Blog: Opening my own shop!

I’ve been a little busy as of late. I have decided to move forward with a venture that I’ve been considering for a long time: to open up my own shop to sell my art and crafts. I would never be able to run a large scale business, or rely on it for income, but opening a small shop is a nice way for me to share my art. Read all about it below!

I have always loved being creative. I was very passionate about art when at school, and worked on some projects that I am really proud of. However, when I began pouring my energy into creative writing, I began spending less time drawing and painting. My focus was on poetry throughout my higher education and in the years that followed, and then even that got put aside as I pursued a career in creative programming.

As with many other people, my creativity was reignited during lockdown. I tried my hand at painting once again, and then gave different craft projects a go. I experimented with making my own paint pigment from rose petals, and creating autumnal wreaths from acorns, pine cones, and conkers. More about these endeavours can be read in earlier blog posts. Throughout these months, I rediscovered how much being creative means to me, and I’m overjoyed to have reconnected with my favourite hobby.

I launched Handmade by Nellie in early October. In this little shop, I sell hand-painted products: at the moment, only greetings cards, but I hope to continue expanding my collection over the coming months. I have a bunch of different designs, many of which are in my special ‘folklore forest’ style. Painted with watercolours and detailed with pen, these trees are simple but attractive. The colour palettes vary, and amongst the trees, different things can be found: mysterious standing stones, forgotten pools, and woodland creatures.

For each pack of greetings cards, everything is hand-painted and made to order. This allows the customer to select which designs they would like, tweak colours or aspects to their liking, or even suggest something unique. I add new designs and new products to the shop all the time. Soon, my four Christmas designs will be released, allowing people to buy packs of Christmas cards with a special, handmade touch. I will also be releasing my limited edition items, such as the autumnal wreaths and other crafts, very soon.

At the moment, the shop is only accessible on Facebook, as I do not want the pressure of using a larger platform such as Etsy at the moment. Facebook allows my art to be shared and products to be sold amongst my family, friends, and their circles, keeping it on a smaller, more manageable scale. Anyone who is not a user of Facebook can still view the page: browse the designs on the ‘photos’ tab, the different products on the ‘services’ tab, and information on how to order on the ‘about’ tab! To order, either send a Facebook message, or email me at nellie.cole@sky.com.

I am very much enjoying being back into a creative flow. Aside from painting, my days are spent working as assistant poetry editor at Mookychick, teaching young writers through Spark, and writing my own poetry when I can. As painting and fulfilling orders becomes a bigger part of my schedule, the frequency of posts may vary, but I will try to get back to Folkdays once I settle into a working pattern! Until then, please do check out Handmade by Nellie, and keep an eye out for the Christmas designs, launching soon!