She’s the creator of the cutest gifts, stationery, and accessories – all with happy little faces and sweet designs… our Friday Feature this week is the lovely, Hannah from hannahdoodle. Hannah creates a whole range of products to make people smile from greeting cards to pin badges. Though, she’s probably best known for her adorable felt teacup pincushions (or coffee or hot chocolate, if you prefer), with her trademark little faces.
Let’s get to know more about the wonderful creative woman behind the joyful small business…
I think it partly stemmed from watching and copying things by drawing characters I’d seen on TV as a kid, shows like The Powerpuff Girls and Sailor Moon were huge influences early on. I also spent a lot of time on a website called ‘Gaia Online’ as a teen, does anyone else remember that one? I’d draw people’s avatars in the forums and create my own. The website heavily features the ‘cute’ aesthetic so I think I’ve always been drawn to consume it, it made sense for me to want to create it as well.
My business started after I made way too many felt brooches for my tote bag during sixth form, and wondered if anyone else would be interested in them, so I opened an Etsy shop. I still remember my first ever sale to Spain, it was for a felt jellyfish brooch, and here I am many years later!
Definitely a rollercoaster. There are so many ups and downs to having a small business. Slow days, sometimes followed by slow weeks and self-doubt, then incredibly busy periods that I’m grateful for, but have in the past lead to burnout. I’ve thought about giving up, but there are loads of days where I feel like I could never let that part of me go. The way I feel about my business is probably too personal if I’m honest. I do find it hard to separate from that, working from home makes the distinction even more difficult at times, but if I think about how lucky I am that I get to be creative as my job, it makes the challenging parts worth it.
My average week can vary depending on how busy my shop has been. I primarily make things to order so a lot of the week is spent sewing at my desk. Handmade products are by far the most popular items in my shop, I think it’s because people are looking for something really different that they can’t find anywhere else. I admit I can be terrible at sticking to a schedule, but making things to order gives me a sense of routine and the shipping deadlines help shape my week.
My local Post Office is about a 15 minute walk away, which gives me a chance to stretch my legs and go for a walk. I usually go a couple of times a week, waiting until around 4pm to head out so I don’t catch the school rush on the way there and back. If you live near a school like I do, you’ll know why!!
I try to post on social media a few times a week, which involves photography, sometimes video editing and trying to think of a caption other than ‘I made this thing!’
If my shop has been quiet for the week, it gives me a chance to work on new products, or limited creations, which is something I really find joy in. I also use the quiet times to change up my product photography, update listings and other not as exciting admin.
The creative project I found most joy in recently was making my pumpkin spice ornaments. I loved the mix of hand-knitting the scarves, use of my Cricut to cut out the vinyl for the pumpkin faces, and the overall final product.
I had fun filming the process of making them and at the same time learnt a lot through using a new-to-me video editing software called DaVinci Resolve. It’s made video editing a lot quicker and easier. I highly recommend looking at learning how to use it if you frequently create video content, especially if you want more control over colour editing, or if you experience laggy editing with other programs, proxies are a game changer! Overall it was a combination of using so many skills that made making the ornaments so satisfying.
There’s a lot more felt fluff and thread everywhere than you’d know. It ends up all over the house and all over my clothes, I have to hoover and tidy up a lot.
I take a step back and look at the positives, I look over reviews in my Etsy shop, see all the nice comments on social media posts and realise that someone took time out of their day to write something so wonderful it makes me tear up a bit. I think of the small business friends I’ve made along the way and how they’re always inspiring me. Those are some of the things that keep me going, but most of all it’s the support my husband shows. He’s my biggest cheerleader and inspires me the most. If I’ve made something new he’s the first person I show, and he’s honest as well. There are times he tells it like it is, especially when things just aren’t working, we all need that person in our lives.
Sometimes though when things feel really really hard, there’s nothing wrong with taking a small break away from things to recharge.
This is a tough question, really interesting though, it’s not easy to separate the baggage of the past. One thing is I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss opportunities by being too afraid to take them on. There have been a few opportunities come my way that I’ve let slip by because I wasn’t confident enough to engage with them. I’m an introvert at heart, but funnily enough a thought that’s helped me in recent years is that a lot of people are the main character of their own world. If you fail, most people won’t notice. So why not try?
I enjoy most creative things but I’d say my least successful creative hobby has been working with air dry clay. I’ve tried to make some things for our house, mostly wall vases for dried flowers but it’s a lot trickier than it looks. Everything looks misshapen and there are a few cracks here and there but I tell myself that’s part of the handmade charm!
I’d definitely be an artist! I originally studied and received a degree in Fine Art, and still enjoy painting occasionally. In another world I’m a painter who is confident enough to stand in front of their work in a gallery and talk to a room full of people – I wish!
How amazing is it that Hannah’s love of cute things as a child grew into a passion for creating them herself by sixth form, which in turn led to her business as an adult! When you look back at her journey, you can see how each creative step led to the next.
Some lovely golden nuggets of insight and wisdom in there for us all too (thank you Hannah!).
If you want to lose yourself in Hannah’s world of cuteness, head to her website: hannahdoodle.co.uk and for adorable content be sure to follow her Instagram: @hannahdoodlecrafts
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