Hello Internet!

Hello, World!

Welcome to my page :)
Thought I’d start with some sort of an introduction to kick it off.

My name is Polina and I live in the charming city of Leuven, Belgium.

A couple of years ago I rediscovered my passion for drawing and watercolour and in the process stumbled on a new medium that blew my mind at first sight - I immediately lost my heart to alcohol-based markers and even was having dreams about them for days, until I finally got my hands on those candy-like thingies and started sketching away… <3

At some point later, a local business noticed my work via Instagram and commissioned me for some illustrations. It was then that I first realised my hobby could be turned into a side job. While I was thinking about it, I also started following a few freelance illustrators on YouTube - okay, not just following but outright binge-watching their stuff! Most of them didn’t even do client work anymore and this is what I really found attractive - the freedom to create own product, without the hassle of contracts and all that jazz. And I mean who didn’t enjoy playing shop as a kid? :D I sure did! All that preparation, packaging and stamping, popping envelopes into a postbox… There’s something sweet and cozy about this whole process, especially knowing that there’s someone on the other side, waiting for their package to arrive. :)

While the general direction was more or less clear, I was still wondering what kind of products and in which theme I could offer. And then it came to me - right in the middle of a sketching trip to Amsterdam in June ’18 :D During that week it really struck me how little choice of city themed stationery there was - typical postcards, rather poor quality stickers - nothing that I’d have bought for myself or as a gift. And Amsterdam wasn’t unique in that sense: it was the same story in pretty much all the places I could recall. So I realised - that’s it! I can create my own stationery inspired by places I visit, and hopefully give a few like-minded folks what they are missing in those places as well - say, original location-inspired stickers that would evoke nice memories from those trips for months or years to come. Yay! :)

Fast-forward to Christmas Eve ’18 and my Etsy shop goes live. While there’s still a ton that needs to be done to make this a viable undertaking, it feels good to know the ball is rolling :) Stick around to find out where it travels!