The Print Bee

My business started with Lino printing and although my shop is now filled with new and exciting products…keyrings and digital prints, I still love your orders for hand printed items. This one has been on my desk today!!
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And here it issssss! Wrapping paper is back! I used to print so much gift wrap and it took me so long but was so popular. I’ve now found a way to get my designs printed onto sheets of gift wrap and I just love it 😍 these Turtle paper sheets are now listed on my Etsy store and they will be going onto my website very soon too. Exciting :) tell me what you think in the comments. X
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This isn’t a new design although one I haven’t shared before, but I’ve just got round to turning into something exciting for the shop 😍 Can’t wait to show you when they’re finished x
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Looking forward to these little guys coming back into the garden. 🐝 the sun is shining today but the air is fresh and cold. I’m not a big fan of this time of year. At least my studio is full of colourful things 😄
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How are we all finding this cold January? I’m missing the sun and the warmth so much but focusing on the positives and that it gives me more time to hunker down in my studio, maybe make some plans for new designs in 2024. X
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November is already proving very busy for The Print Bee which is great! Thank you all for your orders so far…here’s hoping for a busy Christmas period too 🎄please get your orders in early to allow enough time for our delivery service x
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I’ve been packing up some of your lovely orders today, so I took the time to take some product photographs of my pin badges, this was one of the first I designed for all the
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The one good thing about these rainy summer days is I can still package up your lovely orders in my studio… thank you for supporting this 😘 🌧️

Wow, I’m so pleased you’re all loving my new Red fox Labrador keyrings. They have been so popular since I listed them 🥰 thank you all so much for your orders x
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And here they are…Three new colour variations of my black Lab keyring after lots of requests 🥰 Chocolate, Yellow (golden) and Red Fox Labrador keychains are now listed for sale on my Etsy x
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Sunlight on my desk today was something special 🌞

These two are fast becoming my best sellers at the moment! It seems everyone loves a Black Lab 😍
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• Nice words

Getting positive feedback is always so fulfilling and often brings a smile to my face. I’ve included just a couple of the lovely words I have received so thank you so much for taking the time to leave me your kind reviews and messages, they mean more than you know to a small business owner like me x

• Tools and machines

As well as my iPad and Apple Pencil that get used a lot in my designing process for badges and keyrings etc my desk is usually littered with various printing tools. I love my Pfeil Gouges that I use to carve my lino print stamps with. Rollers are of course essential as well as my barren and a little printing press that hasn’t made it into this picture.

For todays prompt •Highs and Lows

This one’s a biggy for me! Highs are varied moments of feeling like my work is recognised and validated with the positive response I get and orders for my work. I’ve loved evolving my enamel accessories range and experimenting with new digital artwork has been great for me and The print bee.

On the other hand the good times are often peppered with the bad. Lows consist expectantly of dips in business and the constant struggle that we as makers experience running a small business, some days it’s much harder to get the work than others.

I also found that the postal strikes hit my business quite hard and brought me a lot of stress (obviously I understand the reasons for them) I received a lot of messages about delayed orders and some of which had to be refunded.

We always like to show the upbeat side of our lives and jobs on Instagram especially being self employed and it can really have it’s good points but let’s be honest too, sometimes it’s just bloody hard! I like many others have struggled with my own anxiety and trauma surrounding my grief journey which is of course ongoing, sometimes my work is a source of creative freedom and other times it brings lots of stress.

But there we go, the ups and downs of life and life as a small business owner in real terms! Love to you all for your amazing support x
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Day 10 of by •Recharge

I’ve definitely found that finding balance in work/home life important and challenging. Much more than when I’ve worked for other people in my life. It’s all about managing your own time and even other people’s expectations! Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you are able to drop your routine! On the other hand it’s vital to your mental health to recharge in between and find the way that works for you. I recharge by spending time with friends and family, Reading, walking and of course having cuddles with my beautiful Bernard cat! Always close by he likes to keep an eye on me and makes my days so much nicer x

Todays prompt for is •Trial and error

Designing a new product always includes a bit of trial and error! The design process to start with and making sure your design is print ready! Then when you come to turning your artwork into sellable products, with most print companies the larger quantity you order the cheaper each one will be. So ordering lots of cards in one design for example is a good idea but then you have no idea how well they will sell. This has definitely been a process for me! Some designs will always do better than others but it’s always a risk. These are some of the designs I’ve drawn on my iPad and turned into greetings cards :)

Todays prompt for is •finishing touches

I see packaging my products beautifully as a finishing touch! It’s the last thing I see but the first thing you see, so I like it to be special. I especially love boxing up your pin badge orders in their little boxes.

My packaging has changed slightly since this picture but I still think it’s very cute

Day 7 of ‘s the promt for today is •Learn

Honestly I feel like I’m always learning! Being self employed and running an independent business is a learning curve in itself but as an Artist it’s important to challenge yourself, constantly learning new techniques and things about yourself as a creative! To stay still is to become stagnant and I want to grow as a maker. I’m always trying to improve my digital knowledge and skills especially as I find it much more challenging than creating physical art and in doing this it has helped me to expand my product range so much over the years.

I love learning in what I do and I hope I continue to learn lots and improve wherever I can.

Day 6 of The prompt is •Start the day

My days start in different ways, packing orders, checking emails, ordering materials etc but the most consistent thing is a cup of tea in a good mug 👌🏻 fitting the British stereotype to a T but I don’t mind that.

How do you start your day?

Also this is one of my favourite mugs from

So today is Day 3 of ‘s proud of myself for 3 out of 3 so far to be honest 😄

Todays prompt is ‘Snippet’
I thought I’d show you a little snippet of a repeat pattern I’ve been working on with my iPad! I’m still not sure what I plan to turn it into but I love playing around with design and learning new techniques. I’m still a bit of a novice when it comes to the digital side of things, I can create the artwork just fine but getting the sizing and formatting etc right for printed has always been more of a challenge for me 🙈

I’m looking forward to seeing all of your lovely snippets today x

Today is day 2 of and the prompt is • All about you! Oh hey 👋🏻

I’m Lissie, a creative business owner from Oxfordshire. I’ve been self employed since 2016 and I love being my own boss and running an independent business.

I live in the countryside with my partner Dan and have a British shorthair cat called Bernard who takes up a lot of space on my camera roll! I’m a tea drinking, biscuit loving Harry Potter geek, and I love all things creative.

I love to travel and have visited many countries over the years although I love nothing more than staying home with a good book in-front of the fire too.

I am very close to my family and have some amazing friends. Life has certainly been quite the adventure so far in my 32 years but I know I’m strong enough to deal with all the curve balls of life (of which I’ve had my fair share already) and look forward to many adventures to come.

After a full on few years, I took a break from some aspects of my business, however as I bring my focus back to it, this year I’ve decided to try and take part in Marchmeetthemaker!

Day 1 is •Brand Origin…

The print bee was born primarily from three things… A keen desire to start my own creative business back in 2015. My passion for print making, all things artistically minded and my love and the importance of British Bee’s.

I have loved art since I was a child and I studied fine art and art and design at college. Then as I grew older the typical thing happens and you get a ‘normal’ job. After working many years in jobs that brought me little joy, working hours for very little in return I knew I needed to be filling my creative and personal needs better!

My late husband encouraged me so much to follow my dreams and start my own business after we had traveled the world together and henceforth The Print Bee was born.

I started small, focusing on black and white prints with fine details, slowly but surely my ‘Brand’ started to emerge and became the independent business that it is today. I still do a lot of Lino print and hand carved stamps but my business has evolved into other things such as enamel badges, keyrings and digital artwork too.

I have ups and downs as lots of you will know running your own business is not easy but being able to share my creative processes and designs with other like minded people make it all worth while.

I hope you will follow along this month to find out more about The print bee and me. x

Happy Caturday 🐈‍⬛ I hope you’re all having lovely weekends, these cat and dog pins are still firm favourites in my shop, they do make a cute pair
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I love taking pictures of my pin badges, product photography has definitely been a journey, I’m just looking forward to sunnier days where I can do more shoots outside with some greener backdrops like this one. Funny how the weather changes everything 🌞 🙈
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Big print runs mean fun flatlay photos too! So many bumble bees fly across my studio desk 🐝
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🐖 are my favourite!! I’d love to have pet pig one day but they need quite a lot of space and mud 😄 gorgeous animals they are though x
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Spring is getting closer and I love that we are starting to see some colour in nature again, the daffodils are coming out and things are starting to feel a little less grey. My garden is a mess but these yellow roses are bringing some warmth into my house 🌞 🌼
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February!! Are we all just holding our breath until summer? How many times have you thought, let’s just get January out of the way 🙈 but alas it’s still cold! So let’s just surround ourselves with colour and prettiness. Things that make us smile, hot chocolate on a chilly day, an extra blanket in the evening to snuggle under with a favourite movie, whatever works am I right!? A few of my favourite things 🥰
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