S2E3: Interview with Tiny & Snail

5/9/22
Growing Creative Podcast
S2E3: Interview with Tiny & Snail

Today's episode is a conversation Jane had with Grace Peterson and Leah Fitzgerald, the dynamic sister duo behind the heartfelt, whimsically fun Tiny and Snail. They create stationary and art prints with the motto: "If it doesn't make us laugh out loud or ache with the beauty, go back to the drawing board."


Resource Links:

- Learn more about the delightful Grace & Leah

- Leah's interview on: "Terrible, Thanks for Asking"

- "Blessing for the Writing of Letters" by Jane Boutwell.

Jane Boutwell is an artist & creative coach based in Atlanta, Georgia. She loves to nurture and empower others to pursue their creative callings.

"I am an artist with an inquisitive mind, a heart connected to nature and a soul yearning towards God…a child of dirt and dance…a beauty bringing blessing writer… a poetic painter and potter.

Starting with mud pies as a child in the backyard, my creativity includes tactile, intuitive, and deeply-in-touch-with-nature ways of being in the world. I see myself as an apprentice in God’s art studio of the natural world that is full of metaphor, imprinted with the character of the Maker.

It is my passion to share the shimmering beauty and deep truths I find in the creative medium that seems most fitting. Those creative expressions include gardening, quilting, writing, painting, sketching, ceramics, dancing, creative coaching, podcasting, and family life with my husband and four children in Tucker/Atlanta, Georgia."

Join the email list to learn more about special offerings : https://www.janeboutwellstudio.com/contact
Free Sketchbooking resource here: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5f7b3597322e6ae12d5c774e

Follow @janeboutwellstudio on IG for more.

Transcript

Today's episode is a conversation that I had with grace and Leah, the two sisters who are behind the completely charming company, tiny and snail, they create stationary and art prints and their motto is if it doesn't make us laugh out loud or ache with the beauty, go back to the drawing board. I can guarantee you will be very charmed by the work that they make.

Today's conversation. We dive in to their creative process, ways that they are just impassioned to invite others into the beautiful art of letter writing and what a powerful gift that can be along with illustration. Both Leah and grace are poetic writers as well. So at the end of the episode, I shared with them a poem that I wrote called the blessing for letter writing.

You're listening to the growing creative podcast and I'm your host Jane Boutwell, I'm an artist and a creative coach. This is a space that will nurture your heart and empower you to pursue your creative calling, whatever that may be Well, thank you all so much for joining me today. I have been following y'all on Instagram and purchase some of your cards several years ago,

and just, I don't know the way you create art and then combine words with like the quotes that you include. Just speak straight to my heart, the like deep truth and goodness, and then the whimsical fun. So I'm really looking forward to just chatting and getting to know a little bit more about who y'all are as creatives and just the art of sending real,

tangible letters with our words to somebody else's heart and what a creative gift that is to give. So thank you for joining me. We have a, which one of y'all is y'all are sisters, but who is the older sister? I'm the older Grace is the older sister. Okay. Yep. I'm one of four girls. I'm the number two. So there's been part of me like who's,

who's the older sister, you know, you know how it is. Did you guess correctly? Well, I was, I was kinda thinking that might be the case, but just not totally sure. Okay. So Do you follow the Enneagram at all? Yes, I do. Okay. Do you fear for, I am a nine, but I have a lot of four in me as well.

So I would say Growing up as the middle child, I definitely am a like solid nine, but yeah. Also being an artist, I have a lot of foreign me as well. So, And Leah you, art was your major in college, right? Yeah. Yeah. So kind of when I, when I went off to college, I think that shift took place for me because suddenly I wasn't part of a family unit anymore in a way,

unlike I think my creative ideas sort of started defining me more. And I think I just have like this natural way of weaving my life into a story, maybe more than other people do. I don't know if it's because we were really, we were raised spiritually or something, but I, yeah. And even, especially after my accident, it's like,

there's so many coincidences and stuff like that. It's just like, yeah. My life is a hallmark movie For, for any of our listeners who don't know Leah and grace as well. Leah had a terrible accident with five years ago, Actually we're coming up on the fourth anniversary story Years ago and is now paralyzed. And if you want to hear more about that story of that,

I just was listening to the podcast. Terrible. Thanks for asking and really enjoyed hearing more of your story of kind of the day of the accident, how that unfolded and the healing from that. So now, if anybody wants to hear a lot more of that, they can go and listen to that. Nora did an amazing job telling that story. Like I thought that it was such a huge story to tell,

but she was able to kind of weave everything together and like it's such a cool time capsule to have of, I don't know a story that like, you know, hopefully my, my own grandkids can listen to someday and be like, oh my gosh, grandma, It is, it is amazing how powerful our stories are. And, and the heritage that we pass on with our stories recognizing,

I don't know, what's communicated about who we are and the heritage we pass along. And it's so easy for those stories to not get told, but I think podcasts are a wonderful way. You know, I've got four kids. So I'm thinking about, you know, having conversations and sharing thoughts that I want to be recorded and saved, but then,

you know, like y'all are in the business of creating and facilitating people's letter writing, note writing. And that's another powerful way that we pass on those snippets of stories as particular moments in time. And they're so important. Yeah. I, I think like Lee and I are very particular about keeping the inside of our cards blank and that's part of the reason because we want people to add their own stories inside and their own thoughts.

And there, there are a number of cards where it has writing on both the outside and the inside, and then people just sign their name and the thought, the thought is nice and thought counts. But for us, we really want to encourage people to include a piece of themselves in the card because that's what makes it truly a gift that somebody hangs onto and just treasures and it's really important.

So we are huge proponents of that. Yeah. It's so easy to think. Well, I think in any creative endeavor, it's so easy to listen to those voices of inner critic, you know? Oh, do I have to say that would matter that it's worth, you know, putting inside this card that the art on the front is so beautiful.

And I don't know. I, one of the things that I like to ask people is, well, I'm jumping ahead of myself, cause this is usually prompt number two, but I love to hear kind of how each of y'all as creatives approach those places of inner critic or creative block when the words won't come or the voices of negativity are too loud,

you know, and you have to kind of struggle through that to let your creativity kind of out. So I always love to hear from people about kind of how they approach that, what what's that story like? How does it unfold in your creative process, whether it's the creating of the paintings or the cards, or if you sit down to write a note and it's kind of like,

oh, what do I have to say that matters? Hmm. You can take it, take it however you want. And whoever is ready to jump in. Maybe I'll go, Hey Leah. So it's actually really helpful having a partner, I think with my creative endeavors and grace, and I have a way of communicating where I think that she's able to say critique of my work,

but I don't take super personally. And I just like, sort of embrace, cause I know that it's going to make the card better. For the most part. We've been stubborn on a couple, but yeah, it's really good for me as like a very creative sort of a space cadet to have somebody who's like, Leah, you just have to finalize the card.

Like we're printing it. Like just stop tweaking it right now. I have a really terrible habit of like the very end being like amazing, like concerned over the details on like certain cards. And I'm just like, I just have to get it right. And guys it's like, no, you just have to finish it. So that helps. And in terms of writing letters,

I was actually writing a letter to a family member who is going through a lot. I was able to take some time. My husband had our baby with him last night and I was able to take some time and write some letters that I really needed to including a mother's day card for my mom, which was really good to write out. But yeah,

it was writing a letter to this person and I just kept like sometimes I would say something and it kind of seemed fake or something. So I like kept going back to like, what is the truth that I want to communicate to her? And like, just somehow, somehow like focusing on just, I don't know, coming back to like, maybe this seems weird,

but like what I wanted to get out of writing the letter to her, because I think that letters really helped me process things. And I honestly, haven't done a whole lot of journaling or writing about my whole accident experience and I've done some, but I think writing to this person kind of opened up a new channel for me. And I I'm hoping that I'll be able to write more to her because I think that coming back to sort of the pain points are important for her and I to process things.

So I don't know. I mean, I have had a lot of inner critics yesterday. We're writing this letter to her and just hoping that she would receive it all right. But at the end, like at the end, like I just have to acknowledge that like writing is better than not writing. And I think that I shouldn't like embellish my story,

but just communicating my story and maybe where we can connect on things I hope will be helpful, you know? Like, and I think that's the best intention you can have for a letter is to like help in your own healing and somebody else's healing. And I mean, it sounds like bringing your particulars with, you know, honesty and trusting that then tension of your heart,

that you long for connection and to, to share, encourage from your particular place to her particular place. And just trusting. I think, you know, and in my creative path it's been having to trust that those intentions are somehow gonna translate through this tangible thing, even though it's so doesn't match what my head and heart feel like. I can never get it all,

you know, I can't do it into the right words, but I just have to trust that, like you said, writing is better than not writing, like any words show that, that, that heart and that impulse and that, you know, One of the most powerful letters I received while I was in the ICU was from somebody within our community who had gone through a pretty crazy patch of life himself.

And he was just like super honest about it with me when I was in the hospital. And like, I didn't expect it or anything, but somehow just like that rawness and opening up to me was just so powerful. And so, I don't know. I think, you know, it's like the phrase, you know, there was a crack at everything.

Like that's how the light gets in, you know, and it is true. Like, I think that one way you like open up the rawness of our life experience to other people, it somehow allows like grace to pour in, not, not my sister, but it transforms people, you know? And so I, the more we get into this card business,

the more, I just love it more and more because it's the work that I want to be doing in the world. So We're being encouraging real connection and spaces for people to, to open their hearts to each other. Do you have any, any thoughts to share? Yeah, well, I was thinking of this as Leah was talking about, you know,

those like hard cards to write. Cause we, we put out a wide array of cards, but something that we feel very passionate about is our sympathy and support cards because we have directly seen how important those are between Leah's accident. And then our dad, a year later, I was diagnosed with two very rare forms of cancer. So like in just such a tight timeframe,

we experienced really hard things and, and got a lot of different cards and you start to assess like, oh, this one really hit home, you know? And then it's like, okay, how can we create that for our customers so that they can be those people to their loved ones. And I, so, and I send a lot of sympathy and support cards cause I know how important they are.

And I, I think that people can kind of freeze up sometimes because those are the situations that are most tender and sensitive. And it's just like, you don't want to make a misstep, but honestly, like I think the misstep is not sending the card. That is the biggest misstep because you don't want to make people feel isolated or alone. And just getting a card can be that little breakthrough.

Like I might, I'm hundreds of miles away, but I am there with you. You know? And, and I think sometimes it's just, just being honest, like Leo was saying it even just saying like, I have no words right now, like this is impossibly hard, what you've been faced with. And I wish I could take it away and I can't,

and here's a card and I, you know, just like almost as if you were there fumbling through. Yeah. Just write that down. One of the, one of the most, or one of the best phrases I've used recently in card writing is I don't know what to say, but, and then you just start writing, you know, it's like,

there are no words, but this is how I feel about the situation. And I'm willing to risk not coming across. Perfect. In order to connect with you. Exactly Fair. Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes if I write a particular line that I'm like, oh wow, like that I'm making myself cry here. I'll, I'll write that down and then use it in another sympathy card.

I don't think there's any shame in that. Like being like, wow, this line actually really conveys how I feel inside situations or this, this is like such a good way to convey a deep love in a birthday card. Like I don't think everything has to be this completely original thought. Like if it sprung from you use it or even if it didn't spring Rubio,

even, you know, like sometimes we'll share cards on our Instagram, what we've written and if somebody gains inspiration from that, and then they're able to go write a wonderful card to their best friend or their mom or their aunt, like please do it. So, yeah. Yeah. That's one of the beautiful things about the written word and sharing it,

like when, so I've realized that I liked to have a new medium that I'm working in at any given time. Like kind of somewhere that I'm total beginner. I don't know if it just helps me with this, like learning about creativity, but for the new year, it's like, I think I want a song. Right. And my husband was like,

really? You don't think like pottery painting right now, podcasting. Like you don't think that's enough and for kids and gardening and quilts, you know, it's like, I know I really I'm like we are kindred spirits here anyways. So the song writing and what I love about it is you can put words to something and then somebody else sings it and it becomes their own story in their own words.

And I think, you know, that history of like oral tradition, like it's okay for somebody, who's got the gift of words to share the ability to say words that speak something powerfully and then other people by, by the fact that it resonated with them and they thought to apply it to this other situation, it can be theirs. It can be something it's like,

you know, buying flowers at the store. Yeah. You didn't grow them and decide to plant them, but you saw them at may do thought of somebody else and you can offer them to them as a gift. And well, I think that this is a good segue. I had wanted to share a couple of the cards of y'all's that I just love,

love, love the quotes that you chose to put on the front of the card. And I think it just goes so much along with the stories that y'all are sharing. And one of them is the quote by Catherine McKennitt. Now every time I witnessed a strong person, I want to know what dark did you conquer in your story? Mountains do not rise without earthquakes.

I'm going to read it one more time. Now, every time I witnessed a strong person, I want to know what dark did you conquer in your story? Mountains did not rise without earthquakes in your website. You talk about finding Catherine McKenna and she and her father both been diagnosed with cancer and she passed away shortly after. Y'all got permission to share her quote that I just think about you,

Leah sharing your story experience with somebody else hurting deeply and how powerful it was for you to hear from somebody in their really hard experience. And it's like just the ability to look at your own story and see that your experience can be a gift to somebody else. And, and it makes you aware of the reality of what goes on behind the scenes. You know,

it's only through going through this super hard thing that she was able to realize, like these strong people aren't strong from nowhere, they've had to conquer darkness. It's, it's so powerful. And I think it's so easy for us to have shame or get caught in the grief stage of our story and, and lose the ability to turn that grief and to art or a gift that you can share with others.

But I just appreciate where y'all have come from and your story. And I see your ability to kinda like see through where the light comes in through those cracks and not like you were saying, Liam. Yeah. And it's funny because like, I think that it's, I often have the inner critic saying, well, your, your pain isn't the same as somebody else's.

And while it's not, I w one of the things that I communicate I guess, is that some of my pain and my story happened before my accident did, like, I was isolated down in Kentucky and pretty anxious. And I just felt like I couldn't get out of that situation. And then I finally was able to, and actually, like, it's interesting because I think my accident was transformative in a good way.

And like maybe having been to the other side or like going through that and being on the other side of it in a way, like, I guess I do have perspective on things, but it's interesting that like a lot of the emotional pain that I have had in my life, wasn't from having a telehandler fall on me. And so like, that's like kind of invisible pain that people might not realize when they see me.

But I guess being able to communicate that in a letter is good because yeah, just sharing that my own experience with mental difficulties or, or just like emotional on unrest and unhappiness. One of the things that I really woke up with in the ICU was that I was like, dang, like, you know, I'm receiving so much support because my body is physically hurt,

but I really felt a lot of compassion to people who are so wounded spiritually, mentally, and people don't see that. And so they don't offer support and Where it feels so awkward. I don't know what to do with this, you know, we, Yeah. So, yeah. I just like, I just like my heart ached for people who yeah.

Were going through in visible pain. And I guess yeah. Understanding that like those tough experiences do make mountains out of people. And I dunno, yeah, I, that kind of didn't go anywhere. But I think it did. I think it made a really powerful point that like, maybe we should, maybe we should treat who are going through, you know,

mental, emotional struggles and anguish the way we do people whose bodies are falling apart. And I remember having a friend going through a divorce and she was like, you know, I had people bringing me meals after we had a baby and doing babies and showers with gifts and attention when we got married. But now here I am struggling with one of the biggest,

hardest things, this divorce, and it's like radio silence. Most people are, feel so awkward or, you know, confused about, well, was this person, right? Or this like choosing sides or what was right or wrong instead of just seeing like, this is a hurting person and they need a meal and a card and flowers and all the things.

I think the image that y'all created that really brought me to your work was the card with the human heart drawing and the flowers besting out at the top. If you've looked at work that I've made the imagery of the human heart is something so powerful to me. And so our flowers and then having the combination of the two and the, the quote that y'all have on the front of that card is by Hannah Breccia owner wrencher furniture.

Is that right? Adventure is how you say it, but I could be wrong. Yeah. She's an amazing writer. I I'm going to have to look into her writing, but she wrote, so Hannah, brunch, brunch, her wrote maybe life isn't about avoiding bruises. Maybe it's about collecting scars to prove we showed up for it. I just think that that's such a powerful flip on how we see our woundedness,

but I also, when looking back again at your shop listing, y'all do a beautiful job of explaining the stories behind the cards or how they came to be or different, you know, personal particulars that the words that you put, and I'm not sure if it was layer Grace's words, but the words that you put on the listing said, may this card be a reminder that pain,

isn't the end of the story that extraordinary beauty can spring out of winded, hearts and bodies that we are built to bloom that could be on the front of the card at all. I mean, I did write that. Yup. We're actually like both poets. So yeah. Sometimes I forget the poetry that I write, but it's, it's cool. I mean,

that's like another creative endeavor that we both have, and I feel like copywriting is actually another creative endeavor that we've off the chair. So yeah. That's why I was confused whose word stops apart. But, but it's nice to hear Jane, you, you talk about that. You appreciate the actual listings and the stories that we write. I do think that that makes us pretty different than a typical card company.

Like we really there's so much thought that goes into the art and design of each card in each piece and what words are on the front or the images. And then it's like a whole nother step where we are saying, we actually want to share the behind the scenes that went into this card and what informed it. And it's almost like Leah had written about our collection.

She said, they're almost like when a musician releases a CD, you know, and there's some cohesion between each song and they play with each other and there's an overall theme or thesis to it. And it's really, it takes a lot of work, but it's so nice when it's seen and appreciated by people like you, and that keeps us going with it.

And it's just, yeah, it's fun for us. And it's really meaningful. Well, I think we get lost in an Amazon world these days. And I know for me, it's easy from my growing up. Like I had a parent that was always searching for the best deal. Like we're going to go here and check out the price in here and try to get things for the cheapest price.

And that's how we know we were the winner and it's been a real shift to, you know, I'm an artist and I create, but I'm also an art collector now that I can afford to, you know, whether it's small things or building a collection of pieces that I've collected of other creatives work. And it's a shift in your mind to, to instead of think,

oh, could I make that for cheaper? Or can I get that some, can I get a similar card from target for half the price to seeing it in more of like the gift society or the payback to all the way back to like middle ages when they were patrons of the arts and they were choosing, this is an artist I believe in their heart and their work and what they're doing,

needs to be present in this world and culture, and I'm going to support their work. I want to do what I can, you know, so when I buy this card, yes, maybe I could get a pack of cards from the dollar tree, but I'm choosing, I'm giving them this money in exchange to help them continue doing the work they're doing,

you know, and it's a totally different, we have to consciously choose that approach to money because we're such a consumer society. And it's so easy to think, you know, get the best deal. And then I also was thinking about how my own journey 2020 is when I finally had worked through enough of my own past trauma and wounding to put price tags on my work and figure out the business side.

And so it was a huge mind shift to hear that you could put as much creativity and the marketing and business side and storytelling around your work as you do in the individual pieces. And I think that that's something, you know, it's easy for creatives to be like, oh, business. I don't want to do it. I don't want to do,

I just want to do, you know, the painting or whatever medium it is, but to step back and realize that creativity is so boundless and you can put that creativity in the telling of the story around the piece and how you share the piece, all of the things related to it, and you can apply your creativity and get involved in that. And I see that in y'all's process so much,

and I just love it. Yeah. Oh God. I was just going to say, like, it's kind of like taking back capitalism a bit like the artists taking and just being like, yes, we are participating in this part of society where you're, you have a business you're selling product, but it's coming from this different place where it's like, we genuinely want to engage with the customer,

share our heart. Like Leah's really led the charge for us recently on delving into the world of Instagram and Facebook ads, which is just a whole different beast. But I think, yeah, it's kind of wild, but, and maybe like two years ago, I would have kind of shrunk away from that and been like, oh, it feels like slimy and weird and like pedaling your goods.

But over the past couple of weeks, we've had some customers come and they were just like, oh my gosh, like I, I've never been introduced to a shop so quickly and then wanted to spend so much money in, in the next minute, you know? Like they just, they truly connect to something deeper there. And it's just like, they never,

they probably wouldn't have found us without the Instagram ad. Yeah. It's kind of like, Like that time you spent making that Instagram ad or that Facebook ad and you have to profile, you have to kind of think like, who are we targeting here? What are their interests, where their age it's kind of freaky. But on the other hand, it's,

it's like sitting down and taking the time to hand address invitations to a party. That's really lovely. You know, when you're an artist it's easy to get self-conscious about like, maybe nobody's showing up because it's not that great after all. And like, I don't know if anybody ever wants it, but realizing this is my heart. How many people are taking the time to create something that's just straight like your heart put on the outside.

It is a generous offering. And so it's like throwing this huge party. And if people don't know about it, they're missing out on something that could be really fabulous for them. And you're not stepping your cards in their hands, but you're showing them like this. I think you might really love this. I think this might meet a need that you have to have creativity in your life and available.

And I also was thinking, as you were talking about the cards, you know, the collection of cards, like, like a music album or, you know, just having a BFA like at my studio, fine art degree from college. And there's a lot of that kind of hierarchy in the art world where we think that, you know, fine art it's,

you're in museum collections, you're in galleries and I've struggled so much with that feeling less than when that's not my path to pursue. You know, it may happen for me at some point down the road, but it's just, it's not where my heart leads me. And I've really wanted to just reclaim the power of creating things that have a function and,

and get in people's hands and serve a purpose, you know, in, in our Western world. It's so easy to think, like put it on the wall, but keep a distance to it. But I love how, like, in the east there's there's rugs that are hand nodded that kids are crawling on and people are spilling food on, but it's so a part of there,

we were talking to a man selling rugs and he was like, the patterns of this rug are like so embedded in me because they were what I crawled over as a baby, you know? And then you've got the tea ceremony with like these works of art that you engaged with, you touch you handle, you know, anyway. So I just see,

I just want to like reclaim what y'all are doing as this really high gift of art. Even if it's not hanging on museum walls, it's, it's got this function and this purpose, and it's something that people are interacting with and engaging with and creating their lives around. And that's really powerful. Yeah. I've I went to Washington university in St. Louis for four years of art school and I studied painting primarily like oil painting.

And it took a while to like rediscover that my home is illustration and there's something so like democratic about it or something that like, you know, that's what printmaking is about what it's like sharing art with the masses or sharing books with the masses. And I dunno, I love that my cards can be bought, like my art can be bought for 595,

you know? And, and I'm really actually, I'm getting into like putting really good writing tips and content into our emails right now. So part of me is like, you know what? I really don't care if you get dollar store cards, that's fine. Just write something to somebody. Because like, if my, if my emails can help inspire you to help transform your life in somebody else's life.

That's amazing. You know, I understand that not everybody has the money to buy art from me, but you can at least sign up for our email and get like writing tips and inspiration. And that's fine. I don't know. I like, I think I am as much trying to sell the idea of letter writing to people as I'm trying to sell my own art.

So like, if my art can help you have that starting point. Awesome. You know, and like, if I'm making enough money to support, but work that I'm like or want to continue to do, that's even better, you know? Like I, but yeah. I just, I don't know. And it's, it's important for me to like practice letter writing to sometimes I'm like,

oh, I don't have time. But when I do come back to the letter writing, I'm like, oh my gosh, like, this is so important. You know, it's like scrolling on Instagram for 20 minutes is like, so frivolous compared to writing somebody a card for 20 minutes or One week. And it just feels good to, you know,

and I think like as much offscreen time as we can get these days, like What was so nice? Well, I think we build up in our minds. I mean, I think for one thing, there's just so much resistance in this universe against the good, you know, anything that's easy to do, probably isn't doing much good, anything that has the power to do good.

You're gonna feel this like resistance to, but it's so easy to think of writing a letter as like, oh, it's gonna take all this time. When, if you set a timer for three minutes and open a card, you can write something you think of that person. And just don't agonize over the wording, just go straight from your heart and just put it down,

get it in the mail. And you've made somebody stay. And it's, it's something that they keep coming back to because it's gonna, like, that letters takes up a physical place. You know, if it's something I don't know, I think it's so rare these days. I mean, he's not going to just toss it or it's going to like hang around,

especially if it's got something as beautiful on the front as y'all's cards and they're going to open it. It might be another a month later, a year later, five years later. And then just re feel that experience of somebody saw me, thought of me, took the time to put in writing some, you know, a note and I'm not alone.

Like I'm cared for. I'm known, it's such a gift. One thing I was going to say about our cards that we've had some customers say is that they're really good springboards for them. It's almost like a prompt that then they can write their own thoughts on the inside. And for example, the mountains and earthquakes card that you read. Yeah. It's like,

that gives you something to write about. It's like, I saw this card and this is why it made me think of you. You know? And so I do really like that about the direction that a lot of our cards go in. It's like the art on the outside can inform what goes on the inside. And so it is this really cool dance between us and whoever's writing the card.

And like Leah said this before. It's like, we, we do the initial art on the outside and provide you the vehicle. But the art isn't finished until you add your words to the inside. And so I just love that interaction that we get to have. And it's really magical and gratifying when people do come back and say, look, I just,

my friend texted me a picture of the card that I sent. And it's kind of, it's very meta, I guess, you know, where you're seeing the product that we created. I shipped out from my studio, it went to their Mount mailbox. They were delighted by the package. They wrote it to their friend and now their friend is texting them.

A picture comes full circle. But yeah, also like, it's really cool. How many different people you're supporting when you buy a card from us? Like you're supporting grace and me, you're supporting our families. Then you're supporting the U S P S when you sent it. So you're supporting like a mail carrier. We pay printers in the United States to printer cards.

So you're supporting them. You're supporting your friend, you're supporting your own emotional, emotional, mental health. Like, I don't know. It's just like so cool. The web effect that happens with supporting any card company, but, you know, in particular, maybe ours. And then I'm even thinking, you're talking about all the people you're supporting and I'm thinking even their children,

because I know, you know, like my cousin lost her mother and she's looking back over cards that people sent in her mother and how powerful it is to read, read, you know, the sentiment that people had and the care that they had for her. Yeah. So it, it does that. I mean, and then you think like, I've got a book on my shelf.

That's like the letters of Jane Austin, you know, it's like, and we, we pulled out the other day, my husband's grandmother's letters and to the bad day, the mail would go multiple times a day. It'd be like a letter out that morning and a letter back the afternoon and her husband, you know, when they were dating and all these letters.

And it's just, it's just so neat. The heritage to kind of leave behind with letters and grace, I loved how you talked about taking inspiration from the front of the card. I think it can be really powerful to send, you know, to let people know where your inspirations coming from or to, to kind of go with, I don't know,

there's that intuitive sense that something made you think of somebody tell them, because you don't know what that could speak to them. Like sometimes that thing that you just thought of, like is actually a powerful imagery for them. I don't know. I'm thinking about some cards that I had printed with paintings of birds on them of mine. And, and when I wrote notes in them lately,

like I looked at the bird and I thought about the person I was ready to. And it was like, just kind of like, like this bird is doing such and such. I'm thinking about you doing such and such. You know, I think it can be really powerful to kind of connect imagery. I don't know, anyway, random sidebar, Their cards,

aren't super specific. Some of them are like one of our cards, the Phoenix rebirth birthday card. I mean, that's pretty specific to somebody who has gone through something as crazy as my accident, but I think a lot of our cards, like we have a four moms section right now, and most of them don't say the word mom on them, but I think that it's almost cooler to like see a card and then make it fit somebody with the words that you write inside of it,

if that makes sense. And I think that, you know, it's sort of strategic of us to try to not make them super specific because then more people can use them for more situations. But yeah, so like, I, I feel really good about people buying like a pack of 10 of something, because they're going to be able to use them all and you know,

for many different situations, but you sounded like you wanted to say something, grace. Well, I was going to say a lot of our cards or very specific. And then at the same time, they're not, you know. Yeah. Right. Instead of saying happy mother's day, it says, just sitting here thinking of the Marvel that is you,

you know, I'm not, it's like, oh my gosh, like mom, you are truly a Marvel. Like, you're all the things that I think about when I think of you from the past year and how you've been a Marvel in my life and the lives of your friends and family or whatever, you know, or like you're a Stardust and fireworks kind of wonderful.

That's our Camping one. I love That is our all time best-selling card. The question I got it. And then it's like, I did that thing where it's like, I can't let go of it. It's too fabulous to just telling myself, like, just buy a 10 pack already. Then you can just send it to all the people you feel that way about instead of holding the one and it never goes out For Sure.

Yeah. That's our most, our number one complaint is people are like, okay, wait a second. All these cards are too beautiful and I'm just hoarding them for myself because I just want them all. Well, I think one of the things I mentioned to grace, when I was asking her about this conversation, I was like, it's perfect timing because we've got mother's day coming up and graduation at that time of year at the end of school.

But, and Christmas season is the same thing. It's like, all these you like, oh my goodness. I need to gift all these people. Something to let them know that I was, that I'm thankful for them and their role in my life, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts. And do we need more things? No, we do not need more things.

And as a mom of four kids, the feeling of giving, like I'm a gift giver. That's one of my like main ways of communicating love. And so I totally get people want to give my children gifts, but it's, it becomes a burden because then we have to find a place for it and dust it and all the banks. And so instead of like,

I don't, I don't know, just like the card is the gift let's make, Like instead of spending 20 minutes driving to the store, picking out something, buying it, then finding a place for it. And then eventually deciding thank you for the gift. But really, you know, I have to let it go cause I don't have room anymore instead.

Like why don't you spend that 20 minutes writing a card, writing an address, putting a stamp on it and communicating more particularly what you felt. Then I was thinking about you and couldn't quite decide if you brought her up a candle or soap. Exactly the moments. So I just went with this in-between anyway, the power of the written word and the gift of a card goes a long way as we are kind of,

did you have something else salient? I was just going to say like, this conversation will probably come out after mother's day, but it's not too late to write a mother's day card for your mom. Even when you're hearing this. For some reason yesterday, I was like, dang it. I'm not going to have time to write mom mama mother's day card.

I'm like, what are you talking about? There's still like three days before mother's day. Like just write the damn card, you know? And I don't, I'm going to see her tonight. So I'll just give it to her I think. But I'm, I'm all about like, it's never too late to write a thank you card or to write a card about how much he loves somebody.

It doesn't need to be on Christmas or it doesn't need to be on their birthday. Like just write the damn card. I think I should make a sticker. This is just break the tampon. Oh my goodness. All right. So I love to ask people real quick. Just what comes to top of your head, your favorite art tool or thing that's inspired you lately.

Book, movie song. Just give us something for other people who are creative and want to hear what your what's getting you going when he left. I love temper paint sticks. Yeah. You probably see them periodically on our Instagram stories. Cause I decorate each mailer that goes out. I do some quick flowers and they're so fun. I discovered them a couple of years ago through Amanda Evanston.

Who's a friend and artists and anyway, there's so cool. They're great for kids. They're great for adults. They dry super fast. I mean, they're not archival quality. You wouldn't want to be doing art that you're selling for hundreds of dollars with them, but on a card or an envelope they're just fun, loose. And I think a tool like that can really bring about creativity because it's not precious and it's not fussy.

So I love those. And I get questions about them all the time. Anytime I show them on Instagram, people are like, wait, what is that? I should probably just sell temper paint sticks, honestly. Yeah. Do you have a brand that sticks out or are they kind of all like just, they will all work pretty good, Right?

There is a particular brand that I buy on Amazon. I'm not the biggest fan of Amazon, but I buy them from Amazon and oh, maybe as Lee is answering, I'll look it up. We have some that are quick sticks. K WWI. I think that's what it is Quick. I might've bought them because I saw you recommending them. My five-year-old adores them,

especially the gold sparkly ones. What do you love to use or what's inspiring you? My iPad is like my sidekick. I use it all the time. I got it after my accident. I wish I would've gotten it like right after my accident or even before it's just made life incredibly easy for me because now instead of drawing something and then scanning it in and then editing it in Photoshop,

I have the file that will print pretty much the way that I drew it. And I have basically any medium that I want to draw with. So I use procreate and it's a $10 program and it's, I mean, I don't want procreate to hear this, but I would spend way more money on it than $10. But I'm, it's just like an amazing tool that they basically give away,

but An apple pencil with that. Yeah. Yeah. So I have an iPad pro and it's, it has a cover on it that looks like a composition notebook, but yeah, I would be lost without my iPad. I just tell, like I studied painting in college. I'm not much of a watercolor painter because I like to refine things again and again.

So like oil paint is sort of where I find that I'm able to like layer and fix proportions and stuff like that. But my iPad, like, it just makes illustration a breeze and I illustrated best day ever with my iPad. And I think it's a much better book because I illustrate it on my iPad. And like, even though each page took about 13 hours,

I think on average, I think that it would have taken at least double that time if I had been doing it in a more manual kind of way. So Do you any kind of, I mean, this is like just personal interest. Did you do any kind of tutorial or lessons to figure out how to like optimally use procreate or just figuring out?

I mostly dove in to figure it out and you know, I've been using Photoshop for years and some of the concepts are similar, like, you know, the layers and stuff. And then I, sometimes I pick up hints on Pinterest. Like people will make reels about, you know, this quick trick that they use and appropriate or how to do this.

And, but mostly I just mess around and I have a few brushes that are my favorite and I don't know, I love that I'm able to like scale things really quickly and like drag and drop and layer and Transparency like, oh Yeah, I think I want to see more of what's underneath it. I've dabbled a little bit with it. And it's like,

whoa. Yeah. Some lighting stuff that you can do is really cool. Cause I, I really enjoy like making complicated lighting scenarios in my illustrations, like desk with a little bit of Firefly light in there, or like, you know, the glove streetlamp and things like that. Or like the way the light filters in through the curtains in the morning.

So I would say that like those situations, like I have a very three dimensional brain, I think. So I really enjoy like playing with that and like trying to get it right. And similar to the in-center Phalon pull-ups that we've made. Have you seen those on our website? That's sort of a different thing, but it's like another example of how my brain works.

It's like, I love, well, my name is tiny with tiny hands down because I am a, I was obsessed with tiny houses and I'm still obsessed with Yeah. I share that. Like I love to paint. I mean, I've got paintings and I did oil paintings. I loved that. I've picked up watercolor a lot of necessity because I've got a busy life with four kids and can't like walk away and forget the brushes for a week.

But, but really my heartbeat is like three to mint. Like I love ceramics. I like to know that they would move. And how would this look if it was this way around somebody, you know, things that operate within space. So that's so neat that you say that about the envelopes that you'll have. I thought they were so cool. It's like a card that then has the pointed top that so you can just send,

fold it up as an envelope. It's all one piece the card. Right. That's how it works. Yeah. And those were hard to get. Right. And they, it was really interesting trying to communicate this idea to our printers and being like, I think it's going to work, but you just have to like, trust me on this. Like,

I don't know, with all the measurements and stuff, we were going a little crazy trying to figure it out. Yeah. We're an artsy people like curious, we'll do math if I have. And sometimes that would change. So like, I think that would mess them up too. But yeah, I I'm I'm we were dabbling in wedding invitations in the beginning and then we decided that we can't,

we can't charge enough to make it worth it, but For that quantity, I made it like a really cool and invitation that kind of like folded out and like told this story and then it folded around into like a three-dimensional landscape. Wow. My brain was just like, so happy working on that. But also grace was like, well, it was the printing process again was like really frustrating.

And so yeah, we decided that I can't do fancy things anymore. Maybe just one of a kind originals and All the, I think we could do more incent our full-on blokes now that our printers familiar with sort of how they go on the end. But yeah. And people, I mean, that's like one of our products that people love because it's so different than anything else that anybody else offers.

So I think that those are really exciting and, and they do kind of like invite you to write more of a letter in them rather than a card might. But I often just end up writing on computer paper and stuff in it inside because like my letter is just like, oh, like a lot for awhile. So we have taken up oh, so much time.

And I think Jane has to run. I, I can tell that the noise level is giving somebody had some returned home and the noise level is here, but this has been so wonderful. I know, I, I tend to like it, I'm going to keep it 30 minutes or 20 minutes, like, oh no, Just want to keep talking and hearing stories and connecting.

I mean, that's, that's one reason why a lot of the podcast is monologue, but I love the chance to just get, to have conversations and connect with other creatives. I think creative work is so often alone work and it's easy to get in our own head and think that our struggles are unique and we're the only one and feel shame about it.

And I think just, it's so powerful to hear the story of how other people are working and get inspired by their ideas. And so anyway, thank you all for jumping in and sharing. I wanted to end, I know, I hope that we can connect more somehow. It's like The magic of the internet and reading people all over the place. I wanted to end this episode with a blessing for letter writing because that's,

you know, just the heartbeat of what y'all are doing. Like you said, Leah, just like, it doesn't even matter if you buy our hearts, just write the letter. Right. So anyway, I, I'm going to call this a rough draft because I might tweak it a little bit, but here it is, as it stands today, blessing for letter writing,

may my hand running across this paper. As I write, reach out like a hand to hold and friendship, a tangible connection between us, our hands and our hearts, all those simply lines on a page made the impact of this note, ripple outward, an echoing reframe, hearing comfort in times of loneliness, may the particular words I choose make you feel known.

May my words generally offer the uniqueness of my heart to the meekness of yours. Hmm. Amen. I love the yeah. You really captured it. Well, I think it's sometimes it's nice to just have covering of a blessing to kind of remind you that what you're, this endeavor you're doing has made And it's holy work writing a letter is holy holy work and sacred.

However, however, somebody enters into that, you know, but I think tapping into that is really an honor that we get to do in this lifetime. And so I love that you wrote that blessing. Well, thanks for inspiring it by the work that y'all are doing. And you know, for those who are listening, like Leah said, there,

email lists that you can sign up for from their website is a treasure and a gift it's delightful and quirky and fun, and also really useful and helping encourage you to do things you want to do anyway, write these letters. And then Instagram is a super fun place to connect and see a lot of behind the scenes and get to know, you know,

I feel like I know you all personally from, from getting the inside scoop, watch, watching things unfold there. So Good. Yeah. If anybody's searching for Instagram, it's just at tiny underscore and underscore snail and then the newsletter, the email newsletter. If they go to our website, tiny and snail.com, it's the top heading where doesn't it say 20% off Leah.

Is that what it's a, yeah, I think so. Yeah. So you sign up for the email. You actually, when they first come onto our website, it should have a pop-up from a newsletter so easy. Yeah. Yeah. Well thank you all. And I hope you have, Thank you James Talking again sometime Thank you for spending your time with me today,

listening to the podcast. If you heard something that touched your heart, I hope that you'll share it with a friend the best way to stay in touch and find out about what's happening with the podcast or with my studio and the art that I make. You can subscribe to my email newsletter through Jane Boutwell studio.com. I also offer a free sketchbook resource that I love to share with people when they sign up for that,

which is also on my website. I would love to hear from you and hear what you are learning from a podcast. What's peaked your curiosity. What you'd like to hear more of reach out to me on Instagram and my DMS or through the email or through review that I would love to hear back from you and make it more like a conversation. The show notes are available to help you find a transcript or a link to anything that was mentioned in the podcast today.

I always love to help you find ways to dive deeper and learn more. I'd like to thank shepherd Martin for sound editing and the music in the podcast is provided by sad Moses, once again, thanks for joining me. I look forward to next time and keep growing creative.