Good morning/afternoon/evening/ or if I don't see you...good night!
More musings from me again this week from the world of Squiffy, shall we start with this....
A bit of forced perspective photography going on on my instagram account!! Tbh, I'm getting a bit bored of the usual product photography & I am trying to make my grid look a bit more interesting!
So for starters I thought I'd make October my month for an 'autumn' theme. Now I am rubbish in photoshop so I use some apps on my phone/ipad to edit:
- Snapseed to tweak the brightness & lighten up
- ColorStory to add filters
- LightRoom (only just started using this so still getting to grips with it)
- Procreate - with this you can 'rub out' parts of the photo you don't want. I use this app on the ipad with a stylus (my ipad is old and not compatible with an apple pencil)
- DropBox to send it straight to my phone or computer.
- UNUM to work out ho wit will sit with my other pictures on my grid
- Later App to schedule the post - life can get bloody busy & I can't stop the world to post on instagram at certain times, so this helps me stay on track with my social media posts.
If I'm honest, I got a bit bored of instagram, so I've unfollowed LOADS of people and try and only follow upbeat accounts that inspire me! My utter faves atm are:
- Mrs Meldrum - great style!
- Milton Menasco - my daily dose of horses + style.
- All That is She. No explanation needed! The queen of content creation.
...to name but a few!!
Sales are continuing to grow for which I am thoroughly grateful, and now that the nights are drawing in and there a chill in the air, hoodies have started outselling t-shirts. Gotta keep that nip out, ya know what I mean?!
My animal illustrations are continuing to prove really popular, especially amongst dog & cat people. Horse and hedgehogs closely following behind!! And there are no words to describe the shear comfiness of these bad boys...
So back to business: LAST ORDERS *ding ding*....
For animal illustration designs, my order book will SHUT on Sunday 15th December at midnight (if I am past my capacity before this date, I will close my books earlier - please be aware!!) All illustrated artwork needs to be checked by the customer prior to it being sent to print, the artwork needs to be 'ok'd' by lunch time on Monday 16th December for it then to be sent to print to be received in time for Christmas day.
All other designs you have until midnight Thursday 19th December to get your orders in - however this is subject to change depending on order volumes!
I no longer work up until the wire at Christmas as I did one year and I was completely worn out come Christmas day. I like to enjoy spending some downtime with my little boy and considering I have only had 9 days holiday this year, I'm taking back the last week before Xmas day for me! I like to do things like cook gingerbread men! haha! Also I really don't want the stress of dealing with last minute people who order, only for their order not to turn up and they tell me I have ruined their Christmas! *shakes finger* no no, I will not be held accountable for someone else not being organised with their christmas shopping!! My stuff is not fast fashion and it takes time to print everything to order, pack and post.
Christmas is the time of year you need to slow down and enjoy spending some down-time with family and friends.
On that note, I have 9 more weeks to bring those sales in, I best get cracking!!
