The highs and the lows

It's been a busybusy week... I'm at the level of happy exhaustion that can only come from crazy deadlines and physical labour! I had a surprising flow of custom orders at my Etsy shop most of which were to be mailed out in time for Christmas--- so of course the first and last thing I've done is panic! I have such a fear of packages getting lost in the mail or being delivered too late, so I've been very nervous when I had so many orders to be sent out of the country. Fingers and toes crossed - Canada Post please come through!!

There's a wonderful high with the strict deadline of orders which has caused me to work pretty continuously over the past few days. I haven't had time to second guess myself, and the result has been great, I'm actually feeling happier with the work I'm producing (maybe because it's not preempted with worry and anxiety). Hooray for that level of freedom!

I've also sent out a slew of greeting cards, a lot of them within various card exchanges I've participated in. It's been handy to have my screenprinted cards to send out so that I can spend more time decorating envelopes! I've worked with nibs and brush pens, a slew of different inks, and tried out different calligraphy styles. That was fun, and a great practice! I got pretty creative!

The one thing that's been plaguing me since last week is that my printmaking has once again fallen behind. It seems to be always coasting in the shadows, waiting for my schedule to free up so that I can spend time creating, carving, printing. But that never seems to happen! I did say to myself that I would, no matter what, spend an hour or two every day just creating, no matter what obligations I've got going on.....well that's proved easier said than done. I'm working through it, and hope by this week's end I have a good rhythm of balancing the immediate demands with the longer term goals and plans. High hopes? Possibly. :)

Hope you are all having a lovely week!

xo

Pri

Making Christmas Cards

Hi pals, This update is going to take you behind the scenes at Paper Trails Design Co! There's so much that goes into making each card, and I hope you find it as interesting as I do!

Step One: Design

I start off by coming up with manymany (mostly terrible) ideas and designs that I sketch out in my notebook, or go through random sketches I've done in the past to see if there's anything good there. Once I have a solid base, I go through it all and narrow down the ones I have a 'good feeling' about. Not a lot of science here!

A lot of the cards I've created have been design patterns in a shape. I create a template of the shape, and this is when my good friend tracing paper comes out! I use tracing paper on top of the templates so I can freely create different designs without having to redraw the initial shape.

Now comes the tricky part! When screenprinting cards, only one colour can be printed at a time. So I have to plan out the designs for each colour ahead of time, and I use tracing paper to separate the design into two (or more) colours.

Once the design seems to be ready to go, I usually scan my traced designs into photoshop to clean it up and ensure there aren't any holes in my colouring! Also, I should mention that the design needs to be black in this stage- the colour comes later, with the paint!

Step 2: Prep the Screen

The next step is one I complete at Open Studio. I transfer the designs onto my screen using emulsion, a dark room, and a huge UV light machine. Once that's done, I take my screens back home and set it up to print!

Step 3: Print!

Mixing inks can be sofun and sofrustrating at the same time. But once I've got a colour ready,I'm good to go! I use newsprint for rough drafts, to test ink, etc. Once I figure out where my card needs to be positioned, I hold it's place with tape so that each card can go in the same spot.

The cards dry pretty quickly, so the process doesn't take too long if I have to apply a layer or two of different colours.

Step 4: Package and Send!

I really look forward to the packaging part of the process! Those who know me can attest to my pretty strong love for wrapping gifts. And that's how I think of every sale- I try to make every order a pretty little package that folks will be delighted to receive in the mail.

Thanks for reading about my process! If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below, I would be happy to answer them! I did run through step 2 pretty fast (prepping my screen), but I felt it was too much info! I think I'll leave it for another blog post on a rainy day. :)

If you haven't checked out my Etsy shop yet, please do! My cards will be on sale up until the week before Christmas, but I recommend ordering by the first week of December to receive them on time!

xo and have a great rest of the week!

Pri

Rearranging everything

Sometimes this blog reminds me of a blaring alarm clock. I always seem to begin by thinking back to the last time I blogged, and...what? it's been two weeks already? Howzthat?

It's been an abnormally stressful month. The heavyweight Christmas season is fast approaching, and with it comes many late nights, much anxiety, and looonggg lists of to-dos. That coupled with the fact that my business is almost a year old (!!!) and there is so much I wish I had figured out and done before now.

I think the stress reached a peak about a week ago, when I felt paralysed with fear, worry and no clue where to start, that I ended up watching a full season of Friends on Netflix in the middle of the day- taking refuge in numbing my mind for hours on end. Guys, that's when you know something's up! It seems so much easier to work when I have deadlines set (like orders to be fulfilled)- there's a clear goal, and clear timing. And someone already paid for it and wants my work! Creating without any clue about how people will receive my work is more stressful than I EVER imagined!!!

I kind of love making big changes (this life, case in point), so after my i-feel-sorry-for-myself-so-I'll-binge-watch-netflix episode I decided on creating a fresh outlook and environment for myself. Instead of putting on the pressure to work endless hours with noendinsight, I decided to intersperse my time between work, taking meaningful breaks (I'm finally reading again!), and allowing myself breathing room. It's just as important to take care of yourself and your environment as it is to put in many work hours. And you know what? During this time (non-work hours) I think I've stumbled upon another card series! So there you go- it works!

This environment changing mood I'm in is leaking to other areas of my life- I've been planning to reorganize my studio, and the apartment is slowly getting a deep clean! ah, it's rejuvenating!

By the way, I'm offering custom greeting cards now on my Etsy shop. I will have more postings soon, but if you're interested in gifting a one of a kind card (for a special birthday or anniversary, new baby, wedding, new home...so many reasons), please get in touch!

Hope you are having a great week. It's rainy here, perfect for working under warm lights, tea breaks, yoga, or you know, watching netflix.

xx

Pri

Organizing, Listing, Planning

August has been a busybusy month! Between wedding invitations, envelope addressing, custom Etsy orders, and getting out in the hot sun, there aren't enough hours in the day. I'm also working on getting more product created, calligraphed, printed before the end of the month. phew! I've never needed to plan and organize my days as much as these past few months. There's just so many things to keep on top of- the jumble of work orders, appointments, tasks. Since I have spent a good amount of time thinking about and working through this, I thought I would share the ways I (try to) stay organized.

My moleskine planner is my WORLD. Many who know me can attest to my inability to retain stuff (anything) if I haven't written it down. Which is why I need a good old fashioned planner. I'm usually making my weekly plans on a Sunday or early Monday morning, and then check out my planner everyday to see what I want to tackle that day. I also add more notes and appointments in the daily section.

It's not just a planner to me; it's where I keep track of books I want to read, birthdays, and awesome quotes I've come across. It's my treasure chest!

My only complaint about this planner is that it can't handle any ink much thicker than a ball point pen. Major bummer for a calligrapher! But I found these amazing pens in Japan that have been making me so happy everytime I use them. They are Pilot Frixion pens, and they are ERASABLE with the little plastic ball on the end. It's the coolest thing ever, and of course, I bought it in every colour.

I manually 'sync' (ha-ha) my planner with my google calendar. I use this online calendar for when I'm out and about and need to keep track of something, add a meeting or appointment, or add a note. It works pretty great, and bonus! I can add cute emoticons to events and meetings.

I've tried using some online applications previously but haven't been successful at updating it (how many organization methods can one use??). Trello is a really great online tool which I've tried to use in the past; I might give this one another try because I love the idea of having all the updates from one project in one place (rather than rummaging through a file or emails, which is my current, super inefficient, method).

This week I am re-printing my business cards on some nice stock I found at Aboveground, and printing some linocuts that have been sitting around for ages. Excited to get that done and up on my Etsy shop soon! Also got a lot of custom invitation stuff going on, I'm looking forward to sharing some of that work soon! I've started keeping a little journal by my bed- with the crazy busy days, it's hard for me to shut off my brain immediately at the end of the day (it's been a shocker to my typical asleepin30seconds self!). The stuff's pretty illegible because of my half closed eyes operating in bad lighting, but it's so great to get it out of my head! And who knows, maybe there's something there!

I'd love to hear about other organization methods- please feel free to drop in a comment below on your favourite way to make sense of crazy busy days!

Have a lovely, productive week!

xo

Pri

Taking Breaks and Procrastinating

I was 'off the grid' this past weekend on a canoe trip. The trip was awesome, challenging, relaxing, and so so beautiful. The days leading up to the trip was kind of terrifying. Going off the grid?! But what if someone orders something, or I get an email from a current client that needs to be addressed asap?? I might lose business, or affect my response times! Of course, none of that happened- I had emails and orders waiting for me patiently when I got back, and I didn't piss anyone off by not responding this weekend.

Having my own business feels like I have to be around twentyfourseven, and for the most part, I am. There's just so much backofhouse stuff to figure out, so many emails and notes to be on top of, there really aren't enough hours in a day! I really need to realise that I can take a weekend off without my new world coming crashing down around me!

This week I'm moving between taking actual breaks and procrastination, as I try to pace through the heavy workload I have set up for myself. I have SO much to catch up on. I still don't have business cards forgoodnesssake!!

But why have I been procrastinating so much on this and so many other projects? Some other calligraphers and artists seem to work so much faster than me, but I seem to get overwhelmed so easily. Maybe I'm just wasting time doing non-productive things. Like the continuous drive to organize my studio (majorly successful procrastination technique). I've been indirectly putting off producing art and creating more cards - it's become such a daunting task (what if it's ugly, what if it takes too much time, what if I run out of ideas?), and time has only made it worse! I was thinking about it lots this week, and am telling myself to just take it one step at a time. Just pick up a pencil/paintbrush and have some fun. It's on the docket for today!

The thing with procrastination is you don't know where the time goes- allofasudden it's the end of the day/week. And then you meet friends for lunch or dinner and don't know what to say about the progress of your business! I laughed when I read this article about how to get out of your head and interact with the outside world. A really good read for those who work from home, have been working a lot, or for anyone who feels unsocial at times (everyone). I was amused to find that I practice half of these 'techniques', as I often am in a situation where I'm interacting with people that have VERY different days than me. I think I've gotten better at talking about my world, but I'm still not totally comfortable with it.

By the way, I've updated my portfolio to reflect some of the things I've been working on these past few months- check it out!

Anyway, I'm going to get to it now! (After a quick run..... )

xo

Pri

Finding and breaking routine

Hope you are all having a good week!

I spent the early part of this week in Deep River, ON, a wonderfully idyllic town where the air is fresh and the mosquitos are plenty. It was the first time that I tried to work 'remotely' (when I wasn't able to close my studio door and block out the outside world for hours at a time).  It was semi-successful, but as much as I hate to admit it, a part of me longed for the daily routine I have at home, especially when I have a lot of work to get done.

I have a love-hate relationship with 'Routine'. The word itself sounds so boring, like you're going through the mundane motions of the day without thought or appreciation of life. But I have also realized the importance of establishing a routine for a small creative business, and how it can free your mind to think about less mundane things. It's funny though, how exhilarating and tempting it is to just break from routine, to go to the beach instead of sit in front of the computer, or for lunch instead of sorting your workspace. Getting into a routine seems like it would lead to substantial fulfillment in the long run, while running away from it fulfills in a shorter, more intense way (and maybe not as lasting?)

My routine typically changes everyday, and I think I may need to find a better one in the coming months, when I plan to create create create! I have a lot of plans right now, and have to see them to fruition. The task will be trying to not let the beach trips, vacations and catch-up lunches get in the way!!

I found this awesome article with routines of famous writers, and think this is so inspiring! I wonder how successful they were at sticking to it...

Do you have a routine? What's it like and do you feel that it liberates you or ties you down?

I'll be finishing up some work on my website this week, and preparing for my upcoming trip to the IAMPETH convention in Tennessee (which I'm SOEXCITED and SONERVOUS about!). We were given the chance to participate in an envelope exchange with other members (and bring to the conference, I guess as a sort of icebreaker). Here are some pictures from that exchange.

I also received some BEAUTIFUL envelopes in the mail from this exchange- it's such a treat to get a hand written envelope and note among all those flyers and bills!

Have a happy Friday and wonderful summer weekend!

xo

Priyanka