The Launch

The Launch day is nearly here, the 6th September, but everything is practically ready. The brochures are in the midst of being printed, letters of introduction, postcards, flyers and posters are done. I'll be uploading the new website and new products on my Etsy shop on the day. It is our wedding anniversary the next day, so hubby and I will be having a double celebration that weekend.

Things will change as I get going, but that happens, especially when new ideas are escaping from my sub-conscious every night. It can be annoying when I've forgotten what i dreamt about the night before, but I have a pen and paper by the bed, so I catch a few of them. A lot of the ideas are just not viable, but some of them are and they are going to be incorporated into the mix at some point.
I'm working on a new range of notebooks at the moment, I thought I'd get those going quite quickly as they are a less expensive option. The current range costs from £20 - £50, but the new ones will be from £16.00 to £19.00. They will be the same quality and the same materials, but will just have fewer pages.

In the autumn, I going to be working on a product for toddlers, not saying what it is yet, but you'll be the first to know when it launches. It will be very interesting to see how it evolves. It was an idea that my Mentor came up with after seeing my work for the first time. It will be a lot of fun letting my inner child out for a while.

The blogs posts have been devoid of photos, but that will change on Friday, promise.

Talk soon

Love & hugs
Angela
xxx

Nearly ready to go

Well, exciting times, I have a launch date and I'm nearly ready. Got flyers, posters and postcards done, my business cards are great. Tomorrow I have an appointment to see the bank about a business account. The bank appointment is making everything very real, not too scary though, I'm really excited. I have an appointment with my Business Mentor next week to finalise my brochure and go over the details of starting up, then I'm ready to send out the marketing materials. The items on my To Do list are gradually being ticked off.

I had lunch with my friend Adele today and told her all about my plans, I hadn't seen her for a while, so she didn't know about it. We used to work together. She was telling me all about her daughter, who is now two. She sounds like a real cutie. It was lovely to see her.

I've been doing some work this evening and now I've finished my blog.

Talk soon

Love & hugs
Angela xxx

P.S. Just bank from the bank, a lovely lady at HSBC has given me a business account.

McLean Book Arts Postcard

Today I completely ruined 2 casebound books I was making, bah. I really should not do things when I'm not well. I'll learn the lesson eventually. Started on another 2, but coptic bound this time, looking good.

I created a postcard to send out with orders. The front is my avatar with the web address below. The back is kind of like my business card with a thank you message on it. The message can be changed to suit the purpose. I've done an example for my Mentor to see next week.

I'm hoping to get this light cube tomorrow so that I can start on my brochure photos.

Talk soon

Love & hugs
Angela
xxx

New Cover

I've been quite productive today. Managed to finish one of my secret bindings in A6 called "Queen of Hearts", it took a while, but I got there. Pity I can't describe it or post a photo, that has to wait for the launch. Also been working on " The Tree". Got the cover done, just need to attach it to a book block. I'll probably get that done tomorrow.

The printer is playing up. I can't seem to get the paper I want to use to go through. Total pain, I was trying for ages, even glued the paper to a sheet of printer paper, alas no luck. I wanted to have an idea about the brochure I had, ready for Tuesday. That's when I'm meeting up with my Mentor. I may have to think up something to get around the problem.

The thing I've discovered about working for myself, is that I can work when I want to. I've been working for 4 hours this evening while watching Indiana Jones and sipping wine. It's 21:30 now and I'm thinking about stopping when I've done this blog post. Well, that's it, I'm off.

Talk soon

Love & hugs
Angela
xxx

Bookbinding Course

On Saturday morning, I got the train to Partick to attend another bookbinding course at Downie Allison Downie. It was a great day, made 2 heavy A4 ledger type books. It was an experience working with the larger notebooks, A5 is the biggest I've dealt with. The day went so fast, that we were all pretty surprised when someone told us it was 4:30. we thought it was only about 2:30. John is a pretty patient guy, which is probably just as well. He gets bombarded with questions at every class.

I've now got a drill stand to do Japanese Stab Bindings, yay. John was kind enough to let me have a couple of drill bits (I didn't have any the right size). The next thing I have to buy is a pedestal for under my desk for storage and then a guillotine, I think. This all may change on pay day in a few weeks.

On Saturday, I'm looking forward to having a shopping day at Hobbycraft with the Etsy Crafters Team. I'm looking for some 3mm greyboard, they usually only have 2.5mm. There is an empty space on the rack for 3mm, so I'm going to ask them about it this time. After that we are going for a nice relaxing coffee to talk about what we bought and what we are going to do with it. They are a lovely bunch of people. The next outing will be to the Scrapstore in Musselburgh, though the opening hours may prohibit some people from going.

Today I'm meeting my amazing Mentor for a coffee. I'll take along the stuff I've made since our last meeting and she'll get a little surprise too.

Talk soon

Love & hugs
Angela xxx

Meeting my Mentor

I met my Mentor for the first time yesterday in a Costa cafe late am. What a brilliant meeting, it was buzzing. She is such a lovely person and full of ideas of what I can do with my projects. It's great to have such a knowledgeable person to help me with this, as I'm not sure I would have considered doing this on my own. She is going to be with me a quite a way through my journey, so I'm sure we'll get to know each other well. It will be a couple of weeks before I meet with her again, so I'd better get my head down and get on with the binding.

talk soon

love and hugs
Angela
xxx

My First Business Venture

McLean Book Arts is my very first foray into self-employment and I am so excited. I think I spent over 8 hours yesterday just getting things set up. There was Etsy, Paypal, my blog on Blogger, not to mention all the social media I've signed up for. I hope I can remember it all.

I have so many ideas, though I think I'm going to have to put a pen and notepad on my bedside table, as most of them appear in my dreams. I'm sure I had a few last night, but they're gone, hopefully to return.

Tomorrow, I meet my Enterprise Mentor, she sounds brilliant on the phone and I'm sure her enthusiasm alone will carry me along the path of being my own boss. Can't wait.

This is a photo of one of my Japanese Stab bindings using Chiyogami paper. This one was done at a course at Downie Allison Downie in Partick. I love doing these, just need to get myself a bench drill for the holes.

I've just thought of a few more social media sites, so I'm off to join up.

talk soon

love & hugs
Angela