my online shops (thank you for those orders), I've been steadily working through a list of new designs.  Here are some newbies joining my occasions range and the one above is a new addition to my 'Bloomin' Lovely' Range - more additions to that range, which is all about the joys of gardening, are coming very soon!....

Also new for 2014 to the 'Love and Best Wishes' collection will be a couple of Welsh language cards... 

Have a lovely week everyone!

Best wishes

New Christmas Cards Photoshoot...

Hello,

It feels like ages since I had a chance to write a blog post.  The past couple of weeks have flown by as all attention has shifted to preparations for Christmas.  I'm pleased to say that all my online shops have been given a thorough festive makeover and are fully stocked with my latest Christmas designs, which include 12 new Christmas card designs for this year...

There are 6 new Christmas designs added to my 'Life is Sweet' collection... 

Also, 6 new designs have been added to my 'Tis the Season' range...

Featured above are some of the photos taken in the last couple of weeks of both the new ranges.  

I'd like to thank Porcupine PR once again for allowing me to come and style the photo shoot in their studio. I'm really pleased with how the images have come out and I am always made to feel welcome whilst I'm working on a shoot.  Here is a little 'setting up' shot snapped on a phone...

It was very rewarding to see all the finished cards photographed properly, some of these designs were done in September and some were done back in January so it feels like a long time to wait to see the job complete...

Talking of seeing a job completed - yesterday we took our girls and my mum-in-law to the Christmas Market at Hestercombe Gardens to soak up the festive atmosphere.  It was a very lovely afternoon out, I enjoyed the carol singers, the girls enjoyed the magician and we all had a good nose around all the craft stalls where I managed to get a few stocking fillers so feel a bit more organised now.  Whilst we were there we nipped in the shop to see the new display of my Christmas cards.  Here they are in the pic above.  I will never cease to get excited when seeing my designs in shops, it's such an amazing feeling.  All those hours spent drawing, colouring and coming up with ideas were worth every second spent on them when you notice someone pick up your design from a shop display and have a good look at it and then smile!  Perfect!

Have a great week

Best wishes

Half Term Adventures and New Greetings Card Designs...

Hello,

It's been half term week here this week so I'm checking in with a brief round up on the adventures we've had this week.  My children are massive fans of the CBBC programme 'Horrible Histories' - my eldest daughter devours every Horrible Histories book she can find in our local library and is now well versed on the 'Rotten Romans' and 'Gorgeous Georgians'.  Being so close to the beautiful city of Bath, I've been meaning to take my girls on a day trip to the City for a while, to see the the Roman Baths and Museum of Fashion and of course travel there by train so they can experience a bit of 'Vile Victorian' engineering on the Great Western Railway.  It was all a bit last minute as we umm-ed and ahh-ed about going because the weather earlier this week was pretty horrible itself!... but things looked good on Wednesday so off we went... 

It was a lovely day out - my girls really enjoyed dressing up as Victorians in The Museum of Fashion and I got a lot of inspiration from some of the fabrics and details on the magnificent gowns on display.  I must say it was pushing it a bit to do both exhibits in one day with the young children - it helped that I am very familiar with Bath having lived there in my teens so knew how to get to each attraction quickly.   Both exhibits cater very well for children and there is plenty to keep them interested and excited....

 On our way up to the Fashion Museum I spotted Waterstones and swiftly popped in to see if my cards were in there.  To my delight I found them on a spinner on the 1st floor, they were the first thing you see as you come out of the coffee shop...

When we got back home, as is always the way when you go anywhere (never happens when you are in and waiting) I found a courier note saying a package had been left with the neighbours. It was the best sort of package too, filled to bursting with all my new Christmas card designs for this year.  Next week, top of my to do list is to get these photographed and listed on my website...

It may be half term for the kids, but it's still business as usual for me and that's meant a bit of new card design work.  Here are the two latest designs to add to my 'Love and Best Wishes' occasions range.  A new female and male birthday card.  I've lots more card design ideas lined up to do in the next couple of months ready to launch fully in the new year...

Have a great weekend!

Best wishes

Preparing for the Run Up to Christmas...

 

Hello,

I can't quite believe our children break up for half term tomorrow! This week has mostly been all about getting things lined up behind the scenes on my website ready to switch over to Christmas.  There has been plenty of product listing going on these past couple of weeks and already I've sold a few Christmas themed items (there are some impressively organised people out there!)...

...As well as product listing, I've put together a mini brochure for local stockists and an online Christmas Look Book.  You can take an early peep at the Christmas Look Book by clicking the links here, but I am expecting a delivery of new Christmas cards in the next few days which means there is more to be added to it yet so watch this space...

Here's the link: http://issuu.com/artworkbyangie/docs/christmas_look_book_2013_condensed

I've also started using my pretty stock of Christmas stickers and cards that go out with orders - I'm really pleased with how these came out...

My biggest step towards getting organised for the hectic run up to Christmas is I've finally invested in a decent mobile phone.  I spend so much time on my computer that I've really neglected the technology in my pocket - so what better time to get a whizzy gadget to help sort out my life than a few weeks before Christmas!  I can now do my Christmas shopping on the go - once I work out how to use it properly! tee hee!...plus it means I can at last catch up on social media apps like Instagram which I'm thoroughly enjoying exploring for the first time. 

If you fancy joining me over on instagram here's where you'll find me: http://instagram.com/angie_spurgeon

Hope to see you there soon.

Best wishes

Visiting Hestercombe Gardens, My New Stockist.

image source -Wikipedia

Hello,

Here are some lovely garden scenes to welcome in the weekend for you.  Despite it being a busy week, it's also been lovely to mix a bit of business with pleasure along the way and these pics are to share a bit of that pleasure with you.  Yesterday I went to visit my new stockist, Hestercombe Gardens, to deliver some items to their gift shop.  You can clearly see from the photos here why it was a joy for me to go and do the delivery in person.  I am very fortunate to live fairly near to Hestercombe so it was no trouble at all to pop out and see them - the hard bit was having to leave such a beautiful place!... 

image source - Hestercombe Gardens

Obviously the photos here are not really the right season, but it was still just as beautiful yesterday.  It was sunny and a hint misty with all those gorgeous autumn hues creeping in which was simply stunning.  I certainly recommend a visit if you are ever in Somerset.  Hestercombe is open all year round and there are plenty of events planned for the coming months with lots to do for all the family during the school holidays - for more details or to find out more about the story behind the gardens, here's a link to their website: http://www.hestercombe.com/

image source -Wikipedia

image source - Hestercombe Gardens

 If you do visit Hestercombe, have a good look in their gift shop as you'll now find lots of my Life is Sweet cards, wrap and notecards as well as my framed family tree prints.  They'll also be stocking my Christmas cards and recipe cards in a few weeks time too...

Hope you all have a lovely weekend

Best wishes