Pleased to meet you. And you. And you.

Howdy. I thought it was about time I introduced myself. If only to share the behind the scenes process of a side project that is now becoming more than that. Text From A Friend was my 'money while I sleep idea'. How that was going to work without spending daylight hours on it, I don't know. I clearly hadn't thought that one through. 

It's growing arms and legs since I made a decision 4 months ago to take the bull by the horns. I had a few sleepless nights and a long drive from Glasgow to London and back whilst I wrestled with my thoughts on buying my very own foil press. 

What was I thinking? Why did I think this would be a success? What if I failed? What would I do with the machine? Did it have to be so expensive? What if I got bored with the idea? What if people didn't buy my products? I'm not a printer did that matter? Could I do it all myself?

Then on the other hand...What if this was a success? What if I fulfilled a dream? Imagine having my products in Liberty? What if I actually make money from it? (Needless to say I annoyed friends and family with the chore of answering the same questions from me over and over again.)

Does the self doubt and questions ever end? In a word, no. Especially when you are self employed and you're on your lonesome. 

But that's the beauty of it. I wouldn't change it for all the tea in China. As they say. And if it's a success then I'll be pretty chuffed. Ok, a lot chuffed.

Text From A Friend was a happy accident. I scribbled texts from friends that made me laugh and posted them on social media. Before you knew it, it became a thing and I had requests to turn them into cards and prints. But they had to be posh interpretations of course. Seeing as I'm a paper and stationery addict. And you don't get more posh than hand foiled cards do you?

So Text From A Friend was born and I haven't looked back. The range is growing and thanks to finally deciding to buy my very own printing press, I'm prone to foiling many a stationery product within 5 inches of it.

In the last few months online sales have boomed. Online, on Etsy and I'm now a proud Not On The High Street Partner too. How did that happen? Well I just thought why not. And it worked.

It's been a busy few months and I haven't even gotten my finger out fully. Here's to making it more successful. Meantime I'm getting back to printing Christmas cards...and yes it's only September...