"Three Dahlias" from the GraceNotes Greeting Card collection.
Photography has always been a “serious hobby” and something that has brought me great joy. I love wandering and exploring, with a camera in hand. You just never know what you’re going to find.
Although primarily self-taught, I have learned so much over the years from participating in different camera groups. I say “groups” instead of “clubs,” because I personally have steered away from true camera clubs that have officers, and membership fees, and contests with judges. That works for a lot of people, but it has never been my thing.
But - on the other hand - spending time with groups of like-minded photo enthusiasts, who like to go on photo outings together, then share and discuss photos - those are the best. For the better part of the past 20 years, I’ve been part of some kind of photo group. Not only have I gained a great deal of technical knowledge that I otherwise probably wouldn’t have learned, I’ve also made lasting friendships.
With one camera-group friend in particular, we had long discussed the idea of starting a small side business together, to sell photo cards. We have each been sending our own photo cards to friends and family for years, and - as friends and family tend to do - we got some really nice feedback.
People started saying to each of us things like “you should sell your cards” or “you should open an Etsy shop.” Which is incredibly well meaning, but that has always been a serious red flag for me. I knew there were a lot of steps - not to mention pitfalls - between one person liking one image on one card, and successfully selling a line of greeting cards. But my friend and I kept talking about it. Then she retired and moved to a different state. And we kept talking. A couple more years went by.
Then Covid hit. Up until that point, my primary photography focus had been street photography and travel photography. I have always loved gardens and flowers, but when Covid hit, by necessity, photographing flowers became my primary focus.
In the summer and fall of 2020, I set a personal goal to photograph flowers and design a set of floral greeting cards to give as holiday gifts. I hoped people would write notes and share the cards with others, to bring bits of color and cheer, and to help people stay in touch during a difficult time.
I was pleased and humbled by the response to these cards. Pretty much everyone told me I should sell the cards, and one person even said she didn’t want to use them - she wanted to frame and keep them. Which was so lovely, but completely not the point!
At the same time, my friend was also making and sending more cards during Covid, to help stay connected. She was also getting really positive feedback and more than the usual encouragement to sell the cards.
So in January 2021, she contacted me and said something along the lines of “it’s time.”
Which was great - except at that very moment I was in the process of changing jobs. Even after years of talking about it, suddenly it felt like a tricky time to spend nights and weekends starting a small side business.
So we took it really slowly, and tried to break the process into small steps. Our initial intention was a joint venture: something we could work on together, keep each other motivated, and back each other up when one of us was away (not that we were doing anywhere...) Oh, and have fun in the process. Fun was a requirement from the beginning. We agreed that our friendship was more important than selling a few greeting cards, so if at any point we stopped having fun, or our friendship was at risk, we were out.
Given our objectives, and time constraints, it felt like a third party marketplace was the way to go. It sounded perfect. Plug and Play. Just upload the images of the cards, and open the shop. Off we go.
Except that’s not how it worked. At least not for us.
This is Part 1 of what will be a series of blog posts on how "GraceNotes" came to be. This first edition is intended to provide some background, and outline the first steps of dipping my toes in these waters. Check out Part 2 here.