Coming up over the next few weeks, I’m hoping to feature some of my favourite planner suppliers, this includes stickers, ephemera, stamps and other planner/journaling related goodies. Hopefully there will be social media links too so you can head over to find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as their websites and/or Etsy stores. You can find all the posts here.
This time I’m joined by Lucy and Mel from Stationery Geek. Lucy and I got chatting earlier in the year when I reviewed their Crochet Project Bible. I adore mine and although it’s been well loved and Jaxon-ed a few times it’s still works well and has helped me keep track of my temperature blanket all in one place! Anyway, here we go!
— See what I mean??
Hey, Thanks for joining in. So first up can you introduce yourself?
Hi, thanks for letting us take part. Lucy and Mel here, we have been working together around 18 months and we have discovered that we have quite a lot in common. We both live and work in York, both have a 6 year old child (Aston and Lily are two of our top product testers!) and of course we both LOVE stationery and all things crafty.
What inspired you to open an online store? Is it your main job or do you do it as well as a day job?
We actually work together at Exactis Interactive Print, a digital printers based in York. Stationery Geek has developed as another strand to the business with all of our products being designed, printed and packed in-house.
Lucy designed our first products, the My Diet Diary range, as an aid to her own healthy eating regime. As a self-confessed stationery addict, when she couldn’t find a diet journal with the content she wanted – she made her own. Stationery Geek has expanded from there and our system is pretty simple: we want something – we make it! After all, if we like something there must be other people out there who will like it too.
We specialise in niche items that are quite specific but can also be used in a variety of ways. By creating products that are tailored to our own interests we are able to include lots of extra details that simply wouldn’t be found in generic stationery.
Do you have a favourite product that you sell or something that you enjoy making the most?
At the moment we are both loving the Yule Log Book, our Christmas planner. Here at Stationery Geek HQ we are starting to get just a little bit excited about the festive season so it is great to be able record all of our lovely, Christmassy ideas and plans.
(Han: I think I need one of these in my life. I know where the Christmas present list is but need to track down my Christmas card list and get writing!)
Do you have any favourite Etsy/Online Shops for Planner/ Journaling related bits?
To be honest – no. One of the perks of working here is that we get to “test” all of our lovely stationery products, and if there’s a planner or notebook we need we simply make our own.
As a general rule we don’t tend to research other planners or stores selling stationery as we feel strongly that we want our products to be original and unique. Although we would never knowingly steal anyone else’s work or ideas it would be difficult not to be influenced by other items that we may see, so we avoid this altogether.
If you were to give one piece of advice to someone who is thinking of opening their own Etsy/Online Shop, what would that be?
Don’t worry about getting everything perfect at the beginning! There are always some teething troubles and sometimes you don’t know what is going to work until you try it. Just be flexible, take one step at a time and deal with any issues as they arise. Our website is very much a work in progress and we are constantly on the lookout for ways to improve and make things run smoothly for our customers (and ourselves).
Do you have any new products and/or offers on at the moment?
We are working on new products all the time, our newest item is the amazing Bloggers Bible. We often run special deals, competitions or giveaways – our Facebook page is regularly updated with details of these.
Where do we find your shop?
We have our own website which can be found here at www.stationery-geek.co.uk
Can we find you elsewhere? Blog? FB? IG? Other?
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
All images from the Stationery Geek website.
Take a look at their website I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll like.
