Goodbye ‘A Spoonful of Sugar & Co UK’

I started A Spoonful of Sugar and Co UK, just before I gave birth to my son, nearly 5 years ago. I had no focus or vision but just knew I wanted to make things for others to enjoy.

I had been inspired by a work trip to Australia where I found some awesome gift shops with treasures and thought oh I’d love to do that. A shop was too much of a commitment and risky, but creating for Etsy seemed a good option. The name came from my name Judy Andrews (no not Julie Andrews) so I thought I’d play on a Mary Poppins song, A spoonful of sugar… it seemed perfect to suit the positivity I wanted from the brand.

Dipping my toe

My first products were friendship bracelets, graphic acrylic necklaces, mini neon cards and lavender bags. I had the idea I could make lavender bags cool! I got pretty much no sales, I had no idea how to market my products, although I had a logo, had no brand and was about to give birth to my son, so I closed my shop and concentrated on being a mum.

Hand drawn type

While on maternity leave I discovered hand drawn type, I’d always loved typography. That’s the graphic designer in me. But had never thought about creating my own. I loved it, it was also something I could pick up and down easily in and around feeds, bath times and nappy changes. I started off with known phrases or quotes, and experimented with different forms. I also created my own geometric typeface (which I’ve still yet to name) which still features in my work now. I started making a few products, like badges and some small prints. I had a go at my first market stall which was a disaster! Well it just wasn’t a success, it was in Kingston on a cold and rainy May day. They hadn’t got my booking so ended up right at the end next to a smelly food vendor. Although I specialise in retail design my stall did not reflect this. The good news is that I had some amazing friends and colleagues come and support me and I learned loads.

Post it notes of positivity

I was then back at work full time as a Creative Director of a small design agency, so it was all a bit of a juggle. I found it hard commuting, working full time and being a mum, and used to help motivate and inspire myself with quotes and messages I found. To start with I just used to doodle on a post it note and then post on social media. It really helped me, but also found it was helping other people. This is when I realised that positivity was a huge part of my brand. At this time I did play around with a few more designs and prints.

Finding my freelance feet

In 2017 I left my full time role to freelance, I was hoping to have more control over my time and what I did. I was lucky to pick up my first brief in the first couple of weeks. I’d entered a competition to design a bag for the annual blogging event for creatives Blogtacular, and won! I then went on to create all the show graphics. I loved working on it and it gave me confidence in my new venture as a freelance designer. From then more work followed and I eventually set up my now design agency ticketyboocreative.co.uk

Pushing my creativity and style

I found myself as busy as ever but was now more in control of my time, if I needed to work late I could put my son to bed and work after. 2018 was the year of the collaborations with Caboodle magazine, Sketch Appeal and Most Curious Wedding Fair. And following my enjoyment of my #100daychallenge I decided to do a mammoth #365daysoftype challenge.They all helped me to experiment with my work and push me, my favourite designs will come with me to my new shop. I also did a few craft fairs (renegadecraft.com and www.craftyfoxmarket.co.uk) which I realised had a more relevant customer base, where I met some amazing and talented designers/makers. I mastered my stall appeal, with proper branding and merchandising. With the help of my sister (who had an eye for the details) and my husband who had great ideas to push the stall to the next level, he was also really good with all the customers.

Define and refine

At the beginning of this year I realised that I was not happy with my brand, over the last 5 years ‘A spoonful of sugar and Co UK’ had always been a side hustle with no direction. I also always kept my graphic design part of me and this separate, which makes no sense as I’m one person. I wanted to have a stronger vision and purpose to it all so I could grow it. To make this change I realised that I needed to lose the name, and go back to my routes and just be me. So I made the decision to be ‘Judy Andrews’.

Reflection

I’ve realised that none of what I’ve learnt has been wasted and it’s all got me to where I am today and where I’m going moving forward. I’ll be sharing my rebrand process in another blogpost soon, watch this space.