Part Two of the March Instagram Challenge. See my previous post for more info - and what I got up to on days 1-10!
Day 11 - Seasonal
Today I’m sharing the ‘Seasonal’ side of my business for #marchmeetthemaker
I take most of my inspiration from the seasons. I feel very blessed to live in a place that shows how different they are too. My favourite is Autumn, with Spring a close second. As most of my designs are floral, I like them to stay as close to the seasons as possible and for colour palettes and layouts to reflect them too.
What is your favourite season? Is it reflected in these images enough for you? I’d love to know!
Day 12/13 - FREE!
Day 14 - Numbers
Some numbers for you today! Just a little insight in to some things behind the scenes here at Christine Gardner. I loved looking into all these facts and figures - and hope you enjoy them too!
6 - years in business (in April!)
97 - wrap and tag designs over these years, wow!
20 - stocked in over 20 stores - I would love this to be more, get in touch stockists!
369 - card, invite and postcard designs (and many more to come!)
£2161 - raised for charities since 2019. A percentage of our Tabitha’s Garden range goes towards raising funds that help families cope with baby loss.
20 - Handmade items in the shop - hopefully many more to come
24,108 - orders on Etsy (might be more since I wrote this, thank you!)
1000’s - and 1000’s of flowers drawn
Any that you are surprised by - or missing that you would like to know?!…
Day 14 of #marchmeetthemaker is ‘Numbers!’
Day 15 - Time
I love the prompt ‘time’ for #marchmeetthemaker today. See how I thought I was going to spend my time running my own small creative business vs. what actually goes on! My snack obsession is real too, probably should have made it a bit bigger actually…
Day 16 - Sneak Peak
Here’s a sneak peak (well proper introduction really!) of my brand new gift wrap boxes being opened up!
The special surprise are my brand new pink boxes which I think make these sets really lovely.
I think these boxes are great as they contain everything you need for a wrapping emergency! 8 sheets of wrap, 8 tags and lots of velvet ribbon.
There are a few designs available - let me know what you think!
Day 16 of #marchmeetthemaker is ‘Sneak Peak’ - hope you liked it!
Day 17 - Goals
Goals. I am always beyond excited when someone says they want my cards or products in their retail space. Seeing them on the spinner or in a card wall makes my heart sing - I love it! It’s the dream and my goal! Maybe I’ll get my own little place one day to share all my designs at once too!
Thank you to all my lovely stockists past and present, and if you would like to see my cards in your shop - get in touch, I’ll be so excited!
Photo: the lovely shop the Bay Tree in my very own village ♥️
Day 18 - Sell Yourself
Today’s prompt for #marchmeetthemaker is ‘Sell Yourself’. I think what I want to promote for this post is to just do you. I used to spend a lot of my time following trends, looking at other people’s styles, illustrations and creations and wondering how I could make my work ‘fit’ into that too. If they were successful at painting whimsical watercolours then that’s what I should be doing, right? Avocados are in - I need to draw those even though they don’t fit in with my brand!… I even had an agent say to me that ‘florals were out!’ What was I going to draw now? Do I have to rethink my entire seasonal floral business?! Trouble is, I spent a lot of time researching, looking, and wondering - and there wasn’t enough doing!
It wasn’t until the day I let go of all of that and created things that literally came from my heart, that everything fell in to place. I never struggled for ideas, I never worried about trends (you actually just hit on them naturally if you let ideas simply flow), and I drew how I wanted to draw. I used colour palettes I wanted to use, I used tools and software that I was comfortable with. It was so freeing and when I used my heart, it really did show through in my work, my style was born and my uniqueness shone through.
So I guess what I’m trying to say is that what makes my work special, unique and one of a kind is that it’s because it all comes from me. I have even used my own name in my company name so that people know that a person is behind all of this and that it is my own hand that puts all my designs and products together.
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