Tea & Chat with Amanda Lincoln Party Printables
Hello! Great to have you here, the kettle’s just boiled – what would you like to drink?
A Hot chocolate would be lovely thank you.
So, tell us a bit about yourself and your business.
I design printables for childrens parties. They are sold individually or as a themed set, I send the files over to the customer for them to print out and make up themselves. My most popular theme is ‘Alice in Wonderland’ for girls and ‘Jungle’ for boys.
What inspired you to start your creative business?
How did it all begin? My background is in graphic design and surface pattern design and I wanted to create something that could run smoothly along side.
How has your business changed and developed since it started?
To be honest it hasn’t changed a lot as shortly after it started I was diagnosed with Cancer (which luckily was treated successfully) and I have M.E & Fibromyalgia so each day is a struggle.
Where do you draw inspiration from for your designs and product range?
My inspiration is my son Thomas, nephews Abe & Isaac & niece Kaziah, I just think about what they would like and go from there.
What are you working on at the moment? Anything new coming up in your on-line shop?
I have good intentions to widen my range but with a young son and the health issues I mentioned before, I’m not sure when they will be launched.
So, where does all this takes place? What’s your workspace like?
I am lucky enough to have a room in our house in Guildford which is my studio, it is full of inspiration and I love being up there and focussing solely on designing.
What do you like most about running your own handmade business?
The freedom to create what I want to without being directed by anyone else.
What are your plans for your creative business for the future?
I intend to broaden my themes so that there is more to choose from. From Dinosaurs to Little Red Riding Hood, I have so many ideas in my head just not enough time or energy to implement it all. If my M.E. were to get better I’d love to sell physical product using my characters things like – Name tags for children or Stickers ranges for planners (which seems to be a new trend I’ve just come across where people spend a lot of time and money decorating their weekly planners with ornate colourful stickers).