March Meet The Maker is a social media challenge by Joanne Hawker, in which creatives talk about every aspect of their small businesses. You can find out more on the March Meet The Maker website here.

I took part in most days of the challenge except for weekends.

 

You & Your Work - Day 1

Heya, I’m Hannah - the designer and creative business owner of Looksee Illustration, based in Scotland. I design greeting cards and enamel pins, which are available through my online shop www.lookseeillustration.co.uk!

 

Brand Values - Day 2

I make eco-friendly choices wherever I can in my business (hello compostable greeting card packaging!)

I work mostly with manufacturers in the UK for my products and packaging, in an effort to reduce my carbon footprint, and to support local jobs and businesses.

I create lovely cards and gifts for you to celebrate life moments with your friends and family – and I’m super excited for all the moments and milestones I’ll be able to help you celebrate in the future too, as my collection continues to grow!

 

Planning - Day 3

I am a list-maker - there’s always an ever-growing to-do list, which can get overwhelming easily!

A few things that have been working for me lately to keep the chaos at bay are:

🌻 Starting each day with a cup of coffee and choosing just three things to focus on today in my Makers Yearbook by Makers Business Toolkit

🌻 Setting yearly, quarterly, and monthly goals to work towards

🌻 Keeping a digital to-do list so I don’t forget the tasks that I want to do at a later date, and to remind me of my repeating tasks

How do you plan your day?

 

3 Things... - Day 4

Yesterday I mentioned that I plan my day by choosing three things to focus on – so today, I’d like to explain why this has been working for me!

✨ The idea is that I focus on just three tasks – everything else can wait until I’m either done with these three, or until it’s a fresh day.

✨ If I get behind, I don’t have to reschedule a whole week or month of work - I just start over on the next day instead, because I plan just one day at a time. This is so much more manageable when something unexpected comes up, or if I need to take days off, or just haven’t allowed enough time for each task!

✨ Focusing on just three tasks means that I lose less time context-switching, than when I try to work on twenty tasks at once.

✨ Separating my three tasks out from my main to-do list means I feel less overwhelmed or distracted by everything else I’m not yet working on, and more capable of working efficiently on the tasks at hand.

 

Favourite - Day 7

My favourite illustrations lately have been my party tigers; they were so much fun to design! I love sending these wee fellas out in your orders!

All of my cards are printed on luxurious heavyweight cotton paper stock, and packaged in compostable sleeves. High quality materials, fun design, AND eco-friendly – these cards tick all the boxes!

Available through my online shop at here, or at Creative Strathaven if you’re shopping in person!

I’m playing with the idea of adding some more party animals to this collection – so tell me, which animals are your favourite? Who needs a party hat next?

Best Decision - Day 8

The best decision I’ve made is working for myself, running my own business.

✨ It’s given me the flexibility in work that I’ve needed for a long time, and that wouldn’t be possible in a traditional career. On high pain or high discomfort days, I can curl up with a heat pad and work from the sofa, or take time off work if needed. And on the days I’m super into my work and I’m on a roll, I don’t have to clock out at a certain time – I can work as late as I like to finish up.

✨ Working for myself means working with the best studio assistant ever, Dylan! He’s not the most productive assistant admittedly, but he makes up for it by being good company! Cat cuddles at various points through the day are one of the top perks of working from my home studio.

✨ Best of all, running my business lets me bring my illustrations to life by printing them on products. They are given as gifts, or sent through letterboxes; and they show your loved ones that you’re thinking of them. Whatever the sentiment, I get to be a small part of it – and I’m grateful for my role in spreading a little joy in this world!

Hands at Work - Day 9

Here I am, working on an illustration on my iPad – I’m leaning in to working digitally more at the moment.

I still love traditional techniques too – drawing and painting, carving and printing. Hoping to find more time for playing with traditional materials again soon, I’ve been missing them!

 

Storage - Day 10

I got some new storage for the studio recently! Two big shelving units either side of my packing station, one for postal packaging and one for products. My packing station holds an assortment of envelopes and office supplies and other boring bits. I have a Kallax unit and a storage trolley, and these house my art supplies and paper, amongst other bits and bobs.

Before my new shelving units, I was using my bookcase to store products – and the books were scattered throughout the rest of the house to make space for them! Now I have my books and my products in the same room again, and it’s feeling like the studio is coming together and everything has its place...for now at least!

The new storage also has space for a cat, as demonstrated by Dylan, who likes to sit there when he isn't at the desk!

 

Seasonal - Day 11

As a greetings card designer, seasons and sentiments are my thing! I am so excited to add more seasonal products to my collection over time.

Currently my top priority within my greeting cards is to populate the core collection first – think sentiments like New Home, New Job, New Baby for example. And you can never have too many Birthday cards to choose from, so there’ll be more of those too!

Once I’ve filled a few more gaps in my core collection, you betcha I’m going to be working on more seasonal sentiments!

These greetings cards are available online at www.lookseeillustration.co.uk

 

The Numbers - Day 14

So much of business is about numbers. How many units have sold this month, how many likes did that post get, how many followers have I gained?

It’s so easy to get caught up in the numbers, particularly on social media.

This year, instead of focusing on the numbers of likes and follows:
✨ I want to focus on the number of posts I make here
✨ I want to focus on the number of new designs and new products I add to the collection

I'm focussing on the numbers I can directly work towards.

 

Time - Day 15

There never seems to be enough time in the day, right?

Apt that I’m posting for this prompt a day late then...!

 

Goals - Day 16

Are you a New Years’ Resolution sort of person? I am!

Some of my 2022 goals are to:
✨ increase the number of products and designs
✨ apply to lovely stockists
✨ post more on social media

 

Sneak Peek - Day 17

I’ve been working on some new card designs recently, so here’s a lil sneak peek at one of my latest designs in progress.

I know there are already some lovely cat cards in my shop, but Dylan’s been whispering in my ear that we need some more...and who am I to disagree with a cat?!

 

Sell Yourself - Day 18

Need to find the perfect card for your sister’s birthday?

Looking for a unique gift to cheer up your best pal?

Feel like you’re overdue a well-deserved treat for yourself?

YES! You’ve come to the right place; you’ll find lovely cards, gifts, and treats here at Looksee Illustration.

 

March Meet The Maker is a social media challenge by Joanne Hawker, in which creatives talk about every aspect of their small businesses. You can find out more on the March Meet The Maker website here.

I took part in most days of the challenge except for weekends. This blog post is Part 4/5, for Day 21 to Day 25.

 

Materials - Day 21

I’ve been designing mostly on my iPad lately. I can experiment lots and use up less paper, I can design from anywhere in the house or further afield without any set up, and I can erase or undo mistakes with ease!

While there are definite benefits to working digitally though, I miss the feeling of creating traditionally when I’ve been away from it for too long.

I miss the feeling.

The feeling when the paints mix together into the perfect colours.
The feeling when the coloured pencils graze along the rough paper.
The feeling when the ink pools just the right amount at the end of a stroke.
The feeling when the blade glides through the lino like butter.

These are the joys that are hard to replicate digitally, and why I’ll probably always go back and forth between digital and traditional tools, for the best of both worlds.

 

Mistakes & Lessons - Day 22

When I launched my online shop in November, I made a silly mistake.

I created my website on desktop.
I viewed it on desktop.
I FORGOT to check how it looked on mobile.

....so of course on launch day, 71% of my website visits were on mobile devices!

I heard from a lovely customer that things weren’t displaying clearly enough on mobile and tablet, the buttons were too close together and it was hard to select the right button.

They’d gone on to buy from me on desktop instead - so luckily I hadn’t lost them! I’m so grateful for their feedback, and made changes within hours, so the website displayed better for future visits on mobile devices!

First impressions count, and I was gutted that I’d overlooked this detail for launch day. I think it speaks volumes about this lovely Looksee community though that you had faith in my business even when the website wasn’t the most user-friendly! Thank you ✨

By making a mistake on Day One, it took some pressure off and allowed me to learn from it, making incremental changes and improvements as I go.

So I’m giving you a big high-five if you’ve also made a mistake or learnt a lesson recently - it may feel like rubbish now, but it’s also an opportunity to learn, to improve, and to grow.

Product Range - Day 23

As a relatively new small business, I have a small-but-lovely product range, all available for purchase through my online shop, www.lookseeillustration.co.uk

Currently this includes birthday cards, thank you cards, and enamel pins.

There’ll be more greetings cards and other exciting new illustrated products coming soon! I’m working on some new designs and new products, so keep ya eyes peeled for my product range expanding!

Milestone - Day 24

There have been a few milestones in the past few months:

✨ I launched my online shop

✨ I began stocking my products with my first stockist, Creative Strathaven

✨ I’ve gained confidence in social media posting (even if it still scares me a bit!)

✨ I’m nearly finished with my first March Meet The Maker challenge

Workspace - Day 25

I work from my home studio, in a space I love. My commute is so much shorter than it once was, I can wear my slippers to work, and best of all is that the studio is cat friendly!

 

Low Stock - Day 28

Deciding what quantities to make or order as a small business is a juggling act:

Buy too much, and it’s a lot of capital wrapped up in one go, and higher risk...

Buy too little, and the manufacturing cost per piece is much higher, and there might not be enough available to meet customer demand.

Something I’ve found really interesting is that different Looksee Illustration products sell better in my online shop than in person, and vice versa!

In my online shop, Party Tigers Birthday Cards and Black Fairytale Deer Pins are most popular so far; whereas my coloured enamel pins have been doing better in person.

This has been fantastic for my shop as it spreads out sales across my entire range!

 

New vs Old - Day 29

From time to time, I revisit my older artwork to rework it into something even more lovely.

A great example of this is that I painted my British wildlife designs in the changing room of a shop in 2016.

My Fairytale Wildlife collection of enamel pins evolved from some of these same designs more recently, and I love the designs even more now I’ve reworked them!

Swipe through to see my old designs in 2016 vs Now!

If you’re looking for some pretty wearable art, these enamel pins are available in my online shop, www.lookseeillustration.co.uk

 

Day in the Life - Day 30

My work days start with a coffee in hand, checking my emails, calendar, and digital to do list. I write down three main tasks to focus on.

Each day looks different, depending on my priorities.

My mornings are often best for taking photos, or going to the post office before it gets too busy.

It can also be a good time for my computer/phone based work, like editing photos or designs, ordering supplies or stock, social media – they all need done, and best to do them while my brain is swimming in coffee!

My afternoons are usually when I’ll finish off anything that overruns from the morning - or if I’m lucky then it's design time or learning.

Mid-afternoon, Dylan insists on cuddles - it’s his way of reminding me to take a short break!

I try to wrap up work around 5pm or 6pm most evenings for work-life balance, though sometimes I work late into the evening if I'm trying to finish something specific.

 

Looking Forward - Day 31

Here are some pages from my old travel journals today, both of these are from a trip to Amsterdam in 2013. A change of scenery can be a fantastic way of breaking out of a creative block.

Looking back at some of these spreads over 8 years later, I may not be able to remember the exact locations, but the typography I’ve drawn and placed together on pages forms a kind of map of my adventures!

The sun has been shining a fair bit in the past few weeks in Scotland; the warmer days have me thinking of exploring and drawing more - closer to home this time. Scotland is so incredibly beautiful, and I’ve barely even scratched the surface of all the fantastic places I could explore here!

Looking forward, I want to see more of Glasgow, Edinburgh, the highlands and the islands - all with a fresh new sketchbook and a pencil case in hand!

Time to get out and about, to explore, to see new places and draw new things!

Are there any places in Scotland that you think I should add to my places-to-visit list? Comment below if you’ve got ideas!

 

Reflecting on March Meet The Maker 2022

Thank you to Joanne Hawker for creating the March Meet The Maker challenge, and thank you everyone for following along with me last month. Hello if you’re new here!

Today I’ve been reflecting a bit on the past month while I’m setting some goals for April.

Posting daily through March has been challenging. It’s also been great for gaining confidence in this space online, and improving my photography.

My main takeaway from completing March Meet The Maker 2022 is that the more frequently I post here, the easier it’s getting to continue doing so.

I’d like to use the momentum from completing this challenge, to continue posting more frequently than I was managing before March - so hopefully a few times a week going forwards.

...but first, I’m going to follow in Dylan’s pawprints and have a good ol’ rest this weekend! Hope you have a lovely restful weekend too!

 

 

Like this post? You might like the following journal entries:

• Just a Card Indie Week 2022
• Just a Card Indie Week 2021