FREE Limited Time Only FREE

As most of you know I am just starting out decorating wooden letters e.g a child's name. For a limited time only (until July 24th 2012) I am going to be offering this service for FREE, yes that's right FREE. All you have to do is message me via facebook or email: sugarcoatedowl@hotmail.co.uk and provide me with the name e.g 'Emily', font, size, colour and any embellishments that you would like and I will do the rest. If I require any more information I will get in touch with you. Please share this with anyone whom you think would be interested. Thank you, Joanna x

Things Get Better

I'm sorry that I haven't updated my blog in a while. I have been in hospital since February. I would like to share the following with you.

As most of you know I've had a pretty tough couple of years after the sudden death (suicide) of a close friend which led to me being hospitalised. Anyway, some of you may have noticed that in the last week I've become a lot more happier and positive and there is a reason for this...

Last week I was in Tesco browsing the books and came across Things Get Better by Katie Piper. If you haven't heard of her before she was raped by her boyfriend and then had a cup of industrial-strength sulphuric thrown in her face destroying her looks and damage to many parts of her body. I had a quick read of the back cover and decided to purchase the book. I thought it would be an average read but how wrong was I! The book is amazing and Katie Piper is a true inspiration. Although my story is nothing like Katies there are some similarities like we've both been at rock-bottom and not wanted to live. Katie however managed to find a way to cope and move forward in life.

A couple of weeks ago I was on 1:1 observations in hospital, self-harming and wanting to die. I'd had enough. Since reading Katie's story it has honestly changed my life around. I'm grateful for my family and my Nephew/Godson and although I may not have many real-life friends (I have 2) I am lucky to have them and know that they would do anything for me. I'm feeling happy and positive, wanting to live and to actually do things with my life. I can't believe that it has taken a total stranger to turn my life around but it has.

I would recommend this book to everyone, it really is a good read and Katie is a real inspiration.

A quote in from her book 'If you believe, you will survive.'

Some of you may be wondering what the point of this post and I suppose it's as the title says, whatever life throws at you things get better. I'm not belittling anyones problems as I agree life can be truly !!!! at times but with hope and determination things get better.

Pricing

At the start of the week I listed some of my letters on eBay, facebook and Folksy, a few days passed and hardly anyone had even viewed the products. Perhaps I was being a little impatient but it made me think that perhaps I had priced my items too high. Last night I revised all my items and reduced the prices by half. I'm hoping that by doing this I will get some interest in my products.

Example Products

I had quite a busy day yesterday. I made a few items including a 3D paper mache letter, a wooden letter and a memory/keepsake box.

The letter 'U' is made out of paper mache. I drew around the letter onto some scrapbooking paper, cut it out, primed around the edges and painted it green. Afterwards I added some stickers. As the letters are quite wide they can stand alone on a shelf or alternatively they can be put on the wall.

The letter 'E' (capital) is made from quality birch plywood. The font is 'Whimsical' I drew around the letter onto some scarpbooking paper, cut it out and then stuck it to the wooden letter. I primed the edges and then painted it blue. I then added embellishments.

The box is made of card. I primed the box and lid with Gesso, painted it 'ballet pink' and then added embellishments.

I experimented with different primers and the one that I found covered the items the best was Decopatch Gesso white acrylic covering paint. I also experimented with different acrylics and the one with the best coverage was FolkArt. I was disappointed with the coverage of DecoArt Americana paint. 

I really like the letters that have been covered with scrapbooking paper. I think I may discontinue the painted wooden letters and stick to covering the letters with scrapbooking paper. I feel it gives the letters a more professional look.

I added the items to eBay, Folksy and facebook.

Sugar Coated Owl-The Beginning

Hello, my name is Joanna, I am 27 years old and from Guildford, Surrey. I have been wanting to start a little business for the last few years but I could never find my niche but at last I think I've found it. I've decided to make decorative wooden wall letters, plaques and various decopatch items.

I used to work full-time as a trainee dispensing assistant for Boots Pharmacy. After 8 years of working there I left in June 2010 to pursue a career with Lloyds Pharmacy. Unfortunately for health reasons I never commenced work with Lloyds Pharmacy. From September 2010 until January 2012 I was in hospital. Being in hospital gave me a lot of time to think about what I wanted out of life and having my own little business/being self-employed was one of my dreams. I decided that once I was discharged I would do everything I could to make it happen.

In January 2012 the journey began. After much deliberation I finally came up with the name 'Sugar Coated Owl' I set up a website and ecommerce store with Create, an eBay, etsy, folksy and MISI shop. I created a facebook page, this blog and I also learnt how to tweet. Next I needed a graphic designer to design me an avatar, logo and banner for my website and shops. Initially I looked on eBay but couldn't find anyone so then I searched etsy and found Alicia from Dreamlike Magic Designs Alicia produced some lovely graphics and was a pleasure to work with. I would definitely recommend her to anyone. After that it was time to go shopping. I did a lot of research online and made a list of all the materials I would need to make my products and then it was off to Hobbycraft and The Range to purchase the required materials.

Next it was time to get messy with paint and glue...fun! Here are a few of my first handmade items:

The letter 'm' (lowercase) is made from quality birch plywood. The font is 'Whimsical' I primed, painted and embellished it with hearts, flowers and butterflies.

The letter 'E' (capital) is made from quality birch plywood. The font is 'Whimsical' I primed, painted and embellished it with hearts, flowers, birds and added the name 'Emma'

The box (Medium) is made of cardboard. I used various decopatch papers to cover the box.

The box (Large) is made of cardboard. I used various decopatch papers to cover the box.

The letter 'm' (lowercase) is made from quality birch plywood. The font is 'Whimsical' I drew around the letter onto scrapbooking paper, cut it out and then stuck it to the wooden letter.



I'm really pleased with these items and can't wait to make some more.

I want to thank all my friends and family for supporting me in setting up my business and I hope that I can make it a huge success.