Sometimes when I have a million other things to do, I find that the best thing to do is just draw. Someone with a wholesale business similar to mine told me that she can’t find the time to be creative anymore because there is so much on her to do list all the time. And I get that, I really do. But I have also learned that when you run a small business, there is never a day when there is nothing on your to do list. So I just take the time, and forget about the list for a few hours, and sit at the table with jasmine tea and music and draw.
You never regret an afternoon of drawing…
On one of those afternoons recently, I made a new wild swimming illustration that is now available on a card and a print. For a long time I had wanted to draw the feeling of being enveloped by the water. My favourite thing about swimming in the sea, is when you face the horizon and you see water everywhere. I kept trying to capture that in an illustration but it didn’t work, until I decided to add the cliffs in the background and all of a sudden I loved it. I worked for hours on the waves and on capturing the feeling of bobbing in the sea. Every wholesale order that I have sent out in the last month has had this card in it and that has made me so happy.
Because you really never regret a swim…
In the last month I have also launched three new logbooks in my new Send instead of a card range. Two of them are walking logbooks and one is a running logbook. There is a walking logbook with the coastguard cottages and one with the lighthouse. Launching new products is scary stuff. The ethos of my business is that everything is as eco friendly as I can make it, but at the same time also affordable. And so I have to bulk order and that’s a scary thing to do when it’s something you have never sold before. So I am delighted to say that all three notebooks were eco printed on recycled paper and are entirely plastic free and they have been selling really well. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You never regret a walk…
Finally a little heads up that the Seaford shop will be closed for a few days from next week Thursday. That still gives you Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to pop in if you need something! It’s my 50th (!!!) birthday coming up and I am taking a few days away from the studio and shop to celebrate. Because I always feel so guilty when I shut the shop, I have added a little discount to the online shop from now until the end of April.
Thank you for following along,
Onneke x
Beautiful, Onneke! And happy birthday - like you, I'm a 1974 baby. Enjoy! 🥳