Insanely insane

Well I have been insanely insane...and I've just ordered my online groceries and I thought I'd allow five mins to write my blog!   Had a huge meeting...well huge for me...last weekend with regards my Doodlebugs journey...can't say too much encase it falls through...but all I can say is that if it works out things could be VERY good for the development of Doodlebugs...

All I want is to be discovered and for someone out there with a business mind who believes in my work to help me turn this small cottage business into something more main stream!!!!!!  

 I have a dream of a beautiful big studio shared with other creatives...all as successful as one another.  In fact I teach design and I have some amazing students who have bought to my attention Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne...this is and example of a group of creatives; ..textile designers, photographers, interior designers, fashion designers...

all housed under one roof...with the addition of a gallery.  I have that vision for Albury /Wodonga.  Why not? With globalisation and our lovely friend the internet...why couldn't it be possible to set up a community of UBA talented successful individuals with their own business's..there to support one another..in a rural location miles away from major cities.  Could happen???

The other thing that has been bought to my attention by my fabulous students are the amount of really cool websites there are that allow anyone to design there own IPhone covers, laptop covers, Fabric, Wall paper, Doona covers...to be able to customise your own wow.  Examples being; Colour Lovers, Red bubble, Spoonflower and may more. Check them out!!!

So thats my five mins up in my world of crazy....baby still sleeping house nice and clean ....off to the studio I go cup of earl in hand...need to create a 150 x 150mm Alpha Doodle today for a little boy called William....please dear powers that be give me an hour to get this done!!!!!

See ya peeps x  

Bright Sparks made me sparkle..

Well i'm soooo tired but I have had an amazing few day...learning...learning and more learning..   As I said in a previous post yesterday I attended a one day workshop called BrightSparks through Murray Arts.  Wow my head is spinning what a great experience...especially for creatives that are considering setting themselves up in business.  

I had a one on one consultation with a business advisor from Enterprise Connect called Tony Shannon. This was where i pitched Doodelbugs to him hope for some constructive feedback...I even took in some sample and created a slide show....very swish.  Well Tony gave me good advise...I walked away very inspired these where a few of the tips:

• Create a strong online presence...Blog, Facebook, and Website
• Start off not outlaying a huge amount for a website...there are commission based companies out there like portable tv
• Have a strong story behind the business!Dont devalue your work"
• Do the maths first...work out your costs and revenue..
• Don't create a huge amount of stock keep it small.
• Work like a fashion designer...create seasonal collections/ranges
• Decide who your customers are..
• Get out there meet your clients...ie: the retail outlets you will sell too
• SELL...SELLL..SELL
• Put a marketing pack together..
• Go through an agent to distribute your cards

Here is a quote from Tony Shannon:

"NEVER devalue your work...Always explain why you charge what you do...people are not just buying and paying for the time you put into the actual product they are paying for all the years of experience and education to get you to where you are producing a product of such a high standard!"

There were also some amazing industry professional talking about their journey in creating successful business's.  I found Rachel Bending from 'BIRD' textiles excellent...she has created a fantastic business model....proving that you can be successful going green and ethical in your approach...this has helped me to decide which way I go.......but it did raise the issue "How green is Green?"

Stepping up....

I'm enjoying this blogging thing.......after all I am a lady with too many words bursting to pop out to the annoyance of all that know me!

I have belief if you really want something to happen go get it!!!!!!...lose all your inhibitions..work out what you want..create a series of small rungs on the big ladder and tick them off as you go.   

A resent example is that I have loved creating the Doodlebug characters so much that last year it reach a stage where those many words started to turn into a children's story...lots of ideas for books...yes I have written one...and I have ideas for 5 more.  

The issue being that I knew nothing about illustrating, writing and publishing your own book...I thought it was easy..wrote my draft and emailed through to Five mile press.  No idea that I needed to do a lot more before I reached that point.  So I decided I need a mentor..My favourite children's Illustrator author..... well there are a few, Dr Zeus, A.A Mile, Beatrix Potter and currently Lauren Child.  Well the first 3 were for obvious reasons not a good choice..I thought Lauren child would be a goer..but alas , I emailed her publisher...she's too big in the world of children's literature to turn her attention to little me. 

 So one day I was at my 8 year old sons school doing the mummy goddess thing of classroom help with the kidlets and there it was the book that changed everything for me.  I had to read to the class 'Button Boy' by Sue DeGennaro and as I turned each page I fell more and more in love with her illustrations.  So I went home Googled her name realised she was melbourne based and had illustrated and written a few books under the publisher scholastic...so I grabbed her contact details and drafted my first email to her....to my surprise she responded...I'd found my mentor!!! YEY

She told me of how she runs class's at the CAE in melbourne...the issue was I lived too far away to attend night class's once a week...which resulted in the two of us concocting a workshop to run here in Albury /Wodonga.....So far I have booked the swanky new Arts space as the venue, Created the poster, searched for funding, I have 8 places booked 10 is min 15 max...and its not running until october 13th so very happy!  

So I'll leave you with this thought.."When Mohammed cant go to the mountain bring the mountain to Mohammed"

Starting to understand..

Well I've manage to play with the look of this blog page...YEY!!!!  Couldn't stand it before...I love this background image...an ageing imperfect interior...I always believe the classic phrase..."There is beauty in imperfection"  

 I apply this to my work as my mantra...I don't worry if the lines are shaky or if I make a mistake because that is what adds to the beauty of my Doodlebug work!!

Scribble...it's all beginning...

As the title say its all beginning for me....I feel like a small seed in a huge dumpster of earth...fighting to sprout up and be seen... Be noticed...

I've been working hard over the past year developing and nurturing my small design business called Doodlebugs  ...customised hand drawn children's artwork....well that's how it started I'd drag my self along to boutique market after boutique market...getting ordering and then working in the studio to follow through...this was all great and to be honest a lot of fun...but it was a lot of work...so I wasn't spending a lot of time nurturing my business..letting it grow .  Locally my business reputation and name is well known and over the past year through the money I have made I have managed to set myself up with technology and tools to assist in the production of these pieces.   I even helped to set up a local boutique market called The littleme market, I became the main sponsor!  But now I want to re assess my business idea...the products I create... The sustainable approach I will take...the hours I will work... The finances I will need ... There is a lot to consider.  The customised artwork that I have been creating I enjoy but each one takes a huge amount of time and Financially it will not work.  So I have decided that the drawing style I have created is strong and I feel I could take this commercially out of the cottage industry arena ... Turn Doodlebugs into a bigger seedling.... Make a dream come true!!!!