shop talk || what the future holds

At some point last year I decided to take an unpremeditated break from the studio shop (is that a word? unpremeditated?) What started as a creative pastime became quite a little enterprise...one that hovered between my main job as a graphic designer and my memorykeeping hobby. I was always interested in the "business" of papercrafting and the shop gave me a chance to explore the flip side. I dabbled in a lot of different areas...running my own site, designing for companies I loved and sending product all over the world to other small businesses like my own. I entertained thoughts of designing a full line of product and heading off to CHA.

and then I came to my senses.

I'm not a big name in the world of scrapbooking. The big names sell shit. That's a fact. Now, more than ever, companies are choosing to co-brand with individuals who have large followings. These individuals have worked hard on design teams and in various other areas of memorykeeping to grow their presence online.

I have not done this.

Recently, I had a conversation with a colleague who lamented the fact that many of the people releasing designer lines aren't even designers, they are just names.  I agreed with that line of thinking initially, but then decided, so what? None of us are designers until we design something. We aren't what we say we are, what we imagine ourselves to be...we are what we DO...what we make happen, what action we take. Following that logic...we have the potential to be anything. I like that.


How does all this relate to the future of the shop?

I can either say what I want to do or actually do it. I can invest the time building a brand and reaping the opportunities that comes as a result or I can make the most of what I have built...a small, but devoted following of people who appreciate paper and good design. I'm choosing to do the latter. Going forward, anything I make will only be available in my shop. I will be open when I have something to sell...sometimes I will be closed...like when I join my husband on a business trip, or when I have a work deadline, or when I'm way more into knitting. I will be sharing more of my memorykeeping and crafting in general on the blog. Honestly I prefer to make stuff than just about anything else.

The shop will re-open the first week of February. I have divided many of my stamps into small collections that I will sell as such. This means that if you haven't purchased them yet, you will be able to do so at a significant discount.  Future stamps will be collection based but will remain red rubber cling, cuz it's the best!

I don't know what my future holds but I'm certain it will include...yarn, books and lots of paper.