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On Wednesdays, we draw crows. #crows #crowpals #i

On Wednesdays, we draw crows.

#crows #crowpals #iheartcorvids #corvidsnotcovid #indieroller #digitalbootcampersinthewild #procreateillustration #cassiopeia #favouriteconstellations #creativelifehappylife #neverstoplearning #onwednesdays

This is my “I’m at the seaside” face. I’ve

This is my “I’m at the seaside” face. I’ve just spent a brilliant week in the Northumbrian countryside, and have been lucky enough to get a big dose of socially-distanced vitamin SEA. It was much-needed, and I feel fully recharged now, if a little sad about no more beach picnics for a while. Anyway, swipe for some pics of the sea for anyone who needs them.🌊💙

#seasideface #iheartthesea #partmermaid #seasideescape #rechargeyourcreativity #inspiredbynature #indieroller #makerscommunity #indiebizdowntime #itsgrimupnorth

Aaaaaaaaaah! I’ve just made my first stop motion

Aaaaaaaaaah! I’ve just made my first stop motion film thanks to @xantheb ‘s Create a Stop Motion course. It’s so much fun!!! I have called it “The Birbs”.

#stopmotion #stopmotionstudio #birbs #birdsofinstagram #funwithpaper #papercutart #papercutartist #indieroller #communityovercompetition #makersgonnamake #papercutmovies #emmabluecutspaper

Three years ago today, I got engaged in a forest/p

Three years ago today, I got engaged in a forest/park in Berlin. (I bawled my eyes out, naturally.) We celebrate little anniversaries as much as big ones, sometimes by running off to the seaside, sometimes by making pie (Homity pie, to be exact). This card is getting some love in my Etsy shop today, so I’m guessing we’re not the only soppy ones out there. What are your favourite anniversary traditions, or what new ones are you going to create, in and out of lockdown?

#favouritehuman #anniversarytraditions #soppy #celebratethelittlethings #anniversarycard #papercutartist #scifianniversary #cardsforgeeks #starsandplanets #indieroller #makersgonnamake #indiebizcommunity #emmabluecutspaper #wearethemakers #thehappynow #etsysellersofinstagram

After talking about wanting to learn more digital

After talking about wanting to learn more digital stuff during the #indieroller challenge, I finally invested in some new kit and woah, I haven’t stopped drawing. I’m still figuring it all out, and nothing’s gonna beat pencil and paper for my actual papercuts, but I’m having FUN with words, and look at the pretty colours! Get ready for a whole bunch of slightly-wonky, brightly-coloured feminist sloganeering pals!❤️✊🚀

#takeupspace #feminist #feminism #smashthepatriarchy #ladieswholetter #grrlgang #makersgonnamake #makerscommunity #indiebizcommunity #longliveindiebiz #creativelifehappylife #colourmyeveryday #neverstoplearning

The final prompt of the @indie_roller challenge is

The final prompt of the @indie_roller challenge is VISION. In the past, I’m not sure I had any kind of vision beyond: create papercuts, sell papercuts, make more papercuts. But this year, a combination of working through the #indierollerhandbook, taking part in the Digital Bootcamp, and lockdown allowed me to press pause and really think about where I want to go next. And I’m still figuring it all out, but so far, I know I want to keep creating work that I love, for myself and clients, and I want to keep learning and pushing myself. My plans so far are: more digital stuff (learning and making); more prints; cards; and perhaps some t-shirts! The future looks full of creativity anyway!! ✨⚡️✨

#indieroller #longliveindiebiz #makerscommunity #makersgonnamake #communityovercompetition #papercutartist #supportindiebiz #creativelifehappylife #wearethemakers #keepgoingindieroller

Day 6 of the @indie_roller challenge is CUSTOMERS,

Day 6 of the @indie_roller challenge is CUSTOMERS, so this is basically a massive shout out to all of you!
From buying #justacard (and there’s no ‘just’ about it!), to coming back year after year, or whenever your friends get married, have babies, move house or just need cheering up, every single order means so much to me. Not only does it make me do a little dance of joy, it pays my bills and buys my food and keeps me in crisps.

I love chatting with you at markets, and I love hatching secret plans with you. Your lovely reviews make me giddy, and I especially love when you send me pics of where my papercuts go to live - this one of Lieutenant Commander Worf with my papercut is my ultimate all-time dream pic and career/geek highlight! So THANK YOU!! And live long and prosper! ❤️🖖

#indieroller #longliveindiebiz #customerreviews #indiebizcommunity #supportindiebiz #shopsmallbusiness #etsyuk #papercutartist #makerscommunity #startrekfans #treknerd #worf #lieutenantcommanderworf #thenextgeneration #deepspacenine #michaeldorn #emmabluecutspaper

Day 5 of the @indie_roller challenge was about the

Day 5 of the @indie_roller challenge was about the CHALLENGES we face in our indie businesses. I feel like I’ve held myself back by just not having a clue how to create stuff digitally.

I’m much more comfortable with a scalpel/pencil and paper than I am trying to create anything on a computer, so I’ve always just muddled through and got by on a bit of knowledge and crossed fingers.

But around the second month of lockdown, I decided it was time to start learning some of this stuff. I found a bunch of online tutorials on different design packages, and in the end opted for getting to grips with Inkscape(free!). There’s still loads I don’t know, but I spent three days wrestling with nodes and Bézier curves (and crying) and managed to turn a shonky-edged papercut into a delightful colouring sheet (the #fuckthetories one in my bio). I can’t help but feel like this stuff is super basic and sooooo easy for most people, but I also know comparison is a killer, so I have to take the small wins. They’re actually BIG WINS for me.

I’m figuring out new stuff every day, and am really enjoying the freedom to f*ck things up that comes with making things on a screen. Because papercuts DO NOT have an undo option.😭 I’m going to try mixing more papercut elements in with digital designs and see how that turns out. I’m still learning how to do this, and a lot of stuff is still really challenging, but I’m mostly having fun while I figure it out.

#indieroller #longliveindiebiz #indiebizcommunity #makersgonnamake #makerscommunity #communityovercompetition #startbeforeyoureready #alwayslearning #keeponlearning #empoweringquotes #analogvsdigital #papercutartist #typewriterlove #iheartcorvids #crowsofinstagram #corvidsnotcovid #wearethemakers #meetthemaker #indiebizlife #crashbangcolour #colourlover #digitalbootcampersinthewild

Today for the @indie_roller challenge we’re talk

Today for the @indie_roller challenge we’re talking about SUPPORT NETWORKS, and well, my fellow 🌈indierollers are one massive, supportive bunch of cheerleaders and friends who totally get the ups and downs of running an indie biz and are there for the highs and the lows. Then there are the lovely makers and folks I’ve met over the years at fairs and online. ⚒ On a local level, @qtrmstrs and @birminghametsy team made me feel totally welcome when I rocked up to Birmingham three years ago. I’ve made so many friends from taking part in markets and events with them and @harbornehandmade and it’s been good to keep in virtual touch over coffee zooms during lockdown. 💕I’m also super lucky to have a great grrl gang, brilliant friends, ace family, and the most excellent best pal who all have my back through thick and thin. Here’s to ALL of you!! (You know who you are.)😘💙

#indieroller #indiebizcommunity #makerscommunity #longliveindiebiz #makersgonnamake #supportyourgirlgang #communityovercompetition #werisebyliftingothers #birminghamoriginals #artistssupportartists #womensupportingwomen #supportindiebiz

WORKSPACE is the theme for Day 3 of the @indie_rol

WORKSPACE is the theme for Day 3 of the @indie_roller insta challenge. Looking at the grid today I have such workspace envy/inspiration! I’m actually really grateful to have this “studio/spare room”, as in our last house, I did everything at the dining table, which meant clearing my work away every day. This space means I can be as messy as I need to be, and also have all my stuff around me (hi there floor-to-ceiling Kallax-es/Kall-i?). There are still *some* boxes from when we moved in (a year ago!) that are stacked in one corner (hence the ceiling shots), and the bookcase was meant to be just art and reference books, but has all the overflow from downstairs. But I love this desk that I sawed with my junior hacksaw to fit into the alcove by the window that gets the lovely light, and my growing inspo wall, and having a bed right here is also very handy for those little afternoon naps.

My best productivity tip is: if you have a deadline, STAY OFF THE INTERWEBS!! I’ve had to be really strict with myself today and not scroll properly at all while I’ve been working away. So now I’m gonna have a big, fun catchup. Woop!

#indieroller #deskie #booklover #showmeyourworkspace #behindthescenes #kallaxlove #indiebizcommunity #longliveindiebiz #creativelifemessylife #smallbizlife #makersgonnamake #wearethemakers #etsyuk #etsybirmingham #heytheremaker #mystudiospace #meetthemaker #wherethemagichappens

Day 2 of the @indie_roller insta challenge is YOUR

Day 2 of the @indie_roller insta challenge is YOUR WORK. I’ve gathered together some of my favourites, the first collage is of things I’ve made for myself (that have ended up being quite popular!) and then I thought I’d give you a glimpse into a few of the wedding commissions I’ve done, as I don’t share these so often due to secrecy, and then by the time it’s okay for me to show them, I just forget.

A great thing about commissions is being asked to create something from someone else’s brain, so it shakes up my own ideas and pushes me to create something I maybe wouldn’t have tried. And the best thing is getting to find out stories and private jokes. I love that I get to hear about wedding flowers and first dances, and that I’m trusted to tell these stories and mark huge life events with #mytrustyscalpel and a sheet of paper. Both sides definitely feed into one another, and I love that.

#indieroller #longliveindiebiz #makersgonnamake #makerscommunity #indiebizcommunity #creativelifehappylife #papercutartist #emmabluecutspaper #smashthepatriarchy #fuckthetories #supportyourgirlgang #communityovercompetition

Over the weekend I hit 1000 followers, which is bo

Over the weekend I hit 1000 followers, which is bonkers and awesome so THANK YOU and HI!👋 I’m Emma, and I’m taking part in the @indie_roller Instagram challenge this week, and Day 1 is YOU, and how you started your indie biz.

I’ve always made things, learning different crafts over the years, and then making gifts for friends and family. This had organically grown into me taking commissions and selling at craft fairs, and so when I was made redundant from my old Library job (thanks Austerity!) I took that as a nod from the Universe to try running Emma Blue as a proper business. What did I have to lose?

I mean, I had NO IDEA what I was doing, but I’d been part of the DIY punk scene (putting on gigs, dj-ing, writing a zine) and figured all of that out as I went along, so I took that same attitude and jumped right in.

When I started out, I was making books, embroideries, felt jewellery, as well as papercuts, and then as I got better at papercutting, I felt brave enough to phase out the other things to focus solely on my papercuts. And here I am, 8 years later! I work a couple of days a week in a Library (you can TRY and take the Librarian out of the Library!)📚 and spend the rest of the week working on commissions and making papercuts of things I love. Finding the right balance is everything. ✨💙

(fancy shooting star earrings by @frillyind)

#indieroller #longliveindiebiz #indiebizcommunity #communityovercompetition #indierollerchallenge #makersgonnamake #makerscommunity #wearethemakers #meetthemaker #creativelifehappylife #librariansgonnalibrary #papercutartistsofinstagram #mytrustyscalpel #emmabluecutspaper

Woop! I’m joining in with the @indie_roller Inst

Woop! I’m joining in with the @indie_roller Insta Challenge next week. Looks like fun!🌈💙📷

#indieroller #instachallenge #longliveindiebiz #indiebizcommunity #communityovercompetition #meetthemaker #artistssupportingartists #supportingsmallbiz

A little time-lapse video for this rainy Friday. I

A little time-lapse video for this rainy Friday. I wish I could letter this quickly in real life! Quote by the wise and brilliant Black lesbian poet, writer, feminist, activist, and librarian Audre Lorde.

#audrelorde #audrelordequotes #audrelordewisdom #sisteroutsider #feminist #blackwriters #lgbtqwriters #empoweringquotes #equalityforall #lifeisveryshortandwhatwehavetodomustbedoneinthenow #handletteredquotes #indieroller #makersgonnamake #behindthescenes #carpethatdiem #librariansofinstagram

Hello July! I’m going into the second half of th

Hello July! I’m going into the second half of this year with a plan to keep focusing on making things I love. At the start of lockdown, I put my @etsyuk shop into holiday mode, and I’ve spent these past few months rekindling my creativity. Well, that’s what I told myself in those first panicky, anxious, numb weeks, with the fears giving way every now and then (every day!) to rage at the Tories, which I then found myself channeling into art.

I’ve made more work that I love these past couple of months than I have in a long while. I think a lot of that is down to being part of @indie_roller this year. Working through different exercises and figuring out what fires me up has been a real game changer.

One of the big things for me is connection, which links into telling stories. We tell stories about ourselves and our lives every time we share a memory or a future plan. I’ve been so lucky to be commissioned to create papercuts that tell the stories of couples, friends, awesome pets, power songs, massive life changes, and the things that make people happy. So of course I’m going to carry on doing this. But I also love connecting with people over mutual loves, be it books, dogs, music, crows 🖤, dinosaurs, or overthrowing the government. And I want to do more of this.

So, I’ve reopened my Etsy shop. I’ve been thinking about getting prints made of my papercuts for a long time, and trialled a few at markets late last year, which led to lots more of those fun connections, when someone really “gets” it. I’ll be adding prints of the new papercuts I do, and if you “get” them, hopefully this will be a more affordable way for you to have them in your homes. Expect more birds, and more songs, and probably a few more spaceships. 💙

#indieroller #digitalbootcampersinthewild #indiebizcommunity #makersgonnamake #communityovercompetition #etsyuk #etsybirmingham #meetthemaker #wearethemakers #lockdownpivot #papercutartist #emmabluecutspaper #corvidlove #crowpals #crowsofinstagram #iheartcorvids #corvidart #corvidsnotcovid

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