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Shop update...super cute pronoun badges!

1/9/2020

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These tiny badges are a super cute and stylish way to let people know your preferred pronouns.
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A lovely way to decorate your pack pack, tote bag, lanyard or denim jacket! And they're nicely packaged on a colourful backing card so would make a wonderful gift to show your support to a friend or loved one!

Our badges are designed and made by hand in small batches in our Winchester studio. We aim to be as eco-friendly as possible - we use FSC certified paper for our badges and packaging and badges are securely packaged in biodegradable cello bags.
click here to shop!
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Finally...a Father's Day card for sourdough dads!

14/6/2020

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A funny Father's Day card for those loyal & loving sourdough dads! You can shop this design here


#sourdough #fathersday #funnyfathersdaycard #sourdoughstarter #sourdoughbaking #sourdoughbread #wildyeast #wildyeastbaking #wildyeasts #levain
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Some funny new Father's Day cards and some thoughts on these weird times!

10/6/2020

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What a weird year it's been eh? Hard to believe June is already here - where has the year gone?  That being said, April and May felt like a year onto themselves! To make ends meet here, I've had to make some adjustments to the way I run my business to stay afloat and I thought I might share some of these changes here.
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I've been running O What A Feeling on stolen evening and weekend time since 2015 as a "side hustle" alongside my other full-time job.  I quit my day job back in November to focus on O What A Feeling full-time.  2020 was off to a good start - I finally had sufficient hours in a day to prep and post cards for the Valentine's Day order deluge (no more packing orders at 5AM before work and 9PM after work! What a luxury!) and I was awarded a place at the London Stationery Show in their LaunchPad competition for emerging designers.  I had a full dance card of illustration fairs and craft markets to attend.  Then the pandemic hit and my well-constructed business plan for the year went out the window.  I've been quite lucky really - I work alone in my studio, which is just down the street from my flat (literally a 30 second walk) so I was able to safely continue going to work everyday without putting myself or others at risk.  My wonderful local printer who print all my products, Sarsen Press, adapted their working procedures so I was able to continue having my cards printed and collected in a safe and contact-free manner.  I started purchasing all my postage online to limit social contact and reduce my trips to the local post office. 
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I'm so incredibly grateful to my Etsy and Thortful customers who, when trapped at home under lockdown, chose to support independent business like mine online. I can't thank you all enough!  The old saying is true - every time you buy from a small business, a real person does a happy dance - I can assure you that over the past few months, this dance has become more and more elaborate! Thank you thank you thank you!  Things were tough though - I had to refund loads of orders and answer plenty of frustrated customer emails due to extreme postal delays and lost mail in April and May.  My trade show, The London Stationery Show, in April was cancelled so I have lost many wholesale opportunities for the coming months and most of my current stockists are have paused trading for the time being. I'm trying not to worry about this right now, even though wholesale income was supposed to be 50% of my revenue this year!
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In mid-April, I did a bit of a pivot and started designing funny lockdown-themed birthday, anniversary, wedding and Father's Day cards which have been quite popular on Etsy and Thortful.  To be honest, I was really hesitant to be seen as capitalising on the pandemic, but I've had so much feedback from customers saying that these silly cards really cheered up their loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.  As many customers were either completely self isolating or limiting their non-essential journeys I started offering a personalisation service for my cards, where I would personalise the inside of their card and send it directly to the recipient on their behalf, saving them a trip to the post office to buy stamps.  At first I was handwriting each message but eventually demand for this service exceeded my hand stamina so I began printing these messages using a cute font on my studio printer.

I've also opened O What A Feeling shops on ebay (yes, really!), Folksy, and Depop - it's been really interesting seeing how different cards seem to be popular on these various platforms, as I've come to realise they target widely different demographics.  It's a lot of extra work keeping up with orders are they come in from 4 sources (I don't have a streamlined process!) and it's really complicated my bookkeeping but it's paying the bills so I'm incredibly grateful for these new customers!

Anyway, back to Father's Day.  It's a bit of a weird one this year.  Many countries are still in various stages of lockdown and many of us won't be able to spend time with our parents for a multitude of reasons.  I've designed some lockdown-themed Father's Day cards (it's still 10 days away, but we're unsure if there will be any further liftings of lockdown rules) as well as some general silly Father's Day Cards (including some freshly-revamped older designs!), which are all available in my Etsy and Thortful shops, so without further ado I present to you my 2020 Father's Day collection!
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Some new cards for these weird times

12/4/2020

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Hope this finds you safe and healthy! Some new designs to help you send stationery while staying stationary.  O What A Feeling is currently still open for business and will be shipping orders once a day, so your order should be posted within 24 hours of receiving it.

I operate O What A Feeling by myself, and have been taking extra hygiene precautions when packaging your orders so you can feel secure knowing that your order is arriving from a Covid-free environment. To abide by social distancing rules I am no longer making trips to the post office; all orders are posted in my local letterbox using my stash of previously-purchased stamps and postage purchased online (for small parcels). I would still recommend washing your hands after opening any mail! :)

I have also updated my listings to include the option to send post directly to a recipient, with a handwritten message. A lovely and convenient way to stay in touch with loved ones during self-isolation!

The Royal Mail has been experiencing slight delays, so your order might take slightly longer than usual to arrive, especially if there is a reduction or service due to further lockdowns or staffing reductions.  You can find country specific delays here. Please get in touch if you have any questions or concerns about your order. Thank you for your patience at this difficult time!

Gillian xx
shop lockdown cards here
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Free printable bookmarks to colour in!

23/3/2020

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Things being a bit stressful at the moment, I thought I'd share some lovely artsy craftsy freebies with you all over the coming weeks.  For this first instalment, I've designed some bookmarks that you can print at home on an A4 printer - these are are perfect for adults and children who want to pass the time with a bit of colouring in! Why not make a few and post them to loved ones who are also self isolating at home?

​If you like, you can use a hole punch to create a hole at one end and add a tassel with some yarn or embroidery thread!

(link to download a high quality pdf version below...right click on link and select "save as")
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owhatafeeling_print_at_home_bookmarks.pdf
File Size: 479 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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A February Prezzie for you - Free Downloadable Wallpapers!

10/2/2019

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A little pre-Valentine's Day treat for you all! I've designed some free downloadable desktop and mobile phone wallpapers!  They're cute, they're yellow, they've got birds on 'em, and in key colours for Autumn/Winter 2019/2020 to boot! Use the links below for download.

DESKTOP VERSION
File Size: 2166 kb
File Type: jpg
Download File

MOBILE PHONE VERSION
File Size: 2164 kb
File Type: jpg
Download File

​Available for personal use only.  Absolutely no retail or commercial use permitted.
All designs © 2019 O What A Feeling. All rights reserved.
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2018 Reading List

2/2/2019

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In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown by Amy Gary
Morning by Allan Jenkins
Summer Book by Tove Jansson 
No is Not Enough by Naomi Klein (still need to finish the last couple of chapters as I was reading it in the morning and getting anxiety attacks from the impending sense of doom!)
Fair Play by Tove Jansson
Winter Book by Tove Jansson
Art in Nature by Tove Jansson
Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson
Letters from Klara by Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson - Work and Love by Tuula Karjalainen
Theft by Finding by David Sedaris (still a work in progress!)
Hidden Nature by Alys Fowler
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Nation of Shopkeepers!

2/2/2019

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Have a brand-new, superspecial newsletter just for stockists!  Be the first to hear about studio news, new products in development, special offers and get insights into our design process!  Sign up today at eepurl.com/dNa1fs  ​
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win a year of cards!

1/2/2019

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We're super excited for this giveaway! One of my New Year's resolutions was to relaunch our newsletter for 2019 and are delighted that the inaugural issue of O What A Newsletter will be flying into inboxes in a few days! I'm not a massive fan of sleazy, impersonal, sales-y newsletters, so I'm planning this one to be a bit different. Instead of spamming you with coupon codes and sales announcements, I want to give you a peek behind the scenes of O What A Feeling and some insight into my design process, with some tips and tricks I've picked up along the way.

Anyway, back to the giveaway...I'll be randomly selecting one subscriber to win a year's worth of cards (12 cards of your choice)! Open to worldwide participants, contest closes February 28th, 2019 and is not affiliated with Instagram or Facebook whatsoever. After that date you can totally unsubscribe or whatever - no hard feelings! You can subscribe to our newsletter using this handy link: http://eepurl.com/dms08T

Here's what delights O What A Newsletter will be delivering to your inbox every month:
•New products I'm working on - from sketch to final designs
•Things that have inspired me and general ramblings on about things I loved this month that I think you might get a kick out of too!
•Podcast and music recommendations, films and TV, art exhibitions, random YouTube videos, new art supplies I've tried out, blurry photos I've taken of strangers' dogs, articles I found interesting, herbal tea reviews, the latest Pantone shades I'm obsessing over...
•Free printables, like recipes, art prints, puzzles, colouring pages and more
•Digital downloads, including phone and computer wallpaper!
•Early access to flash sales and of course the obligatory discounts for newsletter subscribers!
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New Valentines!

20/1/2019

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Valentine's Day is quickly approaching! Following us on Instagram @owhatafeeling is the best way to get a behind-the-scenes peek at our design process and to see what new designs are fresh off the presses!
View this post on Instagram

Get yer mushy, lovey-dovey valentines here folks! ❤❤❤ . . . . . @marmite #owhatafeeling #stationerydesign #stationerytrends #topdrawerlondon #greetingcard #greetingcards #stationery #papergoods #paperaddict #paperlove #papergoods #dailydoseofpaper #dailydoseofwhimsy #girlswhodraw #thatsdarling #snailmail #justacard #humpday #happyhumpday #marmite

A post shared by Gillian! ?‍? Print Designer ? (@owhatafeeling) on Jan 15, 2019 at 11:18pm PST

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    Gillian is the founder of O What A Feeling

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