{WIP Wednesday}

I am finally back in business and over the flu! I have updated my big cartel shop & my etsy shop with some new papercuts and gift tags for Valentines day - soon to be joined by some valentines day cards.

The product for Valentines day I am most proud of is the customisable papercut key that is available. I have wanted to make something customisable like this available for a long time now and I think I will keep this product on after Valentines day has passed too! (you can head over to see how it works by clicking the image below)



It feels good to be back to work and I can't wait to show you all the new stationery items I will be bringing out - both printed and papercut. I really want to focus more on my papercut/printed stationery this year as I want my items to be practical and what better products to make than stationery! (...think notebooks, notepads, sketchbooks, tape, postcards, note-cards and more!)

{Monday Morning}

Well it certainly has been a while since I last posted something here! Hope you are all doing well and getting prepared for Christmas. Here (in the UK) there has been lots of snow - so deep that when Toby goes for a walk all you can see is his head and back! I have been so busy recently with freelance design work & making lots of orders, but as time is running out in the run up to Christmas, I thought I would post a little reminder of the last dates that things can be posted out to get to you all in time for Christmas.

The last dates for custom orders was:
Tuesday 30th of November (sorry if you missed out!)

Last dates for shipping in time for Christmas:
UK:
Monday 20th of December:
1st class

Wednesday 22nd December:
Special Delivery

Elsewhere:
Friday 10th December:
Western Europe, Eastern Europe, USA and Canada

Places that can no longer get things in time for Christmas (sorry!):
South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Australia and New Zealand

Oh also....I mentioned on twitter recently, that I would do a blog post about the decorative tape and the many ways you can use it (which I will hopefully get up on the blog tomorrow)

I also forgot to mention here the opening of my new big cartel shop, which can be found here!! - www.shop.mr-yen.com, it has been open since the 1st of December and has already made a sale, which is a good start! I will be slowly using my etsy shop, less & less in the new year and focusing on my own shop, but I didn't want to close my etsy shop as I have received some great customers from there. Anyway I have lots more work I should be doing so...

I Hope you all have a productive Monday!

{WIP Wednesday}

Hello! Its been a while since I actually sat down & took the time to blog. How are you all?

This week I took Toby to get his final injection which means he can go out in a week! While we were at the vets we got him micro chipped too which was slightly painful for him and he even bled a bit. Now all the initial vet visits have been made, he doesn't have to go back for another year now, unless something happens to him (lets hope it doesn't!) so I can get back into a routine for work again.

I have also slowly been making my way through the festive products (1.2) that I will be releasing for the Christmas period and have slowly started setting up a mrYen big cartel shop too! I am aiming to open the big cartel shop with the new products early in November, just in time for all those Christmas orders! Also, this week I am planning on creating a few blog posts for the week ahead to see how it works out as I'm getting so busy now I keep putting this blog on the back burner! (but I have fancied up the blog header a bit!)

Oh....also, since setting myself up as a freelance designer/maker I decided I should create limited edition papercuts for special occasions, such as the one I have designed above, so I will only be making 10 of these. Keep an eye out for them once they are released! & I will be splitting them between my etsy shop & my new big cartel shop.

Hope your having a good week!

{Monday Morning}

Good Morning!
I know it's a Monday and this is a long wordy post, so if you don't read it all I understand!

Today I would have liked to show you some samples of my new notepad designs that I got from the printers...but the printers were running a little late on their jobs last week and so didn't get round to finishing all my order off. I should be getting the new designs either today or tomorrow so I will give a little sneaky look at them on Wednesday. Also I have decided, after spending so much on Etsy fees last month, I think it is time to start my own shop over on big cartel.

This would mean just one monthly fee & I think this change/development is quite exciting in a way as it feels like starting all over again, it feels like a challenge! I will still keep my etsy shop up & running, but would really like to get everything for my new shop up and ready to go before the end of September or at the latest early October.

...So, if any of you have any tips, or think there is something you would expect to see from an online shop, just let me know in the comments and I will see if it is possible to work your recommendations into my new shop. (I will keep you updated on the progress of the new shop every Wednesday)

I also think it is time to increase my prices (which will come into effect with my new shop opening) to reflect the time and effort my work takes to make, plus now I am actually working on my papercut designs full time and making this my career, not just a hobby.

All these changes will include a more organised way of creating designs and releasing new work for both my artwork and my stationery designs. I would like to release a Spring/Summer collection of artwork designs that will focus on one or two themes and then release an Autumn/Winter set of artwork designs that also focus on one or two themes. I feel this would give me a more focused approach to my work and give me more time to promote my designs instead of constantly making & listing random designs in my shop.

I also want to release four different ranges of stationery to coincide with the release of my two releases of artwork designs. These would be more regular throughout the year and would be released as a Spring range, Summer range, Autumn range and a Winter range. Again I feel this would just help me focus in on specific products and promotion of them.

Well this is all just talk for now, I need to get all this into action and get organised, but I will keep you updated!

Oh and If you managed to read this whole post...thank you, I hope it was worth it!