At the beginning of the year I decided I would use the quiet month of January to focus on the business, do some housekeeping, get sorted with products, move things round a bit, that sort of thing.
My word of the year is FOCUS (which is hilarious given that I consider being ADHD), and I wanted to spend more time on my values and creating products that reflected that.
I also wanted to do more drawing and art, so I started drawing and took a couple of Domestika courses to finesse my drawing style.
I started drawing Derek and Irene the dinosaurs and considered what they would get up to if they went on an adventure. And that's when I made the decision to create a full collection on a theme "Let's go on an Adventure" was born.
I have never done anything like this before, it's usually been the odd product launch but never a full collection. I was incredibly excited to see where this literally journey would take me.
I started with sketches and potential art print ideas. I was showing them to a friend (Thank you Sian)and she suggested doing a story with them and creating a zine. A zine is a self published book or booklet, produced in small quantities.
The whole process of creating this collection was like an adventure For instance, on Instagram I asked for drawing prompts of what people would take on an adventure, the suggestions ranged from flasks of tea to cushions and sweets (AKA bribes...)
One of my favourite prompts was a potato. Because if you are a fan of a certain fantasy adventure franchise, then you'll know why... I didn't want to just do a humble potato, I wanted to make them special, so for the stickers I used a special effect vinyl overlay and gave them sparkles!
Another of my favourite pieces and one of the best drawings I think I've ever done was the signature piece used for the front cover of the zine and available as an art print. I will admit to struggling with the layout though but after chatting with the wonderful Amy she really helped me sort out the composition.
Did I go a bit crazy with the amount of products I created for this collection? Possibly. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. I've really stepped out of my comfort zone and created so many products I wouldn't never have considered before including notepads, zines, tickers sheets and t-shirts.
I couldn't have done this collection without my wonderful mascots Derek and Irene. They truly are my muses. They put up with a lot, yet quite happy to be paid in lemon puffs. Who'd have thought 2 toy dinosaurs would bring people such joy?
They say running a business is hard on your own, but really for this whole collection I had lots of support from so many wonderful people. My thanks go to Sara, Sian, Amy and everyone at The Sunshine Club for their continued support.(I also thank my husband for his quiet, calming demeanour when I have been panicking about products).
But truly this collection is for my children, Charlotte and Toby, it's been an adventure being a parent these last 28 years and I wouldn't change it for the world. Thank you womb-fruits and I can't wait to see where this journey takes us.
What will the next collection theme be?
Visit the new collection here: https://minigeekboutique.com/collections/lets-go-on-an-adventure