People usually see the finished thing. A greeting card, a planner sheet, a notebook. What they don’t see is the long, messy trail of ideas that led up to it.
For me, stationery doesn’t start with a clear plan. It starts with scrolling.
Inspiration starts with scrolling
Like a lot of people, I spend time on Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok. I save far too many things to far too many boards. At first glance, it probably looks like procrastination. In reality, it’s how I work things out.
If I’m consistently drawn to certain colours, styles, or ideas, that tells me something. If something keeps popping up in my saved posts, it’s usually because it’s the kind of thing I genuinely like. And if I like it, there’s a good chance it’s something I’ll enjoy designing with or using myself.
Scrolling isn’t about copying ideas. It’s about recognising patterns in what you’re drawn to.
How my style developed
When I first started drawing, I didn’t magically have a style. I had no idea what I was doing. I’d take images I liked, bring them into Procreate, lower the opacity, and use them as a loose template to understand shapes, layouts, and proportions.
That wasn’t about reproducing someone else’s work. It was about learning how my hand worked digitally. Over time, those references mattered less and less, because I began to understand what felt right to me.
My style didn’t arrive overnight. It grew slowly, through repetition, practice, and a lot of trial and error. That part of the process happened years ago now, but it’s still the foundation of everything I design.
Messy ideas come first
Once I had a sense of my own style, the process shifted. Instead of working directly from reference images, I started paying attention to what I was saving and who I was following online.
I keep notebooks full of very rough sketches. And when I say rough, I mean really rough. They’re not pretty. They’re not meant to be. They exist so ideas can get out of my head without pressure.
Those ideas then make their way into Procreate, where I start doodling properly. Some designs come together quickly. Others take multiple attempts. A lot of ideas never make it past this stage, and that’s fine too.
Designing for myself first
One rule has always stayed the same: I don’t draw things I wouldn’t personally use.
If I wouldn’t put it in my own planner, stick it on my desk, or send it to someone I care about, then it doesn’t belong in the shop. That’s the filter everything goes through.
If something shows up repeatedly in my feeds, it’s usually because it fits that rule already. It’s something I’m naturally drawn to, and that makes it much easier to design in a way that feels genuine.
Turning a doodle into a product
Once a design feels right, it’s refined. Colours are adjusted. Layouts are tweaked. I test how it works in real life, not just on screen.
Only after that does it become a finished product — printed, cut, packaged, and ready to go. By the time it reaches the shop, it’s already been lived with for a while.
That’s how most things at The Little Stationery Shop come to life. Not through big creative breakthroughs, but through noticing what I like, letting ideas be messy, and designing things I’d genuinely want to use myself.