Its common knowledge that winter months are a reminder of how short days and dark clouds can dampen your mood. Those crisp, clear, sunny winter days are cherished and often provoking positivity. Warm colours include Red, Yellow and Orange and are described as bold and vivid. Warm colours are most frequently associated with heightened emotions, passion and playfulness. Cool colours are Blue, Purple and Green and are often described as making people feel calm, relaxed and refreshed. Colour affects people differently and so you can’t really go wrong, but once you have found the palette right for you, it’s as simple as introducing these into your workspace to fuel your day, lift your mood and help you feel fresh and productive. Read more via pinotspalette.com - last accessed 26.11.2020
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Affirmation cards bring a little positivity into your day and help yourself be yourself! Have a look at them when you need a bit of oomph - get inspired and empowered. One small positive thought can change your whole day. Pinning your favourite affirmations where you can see them first thing in the morning can be just the positive start you are looking for. In a similar vein, having them around/on your desk to read just as you start your working day can really give you a boost. Sharing affirmations with loved ones by adding them to a gift or popping one in the post directly can be such a thoughtful and kind act. Your friends & family will be feeling very loved. Affirmation cards are perfect for adding to your dream board, use them in your planner or journal. They bring a pop of colour and texture to your creative journal page with ease. Should me how you use your affirmations! These affirmation cards pictured are available in my shop and as a digital download. Enjoy and thank you for reading.
Its been a weird year and we can only hope that Covid-19 will go away soon and let us all socialise like we used to! However, certainly for me, I have taken some positives out of this pandemic, the main one being my tiny business had a chance to flourish <3
Being furloughed in the first lockdown (March – June) allowed me the time I hadn’t had before, to put all my efforts into creating a beautiful product range I was happy with. This was admittedly small, it was a product range of 3! It was small but mighty and allowed me to test the market without lots of money on the line. I already had an abandoned shop on Etsy that I had never put the time into after initially listing some art of mine and being disappointed it had not sold. But now, 8 months down the line, I know all the reasons it didn’t sell. In fact this week, I reached my 1000 sale on Etsy! This is why I believe everyone can start their own small business (that doesn’t have to stay small). So below I have writed down my top tips:
Below/above are some affirmation cards which I have designed and really help me put things back into perspective! Whether you are on a small business adventure or not, give yourself some love. If you enjoyed reading this, DM on Instagram and let me know! Transparency is good in business and we should want more of it! I think transparency is very important when we, as consumers, are trying to choose brands and businesses which we believe in. It's can be so hard, to just even find out if they are local, where they are based, or if they value recyclable packaging over plastic packaging - sigh - I want to encourage small businesses & brands to be more transparent and honest. Not everything about your business can be perfect or finished and that's okay! We all have goals that we can work towards. So I'll start with my own small business. When I started Sublime Clouds, it was very important to me to be as eco friendly as possible. I want to buy from brands that value our world and create a brand that does too. I didn't realise how hard this would be!
I started with prioritizing local suppliers and businesses as this reduces the carbon footprint of my products. This became more difficult as a grew, but not impossible and I found that we don't really make anything here in Britain anymore, everything is outsourced. But the quest went on! Nearly all of my stationery is made in the UK, which I am VERY proud about. My sticky notes, prints, postcards, affirmation cards, wrapping paper are all made here by indie printers/ small suppliers #sharethelove #shopsmall. My only international supplier is that of my Washi tape, who is based in China. It is my goal to move this closer to home by 2022. Next on my list was paper. I use all FSC certified paper which means it is responsibly sourced and the trees are not cut down without planning & approval. This is quite common practice as most paper suppliers in the UK use FSC certified papers which is great! (Great to also support other UK businesses who have good responsible practices too). Using recycled paper is also an option which I jumped on and once I found a UK supplier which produced good quality recycled paper I was so happy, meaning I could switch all my postcards to recycled paper. YAY! My prints & wrapping paper were already made with recycled paper, along with my business cards and thank you cards you receive in all your beautiful orders. As with all these things, choosing recycled/eco friendly options comes at a cost. It is more expensive to me. However, as I grow and order my product, instead of making more profit per unit (as ordering in higher volumes means cheaper products), I will move to the eco friendly option. This stage is different for different products. Packaging - this was harder than I'd have imagined. As I sell paper goods, most people believe everything should be in plastic packaging but I have proved many wrong. All of my packaging is plastic free as I have chosen the paper alternatives. For example, tissue paper wrapping for each item rather than plastic or I use transparent & patterned paper bags for my stickers rather than plastic sleeves. I also think this makes it look much prettier. I use washi tape to seal all my packages as this is the paper alternative to Sellotape, win win. In addition, I don't use any plastic stickers or jiffy bags for my decoration. Additionally, I requested that the washi tape I manufacturer does not come in plastic shrink wrap, instead it is wrapped in paper. I find it disheartening and frustrating when my suppliers use unnecessary amounts of plastic which I cannot refuse, reuse or recycle. If a supplier had a commitment to less plastic, this would be a major reason for me change suppliers. I always will take steps to lessening the plastic the whole way through the supply chain as it is so important. After all, if their customers (us the business owners) don't want plastic, they too will take steps away from plastic use. This bring me right back to transparency. Sharing more of the businesses position on such issues allows the consumer to understand their products journey and have an opinion on it. Shop my recycable & biodegrable stationery here I hope you found this helpful and useful to read. I am committed to my sustainable journey. It's not the easiest option but definitely the most valuable. I believe it is brands and businesses (however big or small) to make it easy for the consumer. Easy to buy good products with thought of the planet. Our individual consumer behaviours have such an impact on the planet, and lots of us are waking up to this. A decade ago, 96% of Europeans said that protecting the environment is important to them1 and it would be hard to imagine that this number has decreased by any significant margin in 2020. So what is sustainable living and are we ready to put our money where our mouth is? Sustainable living and consumption mean that we are actively thinking outside of our own needs when it comes to purchasing. Thoughts such as, ‘where has this come from?’, or ‘which of the products materials here are damaging our planet?’ are at the forefront of our minds. Sustainable consumption leads into sustainable living. It is not easy to simply wipe plastic out of your life, for example. This is a process by which you consistently search for plastic alternatives across all your purchases, and slowly build a more sustainable lifestyle. This new sustainable consumption is opposed to that of traditional & historical marketing. Historic marketing revolves around the idea of buying more and buying now, without pausing for consideration of the wider impacts. This marketing pushes to satisfy that instant need. It is simply about benefiting you in that moment. Whereas, in a more sustainable mindset, one thinks more widely of others and the world around us. Sustainable consumption is the idea that our activities and choices should mimic the natural cycles of the world, such as the water cycle. Circular motions revolving around ideas of reusing, recycling and repurposing. Over the past few months, many more of us have felt the desire to move outside into our gardens and parks, simply to spend time there. We have observed and reconnected with our natural environment. We have watched the clouds drift by at sunset, we have admired the tulip tilting, straining towards the sun and we have remarked at the beauty. I escape into nature for the tranquillity, but as life picks up again, I find myself looking for that escapism more than ever, and taking the opportunity to think about my lifestyle and how it can become more sustainable. As we strengthen our connections with nature, we strive to protect it and look to purchase more sustainably. The first step towards becoming more sustainable is often the research. I hope that reading this has inspired you to consider sustainability and supporting sustainable brands. 1 ‘Sustainable Consumption Facts and Trends’ by World Business Council for Sustainable Development - 2008 |
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