Meet Chelsea Ward

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Ward.

Hi Chelsea, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Sketchy Notions started as a small Etsy shop in my mom’s basement in 2011. I had just returned to California after graduating from college (UT Austin) and living in Italy for two years after graduating. I was pretty broke and had sketchbooks full of watercolors from my travels. As I started working odd jobs and as an art instructor for the non-profit Arts Outreach, I started building my business and Sketchy Notions shop as a side business by printing my sketches and creating greeting cards.

In 2018, Sketchy Notions became my full-time gig. It has grown from a handful of greeting card and print designs to nearly 300 skus, over a dozen product categories, and over 100 wholesale accounts. It has grown up from my mom’s basement and now has taken over the 2nd bedroom in our apartment in Highland Park.

My style of illustration has definitely taken shape, too. As a cat and plant lady, there’s LOTS of cute cats hiding among my favorite plants (monstera and fiddle leaf figs) in my illustrations with colorful and cheerful designs, lots of love for mid-century aesthetics and plenty of terrazzo.

Being self-employed has also allowed me to continue pursuing my other loves, including traveling and teaching. I started hosting art retreats in Italy in 2016 and have now led over 10 retreats in Italy with my other business Wanderful Retreats. It’s been so fun to show people not only my favorite places in Italy but the scenes and colors that made me fall in love with watercolors in the first place

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have definitely been growing pains. My boyfriend at the time (we’re now married) and I moved up to Berkeley right before the pandemic. Trying to run and grow a stationery business in less than 500 square feet while we both worked from home was a wild experience. Luckily he packs light and the stationery community is a loving and supportive bunch. I took Katie Hunt from Proof to Product’s “Paper Camp” during the fall of 2020 and was encouraged to grow my line despite the lack of space and abysmal state of the world. I’m so glad I did. I got a storage unit to keep the new product while my boyfriend finished up his degree. We got to the other side of our Berkeley chapter and were able to move back to Los Angeles in 2021. We just got married in June in Italy, now have two adorable cats (Babka and Ginger) and my business is busting at the seams from our 2nd bedroom.

Trying to learn how to run a business with a non-business background is tough, too. I tend to procrastinate the tricky tasks (book-keeping, marketing, etc.) but as a small business, you have to wear all the hats. There’s not always another employee to delegate tasks to so you have to be ready jerry-rig, MacGyver and Google at any moment. Figuring out how to wear all those hats while not getting totally burnt out on the whole small business lifestyle has been really tough. Again though, the stationery world is such a wonderful group of people so I may work solo but I have an extended network of paper friends to reach out.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a very analog person (hello, stationery business!). All my products start with a good ‘ol fashioned pencil sketch before I paint it with watercolor. I try to keep my illustrations cheerful and colorful and as analog as possible, even down to hand-lettering the verbiage for my business cards and lettering for greeting cards. Especially as the world continues to move in a more digital direction, I like that my products maintain a very hand-made, tactile feel. I want my shoppers and the recipients of the greeting cards to feel how much love went into making the illustrations and the products themselves.

My process certainly isn’t a fast one but it feels very worthwhile. Plus, I just love watercoloring! I used to hate watercolors throughout high school and college until I studied abroad in Italy. Now I can’t imagine my business without this medium. It’s such a soothing and versatile medium to work with. I love being able to do realistic portraits for commissions and my everyday illustrations of cats and plants.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I think the pandemic made people re-evaluate how they maintain their important relationships in their lives. A quick text can do the trick but sending a hand-written card just feels like a much-needed long-distance hug when things feel very dark. I think greeting cards are here to stay, and there’s SO many amazing new brands and designers coming into the stationery world.

It feels like things will absolutely continue to grow for digital art and designing so I’ll be here in my little analog corner painting. There’s value in both digital and analog mediums but I think my voice resonates louder through watercolor at the moment. One day I’ll learn how to draw an iPad but for now, I’m happy leaving that to my friends.

Pricing:

• Greeting Cards: $5.50
• Calendars: $17
• Washi Tape: $6
• Notepads: $10
• Original Watercolors: $75+

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sketchynotions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sketchynotions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SketchyNotions
• Other: http://www.wanderfulretreats.com/