Creative Catch Up With In The Daylight

Boutique stationery brand, In The Daylight, has been part of the Finders Keepers community for over 6 years and will be back in Brisbane this October 15-17 for 3 days of market magic. Created by designer Jess, woodworker husband Rick and fur baby Finn the Samoyed, there is never a quiet moment in their studio. When they are not working on orders they are hustling behind the scenes on their website, product photography and marketing. We caught up with Jess to learn more about the brand and find out what she is looking forward to this October.

Tell us a little bit about what you do and how you got started?

We are a handmade label with a focus on greeting cards, stationery and home decor. We started the brand 6 years ago by launching at a market stall at the Brisbane Finders Keepers. It was also the first time we had ever been to an FK event (as we had just moved up from Canberra). We were totally blown away by how incredible it was! So many talented small businesses in one place. We started out selling to retail customers with an Etsy store but have now moved more to sell wholesale to boutique stores, florists and bookshops. Our products are in over 200 stores across the country. We love that our customers have decided to support us as a local business, and we love doing the same! We select the highest quality materials to ensure our products are beautiful, well-made and considerate of the environment. All our cards are printed locally in Brisbane, our envelopes are made in Perth, and our timber products are handmade by us in our Brisbane studio.

How has your business evolved over the past year?

The business has changed a lot since the start of last year. Our orders came to a standstill when the original lockdown began. It was a good couple of weeks of pacing the house, knowing I had lots of free time, but not being able to concentrate on doing anything constructive with so many unknowns going on. Most of our sales come from wholesale stores, so we have tried to focus a bit more on our retail customer base, which we have been slowly building ever since. It wasn’t a quick or easy change, but thankfully more and more of our sales are coming from our supportive retail customers.

What keeps you inspired and motivated?

I’ll be honest – this has been a tricky year for us! Not only has the entire way we run our business been affected, but I have also had a lot of chronic health problems (where are my fellow Endometriosis sufferers at?). Staying motivated during a time when you don’t necessarily see a correlation between all your hard work and good sales is really hard. I definitely struggle with measuring my self-worth by how productive I’ve been and if Covid has taught me anything, it’s that it is time to unlearn that and make rest an important part of my creative process.

What do you love about Brisbane and what other makers are you looking forward to visiting? 

Brisbane is one of my all-time favourite places! Not only is it beautiful and warm (the reason we moved up here), but it’s a city with the soul of a big country town. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and has so many amazing restaurants, shops and bars. We are so excited to catch up with our market friends (we have met so many amazing people through these events) including Denz + Co, Paper Hands, Renee Loves Frances and Corner Block Studio.

Photo by Nat McComas

What can shoppers expect from your stall at this event?

We will have our Christmas range with us including our new 2021 greeting card and gift tag designs, as well as our brand-new cotton gift bags. We will also bring our range of timber photo stands which were wildly popular at the winter markets and they are the perfect stocking filler for Christmas!

Catch up with Jess in person at Finders Keepers Brisbane this October 15-17!

Keep connected with In The Daylight on Instagram @_inthedaylight and shop 24/7 on the Online Marketplace.

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