May Journal
Highs
There was a lot of love in the air this month. My oldest friend got married early May which was the perfect excuse to get away to the hinterland for a long weekend. She was the most beautiful bride and it was so special to be there to see her get married to the man of her dreams. A high was definitely waking up, making coffee and sitting in the bay window. Bay windows never get old for me, my next home needs one for sure! Another high was definitely the novelty of eating pizza in bed with beer and watching Project Runway with Michael while wearing robes. Finding a wedding outfit that I loved in time was definitely a plus (ps. if you need ideas - here is a blog post on it) New packaging arrived and it all looked just how I imagined it, ready for the collection launch. New bedding, always a plus. Discovered how good the colour lilac is and proceeded to then see it everywhere!
Lows
As always there is a lot of self doubt & anxiety in the lead up to the collection launch. I put myself out there in the hope that others love it as much as I do and that’s probably too much pressure. The Australian election. The fujifilm snapshot disposable cameras being sold out in all of my local stores. Having to do groceries with a sore post-wedding head. I haven’t had much luck with online shopping lately which has led to many returns.
Newly added albums
I have been listening to a couple of new albums on repeat lately. Firstly, IGOR by Tyler the Creator. To be honest I have never listened to any of his music prior to this album but I am really enjoying it. My Favourites are I Think, Running Out Of Time & A Boy Is A Gun. Secondly, I Am Easy To Find from The National. Their previous album Trouble Will Find Me is one of my favourite albums of all time so I am always apprehensive to hear a new album from them. A female vocalist has been added in this album and it is a really beautiful touch. Easy to Find, Not In Kansas & Pull of You are some of my favourites however you can’t go wrong with the whole album. It doesn’t live up to Trouble Will Find Me but it is still pretty damn amazing.
Behind Launching a new collection..
I have been releasing prints of my artworks since 2013. It is something that I began doing from requests and a way that I could make some money on the side while I was at university. It is a process that started from one off lettering commissions, to just lettering collections to what it is today - a full expression of anything creative I want to explore. The process has also got a lot more complex and full on over the years. I started off just printing at a print shop down the road as each order came through, or hand illustrated each one depending on the collection. I shot them right there and then, uploaded to my big cartel at the time and I was done. I laugh to think I was probably still as stressed out at that as I am now. Now there is a lot more that goes into it. This collection took me 1-2 months just to conceive after I had my initial ideas. Then post shooting I go into self doubt overdrive with those thoughts of ‘omg this is shit, you are bad at this’ then a lot of adding and subtracting artworks until the collection looks cohesive and I can no longer stand to look at it. Then comes a couple of weeks of proofing and ordering all new packaging ready for the launch. Once I have approved & have the final proofs, I have to shoot them. Putting them on a plan wall doesn’t cut it anymore. This collection I did 3 days of shooting in different areas of my home so that I have a varied set of images to go live with. Then marketing. Instagram posts are the easiest but I am also creating Instagram Story Tiles, Website Updates, Email Newsletters etc. Once all that is done, I start prepping the packaging for launch. Writing Thank You Cards, putting stickers on the mailing tubes so that the launch can go as seamlessly as possible and orders can go out as quickly as possible. June 2nd She Bloomed By The Ocean went live and I am so so grateful to everyone who has shared, like or purchased a piece for their own. The income from these collections allow me to keep doing what I love everyday and I don’t forget that. You are the reason I get to do what I love. You can view the collection in full here.
With Love, Jasmine x