Blog — "Valentine's day"

A couple of years ago, I wrote about learning to take risks. While it is true that I've pushed myself over the years in new ways, there has been one thing that has felt too scary to take on. In the past three years, I feel as though I've found my place and voice in what I do. A lot has changed in the five years that I've owned my business, and I feel as though I didn't get to focus as much on the design aspects of my cards until I got to spend a lot more time with them.

While teaching, I was constantly a ball of stress. I worked long days and the time I had after school to work on my business was extremely limited. Once I began spending my full work week on my business, I feel as though my business was able to grow in new ways that were a better reflection of myself as well as the art that I've been creating my entire life. In the process, old cards from my first years in business, no longer fit the aesthetic of my work-- something that has bothered me for quite some time.

For the past two years, I struggled with feeling happy with the old designs. In fact, I truly hated some of them. Some of these cards just happened to also be some of my most popular. For me, it was scary thinking about changing something so popular because of an undying fear that it would make my business collapse or go up in flames the instant I made any change. I waffled over the idea of redesigning them in subtle ways to better reflect my current process and products. For two years, I waffled. Two years. I asked friends and family their opinions, and then did nothing. And I still felt agitated by it all.

This week, I finally decided to do something.

And you know what? The world didn't come crashing down around me. My business is still here. I am not being engulfed by flames. And most importantly, I feel better.

For those of you who are lost, and don't recognize the card above, this is my most popular card. I have sold thousands of these since the design was launched three years ago. This is the card that made it possible for me to quit teaching. This is the card that started it all.

Taking the risk to redesign this card was beyond scary, but for me, having a cohesive line of cards that reflect who I am is more important to me than succumbing to that fear. Now that I've made the leap, you'll begin seeing a few other subtle changes in my shop as I transition a few other designs in the same way.

And guys, what do you think of the new design? Have you been stepping out of your comfort zone lately? Have you been faced with tough business decisions like this before?

They're here! They're here! While I had hoped to have had these ready a little earlier, they have finally arrived in the shop. This year's Valentine's Day line is a full line of letterpress goodness-- my first full letterpress line! For those of you that don't know what they means, here's the quick version of it all. I drawn my designs, put them into the computer, get photopolymer plates made with my designs, and finally use those plates in a 100+ year old press to transfer the designs to the cards. The final product, is a beautiful card that has an embossed type quality to it. And I'm in love.

All five of the new Valentine's Day cards are printed this way, my left arm cranking a giant wheel to work the press. After working on the press all afternoon yesterday, I woke up this morning with sore muscles in my left arm that I didn't even knew existed! I use 100% cotton card stock (fancy schmancy!) for all of the letterpress cards and the outcome is drool worthy if you're a paper nerd like me.

Starting today, you can save 20% off in the shop if you use the code VDAY20. The code expires on Saturday, so you have the next two days to snag your cards at a discount. I hope you love the new cards just as much as I do!

Recently, I acquired some really fantastic vintage emblems for my gold foil press. One of them happened to be perfect for Valentine's Day. Through the daily grind of the busy season, I needed a little break from packaging orders, so I tested out the emblem and finally came up with this card. I loved it! Despite having already released the 2014 Valentine's line, I just had to pop one more into the...

Recently, I acquired some really fantastic vintage emblems for my gold foil press. One of them happened to be perfect for Valentine's Day. Through the daily grind of the busy season, I needed a little break from packaging orders, so I tested out the emblem and finally came up with this card. I loved it! Despite having already released the 2014 Valentine's line, I just had to pop one more into the shop.



I love the colors and the simplicity of this card, and am happy to welcome it into the shop!

Happy New Year! I hope you all rang in 2014 in a fabulous way, whether that be out on the town or on your couch. We decided to have a fairly low-key event with another couple and decided to go duck pin bowling. Nothing says "Happy New Year" like the crash of some old bowling pins.

2013 has been quite the adventure for me as I quit my day job as a teacher, got married, turned the big 3-0, and...