It’s Silly Badger Designs 10th birthday! I can’t believe it’s been that many years since I started this crazy adventure and so much has happened in that time! I’m going to ignore the price increases, regulations etc and focus on this amazing journey!
Starting back in 2016…
So here it is, where it all started. The very first Silly Badger Designs logo. I painted this in an old sketchbook not really thinking much of it. Sat on my bed daydreaming of designs and products and being so determined that I would not be selling greeting cards or painting any kind of custom paintings because that would be way too stressful. Little did I know by the end of my first year of being open I would be selling loads of cards and get my first requests for pet portraits!
And here’s the first collection of my greeting cards! My first cards were printed by an external company as I didn’t have my own printer at this point. After a short while I realised I just couldn’t afford to buy so many designs in bulk so I took the plunge and got my first pro printer. Affectionately calling her Beast as she was huge and rather heavy, she was my most favourite work tool at the time and she opened doors for me and my creativity. I’ll add here that I was young and naive at this point, not realising the headaches that printers cause just because they feel like it. But even through all the flashing error lights I still love this machine.
Pet portraits also took off at this time, something I had never imagined and even though I’d been so against doing custom work up to this point I actually found myself loving it. I got to know some lovely people and have some brilliant conversations talking about the animals I was painting. I was surrounded by animal lovers and like minded people and I loved it. I took on many more custom work after this and I’m still creating some fantastic portraits.
One other thing that happened after I got my paws on Beast was I finally realised I could print and cut my own stickers! This started as something I wanted for myself and then they became my best seller that year! There must’ve been rat faces everywhere! I think one of the best things about my products is that I make things I want to use… my sketchbooks and planners at this point were covered in these little ratty faces. To this day I still find them in random places 😂
I even played around with printable shrink plastic making some cute little ratty keyrings combining my artwork with my love of crafting and creating. I’ll admit before going through my photo’s for this post I’d actually forgotten I’d even made these! I really loved them but they took a lot of time to make so I stopped making them and continued with my new sticker obsession. And when I say obsession I mean it… there are now over 30 sticker products in my shop now!
I started playing with even more new handmade products and attended my first in person market! Completely leaving my comfort zone, it was a terrible market but I loved getting out with my work even if one conversation with someone was about the local parking and if I’d seen the amazing artwork on the walls 😂 I’m happy to say I’ve attended an in person event recently that was so much better and much more fun talking to people about cats and actually selling products.
I then started to work with a lot more handmade items, these wooden decorations were one of my favourite things to make. I started with Christmas stars and hearts and then on to some hearts for Valentine’s Day and the spring time. In two years I’d handmade over 300 of these!
I was so happy that everyone loved them as much as I did. It was a long process making them but I just loved how they turned out in the end. I still get pictures from past customers every Christmas of their Christmas trees decorated with hearts and stars with my artwork on them ❤️
As the years went on I started to actually find my style and it continued to evolve. 2020 was the year it all changed though. The day before lockdowns started my printer, Beast died and I was stuck inside like everyone else but my business was on pause. Whilst everyone else was doing well I was struggling. It was a tough time and after a month of waiting and hoping I decided it was time to get back to work but without Beast I couldn’t offer printed products and my budget was so tight I couldn’t get anything printed by anyone else so I focused on pet portraits again.
I got the opportunity to work on so many portraits that year and that’s how my style evolved and grew in to what it is today. It’s strange as although that year was pretty rough without it I wouldn’t have the style I have today. That year also had me creating lots of other hand painted items too like the wooden slice decorations below. I did a live sale of them on Instagram and was completely blown away by how popular they were! It was the confidence boost I desperately needed at the time.
I still remember that evening posting them up and thinking one of them might sell… and then my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing as people sent messages claiming each design! I was so overwhelmed and excited!
2020 was also the year I got my iPad and this along with Pixel, a new printer to replace Beast I was set for a fresh start with my business and suddenly I became obsessed with learning digital art and making even more stickers! I was still making other products and painting pet portraits but like I said earlier, the stickers are an obsession!
I also started having fun with different print on demand sites including my own fabric designs which opened up a whole new set of ideas for me during 2020 and 2021. I have a huge pile of sample fabric with my designs stashed somewhere, I keep thinking I should learn quilting so I can make a fun blanket with them!
Between 2021 and now I’ll admit things have been a bit slow compared to my first few years, life started to get busy and chaotic and trying to keep up with everything was causing me to get severe burn out. I would be buzzy and busy for a few days and then I’d crash for the rest of the week. I let my business down and I really do feel bad about it.
There have been so many moments in the past couple of years where I have been so close to closing everything and just getting a nice stable job and then the universe kicks me by sending me an opportunity like a big portrait and I find that buzz again. With all the new regulations and everything so much has changed in my work and it’s not easy. It gets hard and some days I forget how far I’ve come. This little trip down memory lane has honestly reminded me of how far I’ve come, how much I’ve learned and how much I’ve improved.
I have that spark again after a rough end to 2025. It’s reminded me of why I do what I do and actually reminded me that I actually love what I do and I love my little business!
If you’ve managed to read this far, well done! You deserve a gold star as I feel like I’ve been rambling a bit. It’s been amazing to look back on the past 10 years like this. I also just want to say a huge thank you to you because I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without the support from people like you. You’re not only supporting a small business but you’re also supporting a dream.
So here’s to another 10 years of cute animal art, pet portraits, custom logos, wedding stationery, stickers, laughs and so much more!
Siobhan x
Silly Badger Designs 