New Product Pictures

A couple weeks ago I got to take a quick trip to Albuquerque to visit my sweet and talented friend, Jasmine. She is an amazing wedding photographer and had invited me to work on a couple projects with her. How lucky am I!? On the second day of my visit, she generously spent the day photographing all of the wedding invitations I had designed and now offer in my shop. It was such a cool experience for me, and I feel like it's something that every designer should do. I loved getting to spend time styling each set to show off the vision I had for each one. It made me more confident in my work and I felt proud of seeing how much I've grown as a designer in the past couple of years. I normally struggle with feeling like my work isn't good enough, so to actually have to print it out, and get it photographed was intimidating, but also really freeing for me. It's okay to like what I've created now, but also have goals and dreams about how I will improve. I'm trying to stay balanced in that way. So without further adieu, here are a few shots she captured. More can be seen in my shop!

Not only did this opportunity help me to feel more confident as a designer, but I also believe that it's so important to have good product photography when you're selling things online! You may have the most beautiful creation, but if you can't express that in a photograph, no one will look twice. If you're interested in learning about product photography, there is a free class right now on Skillshare called Make Awesomer Product Photos that I think looks good. And I recently read a great blogpost about it on Elm Street Life as well! I'm soaking all this info in because I don't think I'll be able to make a trip to New Mexico every time I come out with a new wedding suite – although I'd sure love to, Jasmine! ;)

Christmas is Coming

Oh yes it is. I love the months of November and December and they are even more exciting to me this year because we hope these will be the months we get to move into our first house! But that's beyond the point of this post. This post is to tell you that Christmas is coming and you should get started on those darling traditional Christmas cards. I love Christmas cards and all growing up I used to spend hours reading through all of the letters and staring at the pictures my mom kept in the basket on the kitchen island. So fun!

This year I've created my very first cozy line of photo Christmas cards. I already told you about my design for sale on Minted, but did you also know I have a handful of other designs for sale in Etsy shop? They are listed as printables, which means I would create your personal card with your photo and information, and then send you a file that you could have printed as many times as you like, wherever you like. Easy Peasy! Or if you prefer to have me print them for you, I can work up a quote for that too :) Check them out! By the way, all the awesome photos were taken by Jasmine Nicole Photography.

Introducing Printables

I'm so excited to introduce printables for sale in my shop this week! I've posted a couple birthday invitations and stationery designs this evening, and will continue to release more throughout the next few days. 

I hope this will offer people the opportunity to enjoy designed stationery, invitations and announcements with the option to print at home or a printer of their choice. Each design is customized for the individual customer and event, and then sent as a final high-res pdf or jpeg.

The final designs are formatted to print multiples to a standard 8.5x11 sheet of paper. Each layout includes crop marks for easy "DIY" and I recommend printing on an upgraded thick linen or smooth cardstock paper, which can be found at many local craft stores or stationery shops.

I'm excited to continue adding new designs to this part of my shop!

Be Brave

We've been really into the Olympics here in the Schmitt household. The past week we've tuned in almost every night to watch our favorite athletes compete against the best in the world. I have personally grown quite attached to those adorable "Fab Five" gymnasts as well as the super humble and smiley women's swimming team. I've grown so attached to them in fact, that I told Paul they kind of feel like my friends. I've been thinking about why this is, what it is about these people that draw me in. Is it their incredible athletic abilities? Or perhaps NBC's coverage of their real life stories? And I think I've kind of figured it out.

They make me want to be brave.

I watch them get out in front of the whole world and try to perform their very best. And usually they do. But sometimes they don't and there's always that chance that they're going to mess up in front of millions of people. I think that's so brave!

You see, for the past while, really the past 7 months, I have been preparing to open up this little shop. Now it may not be Olympics worthy, but it has been the place where I have poured my energy and time and thoughts. I have nitpicked over details, changed my mind a thousand times, asked close friends and family for advice and studied other shops and businesses. And even though each piece has been carefully considered, there has been one huge missing piece these past weeks. And that was the courage to open. I haven't been very brave. Now I don't know if it was the adrenaline rush of watching the Olympics this past week, or just the fact that my heart and soul are finally ready, but over the weekend I gave myself the push I needed to wrap up a few loose ends, and finally press publish.

I knew I would never feel totally ready, and I know that I'll always want to revise my designs and strive for "better." But I feel so relieved to have finally taken this step. Sure, I might mess up. And no, it probably won't be live in front of millions of people (thank goodness!). But for me, opening up shop is a jump worth taking. Because otherwise there is no chance of winning gold!