I spent a very happy hour last night putting finishing touches to some personalised baubles. Different stages of my process for painting baubles are done around my calligraphy studio, and yesterday – being Sunday – I took a little time to paint botanical details on my Evie and Maeva baubles while I watched a little Columbo.
While the dishevelled detective did his thing, I mused over the price of the baubles I make. When you can buy a bag of 12 basic baubles for next to nothing at discount stores, they can feel high end and expensive, and yet while I’m carefully painting them at home, they feel more special than anything else.
I posted on instagram recently that I paint and write on baubles so that nice people will give me money to buy cat food and hiking boots. That’s literally how my life works, and I love my life! I paint, I earn a little money, I feed my kittens and I walk the Lake District fells with my partner. And I price my baubles for the time I spend decorating and personalising them, as well as the materials that go into every one. Which if you’re interested, is a blank ceramic bauble, base paints, calligraphy ink and quite a few specialist nibs, varnish, gift bags and boxes and stamps and packaging – a long list!
There’s also the hidden costs, the commission I pay for sales on platforms like Etsy and Not On The High St, the cost of postage and fees I pay for my calligraphy website hosting. So I’ve priced my personalised baubles at £32 this year. And for each one I make a few pounds. If I sell a hundred, I can feed two very enthusiastic cats until February or so!
Of course, breaking down costs is simpler than trying to explain the value of a personalised bauble. They’re bought as special gifts from aunties for nephews and nieces, from grandparents for the new arrivals in their family, and by new parents as forever keepsakes for children. This is why it’s so important for me to make every detail as perfect as can be. Because these lovely personalised baubles will be unwrapped year after year after year, hung with care on Christmas trees all over the world (my last bauble order shipped from Cumbria to Indianapolis!) – they’re little treasures, gifted with love, and that’s worth so much more than ink and paint!