Choosing a name for my shop took far longer than I ever expected. Not because I was aiming for something clever, but because everything kept changing as I figured out what I was actually building.
At the very beginning, I had no real clue what to call it. I looked around Etsy to see what other stationery shops were doing, and a lot of people used their own name in their shop title. That felt like a sensible place to start.
Starting with my name
So, originally, I went with Plans by Aimee. At the time, I was focused mainly on planner things, and I was using my name. It made sense.
Then life happened. I changed my name by deed poll, and suddenly that shop name no longer fit me. It felt odd continuing to build something under a name I no longer used, so it was clear I needed to change it.
That’s when I became Eliora Plans.
When a name doesn’t quite work
The problem with that name was simple but important: no one knew how to pronounce it. Was it ell-ee-or-ah? eh-lee-or-ah? And spelling it was another hurdle altogether. If people couldn’t easily say it or search for it, it was always going to be a struggle.
Around the same time, my shop was changing too. I was no longer just making planner pages. My greeting cards were becoming more popular, and I was branching out into other stationery. Having “Plans” in the name started to feel limiting.
So the name changed again.
Wanting room to grow
Life of Paper felt like a better fit. It was broader, more flexible, and gave me space to grow beyond planners. I still wanted something small and focused, but not so specific that it boxed me in if I expanded.
For a while, that worked.
Then came the biggest snag of all.
When starting again became unavoidable
By this point, I’d decided to go by my middle name, Felicity — or Flic. I was also putting a lot of effort into building my website. And then it broke. Properly.
Google said my site existed, but if anyone searched for it, I didn’t. I could log in, update things, and keep working behind the scenes, but customers couldn’t find me. After four months of trying to fix it, I had to accept it wasn’t coming back.
If Google doesn’t like your site, people can’t shop with you.
So it was time for a fresh start. Again.
My needs before business needs
With a new site came a new name. This time, I wanted something simpler. Shorter, clearer, and very focused on what I actually do.
I also wanted it to reflect me, without using my name again. And that’s when I realised something obvious that I’d been overlooking.
I’m small. Very small.
I work from a two-metre desk in my lounge, surrounded by carefully chosen IKEA storage to make it all work. Everything I do is scaled to fit around real life, limited space, and working from home. Nothing about this business is big or flashy — and I don’t want it to be.
That’s where The Little Stationery Shop came from.
It felt right immediately. It describes exactly what I do, without overcomplicating it. It leaves room to grow, but stays grounded in the reality of how and why this business exists.
Sometimes the right name doesn’t arrive first. It arrives when everything else finally clicks into place.