The Art de Joulie Story - Part 2

So we ended part one of our story with how we came up with the name and so now I would like to share what we began doing.

Since we registered the company in the month of September, I thought that we could try to catch the Christmas holidays by offering Christmas cards.

I began to design the cards using local themes and named each artwork. Next step was to get the original cards scanned and printed, and I worked with a graphic artist and printing company to achieve this goal.

Meanwhile, we sent letters to companies introducing Art de Joulie and our Christmas card collection. After we printed the cards, I literally went door to door to business places to market them!

While all of this was happening, we worked on our call cards, letterheads, logo, Facebook page, putting artwork on Fineartamerica and all of the umpteen things that needed to get done.

As expected, the hurdles came: delays, reprinting etc. and we just had to “roll with the punches” and press on!

It was exhilarating, nail-bitingly stressful and enjoyable all at the same time! I cannot explain, even now, the feeling that fills me as the realisation continues to sink in some two years after that I am living my dream!

From the Christmas cards, things accelerated to prints of artwork, original miniature pieces and giclee prints, magnets, mugs and other products as we finally got our products showcased off another website and then finally our present website, artdejoulie.com powered by Shopify.

Our journey in these two years seems like a whirlwind of events, accomplishments, obstacles, and success all rolled into one. We are still in the “weaning stages” and have so much to learn and much growing to do.

We are so encouraged by the reactions to the artwork and designs and the comments that people share about the happiness they feel when they see the work. It really inspires and motivates us to press on!

This company is a mother-daughter effort and another dream that has become a reality. My daughter Melissa and I, used to talk about working together a lot, and it is so wonderful to have her fresh young eyes and vision and of course her social media skills that I am so so grateful for! I am trying to catch up in that learning realm!

There have been tears, frustration, squeals of laughter and shrieks of excitement along this journey. We have had dynamic, super talented, kind-hearted patient graphic artists come on board to help us through the various stages and other pertinent personnel as the need arises.

There is still so much that we want to happen and patience has to become the key virtue! Lol! We thank God for helping us along the way and by His grace we pray that we will continue to enjoy what we do and create work that not only makes us happy, but which brings delight for others whom we delight in serving.

And, not least, thank you greatly to our audience! You follow our work, support our cause and make Art de Joulie what we are today. We love you, and we cherish you.

Feel free to contact us and let’s have a heart to heart. We love hearing from you and always look forward to your wonderful suggestions!