Mixing Family and Business

One of the best/worst things about having a buisness (no matter how large or small) is the varied reactions of family members. Some give you blank looks, others want to hear every detail. Some want to support you, giving you encouragement and even (gasp) insisting on paying full price. Others will take anything they can get for free or at a discount. The mix of family and buisness is often murky at best, especially if you sell the sort of items they typically wouldn't buy (or above a price they would usually pay).

I am lucky enough to have a family that wants to support me, although they don't always understand what it is I am doing. They mean well. : )

My grandmother is a wonderful example. Seeing herself as our family matriarch she sends out cards to mark each holiday, birthday, wedding, anniversary, and event. Finding out about my fledgling endeavor on Etsy, she wanted to support me by buying cards to send. There is something sort of awful about asking a grandmother for money though. : /

So I try to compromise, often creating cards just for her that aren't the same style as I would typically make for my shop that might be less time intensive, thus allowing me to charge less. The good thing about this is that it gives me a lot of room to experiment and try new things, some of which may end up in the shop down the line. It also gives me a chance to "play" and let my other cards rest for a day or two--something that often causes me to come up with new ideas.

This month she wanted me to make her St. Patrick's Day cards and Easter cards. I finished the six St. Patrick's Day cards yesterday and will be starting in on the easter ones this week.



I was reasonably happy with the way these, turned out, some more so than others. I especially like the first two, although they are relatively plain. I'm never very happy with my own lettering (I prefer to cut letters out rather than write them...), so I am naturally doubtful of that on the last two cards. The interior was pre-printed on my printer for the same reason. My grandmother prefers cards with LARGE messages on the interior so I simply tried to select a font that fit the theme. ^_^