Time to meet Leah from Belly Babies!!

Hey everyone! It's time for you to get to know lovely Leah! She runs the fabulous shop called Baby Bellies on Etsy!

My name is Leah and my business is called Belly Babies. Belly Babies was born a few years back as an infant apparel company and has now expanded to include nursery art, plush toys, and books. My Etsy store focuses mostly on nursery artwork. I am a graphic designer by profession, so I have always been interested in designing. My background is in exhibit design, designing for museums and galleries, but now I mostly do print work. My day job is in corporate design, so Belly Babies allows me to get my creative juices flowing ... it's pretty much the opposite of corporate design! The company is centered around 12 original animal illustrations, each one created from the same round belly shape - that is how Belly Babies got it's name! My illustrations were created with the idea that I wanted to the animals to be created using the fewest graphic elements as possible - keeping it very simple and making sure that they all have a unified 'look'.

What I love the most about working on Belly Babies is that it is my creative outlet. I love designing and when I am working on a project I often find that the times just passes by in a flash. If I'm not working on a project, I'm usually thinking about what I am going to do next! I also love that it is something that I can do while I stay home with my 8 month old daughter, Riley. My dream, like many other crafters, is that I can eventually make enough so that I can stay home full time with her.

Lots of things inspire me when I am designing - my latest inspiration for designing nursery prints was the colours of ice cream flavors! I used these colors for my alphabet pop print: http://www.etsy.com/listing/46270736/alphabet-pop-print-8-x-10

One thing that I wish I knew from the beginning is that I'm a designer, but I'm not a great business person! I spend most of my time designing and coming up with new ideas, but not a lot of time on the business end of things. I don't think that that is necessarily a bad thing, but I wish I had realized it sooner so I could have learned to balance my time between designing and the business end of things better. That's the difference between an expensive hobby and a business!


Aren't her designs the cutest!!?? Her shop is a wonderful and unique blend of classy and fun :) Perfect for a new nursery :) Now go and have a look at her fabulous shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/bellybabies