The Struggles and Transparency Behind Curating My Store's Products 😩

Hello, lovely stationery enthusiasts and supporters of FoxCloudsDesign!

I wanted to take a moment to be open and transparent with you about a topic that's been weighing on my mind—curating products for my store. As many of you know, FoxCloudsDesign is my passion project, where I get to share my love for beautiful, vintage-inspired, and cute stationery with you. But like any journey, it comes with its own set of challenges.

The Story Behind My Curated Items

When I first started FoxCloudsDesign, I was deeply excited to source products that I would personally love to use. I spent countless hours browsing through Alibaba, directly purchasing from manufacturers. My focus was on finding the perfect items that aligned with my vision—scrapbooking materials, vintage and flowery designs, cute washi tapes, and various stationery accessories that would bring joy to anyone's creative projects. Something that I would like to get for myself.

I carefully selected these items because they spoke to me, and I hoped they would speak to you as well. I put a lot of effort into creating custom packs and themed sets, organizing these products in a way that felt unique and special. I felt that buying collections of 150-200 of similar items was too much, so I aimed to create smaller, more balanced, curated packs.

However, I've come to realize that many of these items are also available on other popular platforms, and this has made it difficult to stand out. It’s been disheartening to receive comments pointing out that the products I offer are sold elsewhere, often at a higher price point but with more success.

Embracing Transparency: My New Tagging System

In light of this, I’ve decided to embrace full transparency regarding the origins of my products. Moving forward, I’ll be introducing a new tagging system to help you better understand what you're purchasing:

• "Source: curated by fox": This tag will be used for items that are not my own designs. These are products I’ve sourced directly from manufacturers for the purpose of resale. While I organize them into unique packs and sets, the designs themselves are not original to FoxCloudsDesign.

• "Source: designed by fox": This tag will indicate products where I've used free or licensed clipart and illustrations to create my own designs. These are partially original, as I've put effort into creating something new using existing elements.

• "Source: created by fox": This tag will be reserved for items that are entirely my own creations. From concept to execution, these designs are unique to FoxCloudsDesign and reflect my personal style and creativity.

Looking Ahead: Adding More Original Designs

As I continue to grow and evolve FoxCloudsDesign, I’m excited to share that I’ll be adding more of my own original designs to the store, particularly digital items and printables. My hope is that these unique creations will resonate with you and bring renewed interest to my store.

Thank you for being with me on this journey. Your support means the world to me, and I’m committed to being as transparent as possible as I continue to create and curate products that I hope you’ll love. Please stay tuned for more updates as I work on expanding the store with more original and thoughtfully curated items.

With love and gratitude,

Nika

Founder, FoxCloudsDesign