From Sketchbook to Stationery: Turning Artwork into Greeting Cards and Paper Goods

From Sketchbook to Stationery: Turning Artwork into Paper Goods

A lot of my ideas start in my head.

Eventually, they find their way into a sketchbook.

Sometimes it's a color combination I want to play with. Sometimes it's flowers. Sometimes it's a collection of shapes. Sometimes it's a completely random idea that refuses to leave me alone.

Like the beta fish children's story I wrote for my daughter.

Pretty sure it needs to be a children's book at this point.

For years, my sketchbooks were exactly that; a place to experiment, make mistakes, and explore ideas without expectations attached. No pressure. No deadlines. Just curiosity.

Then I started wondering what would happen if some of those ideas left the sketchbook.

That's how my paper goods collection began.

The first time I held a professionally printed greeting card featuring my artwork, I thought, "What is this life?!"

Seriously.

My heart exploded.

I had spent years creating things that lived in notebooks, folders, and stacks of paper around my house. Suddenly, something that started as an idea in my head had become a real thing that someone could hold in their hands.

I was hooked.

 

There's something special about paper.

The way it feels, the weight of it, the texture, the color, the taste...

What?

Just kidding.

But truly, good paper asks us to be intentional.

In a world full of texts, notifications, and endless scrolling, a handwritten note still feels different. It slows us down. It says, "This mattered enough for me to sit down and write it."

I love that.

When I create paper goods, the artwork always comes first. The product comes second.

I don't sit down thinking, "I need to make a greeting card."

Actually, that's a lie.

When Father's Day rolls around, I'm usually scrambling around my computer trying to figure out what on earth to put on a card.

Listen.

That's the exception.

The artwork comes first.

Most of the time.

Okay, usually.

Fine.

Sometimes I absolutely sit down trying to make a greeting card.

But more often than not, I make the art first and figure out what it wants to become later.

Sometimes it becomes a greeting card.

Sometimes a print.

Sometimes a bookmark.

Sometimes something else entirely.

The goal isn't perfection.

The goal is connection... and sometimes to make the most ridiculous design possible with my daughter and husband.

But underneath all that creative chaos, every card in my collection started as an idea, a sketch, a doodle, or a moment of curiosity.

If I like it enough, I slap a SKU on that bad boy and share it with the world.

 

AKA YOU.

Yay!

Until next time!

Stay amazing. Stay hydrated.

XOXO