Torie Jayne and I somehow found one another years ago via blogging and connected instantly over our shared preferences for faded pastels and simple crafts. I'm even featured in her first book, How to Show & Sell Your Crafts. So when Torie Jayne asked if I could help announce her first homeware product line which recently launched at Kickstarter, I didn't hesitate to say yes! I'm so excited and proud of her for taking the steps to make this happen {steps which I've been following at TorieJayneDesign on Instagram}. Torie's line includes fine bone china, kitchen textiles, melamine, and more. It's all made in the UK and features a fresh open-lace motif on a limited palette of silver grey, opal blue, blue haze, and cloud pink. So fascinated by this venture, I thought it be fun to interview Torie about her process and product line!
Hello, Elyse! I wanted to launch my homeware range on a platform that would be accessible to all my blog readers around the world. Somewhere I could do a hard launch and focus my attention, take pre-orders on my homeware range and get valuable feedback from a broad range of potential customers.
What I loved about Kickstarter was that it was an inspiring platform; where creatives can share their projects to an audience of people who believe, respect, and want to see the vision. I also loved the idea that you could start with one or two products or in my case three and once you reached certain targets you could introduce new products in the form of stretch goals.
Yes! It took much longer than I thought to get the samples perfect and working with three different manufacturers complicated the process. However, I was passionate that I wanted to offer a range of products at launch so it was key to work with multiple manufacturers from the beginning. The most difficult part was getting the colours right across three different mediums: fine bone china, textiles and melamine. I went to the manufacturers’ factories on several occasions to learn more about their processes and to see what I could do to help get the colours to match.
What was the most fun part?
Oooh! That’s a tricky one, I had so much fun along the way! I guess I was the most excited when I had finally approved all the samples in the full range and they were laid out on my kitchen table ready to be photographed.
I live in the South of England and all the factories were hours and hours away from where I live so I got to go on lots of fun mini adventures staying at friends and family while I visited the factories.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all fun. There were of course times when I was really stressing out about how I would get it all done. Like how I would make a video never having done anything like that! But the overwhelming support from friends and family who I shared the products with pre-launch kept me going.
What was the biggest lesson or take-away for you from this process?
That it is best to get the colour correct on one product first rather than trying to do it simultaneously on all of them! The biggest personal lesson I learned is that I can’t do everything by myself and it is ok to ask for help.
What are your next steps?
During the Kickstarter campaign I am hoping to smash through the target which will let me start introducing stretch goals of more of the products that I have ready to go… I’m dying to share more of the range!
After my Kickstarter campaign finishes and I get to send all my wonderful backers their products I will be launching my online store on www.toriejayne.design.
My biggest aim this year is to show my product range at a retail show; I really want to meet my potential customers in person and get their feedback on the range.
I wish Torie all the very best of luck on this project! Be sure to visit Torie Jayne's Kickstarter page for product details and a charming video which includes peeks at the manufacturing process!
Thank you for reading and Happy Spring wishes!
xo
elyse
1 comment:
Simple sherbet and lace lovliness!
Post a Comment