The Long And The, Uh.....Short Of It
As a child, I loved colour. I didn't have just one favourite colour, they were ALL my favourites! Honestly, how can someone say they love red more than blue or white or yellow or purple! To me, picking a favourite colour would have been like a mother picking which child she loves more.
So as a child, when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I didn't know - I just knew that I wanted to work with colour. Somehow. But try telling a high school career counsellor that! (Eventually, I opted for studying library and information services.)
I worked in a library for a little while, but I never loved it. I found the work dull and tedious so I quit and began to look for ways to work with colour that didn't involve painting every room of my house. Again.
My aunty was the one who introduced me to paper crafts. She's always been an avid card-maker and I loved to spend time with her in her little craft room. I would look around and see colour everywhere - deep blues, rich reds, minty greens, soft pinks, vivid yellows - colour!
I ended up launching my first Etsy store - Ivory Leaf Invitations and Stationery - in early 2012. I adore paper-crafting and creating original and unique invitations for wedding, christenings, birthdays, bridal showers, etc.
But the more I worked with paper, the more I realized that I really wanted to create my own papers with my own colour palette. So, with the encouragement of a dear friend, I purchased Photoshop and started creating digital papers. I was instantly addicted.
I began by listing some digital paper packs via my Ivory Leaf store but when there became more digital products than anything else, I decided the digital goodies needed their own store and their own space.
Coming up with a name for the store took less than 3 seconds. It was obvious what it had to be called - Dashing Shadow Designs. "Dashing" comes from our miniature red dachshund (Henry) who is being constantly teased for being short, and "Shadow" comes from our beloved cat, Shadow, who we adopted from the RSPCA over seven years ago. She's getting on in years and her health is beginning to decline, but she is my constant companion, my own little shadow, following me around wherever I go.
So there you have it - the story of Dashing Shadow Designs!
