Hello!
Hope all is well!
Where do I start! Those who follow my blog know that I struggle with trying to find a way to be a stay at home mom and work at home mom. My kids are in school for 3,5 to 4,5 hours and the homework is ridiculous! I just found out that in order for your child to sign in to a good high school they have to have all A's and they start looking at the grades from grade 5!! Anyways...I'll get way off track if I continue about the schools here so as I was saying I struggle with finding that balance between all my responsibilities at home and work.
I never ever planned on doing something like Jane's Doodles. It's not like I said I want to design stamps and have my own stamp company one day or that I was stamping for a couple of years or experience in that field. It all just literally snow balled into this. From starting my blog (which also was total coincidence) and having certain talented ladies telling me....you should design your own stamps and pointing me in certain directions that led me to where I am today.
One particular talented lady who made all this possible....Judith of coarse! I will always be grateful to her, without her there would be no Jane's Doodles! A total stranger emails me and says I'll give you the money to make your first batch of stamps and we'll take it from there. I couldn't believe it! I mean who am I to design my own stamps....I haven't made a name for myself in the crafting world. Has she lost her mind!!! LOL! Well I said yes of coarse!
Which now brings me to the first change in Jane's Doodles and that is Judith is stepping down. It's come to a point where Judith is unable to give 100% to Jane's Doodles. And I understand her completely because this is a problem I have and I have spent the last few months thinking about.....the future of Jane's Doodles. I can't tell you how many times I cried because I don't know if I could do this....especially now on my own!! But Judith will always be apart of the Jane's Doodles team, someone I can turn to for advice and help. It meant a lot when Judith said:
I believe in you as much today as I did when we started, you are extremely talented.
So Judith is slowly teaching me how to run the shop, taking orders etc. I please ask for patience and understanding as I learn this aspect of Jane's Doodles.
Another change is that my stamps will be manufactured in the UK from now on. This manufacturer is based in the UK and the USA and the stamps are made of the same material (photopolymer clear stamps) and the same high quality (which is a must, the most important thing to me is quality). I have tested the stamps out and I am very pleased with the quality. They stamp the same as my other JD stamps.
Why the UK? Well I live in Croatia and it only makes sense because of the shipping costs and distance. Usually it would take about 2-3 weeks for my stamps to come where as it would take 3-5 days from the UK!!
I can't predict the future for Jane's Doodles....I'm not going to lie...it's tough. The majority of my customers are from the USA....and living in Croatia is not to my advantage for several reasons. This country is still going through a recession and it's pretty bad which is another reason Jane's Doodles is more than just doing what I love but also it's an extra income that is much needed.
Our next release will be late due to the changes going on and I want to thank all who support me in this journey. I'm freaking out, scared....can I do this alone???? I don't know.
I only know that after much thought and tears....I'm going to just go with the flow!
xo
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