Creative Chats ~ Laura Windebank from CUBBKIDS – Handmade, Personalised Gifts inspired by Nature, Created for Wild Ones.
We have had some wonderful creative businesses enrol on our online course and come along to our Pinterest Workshops. We have so enjoyed connecting with them online and in person and thought it would be great to share our creative chats with you here on our blog!
We have reached out to these artists and makers to share their small business story with us. Details of their creative process, where they find inspiration and the highs and lows of running their own business.
Our second Creative Chat is with designer, maker and adventurer Laura Windebank:
Do you have a favourite creation, one that you’re most proud of?
I think my absolute favourite to make is my felt pennant flags. I love coming up with new colour combinations and wording for them. I hand draw all the letters, and I really enjoy the typography process. I even find cutting out the letters quite therapeutic although I think it might be time to buy a machine to do it for me! I get lots of custom requests for my pennants and I love working closely with the customer to create a bespoke pennant for them.
What’s in your creation toolbox?
My creation tool box is full of embroidery threads, buttons, balls of wool, beads, and strings and of course a mountain of felt!
Tell us about what you enjoy about running your business and find easy?
I’m incredibly lucky to get to do something I love every day and nurture my creativity, which I am very thankful for. I love the flexibility of running my own business as it means I can be there for my daughter and work around family time. I guess the easy bit is the creative process, as this is the bit I really love doing.
What don’t you enjoy and find difficult, what are the obstacles?
I really don’t enjoy the business/administrative side of things and tend to get so engrossed in the making, that I forget about the important financial bit! I have always found the marketing side of things difficult, I think naturally being quite shy means I’m not very good at promoting myself, but it’s something I’ve been really working on! I think that’s why I like Pinterest, as you can quietly and slowly market yourself, without feeling pressured.
Who is your perfect/ideal customer and what do they value from you?
I’m not sure I have an ideal customer, all my customers are really lovely and I am always so humbled when they find time to write a lovely review of my work on Esty. I hope when people see my work they value it’s authenticity as my work really is a reflection of my own personal style and our family lifestyle. I really hope my products bring out a happy nostalgia and encourage people to go camping!
Can you tell us about your creative process?
My creative process is quite organic and intuitive. I tend to sketch down lots of ideas and pin like mad for a while to create a visual mood board for a new product. Then I play around with colour and design until I’m happy with it. This is my happy place.
Do you work on your own and where from?
I work on my own from my sunny home studio in Brighton, with the radio or a podcast for company.
Where does your design inspiration come from?
I get inspiration from so many places but a lot of it comes from vintage camp and scout gear, but also vintage Americana and retro typography. My husband is a collector of all things old and I often find inspiration from his car boot finds. This may be an old Finnish enamel camping mug or vintage shop sign.
Do you have any work in progress you’re excited about and you like to share with us?
I’m currently working on my Christmas range and some new dressing up kits for children which I’m really excited about. Think Wes Anderson’s Moon Rise Kingdom!
Passions and interests?
I love to cook, and I’m a real book worm. We love to spend summer weekends camping in our beloved Commer camper van or trawling a car boot. I also love a physical challenge, and am currently training for a half marathon over snowdonia which is happening in a few weeks, Eek!!
What was the biggest take away from doing our Pinterest course?
I’ve really enjoyed doing the Pinterest course and have learnt loads of tips and tricks from you. Consistency is key with Pinterest which I hadn’t realised before, so now I try and make a little Pinterest time every day, which I really look forward to and have already seen my engagement creeping up. I now have a goal and a purpose to my pinning and hopefully a much more coherent brand aesthetic.
Would you like to learn more about how to use Pinterest to grow your creative business? Check out the following:
