the magazine dedicated to greeting card publishing and entrepreneurship
Gypsy Chic
magazine Issue 3 - 2016
HAPPY NEW YEAR
A CARD MAKING MASTERCLASS -
RUNNING PROFITABLE WORKSHOPS.
IN THE S T’ ARTIS O STUDI MEET KARLA . D R A R E G
RETREATS
- the mint on the pillow!
NINJA
WIN!
VALENTINES CARDS
NETWORKING - THE POWER OF BUILDING CONNECTIONS.
SEE PAGE 18
Morley, Kate & s in rk e P f o y le r ws with Jan Mo e Boat Gif ts. tl it L m o Inside!!! Intervie fr d r a d d ies, and Olivia Go n n e P n u S f o r e n Sten ....
CONTENTS 3
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
4
MEETUPS
5
NETWORKING
6
INTERVIEW WITH... PERKINS AND MORLEY
10
WORKSHOPS
12
INTERVIEW WITH... KATE STENNER
15
RETREATS
16
INTERVIEW WITH... OLIVIA GODDARD/COMPETITION
19
GYPSY CHIC QUOTES
20
ARTIST STUDIO
24
HEARTS FEATURE (VALENTINES)
26
PRESSIE POUCH
28
BIRDS
2
LET T E R fro
A
m the Editor
very Happy New Year to you! I’ve got good feelings about 2016 and trust it’s going to be a great year for us all. I’ve no crystal ball (well only a tiny one I bought in Crouch End some years back) but feel quietly confident that all the little stepping stones I put in place over the past two years will bring me to a good place in 2016. I hope you feel as equally upbeat at the start of a new year. Think positive thoughts! Just as I’ve done in my two previous issues of Gypsy Chic, I’ve included articles in this edition on things card publishers should contemplate doing to supplement income at quieter times of the year which can do much to build brand awareness in ways that may not be immediately obvious. I talk about networking, building a tribe of likeminded creatives through meet ups, and retreats. These are not distractions – taking your focus away from the more orthodox ways of building your card business [markets, tradefairs, growing your list of stockists, distribution] but things that you could consider slotting in when the latter may not be an option. I look mainly to the US for examples of this – you may, or may not have heard of creatives like Kelly Rae Roberts, Lesley Riley or Jessica Swift who are rocking the show with their multivarious methods of generating cash. Check them out when you’ve a moment.
I’ve paid for business mentorship more than a couple of times since I started my creative journey and one of the best pieces of advice I was given came from Yvonne Fuchs, a branding expert, and author of “What’s the difference that makes the difference”. As we sat over our coffee in Le Pain Quotidien in St Pancras International, she said “Lorraine – Try not to be a one trick pony”. She was talking to me in the context of my designs, and income streams, and I took that advice on board. When I looked at how Yvonne generated income, I could see that she was practicing what she preached – running art classes, writing books, opening her home on “Open Studio” days in Whitstable, speaking at events, doing private coaching etc. She was walking the talk. I’m excited to have three great interviews to share: Jan Morley from Perkins & Morley, Kate Stenner from Sun Pennies, and Olivia Goddard from Little Boat gifts. I’ve also included Karla Gerard, my Facebook friend for a long time, and someone whose art I have idolized for donkey’s years. And last, but not least, I’m happy to introduce an “advertorial” for Pressie Pouch inventor and owner, Sharon McGuillion whom I met recently at an Export event. Here’s hoping all of these great articles inspire you at the start of a New Year. Spring season has begun – and I can’t end without mentioning St Valentine’s Day. Send me some images of your St Valentine’s designs, and I will feature any I receive on either my FB page or in an article in Issue 4. By the way, don’t be afraid to email me if you have ideas for content – I’m open to suggestions. If I can just make one New Year request in return – I’d be so happy if you could share the link to my magazine on your social media platforms. Knowledge share helps everyone.
Lorraine Stylianou Lorraine@lorrainestylianou.com http://lorrainestylianou.com/
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Meetup • Determine the direction of the Group • Decide on the name, description, group colours, etc... • Schedule Meetups • Decide who can join the group • Make it whatever you and your members want!
l Literally anyone can start a meetup group and it is a way of not only networking with other likeminded business startups, illustrators, publishers but can be a way of making additional funds through entrance fees, and one-to-one coaching. It’s also great fun meeting with people from the community – an equivalent to the Stitch and Bitch workshops that have seen a resurgence on networking sites. It is all about knowledge share and lets you stand out as a key card publisher of influence. As an organiser of meet up you will need to do all of the following:
Visit http://www.meetup.com/ to start your networking group.
NO-ONE OWNS A MONOPOLY ON KNOWLEDGE SHARE.
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Networking l BASIC LEVEL NETWORKING: If you want to meet someone in person, think of any friends you may have who are also working in a self-employed capacity. Suggest a get-together and chat about your business challenges over dinner. This is a great way to recharge your batteries. Or attend an art exhibition. By doing these types of activities you are surrounding yourself with like-minded people who can help keep you motivated and can support you with business ideas. It also helps to keep you connected with your artistic vision. Meetup.com and Eventbrite.com are excellent for targeting art and business events near you.
with each other you’d have been better off staying at home in your pyjamas. I don’t want to go into too much depth on the dynamics of how men and women do business at networking events or make generalist statements but I think it is safe to say that men generally expect to do business with each other, with women less likely to think this way - but correct me if I’m wrong. In the US the term “rainmaker” is used to describe someone with an exceptionally good ability to attract clients, use connections and increase profits. The idea of leveraging contacts to increase business should also be part of a card publishers remit, male or female.
l BLACK BELT NETWORKING: Savvy networkers will always be on the lookout to do business with one another. This is the emphasis at many successful speed networking events which seem to be more and more popular. If you’ve taken the time to get dressed and ready for a networking event, why not try and use the opportunity to collaborate with someone and grow your reputation and business at the same time. A successful event should allow you to exchange your ideas, get inspiration and learn something as well as talk about what services and products you can offer. If a networking event gives you no opportunity to do business
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Interview with .....
... Jan Morley
of Perkins & Morley
6
1. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY INTO GREETING CARDS AND AN IDEA OF WHAT YOU DID BEFORE FOUNDING PERKINS & MORLEY lll We have been working together for years; we met at Middlesex Polytechnic (former Hornsey College of Art)and were firm friends. Jill got a job designing wooden toys in Sri Lanka and I was doing all sorts of things; working as a volunteer at Spare Rib, helping out on a film shoot (check out a short film called The Dress with Phyllis Logan and Michael Palin – who do you think was giving him his cigarettes cut to the correct length)? Anyway I joined Jill out in Sri Lanka and basically that is when Perkins & Morley began. We worked in Sri Lanka for a while and then came back to the UK and started importing our own toy designs and selling to shops. It was going really well – our first order was from Harvey Nicholls – and it got to a point when we were spending more time packing boxes and sending out orders than actually designing so we kind of gave the business to a customer and licensed our designs. We worked for quite a long time for Pier 1 in America; designing their Easter and Christmas ranges of gifts and toys – we were quite well known for our large Easter papier mache rabbits!!!! We then moved onto designing art for tableware and had many lucrative and exciting years of going to many gift & tabletop trade shows around the world, selling our designs to the likes of BIA, Macy’s, Portmeirion, Mikasa and lots of other big companies mainly based in the USA. Our most enduring design which is still selling today was for BIA and was a vintage cheese set of 4 plate
gift set – sold by DRH Collections in the UK; it can be found in John Lewis and many other shops. In 2010 we started designing greetings cards – I think our first show was Giving & Living in Exeter and we were terrified! 2. AS A DYNAMIC DUO HOW DO JANET AND JILL DIVIDE TASKS AND AGREE ON TAKING THE BUSINESS FORWARD? lll So – how do we work together? We have gradually evolved into each doing different tasks in the business; Jill takes care of packing and sending out orders, contacting customers, doing all the bagging up of cards & envelopes and designing some of the ranges. I (Jan) do all of the social media duties, dealing with emails, accounting stuff (though I now have a lovely virtual assistant who does invoicing), anything to do with a computer - so I put all the artwork onto the computer and design the layout of the ranges and send to our printer plus design some of our ranges. We have lots of discussions about what we are going to do and what our next move is for taking the business forward – it can F
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I don’t particularly want to do or I find a bit scary. Sometimes it can be doing some social media thing or getting images and blurb ready to put on our websites or on trade show sites, sending out catalogues, getting a mail out ready – each job is then ticked off the list. When it is time for doing new ranges Jill and I have a discussion but usually we each go off and come up with some ideas and then show them. A lot of ranges are done together – we can each individually come up with an illustration or design but then we add backgrounds or new bits of design and it can change into something quite different which is very exciting. I think we are both quite fluid with our ideas and can
get quite heated at times; we are also quite competitive with each other which I think is what keeps us fresh. 3. TAKE US THROUGH A TYPICAL DAY IN YOUR BUSINESS. lll There is no typical day really which is why I love my job so much but I suppose a lot of my morning can be taken up with answering emails, having phone calls with Jill to discuss something, phone calls with customers if they ring with an order. First thing in the morning I usually write out a to do list before I get distracted by other things – I find it keeps me focussed – otherwise it is so easy to go off on an interesting tangent or a procrastinating tangent if I have something on the list that
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get bored doing the same style for every range. We realised early on that having a house style would not work for us so our style is not having a “look” although as it has gone on our ranges do sort of have a Perkins & Morley “look”. 4. WHAT STEP BY STEP ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE CARD PUBLISHERS WHO ASPIRE TO SELLING THEIR DESIGNS ON PRODUCTS OTHER THAN CARDS? lll Advice for card publishers who aspire to selling their designs on products other than cards? Well that can be quite complicated. Licensing is one avenue that we have tried with some success – having your own licensing contract written by a licensing lawyer is a must, having a trial period of a year is also a must , making sure that the company you are licensing to fits in with your ideals as a company and also supplies you with information. We seem to do better having a lot of the products made for us so we sell them – this can also have its own challenges; cash flow being one of them, keeping items in stock but one of the biggest challenges is getting high enough margins especially if you are having the items made in the UK and you are competing with products made in China. Try out products at a trade fair first – don’t order big quantities until you are sure that they will sell – sometimes an item that you think will sell can bomb for no good reason. Mind you – sometimes the feedback you get from customers at the beginning is not always true – when we first brought out our collective noun tea towel lots of customers wouldn’t buy it as they thought it was too expensive – but the ones that did buy it couldn’t believe how fast it sold out so eventually we just said to customers – just take 6 and if they don’t sell we will take it back. I don’t think we have had a customer who has sent them back.
5. THE BRITISH COUNTRYSIDE AND ITS WILDLIFE FEATURE STRONGLY IN YOUR CARD DESIGNS. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST SUCCESSFUL RANGE TO DATE? lll Our most successful range to date has been the Collective Noun range with Animal Ink now coming up a close second. 6. WHAT NEW PRODUCTS CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE FROM PERKINS AND MORLEY IN 2016 AND ANY GEOGRAPHICAL EXPANSION IN THE PIPELINE - FOR EXAMPLE, A PRODUCT LAUNCH OVERSEAS AT A TRADE FAIR PERHAPS? lll We are always coming up with new ideas for products but as we went a bit beserk in 2015 and brought out loads of new items – we need to consolidate those sales – sometimes products can need a bit of fine tuning after feedback from customers. The beauty of what we do though is that any new designs can go onto the products therefore popping up as a new range. We are doing a calendar for 2017 which will be out in January. We would love to branch out to other markets and so will be looking at doing other trade shows in New York or Paris in the near future. JAN MORLEY. PERKINS & MORLEY LTD W: www.perkinsandmorley.com (trade site) www.perkinsandmorleyshop.com (retail site)
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S O r S h p O K W I
f you hire some workshop space you
pass on as succinctly as possible, hence the need
could soon be running small to medium
to edit your material. Getting a small amount of
size classes teaching people of all ages
key information across to your tutees is far more
the basics of illustration, painting, Adobe
important than information overload. Decide on
Creative Suite 6 and product creation – hand-
the length of the workshop – a weekend course will
made, and printed cards! Not only could this
appear very different from an afternoon course and
prove a profitable income stream for you, but
your information will have to fit the time allowed.
you can view this in a loftier way – that you are teaching others new techniques and highlighting
2. Have a structure: A structure helps you to
income opportunities. A win-win. There are just a
stick to the salient points you want to cover and
few simple steps to put in place before marketing
get it across clearly. Your participants need to
your workshop. Pretend your workshop is called...
understand what the class covers and what their
A Handmade Greeting Card Masterclass. You may decide to run it over a series of weekends, or evenings. Regardless of when a workshop is held it is essential to give delegates a clear idea of the course syllabus, and to be engaging. There is nothing as monotonous as a monologue where the group has zero involvement. Interaction is much more productive and fun. For starters focus on the topics that will be covered and list them: Week One: Gathering your inspiration, deciding on themes, and materials to use, and creating the physical card. Week Two: Linoprinting, stamping, and decoupage Week Three: Creating a cohesive range that can be duplicated easily for economy of scale. Week Four: Adding decoration to your work Week Five: Exhibition and party.
outcomes will be. 3. Put your students’ learning experience first: What do they want to learn and be able to do as a result of the workshop? If it’s the first course you have run, get their input early on. Also ask yourself continually if what you are teaching helps the student. For prospective students to sign up to an art workshop the marketing will have to be inspiring as well as self-explanatory. On the day, practical demonstrations will work much better if the instructor is energized and oozes passion for their subject. 4. Course objectives: Indicate in as few words as possible what the aim of your course will be. 5. Outcomes: What the student will have achieved at the end. Marketing the course is easier once you
1. Refine: Teaching is very much like writing
have the above points. Of course, the actual
– you have to relay the information you want to
workshop schedule will need to be broken
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down in hourly chunks with ample time for
a clear idea of the profit margin you are looking
refreshments and rest breaks. You’ll indicate
to achieve. Cost in room hire, administration and
registration times, coffee breaks, sessions and
printing costs, advertising, travel to and from the
course conclusion and evaluation.
venue, course materials for students, any catering costs and Audio-visual (if you are showing any
l
Give yourself at least 8 weeks to market
kind of slideshow, demo), also catering staff
a workshop.
and possible cleaning costs (I’ve been an event
l Use
organiser and know many venues will charge
social media, blogs, press releases and
leafleting to market the course.
additional cleaning costs if glitter/confetti are used
l Use
so beware!). Visualize some paint splodges on the
colourful artwork on all marketing and
advertise strategically, using a variety of cost
floor coverings and you get the picture.
effective methods. l Clearly l Show
describe the course aims and objectives.
LETS SAY:
examples of the kind of cards that will be
created in the workshop.
1. Advertising is .................... £200 2. Room hire is ....................... £300 3. Printing is .......................... £40 4. Travel is .............................. £25 5. Refreshments are ............... £30 6. What my profit will be ....... £550
Small touches such as a course certificate or free gift at the end can encourage positive referrals from attendees. Provide delegates with all course handouts and never forget a feedback form at the end. If you plan on holding custom workshops on a one-to-one basis then adapt your plan accordingly.
Add these all up and get ........ £1145
PRICING YOUR WORKSHOP The objective of running a workshop is to make a profit. To ensure this happens, make a list of all the likely expenses before you incur them. Also have
If you expect 10 delegates you would need to charge £114.50 each to meet your costs.
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Interview with .....
... Kate Stenner of Sun Pennies
A sample from ‘Birds of a Feather’ u
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q Wedding invitation, featuring the proposal on the beach in Cornwall
1. TELL US HOW IT ALL STARTED FOR YOU AS A CARD PUBLISHER WITH SUN PENNIES. l l l I was a writer and editor for 20 years, working on everything from the Sunday Telegraph to corporate magazines. But then in 2009, when my daughter was little, I was ill for a long time. I couldn’t concentrate, so I started painting as something to do – and discovered that a) I could and b) I loved it! I spent a long time looking at ways I could make painting into a business, and finally came up with the idea of making very beautiful bespoke wedding stationery. I paint things that are special to individual clients – like their wedding venue, or their pets, or the place they met – and then use that painting as the principle design for all their stationery. Word got around and I became busier and busier with wedding orders, but I came to realise that the scope of the business was restricted by the fact that it’s just me and I can only paint one thing at a time. I thought about making ready-made wedding stationery too, but found that people who like my kind of products really value the bespoke aspect. (If they want ready-made, they either buy it cheaply from somewhere like Amazon or WH Smith, or they go for a company which can personalise readymade designs – like Ivy Ellen). At that point I came across the Ladder Club, via Mark Jessett from GF Smith and attended Day 1 in 2012, which set me off thinking about making greetings cards as something to provide a ‘drip-feed’ income on top of my wedding business. But it was only after one of the other members challenged me to stop thinking get doing that I made my mind up to get started – so I booked a stand at Harrogate in July this year, painted 70 designs in eight ranges, built a separate website and turned up!
2. WHAT’S THE CREATIVE THINKING BEHIND YOUR CURRENT CARD RANGES l l l I’m very much in the process of refining my ranges right now, in light of what I’ve learned from Harrogate and the card retailers around where I live. Because I’ve had to produce a very wide variety of different work for wedding clients, I’m quite versatile – but that’s given me the issue of deciding what my core identity will be regarding the greetings cards, as I think that’s key to being successful. Several of my ranges have been doing very well, so I’m concentrating on doing more of those and phasing out the ones that haven’t created as much interest. I love light hearted humour, I love ‘design’ as opposed to ‘painterliness’ in cards, I love things to be striking and different – so I’m aiming for all those values in the things I make. My black and white range was inspired by the trend for geometrics that’s been all over the place this year; the gulls and birds arose from a delight in coast and countryside; the fingerprints sprang up after a project for my daughter’s school; my pen and ink ones – bizarrely – were a result of receiving Tolkien’s ‘Father Christmas Letters’ last year… all kinds of things. Going forwards, there’ll be more of the first three, fewer of the last two, and I’m working on new material that will link things together into a more unanimous whole. F
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t One of the black and white range
other work they might like to get done. The offer lasts for about six months and they can pass it on to other people if they choose to. I’ve had all kinds of work from these – paintings for people’s sitting room walls, moving house cards, ‘big birthday’ invitations, christening invitations, even illustrating a book of poems once.
3. SUM UP YOUR BRAND IDENTITY, VALUES, AND PURPOSE? l l l I came across the term ‘sun pennies’ in a book I was reading – meaning the sparkles you see on water when the sun is on it. I didn’t know it before, and it struck me as such a nice description. When I was setting up the business, I thought it summed up perfectly what I wanted to do… make beautiful little objects that catch the eye and make people smile. That’s what I now judge everything against: does every design or card or painting have a little element of that sparkle to it – whether that be originality, humour, surprise, beauty or whatever? 4. YOU ALSO PRODUCE WEDDING CARDS – SHARE SOME OF THE MARKETING TIPS YOU EMPLOY TO DRIVE BUSINESS YOUR WAY. l l l My best wedding business comes from attending lots of wedding fairs – there is nothing to beat talking about the actual product to people face to face, when they can look through all the ideas and choices and see and feel the quality and get a feel for whether they’d enjoy working with me. Apart from the fairs though, I have two really good ways of generating work. The first is that a lot of my paintings are of venues – manor houses and lovely hotels etc – so each time I do a new one, I take the painting to show to the manager. Almost invariably I find that they’re happy then to recommend me to other people getting married there. Sometimes I even get the hotel wanting to use the image for their own purposes – one place put it on the front of their menus for example, and another turned it into invitations to an art exhibition they were holding in their great hall. The second way is that I send all my clients anniversary cards in the years after their weddings, with a special offer on any
5. WHAT TRADE SHOW, OR MARKET STALL EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN BEST FOR YOU SO FAR IN RESPECT OF LEADS, AND ORDERS? l l l I’ve only done one trade show so far for the greetings cards, which was Harrogate Home & Gift. It went pretty well I think and I received orders every day which I was pleased about, as I hadn’t had time to do much market research at that point. Subsequently though, I’ve been finding my better orders have come as a result of going into shops local to me. I like people and I like getting to know the owners, so I’m aiming to build up good relationships in my area so I can establish a core of repeat customers. Then I can branch out from there. 6. WHAT DO YOU ENVISAGE 2016 HOLDS FOR YOU IN RESPECT OF YOUR BUSINESS GOALS.? REVEAL SOME OF YOUR PLANS REGARDLESS OF HOW SMALL. l l l I have two main goals for next year: to refine my ranges further to a point where I’m happy with my core offering, and to get several more shows under my belt. It’s a bit like learning to drive – you pass all the tests and exams, but you only really learn once you’re out on the road by yourself. Next year will be about reducing the wedding work gradually, and taking to the road with the cards! KATE STENNER, SUN PENNIES
W: www.sunpennies.co.uk / www.sunpenniescards.com E: kate@sunpennies.co.uk T: 01926 843073
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RETREATS – THE GREAT ESCAPE
A
nother way of drumming up some sales and income is to consider running a retreat. To start off you could approach someone who runs a bed & breakfast establishment and organise a small and intimate card publishing course allowing tired, corporate workers a chance to meet others with a shared interested in art/illustration and design in a peaceful country setting. Courses that inspire others and encourage friendships to blossom are assured to be sell-outs if marketed well. When I worked two jobs (back to back Monday to Friday) in London I would have loved to attend something like this by taking a couple of days annual leave. Instead, I often just checked into a hotel to get away from it all. Part of the planning will involve deciding on 1) how many you can accommodate, 2) a theme for your workshop or retreat, 3) the number of classes you wish to hold and 4) an idea of the techniques you want to include. Each class can build on the other. Decide the criteria for your
target group – gender, ability, age etc. If the venue is set in a rural location, you can combine a morning’s walk in the hills with an afternoon of painting and printing. Having a choice of speakers helps give the participants variety. Who could you partner with to add some spice to the content? Think about activities for your students on free afternoons or evenings. Hiring staff on an hourly basis who have, for example, experience of head and foot massage or yoga can really sell the course. The whole purpose of a retreat is to de-stress and revitalise and amenities like this can be the deciding factor in whether a delegate books up for the course or not. Do all the costings for the retreat in the same way as in the Workshop section above. The larger the group, the more speakers you will need to hire, as well as an on-site masseuse, possibly a photographer, a yoga instructor, an aromotherapist – all services laid on by my contemporaries in this country and abroad who regularly run retreats.
Interview with .....
Olivia Goddard of Little Boat Gifts
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1. YOU’VE BEEN PUBLISHING GREETING CARDS FOR A WHILE NOW- DID OPENING A NEW SHOP FEEL LIKE A NATURAL EXTENSION OF THIS OR HAS IT BEEN STEEP LEARNING CURVE ALL THE WAY? l l l Although I have been working as a greeting card publisher for a while now, I also worked in a local gift shop at the same time, which is the shop that I have now taken over. When the opportunity came up four months ago, I initially wasn’t sure, particularly because of the time needed to get the shop how I want it. But I do feel that it has been a natural extension of my business, I have always sold a high percentage of my products through the shop, it’s a great way to get direct feedback from customers and identify designs which do not sell as well. At the moment the hardest part is balancing my time and how I split it between the shop and preparing for the Spring fair at the beginning of next year.
card range and also stock a wide range of gifts including our new addition of scented candles in jars. Alongside this we sell frames and offer a bespoke framing service. 3. WHAT IS YOUR BIG DREAM FOR LITTLE BOAT GIFTS? l l l My current plan for Little Boat gifts is to change the layout inside to include a studio space which I hope will help with managing my time and increase the opportunity for designing. We are also looking at expanding our range of products from Olivia Goddard designs and plan to add more of our own products to the shop as we develop them.
2. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR SUPPLIERS AND GIVE US AN IDEA OF WHAT YOUR SHOP SELLS? l l l I have inherited a certain number of suppliers from the previous owners, which has been great as I know that their designs and products sell. I have also started to add new suppliers; a couple I found at trade fairs like the Autumn fair, and others are people that I have got to know within the greeting card industry. As a small independent it’s important for us to find unique products made with good quality materials. Our customers come to us because they know they can get something different, this is why I tend to look for smaller companies who can fill this description. We currently have extended our greeting
4. TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH THE PRINCE´S TRUST, MENTORING AND SUPPORT. l l l I initially started Olivia Goddard Designs with help from the Prince’s Trust. I enrolled on their enterprise course which helps young people explore the possibility of running their own business. After attending the course, I was assigned a business mentor and received a start-up loan. Having a business mentor has been a huge support, it’s great to have someone F
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there to ask questions and listen when things are not going to plan. The Prince’s Trust has been so encouraging and supportive, which is why I became a young ambassador for them. This has been an amazing experience and has helped to develop communication skills that can also be applied to my business.
6. WILL YOU BE USING YOUR NEW PREMISES TO RUN CREATIVE EVENTS OR WORKSHOPS? l l l We are still organising the layout of the shop and have a lot of Christmas stock out so there is not a lot of room available at the moment for creative workshops. We are considering running a watercolour challenge in the Spring to look for new local artists the exhibit in the shop.
5. WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY INVOLVE? l l l My typical day at the moment involves a lot of time at the shop either sorting displays or dealing with customers. With Christmas getting nearer it is one of our busier times, so there unfortunately isn’t much time to work on any designing during the day. Evenings are my only time to work on new designs and other projects, like my personalised gifts and decorations.
l l l COMPETITION
Love
is in the air....
Send me your No. I New Year's resolution to enter this issue's Valentine competition. One lucky winner will win 6 of my Valentine range of greeting cards Cards. Email me at lorraine@lorrainestylianou.com by 7 January 2015 and a name will be picked out of the hat!
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Gypsy and Chic want to share some of Robert Kiyosaki’s inspirational quotes. I’ve met Robert, (and his wife Kim) along with the Rich Dad team. No other man has influenced my life more. His book Rich Dad Poor Dad changed my perspective completely.
“Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.”
“Great opportunities are not seen with your eyes. They are seen with your mind.”
“The richest people in the world build networks. Everyone else is trained to look for work.”
“Don’t waste a good mistake. Learn from it.” x
In the Artist’s studio FROM CANVAS TO CARD STOCK. THE DIFFERENT HATS ARTIST/CARD PUBLISHERS HAVE TO WEAR.
L
et me introduce you to
am a home body. Warner Bros. purchased one of my
US artist Karla Gerard…
paintings which hung on the set in one of the rooms
folk artist, and naïve
of the farmhouse in the film “Superman-Man of Steel”,
painter extraordinaire!
starring Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe
Karla has been kind enough to
and Henry Cavill, which was released in June, 2013.
answer some of my questions on
On August 6, 2012, Moscow City, Russia purchased the
how she markets herself, the kind
usage rights to 3 of my art images which were utilized
of products her designs appear on, and what she has
in an architectural collaboration for three of their
lined up in the months ahead.
government children’s swimming pool buildings on the outside entryway cubes. I have a couple of online
[Karla] The kind of paintings that sell best for me would be the colorful patterned landscapes. I market my art through Ebay. They have email marketing newsletters that I send on a weekly basis to subscribers, as well as on Facebook and Twitter. I pay for google advertising and I also use fineartamerica.com for selling prints, mugs, giclees, rolled canvases, etc... I also have an art licensing agency that manages my art image contracts worldwide. As far as tips for folk artists going into business, ‘sell something very different and unique’. Try different venues until you find the ones that work best for you. I am always being asked to visit places worldwide to do lectures, teach classes or do a show to promote my art for a new gallery opening, or to visit elementary school classrooms who are studying my art. I don’t fly or travel much out of the state. I
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and physical shops (vendors) that sell my images on needlepoint canvas, Maggie Co. I have several shops and online vendors selling my black and white art images as rug hooking paper patterns and as rug hooking kits. Many elementary school teachers have studied me and my art. My art has been utilized for campaigns and ads for Belle Etoile, a jewelry company. Recently, I was contacted by The Taunton Press publishing company. We are in the process of producing “Fanciful Folk Art� by Karla Gerard, an adult coloring book. It is ready for print and will be in shops and stores soon. F
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Stacks of my own finished canvases are stored in boxes under my desk, the product of many hours of painting in either my tiny studio under my Ikea lamp, or hotel rooms! I take a look at them from time to time, and can pin point when, and where, they were completed.
A lot of my surface pattern paintings have ended up with the names of places, as I always bring a small selection of acrylic paints, and a square canvas or two in my holdall when I travel. If I get a free moment, I will paint.
SHEFFIELD AND COVENT GARDEN l After a stressful meeting, painting is a great way to relax. “Sheffield” -the black and yellow design was painted in a lovely hotel in the city on a girls’ day away (when my daughter accompanied me on a business trip, leaving the boys at home!) My 7-petalled flower range came to fruition on a well-earned weekend in the heart of London’s West End. I rarely publish cards using the raw, hand painted image. My preference is to have them edited in Photoshop as I think they look more refined. They are still my designs – just sharper, brighter, and more malleable. Elements in
the design can be put into repeat, dimensions changed, and resized. Once I’m happy with the Photoshop or Illustrator files, they are then made up as print ready pdfs, and uploaded to the printers’ website. An online order form outlining the quantity, name, and size of the cards required is emailed along with the files. Then the wait! Regardless of whether the printer reckons they can be turned around in six days or less, the reality is they won’t arrive sooner than a fortnight after my initial order. This delay is something card publishers have to always try and better, and it needs one to be proactive in researching different suppliers, couriers and costs.
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RUFFLING FEATHERS l As a primitive painter and folk artist painting birds surrounded by flowers is a style I like to repeat. It is hard not to paint a canvas with a card in mind once you’ve become a card publisher. The finished product – often a design with a sentiment – dictates the composition. This is something you have to avoid if painting for an exhibition as most galleries and buyers expect something more - a story, a hidden meaning, symbolism, a landscape with interesting details. So whilst the artist/owner of a growing card company will no doubt be overseeing a multitude of different things from marketing card ranges, fulfilling orders, and managing agents, there is the physical act of painting that we must not neglect. Painting opens doors not directly linked to card manufacture. There are workshops, exhibitions, speaking gigs, book illustration to name a few. The objective in all of this must surely include becoming an authority at what we do, to earn a good living, and to continue to appeal to our market.
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Happy Valentines Just 4 of my 16 Valentine’s day designs, featuring folk inspired pattern, love birds, hearts, f lowers. Visit my website to see the full range. ORDER FORM
ROMEO CARD RANGE. £6 for 6 cards CODE
AMOUNT TOTAL
VAL1
Happy Valentine’s day
VAL2
To my Valentine
VAL3
Darling Happy Valentine’s day
VAL4
Darling husband I love you
VAL5
Darling wife I love you
VAL6
My heart belongs to you
VAL7
To my love
VAL8
To my fabulous boyfriend
VAL9
To my gorgeous girlfriend
VAL10
Love you always
VAL11
Sweet valentine
VAL12
To my fabulous fiancée
VAL13
Love you always
VAL14
To my sweetheart
VAL15
You are my soulmate
VAL16
Will you be my valentine
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To place an order contact me by Jan 7th in time for Valentine’s day.
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S
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
haron McGillion McGillion, in a rush to take her son to his friend’s birthday party, managed to pick up a present but was at a loss when it came to the wrapping paper. As she wouldn’t have time to return home to wrap the gift, she went to her local shop with scissors and tape in hand so she could wrap the present in the car once she had bought the wrapping paper. It was then, Sharon explains, that she had a “Eureka moment” – surely there is a gift wrap product that would overcome the need for a separate wrap, seal and label? That’s what got Sharon thinking…. and she came up with the idea of the Pressie Pouch. The Pressie Pouch range is designed so that they can be purchased for any occasion. Pressie Pouch can meet all needs and are available in 3 sizes:
small, medium, and large. Pressie Pouch is a self-sealing gift bag with the “to-from” label encompassed on the outside of the bag. It’s a simple solution where you pop the gift in, peel and seal, and write the label. Done! Sharon said “When I thought of myself going into a shop and buying the product myself, I knew I was on to something.” Inventing was one thing, selling was another. I knew I wouldn’t be taken seriously if I didn’t have a high quality product and a strong price proposition. Having come up with the idea, Sharon, along with her brother Seamus, began the process of introducing the product to retail. This has been very successful with the securing of Blackhall as the distributor to the retail pharmacy trade in the Republic of Ireland and by
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the end of summer 2015 will be supplying 140 accounts with Pressie Pouch. We have also secured Newspread who are distributors to all newsagents throughout Ireland. We are also supplying 60 stores in Northern Ireland including Eason’s. Sharon is under no illusions that she has passed the winning post at this point.“I’m delighted that the product has been well received by retailers but I know we now have
to knuckle down and ensure that the product is stocked and well presented in as many stores as possible.” Talking about her experience of bringing a new consumer product to market, Sharon admits that it has been a steep learning curve but one that she has not regretted for a moment. “It’s been a real rollercoaster of ups and downs, but I believe that a passion for the product, sheer perseverance and a commitment to seeing things through, have led me to a stage where my vision of seeing myself going to a shop and buying a Pressie Pouch is fast becoming a reality. Pressie Pouch is sold widely throughout Ireland. Sharon is seeking licencees and/ or distributors. Website: http://www.pressiepouch.co.uk Facebook: Pressie-Pouch Twitter: @bizzistationery
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The Birds: William Blake (Published by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1863)
HE. Where thou dwellest, in what grove, Tell me Fair One, tell me Love; Where thou thy charming nest dost build, O thou pride of every field
HE. O thou summer’s harmony, I have liv’d and mourn’d for thee; Each day I mourn along the wood, And night hath heard my sorrows loud.
SHE. Yonder stands a lonely tree, There I live and mourn for thee; Morning drinks my silent tear, And evening winds my sorrow bear.
SHE. Dost thou truly long for me? And am I thus sweet to thee? Sorrow now is at an end, O my Lover and my Friend HE. Come, on wings of joy we’ll fly To where my bower hangs on high; Come, and make thy calm retreat, Among green leaves and blossoms sweet
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Emily Dickinson “Hope” is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops - at all And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard And sore must be the storm That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm I’ve heard it in the chillest land And on the strangest Sea Yet, never, in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of Me.
IMAGES FROM MY BOHEMIAN BIRDS RANGE.
1. Blue bird in white roses 2. Blue Jay in yellow roses
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A window on the world of a greeting card publisher
Gypsy Chic magazine