Christmas Gift Guide

Can you believe that it's that time soon? I always say every year that I'll be organised when it comes to getting all my Christmas gifts, but then suddenly its December and I'm panicking! But if you're super duper organised, then here&

Tips

Tools & Apps I use to draw

I sometimes get asked what I use to draw, so I thought I'd do a little post sharing the different tools and the apps I use to illustrate and create! Tools Ipad Pro For drawing all my hand drawn pencil illustrations, I use an iPad Pro. I use

Guides

Gift ideas for that friend obsessed with stationery

I have a draw full of notepads and notebooks (admittedly not helped by designing them myself!), most of them not used because 1, they're too nice to use and 2, apparently I don't use notebooks and notepads as much as I thought! So if you have

Eco-Friendly Featured

Plastic free packaging

I did a post last year on how I make my business eco friendly, so I thought I’d update on that and share how I package up individual products, plastic free with recyclable or reusable packaging! My main go to products for keeping my products plastic free when packaging

Tips Featured

Editing Photos

I mentioned in a previous post about editing photos as a must when it comes to product photos, so I thought I'd expand on that a little, and show how editing photos really does make a difference! I'll show two examples: one taken with a phone

Behind The Scenes

Updated Office Tour

So I've recently done a couple of updates to my office - nothing major, it's been pretty much the same since I figured out the current layout back in 2021, but I was badly needing a standing desk. Getting up and down from my chair constantly

Experience

The problem with Etsy star seller

Etsy star seller is something that has been grinding my gears since it first came around. I personally think there are so many issues with it, but the main one that really frustrates me, and the sole reason I will never achieve ‘star seller’ in my shop on Etsy, is

Preview Featured

Re-brand Preview!

If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen that I am having a bit of a rebrand, so I wanted to a full little preview before it goes live later this month! It's been something I wanted to do for a little while, and now seemed

Tips

Product Photography Tips

I have a love/hate relationship with photography. Sometimes I like taking photos, sometimes it's a real pain. I do always love editing them and seeing the end results, but actual photographing products... it definitely isn't my favourite thing to do! I'm not a

Tips

Design Tips - Using Fonts

Whether you're designing a website, content for social media or even creating your own products, here are some handy tips to make sure that your designs are as legible as possible! Make sure to use contrast I saw a post on Instagram recently where it was white text

Behind The Scenes

New Designs Preview!

So for the past month or two, I have been drawing like crazy - I can't believe I went so long not really drawing, I missed it so much! I've added quite a few floral and botanical illustrations to my collection now, and over the last

Tips

How to support small businesses for free

Times are a little tough for a lot of people at the moment, and so if you don't have the funds to support business by ordering from them, there are other ways to show your support which will also hopefully bring in new customers that might be able

Tips

Uses for Washi Tape

Sometimes, you may come across a product that you love but not sure what to do with it. I found that with washi tape, so I thought I'd put together some different ways that I've used washi! p.s. did you know that you can get

About

Volunteering at Cats Protection

I've been volunteering for Cats Protection for just over a year now, so I thought I'd write a little about it! It'd been something I'd been thinking about for a while, and I was going to apply for a role in one

Hayley Jade Design Studio

Newness in the shop!

All the new products I have been working on for the past few months are finally in the shop! I've been so excited to share all the new designs. I've leaned very heavily into the simple icon designs and then the detailed floral drawings (very opposite

Hayley Jade Design Studio Featured

Big Changes at HJDS

It's been something that I've been meaning to do for a while now, but I kept putting it off. So to get straight to the point: I won't be creating any heavily inspired fandom products from here on out. Including Disney. There's

Markets

The Magical Market

So on Saturday 5th November, I did my first Magical Market. It was held at the Custard Factory in Birmingham and is in it's third year. And wow, was it the best day I've had as a small business owner! It was such an amazing day,

Hayley Jade Design Studio Featured

The perfect photo frames

When I first started my business, I spent a lot of time researching the best sizes for prints. Even though I print to order, I didn't want to offer a huge array of sizes because it would get confusing and I actually found it was difficult to find

Hayley Jade Design Studio Featured

There's more to marketing than Instagram

Like everything in life, things change and evolve. And whilst Instagram changing is frustrating because it’s not the app that it was, and trust me, I’m just as annoyed by it, this is precisely why you don’t have all your eggs in one basket. I know some

Hayley Jade Design Studio

Wedding Stationery

So around a year ago I set up the wedding stationery side of my business. I designed several stationery suites, designed a separate website to my shop, which my husband built, created a new Instagram and Pinterest account and voila! A year later, I have really struggled to keep up

Behind The Scenes

My first market

Preparations On Saturday 28th May, I did my first proper market! It's been something I've wanted to do for a while, but due to the pandemic and just my general anxious-ness about social events, I wasn't sure it was something I'd ever

About

The Best Things About Working For Yourself

Making the decision to go full time with my business was the best decision I have made. Whilst running a business is hard and can be very stressful at times, the good things from working for your self and being the boss outweigh these so much.

Hayley Jade Design Studio

The Story of Washi Tape

I print and make a majority of my products myself, the exceptions are items such as notepads [https://hayleyjade.co.uk/collections/notepads], wrapping paper [https://hayleyjade.co.uk/collections/paper-goods/Wrapping-Paper] and coasters [https://hayleyjade.co.uk/collections/lifestyle/Coaster], as these are things I cannot do without a

Tips Featured

Etsy vs Your Own Website

I thought I'd share my experience over the past 3 or so years that I have been running my business with Etsy and my own website (which you can shop here [http://hayleyjade.co.uk]), and sharing the pros & cons of both. I'm definitely no

Hayley Jade Design Studio Featured

How I Make My Small Business Eco-Friendly

One of my goals is to try and make my business [https://hayleyjade.co.uk] as sustainable and eco-friendly as I possibly can. I believe that every little helps, so I am committed to reducing waste as much as possible, to eliminate the use of single-use plastics and help reduce