A little look into my Studio...

When we moved house in September, I finally gained a home studio – and it is the best. Every place I’ve lived previously has been taken over with my designer mess – with all my supplies stacked in boxes in cupboards and work having to take place on the living room floor. As I’m sure anyone who has a combination work/living place will know, it can be a bit chaotic. I was finding it really hard to be productive, and the lines between work time and down time were completely blurred – I often used to just work until it was time to go to bed. I’ve been ready to move into a studio space for what seems like forever, and it feels so great to finally have my own space! So I thought I’d share a little tour with you, to show how I use my studio in a normal working day. Also, you can play spot the cat!

I have two desks – this one by the window is my main desk for both admin and making jobs. It’s from Ikea, and it is height adjustable so I can also use it as a standing desk – which is so handy for things like fabric cutting. The grey worktop is also great for a neutral background for photos – so if you've seen my instagram that explains a lot of my photos. This is also where Ceci the cat likes to hang out all day people watching.

On the opposite side is my sewing table, with my shiny new sewing machine – the Singer One - which I am loving. I use the three clipboards to display my weekly schedule, my goal lists, and also any inspiration images from projects I’m working on. The shelving unit holds all of my non-fiction/craft books, magazines (mostly Mollie Makes) and stacks and stacks of wood slices that I use in my shop. Also a little storage favourite is my cake-stand turned washi tape holder.

The room divider/storage unit is my favourite. All the supplies I need are organised and easy to reach, which cuts down the dead time between tasks where usually I would have had to search around for things all over the house.

Having a studio in my house has completely revolutionised my work life! Even though it is quite small, having a whole room as a separate work place is amazing – both practically and psychologically. Getting ready in the morning, then popping into the studio with a cup of coffee really helps me to focus and get into work-mode. When it’s time to finish for the day, I can leave the craft mess behind me and shut the door. I love it.

So that's it! I hope you've enjoyed this little peek into my studio.

x Rachel 

Thoughts on Pigeon-holing...

I have always been pretty indecisive, especially when it comes to career choices. I thought that when I chose to go to drama school to study theatre design my path after that would be pretty direct... It's quite specific as degrees go, right? But actually the further I went through the course, the more I realised that within theatre design there are a lot more choices to make. What kind of theatre do I want to design? West End, opera, fringe, live art, dance, site specific, devised... Each one comes with it's own set of practices and contacts - some of them are different industries all together - so we were always taught that picking a clear route through would make success a lot easier.

In our third year we had to do a five year plan which showed in detail how we were going to follow these paths - which in theory is great, but it's not so fun when you have no idea which area you want to pursue and you are reluctant to have to choose just yet. To make matters even more confusing, I had just discovered blogging and was really interested in this as a side project, plus I had always wanted to run an online shop. I'd just started working on designing events, and started to wonder if maybe I loved this even more than theatre. Cue identity crisis. I tried to form a plan that would include all of these things simultaneously and was told that I was trying to squeeze three full time jobs into one life. While this was completely true, I hated the thought of having to pick one route and felt like I was being pigeon-holed before I was ready to decide. 

I have spent my first two years out of uni just saying yes to things - accepting any work that has come my way. It's been exhausting and sometimes stressful, scary and fulfilling. I have felt like I've been living two lives and building two very separate careers - one in theatre (and dance, live art and everything in between) and one in events, blogging and small business ownership. For ages I've been teetering on the edge of dropping one to focus on the other, then maybe I might have time for actual life to fit in too! But I've come to the realisation that actually I'm not ready to give up either one as I love all of it too much. And I also kind of think why should I have to choose? The whole reason I went into this career was to have a job that I enjoyed, and for now that is exactly what I'm doing - enjoying it. From now on I'm going to try and just carry on on this meandering path - it might make the journey a bit slower, but it will definitely be a lot more fun. 

Thanks for reading through my over-analytical thoughts... Does anyone else have these pigeon-holing issues? 

x Rachel 

ps. hope you enjoyed my silly little pigeon drawing - I like to think he is also having an identity crisis and that's why he has a crazy eye. 

Pointless Pretty Party

Hooray - My Etsy shop is finally open! It's definitely just a baby at the moment but I have lots more pretty things to be added in the next week or so. I just had one of those moments where I thought "if I wait for it to be totally ready before I open then it will never open!" So here it is, a work in progress but something I'm very excited about building as I go along. 

In other news, you may notice the blog has had a little spruce up! I just wanted something fun that was a bit more in keeping with my style... Hope you like it, I'm still working out some of the kinks so let me know if anything is looking a bit weird on your browsers. 

Thanks for sticking with me over this busy couple of weeks... Sometimes I can be more of an over-thinker/planner than a do-er and having an online network of amazing people geeing me along is exactly what I need! 

The blog is back in business :)

x Rachel 

Shop Update

I am having so much fun planning for the launch of the new shop! I've been spending a lot of time planning product lines, getting to know the market and working on branding. The branding is my favourite, I love designing the bigger picture and thinking about what I want the experience to be like for customers! 

The process I am going through at the moment looks a little something like this:

>>> First product ideas through notes and sketches. 

>>> Making prototypes and improving them until they are sellable. 

>>> Setting pricing by working out all materials, packaging and labour costs. I am trying to get into the habit of setting an hourly wage for myself per product. It really helps to work out how to sell things at the price they are really worth. 

>>> Pulling together inspiration images into mood boards for branding. 

>>> Working on the design elements (expect a little blog redesign to match very soon!)

Something I am really excited about when I think about opening up is the possibility to do more custom orders. I love making things for people - especially for special occasions - and it's even better when I am making something that will be one of a kind and unique to them. I am getting really excited now, and can't wait to introduce you all to Pointless Pretty Party! 

x Rachel 

My Favourite Business Resources

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I definitely have an addiction to reading business advice. In fact I'm sure I spend more time reading advice than following it! But I love to feel motivated, and here are some of the resources that have motivated me the most:

Books: 

//Grow Your Handmade Business by Kari Chapin - I've mentioned this one a lot in the past but it's still my favourite! If you want to learn how to make a creative business plan, this is the book for you.

//Blog Inc. by Joy Deangdeelert Cho - covers the basics to the not so basics. Great for inspiration when you are just starting out. 

E-courses: 

//Dream Job - If you are ever going to take an e-course on starting your own small business, take this one. I LOVE it. 

//Blog Love - In a similar way, if you are going to take a blogging e-course, this is the one. A Beautiful Mess is a favourite of so many, and they never fail to inspire me to follow my business dreams. 

Blogs:

//Independent Fashion Bloggers - An amazing resource for all things blogging. I wouldn't consider myself a fashion blogger, but the tips are definitely transferable to all genres. 

//Maiedae - Savannah often shares great insights into her transition into freelance work. 

//Design Sponge - The Biz Ladies series is really useful!

//Silly Grrl - Sarah runs Fix it Friday where you leave a comment and she will check out your blog and give you some expert advice on how to improve design elements. This lady is full of useful tips and tricks to do with coding, blogging and freelance work. 

//The House that Lars Built - I love Brittany's advice on scoring your dream design internship. 

//Launch Grow Joy - In particular this HUGE post with over 300 tips to market an Etsy shop. Almost information overload but a nice one to dip into. 

This is an ongoing list, I'll be updating it as I find more useful resources... Do you have any favourites I've missed out?

x Rachel 

My Shop Story So Far...

I’ve mentioned my shop dreams a few times here on the blog but I haven’t really gone into detail about my previous experiences, or why I want to open a shop in the first place. As you know, I am working up to the launch of my new shop at the end of this month, so I thought now would be the perfect time to share my journey so far…

I think I have always wanted to own a little shop in one form or another, and I have certainly always loved making things and sharing them with other people. My first attempt at my own business was when I was 17 and I set up an online shop called Laceflair (haha – I know) selling vintage and handmade jewellery. I learnt a lot about product photography and website design, but made barely any sales as I had no idea about promotion. Then I went to drama school and didn’t have time to keep the shop running so it fizzled out.

my old business card - hehe!

Even throughout my degree I was quietly plotting my next shop venture. I loved thinking about branding, taking product photos and creative business planning. My only problem was that I didn’t know what I wanted to sell – I didn’t have a niche. I was putting a lot of thought into what I wanted my shop to be like, with not enough thought into the actual products – a little backwards right?

My next proper dabble in the handmade marketplace was at Christmas when I sold at my first craft fair. Some regular readers may remember me sharing lots of plans and work in progress pictures… It was a busy and exciting time, working around the clock to make enough stock to fill up my stall while also keeping on top of my other design work and holding down a “pay the bills” job. I sold Christmas cards and decorations, advent calendars and various other seasonal pretty things, and the stock I didn’t sell at the fair I put up on to an Etsy shop.

After Christmas I took a little break from shop planning while my set design work was picking up. I have done a lot of theatre work, but designing a special wedding for my friends really made me realise that I want to continue my career in event design. I discovered that event design pulls together the two things that have been battling for my attention for so long: my freelance design work and my dreams of a shop… It was in designing the little decorations and details for the wedding that I thought – “I could sell these”. I feel that in designing decorations and props for parties, I have finally found my niche!

So that brings us up to date – I’m still very much in a state of flux, but very excited about what this next adventure might bring. After a lot of “back to the drawing board” moments and conflicting ideas, I have a really good feeling this one might stick.

Thanks for reading this wordier than usual post, and hope you will stick with me as I muddle my way through the next steps…

x Rachel