In the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and the anarchy of a new addition to our little family, we were looking toward the future and trying to come up with ideas on how to become more self-sufficient, as many people were. Not knowing when or if it was ever going to end, and what things we could do to encourage our little one to learn and grow, cut off from the outside world.
The future weighed heavily on our minds for a long time. The wedding industry which fuels a lot of our income was, at the time, on it's knees. So we had to come up with ways to subsidise our income. Prints and Print Products was such a way. Being able to fill ones home with affordable art which could inspire and brighten seemed like the sensible option, so we embarked on our first version of an #etsy shop. Being honest, we made a lot of mistakes and tried to offer way too much.
In the midst of all of this, we had the opportunity to cover a few weddings which were allowed to take place. One of which was for good friends of ours. We've known the couple for a few years and we knew that the groom was an avid comic book fan, so we took a sample of images and turned them into a graphic novel style mini-story of their day.
One evening, Will realised that part of the process he'd learned to accomplish this could be used to create a colouring book for our little one. As he was explaining it, the lightbulb went off, why keep it to ourselves?
After many discussions via various chat platforms with friends, and doing a fair amount of market research, there was a small gap in the market for something new.
Now, here we are. 2 years later from our first attempt at putting some kind of thing together... You'd think it was pretty straightforward, take a photograph - turn it in to something that can be coloured in. It isn't. Turns out, you can go too far or not far enough and finding that perfect balance has been a challenge, but a challenge we relished.
Finally, we are proud to say, our first Colouring Book is available to order via our #etsy and #beautifullyhandmadeuk online shops. (link below)
These books are sizeable and we consider great value for money. We have both an A4 and A5 version for sale. Each containing 20 images, some interesting little facts about the subject and the original image if you want to attempt to copy it (or you can just do your own thing and let your imagination run free). Varying from plants and wildlife to farming equipment and seasonal offerings, there's plenty to keep you occupied.
They are printed on a heavyweight paper, which after a fair amount of rigorous testing, we can say will absorb pretty much any colouring media without "bleed" to the next page. We've tried everything from Watercolour Paint to Permanent Marker and everything in between. As long as you don't overdo it, the paper should be able to absorb it.
There's a wide variety of images with progressively more difficult levels of detail to colour, however, you can be as careful or not as you wish, the surrounding image makes up the rest.
So, if you're interested in getting one to keep yourself or the kids occupied over the holidays or just enjoy the challenge, these are available to purchase for under £20 with free shipping in the UK.
Beautifully Handmade UK: https://beautifullyhandmade.co.uk/shop/a-walk-in-the-country-photographic-colouring-book-a5-a4/
