shop update

It was my intention to have the Fall Little Bit Kit™ ready to go by the 15th, but no such luck. I had trouble photographing it due to the fickle light in my kitchen. I am happy to say that I managed to overcome that issue and will release it tomorrow, October 18th, but give you a look at the whole thing first. It includes some pretty fun items...super cute paper clips, the most adorable puffy apple stickers, plus a lot of exclusively designed product. The wood veneers kill me...that squirrel...eek! I love it all.

These kits are in limited supply and when they're gone...sadly, they are gone. I hope you like them, I put a ton of love into each and every one:) You can purchase them here at 11am PST on October 18th:)

the little bit kit

I love this time of year. In addition to celebrating my birthday, Keith just brought home a bag of honeycrisp apples...our first bag of the season. I have enthusiastically switched from iced drinks to hot. I made a fabulous beef stew the other night and the crock pot will soon be making an appearance. I happily look forward to more time in the kitchen now that it no longer feels like a sweat lodge. The one thing I don't like is that time moves FAST and I feel an urgency to see and smell and taste everything the season has to offer.

This also tends to be my favorite time of year for stuff. I seriously have a weakness for Fall and Winter paper collections, and even though September is not even completely finished, it seems everyone's ready for December Daily and gathering bits for that oh so special project that we scrapbookers just adore.

Forgive me if I attempt to put it off for just a tad longer...

I have decided to release a new product which isn't so much new as it is slightly different. I have had great success pulling together my favorite items into "mini mixes," "studio samplers," and my beloved accessories kit. It's no surprise that I like a bit of this and that and I've tried to bring that to my shop. A few months ago I chose to end all of my kit club subscriptions because honestly...at the rate I create, one box can last me several months. But, seriously, I miss it. I still buy a bit of paper and the occasional embellishment, and that feels like enough for me. I really love getting a few extra bits to make my projects feel special. I was telling my husband about this...about just needing a little bit and he said.."you just need to find a little bit kit." Uhm, YES...but I don't need to find it when I can make it, right?

So that's it guys. The first Fall Little Bit Kit (TM) will be available in the shop October 15th. I am currently working on a winter one as well. There's no subscription...it won't be monthly...more like seasonally and it will include just a small mix of my favorite items. It will be similar to my Everyday Accessories Kit...but a little different too.

I plan to share the whole kit on the blog a few days before I release it.

Btw...i am not actually trademarking the name...that was just a joke:)

the slow roll

Last year around this time the studio shop was wild. It was super busy and I was shocked and elated by all the orders that came pouring in everyday. I had built a little nothing into a little something and was walking around feeling pretty proud of myself.

I was also feeling pretty overwhelmed, pretty exhausted, and pretty confused...shouldn't I be happy and grateful. I felt like my joy was being gobbled up by stress. I made family members help me while on vacation, I changed flights, I cancelled flights, I declined invitations, I ignored my husband, my  dog and myself. I spent morning until well into the evening filling orders, packaging, restocking inventory, printing mailing labels, filing out those little customs forms (thank the lord I can do it online now). I was just a drag to be around and I finally just broke down and wept to my husband who had a very simple response.

It's time to slow your roll.

He was right. It was time. I had done a great thing but not really in a great way. I had risked my own peace of mind and it was awesome for a time...until it wasn't. I ended up clearing out most of my inventory and closing my virtual doors for a spell. You guys know the rest. Recently I reopened after nearly a year. Same Bananafish...different studio. A friend asked me how it was going the other day and I thought for a minute...and said "slow." She took this to mean bad...like business was bad. But, no...it wasn't bad, just slow. And slow is my new favorite thing.

Sure...orders don't come in like they used to...I only have a fraction of the inventory so that makes total sense. I don't spend all my days filing orders, I have been able to assign specific times for that. It doesn't take me three weeks to get something out...more like one. And I have ideas...so many ideas about things I want to make...for myself. Yeah...I've been actually making stuff...and not shop samples but stuff using all kinds of products and supplies. I'm taking a couple online workshops, I have caught up (mostly) on my pocket album and have been participating in the #get messy art journal group.

So the slow roll is good. It's better than good. Much of my day is devoted to my design clients which...c'mon, are really my bread and butter. It took a while for me to settle into my new normal, to accept and enjoy what the shop is now, to recognize that growth means something different to everybody, to pace myself and just go slow:)

Happy Friday!

Look for part two of simple stamping next Wednesday.
edited to add: let's switch wednesday to friday:)

the lowdown

okay. so this is going to be a total hodgepodge post. I have no time for proper punctuation or grammar, so if you would kindly overlook my lack of capital letters I would appreciate it tremendously.

So why so busy? Not that you asked but the answer is I have a terrible horrible talent for always underestimating how long everything will take. How long it will take to lose 80 pounds (15+years), how long it will take for my hair to turn gray (approx 40 years), how long it will take to toast English muffins (less time than I thought). This means I am always rushing about at the last minute trying to get stuff done and throwing my back out in the process.

Yups, I threw mah back out, while cleaning the guest room for my niece and nephew who will be here in less than 24 hours. BOOM! Oh, the rest of my house is kinda wrecked, I'm overdue on a deadline and it's hot as hell is Seattle.

Right about now you may be thinking...what about the shop, France? What about all those cute little sneaks we liked on Instagram? We about all those nature pics you took last week?

There are a few things still in production, so I was faced with a decision...open the shop without them and then be faced with having to charge people additional shipping if they want to buy the other things a little while later when they come in or...just wait till I have everything. Whew, that was a long sentence. I am not in the habit of waiting, I use to worry about people getting the jump on me.
Thankfully I have worked through those issues and will wait until everything is ready and I can present folks with my very best. 

Right now the ETA is the first week of August...so, yeah...It's coming...in the meantime I'm getting all into nature. I'm venturing out with my giant straw hat and my SPF 1000 and I'm enjoying this little life of mine. Summer and I don't always get along, but I'm trying to make friends.

Digi Delight

One of the shop relaunch questions I've been receiving is whether or not there will be printables available for sale and the answer is yes sireeeeee! I love digital and I can't imagine not offering them...I will be doing something a little different though...

In addition to a fun new label set:

 and the long awaited milkcaps:

I am also going to do a monthly embellishment/label set based on trends + colors I love.  No 3x4 or 4x6 cards and no limited timeframe. You can get them when you want them.

I'm also working on some really cute cut frame files

These are coming very very soon:)

sneaks

I haven't been shouting it from the rooftops or anything, but I have briefly mentioned here and there that I'm prepping the shop for a relaunch. Without getting too deep...at least not in this post, I thought I'd make a tiny visual introduction...

One of my main priorities this go round was to keep it simple and functional. Not just on the back end, but the product as well. That started by doing what I love best...designing paper based items.

As much as I love rubberstamping...there was no way I could leave them out. I will be releasing a small limited edition collection of wood handle stamps derived directly from my own hand lettering. When I refer to handlettering, I don't mean handwriting...the designs I created for this small set of stamps represent many many hours of pencil on paper work and I'm pretty excited to not only be releasing them in the shop but paying homage to how I got started in graphic design many years ago.

If you visited my Etsy shop back in the day, you know that one of my most popular items was the custom minibooks affectionately titled "project minibook." The shop will include a stripped down version of the project mini, but the name remains the same.

Next week I will share more details about the products and the shop.

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.

shop talk: holiday edition

I have been receiving lots of questions as to whether or not I intend to re-open the shop or carry holiday items this season. I have been hesitant to respond because I just didn't know what my holiday would look like. Last year I was home and I worked. A lot. This year I wanted to somehow try for a bit more balance.

I will be traveling some over the next couple of months so my ability to pack things up and get them out will be limited.  I know that so many of us are working on time sensitive projects and I am conscious of the fact that nobody wants to wait too long for holiday goodies. Especially my friends overseas who always have to wait much longer. Therefore, I will not be selling any new seasonal stamps or product, but, I will be re-opening in a week or so and selling various digital items. I am putting the finishing touches on a set of digital brushes based on last year's collection of holiday stamps as well as the full set of printable holiday milk caps. You can also purchase exclusive Bananafishstudio  digital elements on 2peas.

It is my intention to re-open the full shop shortly after the first of the year. It will be restocked with colorful sequins, as well as my favorite stamps and paper items.  I am currently designing new content that I hope to debut come Spring. While I'm certainly not big enough to release collections as large or as often as other companies, I put a ton of effort and hours into do what I do and the payoff is seeing my items pop up in so many wonderfully creative projects.

thanks for that.