The Card Designer Highlight is a collection that includes impartial makers whose greeting playing cards you will discover in Paper Supply shops. Meet and be impressed by a brand new designer each month on our weblog!
This month we wish to introduce our featured card designer, Leanne Thompson of Little Could Papery. Discover out about how Leanne has taken her pure capacity to unfold cheer inside her group and switch it right into a profession that permits her to unfold pleasure everywhere in the world!
How did you start your card-making profession?Â
My card-making journey began as a option to unfold vacation cheer. Each Christmas, I created cute watercolour playing cards for my household and pals, and it rapidly grew to become a convention. They’d at all times remark that I ought to promote my playing cards… So I signed up for my first craft market. It was each thrilling and nerve-wracking, as I wasn’t positive anybody would purchase my designs. However they did!  I nonetheless promote a few of these early designs, which at all times makes me smile.  Connecting with fellow makers in the neighborhood and seeing individuals snicker out loud at my designs is one thing that may’t be crushed.
It’s been extremely thrilling to see my ardour evolve into my job. Turning one thing I really like right into a profession has been a dream come true, and I’m grateful for each step of this journey.
The place do you draw inspiration from?
I discover my inspiration for Little Could Papery within the candy and easy moments. I really like utilizing puns and phrase play, in addition to giving little personalities to inanimate objects – like a smiley cup of espresso or a pizza slice with legs and arms. I like to weave that silliness into my designs.
There’s one thing so beautiful a couple of card that makes you smile, cry or snicker out loud. I wish to mix these playful touches into my designs, creating playing cards that permit for connection and add a contact of caprice to on a regular basis moments.
What does your day appear to be as a card maker and designer?
My days are ever-changing—every single day is one thing new! Typically I spend the morning performing some housekeeping – ensuring stock is okay, analyzing spreadsheets, checking and replying to emails. I additionally love an inventory, so I can tick issues off and really feel completed. Subsequent, I’ll normally do some packaging and fulfilment, each retail and for our wonderful wholesale companions. I really like placing on a podcast while packaging and seeing our merchandise being despatched everywhere in the world. If we’d like a restock of merchandise I’ll then ship these orders to our native printer—supporting fellow native companies is at all times a win!
My favorite time nonetheless, is once we are designing for a brand new season – I really like pulling up my notes app on my telephone and delving into all of the wild and great concepts I’ve famous down over the weeks.
In fact there are the extra mundane elements of working a enterprise peppered all through the day, however total I’m so fortunate to have the ability to take pleasure in my days at work and love the spontaneity that comes with proudly owning a enterprise. Little Can also runs out of a warehouse with fellow small companies; together with Friday Sock Co, a cool mismatched sock firm, so it’s at all times a artistic and enjoyable surroundings to be a part of.
What’s your most well-liked medium?
My most well-liked medium has positively advanced over time. I began with good outdated watercolour and ink, which was at all times so beautiful to mess around with. I then made the leap to the digital world with my iPad and Procreate, and truthfully that was a game-changer for my enterprise; it opened up a complete new playground for me. I really like the flexibility and the flexibility to experiment with all of the completely different layers and results. It’s positively helped me degree up my illustration abilities and be extra experimental.
What does your artistic course of appear to be?
My artistic course of is fairly free & unstructured. I at all times hold a working notes app on my telephone full of all my concepts, in addition to an inventory on the wall in my studio of the merchandise I dream of making at some point. Concepts can strike on the most surprising instances and normally they arrive to me on my runs, while I’m falling asleep at night time, or within the bathe (why do the very best concepts at all times come within the bathe?!). I additionally love firing off concepts with my household & pals – it’s at all times so enjoyable to provide you with humorous sentiments with individuals, then have them see it come to fruition in a product or card design.
Typically, there’s an illustration that’s nice however the sentiment isn’t fairly proper, and vice versa.. It’s like placing collectively a puzzle & once you lastly determine it out, it’s fairly cool!
What are you most happy with as a creator and card maker?Â
The factor I’m most proud of is having began my very own artistic enterprise in our one bed room apartment, and seeing it thrive and evolve over the years. It’s so rewarding to assist assist my little household whereas doing one thing I really like. I really feel extremely fortunate & proud to be my very own boss and have the pliability to have the ability to spend high quality time with my children; that has at all times felt so particular to me.  I can design my days round my household and I’ll by no means take that with no consideration.
As effectively, seeing my playing cards and merchandise within the wild is at all times one thing that makes me so proud. The partnerships with boutiques everywhere in the world & attending to know my clients who’ve been with me through the years is absolutely particular. I bear in mind the primary time I visited a Paper Supply retailer in New York and noticed my little peanut design on the cabinets, it was an enormous ‘pinch me’ second.
Any private tidbits?
I’m a proud Mum to Ella and Oliver- they hold my life splendidly busy and full. I’m initially from England and have been lucky to name Canada my house for over 12 years now. I really like to go to my household in the summertime time to take pleasure in infinite woodland walks and blackberry choosing. Earlier than opening Little Could, I attended Drama faculty in London & labored as an actor for a number of years. I’ve not too long ago been dipping my toes again into that world, which has been tremendous enjoyable & an fascinating distinction to illustrating. I’m a proud ambivert and might normally be present in my studio with a cup of tea blasting both Taylor Swift, early 2000’s emo music, a Broadway musical or a wellness/enterprise podcast.
Discover Little Could Papery playing cards equivalent to Little Peanut Child Card and Humerus Skeleton Halloween Card at your native retailer or on-line at papersource.com. For extra inspiration and behind-the-scenes motion, comply with @littlemaypapery on IG.Â
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