Me and my Site (Work Hard, Make Cards!)
Welcome everyone and welcome to Laura Create.
I’ve had a lot of people asking me how I got into card making and how I got to where I am today. So I thought that this would be a good time to make a little blog about me and my site.
First of all my name is Laura and I love taking photographs. Whether its tiny pieces of grass or the tallest of trees. Beautiful landscapes or people passing by, I’ll always try to capture it in its entirety. Wherever I am, I always have a camera to hand. I first knew I was into photography when I found myself getting up at 3am to take a picture of the sunrise (yup, mad I know!) But in all honest it was the most beautiful and peaceful morning ever. Sitting on the cool pebbles of Deal beach, the waves crashing against the shore and the birds singing in the skies above. The sunrise slowly peeking out from the horizon, camera in hand and a big smile on my face. After an hour and a half at the beach, sunrise fully up, shinning bright and with over 100 snaps later I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I wanted more sunrises, sunsets, scenery, trees, anything I saw as photographic I was going to take it and make each photo a memory!
I kept this quiet for a long time as I never really thought that my photos were good enough, I never thought that people would look twice in the direction of my work, but a few years later here I am making my photos into cards, keyrings and much more. When one person tells you that a picture is good it means a lot but four or five people later it gives you a huge boost that you need to get going.
People ask me how I know what photos I should be taking and how I know if it’s going to make a good card and the honest answer to this is.... I have no clue. I have no idea if the picture is right, if it’s going to look good and even if anyone would purchase it as a card let alone anything else. But if I look at something long enough and see the beauty in the picture then nine out of ten times I am going to take it. Not just once, not twice but at least 50 of the same image. I take it from different angles, different lighting, with the flash on, and at different distances too. There is so much to look and think of when taking a photo of anything and a quick 20 minute walk could turn into hours, but given the pictures that I have taken and the response they have had, I wouldn’t change anything about what I do, and continue to take a number of pictures on a daily basis.
I used to make mistakes on cards, getting the size and layout right and although it sounds easy printing an image on a piece of card, it really isn’t. There are measurements, colour scales, the way the paper is facing and much more to think about when making my products. It’s also the same when I was creating this website. Time and effort has been put into creating this site (which I love and am very happy with) making the pages, links and layouts. I cannot wait to add to it in the near future. I had to do a lot of research before making this website. I had to research colours, designs, and create a template as to how I wanted each page to look. I usually talk myself out of a lot of things, but once you take the first step in what seems like a scary decision to make, it will be the best first step ever and I can safely say that I am very happy with myself and pleased that I decided to take that step that has lead me where I am now.
A few months in and with cards and canvases sold I am very happy with the way that everything is going. My site is up and running, products are being made, social media is buzzing and I am very excited with what the future holds. I would also like to take this first (and by no means the last) blog to thank everyone who has supported me and encouraged me to Dream It, Shape It, Create It!