Well... last Monday we put our dossier in the mail!! Yeah... it's done! I can't believe it! Miraculously, our agency received it the next morning and assured us that everything looked good. Now it has to travel to D.C. for authentication. In about a week someone will call us and say "you are officially on the waiting list for a healthy boy, 12 months or younger from Ethiopia" AHHH! Can't wait! After we get that call we'll have about 10 months to save, nest, cry and probably freak out a little bit.
I've wanted to put my talent to good use and figure out a way to pay for this adoption and I've recently found time to put a few things together. Some of these are still in progress, but I couldn't wait to share! I have had so much fun putting these pieces together. When I started brainstorming I got really hung up on making everything hold together in a certain color palette, style and theme, but that would just be too limiting for buyers... right? I want to have products that are adoption/african inspired but will appeal to a lot of people. So, now that the designs are almost done I have to switch over to business brain and think about how much I can spend, how much I can charge, how many I should print, and what printer I should use! Business brain is not my favorite :( Thankfully I have friends that are giving me great advice and helping me to make smart decisions. I think I have to start small and print one thing at a time. The "Gotcha Day" art print is on the schedule to be printed at Blue Collar Press and I can't wait to see how it turns out. It's a three color screen print on natural stock measuring 8x10. As soon as I have them in my hands my Storenvy store will be up and running. Since this print is more specific to Ethiopian adoption, I plan to partner with some other Ethiopian adoption blogs to help spread the word. Maybe do some giveaways?? Also the Together for Adoption Conference is right around the corner and I hope to make some new friends there! What do you guys think??
Beautiful job! I can't wait!
ReplyDeletewhoot, whoot. i love it, heather!
ReplyDeleteawesome. looking forward to the launch of the store!
ReplyDeleteIt's all great! I can't wait to order something!
ReplyDelete(You know, in November or whenever it is I get back into the USA.)
LOVE LOVE LOVE that print! You are so talented!!
ReplyDeleteAs much as I really love the print, no need to send it. I'd rather have you keep all the money I gave to put towards expenses.
ReplyDeleteI will just come back to your site and smile, smile, smile when I read about your progress. Best wishes!
Found you through Kari Gibson and heard you work for Hallmark. Do you know Nicole Hite? She's my cousin? We have four kids - two adopted from Ethiopia and two bio.
ReplyDelete