Two Little Ducks Went Out One Day

On Good Friday every year in Melbourne, there is the Good Friday Appeal that raises money for the Royal Children's Hospital. A cause very close to my heart for a number of reasons.

Good Friday Appeal Auction Pack

This year, I participated in an online auction and my bid won an amazing swag of goodies that were kindly donated by Jacinta at Two Little Ducklings. We ended up with 4 adorable and original sets of flash cards, a beautiful picture and 3 name charts for our three little rascals.

I fell in love with them instantly, as did the kids. I just had to ask Jacinta about her handmade adventure, which she has very kindly shared;

How and when did Two Little Ducklings come about?

I began Two Little Ducklings when I was on maternity leave, I was very career driven before having Lexi and always thought that I would return to my job (I was Senior Designer and Studio Manager of a prominent Design Studio in Melbourne), but when this little lady entered my life, I was, like any other mother, completely besotted, I couldn’t really imagine going back to my corporate job. 

D is for Different

A few friends were having a babies, so I created a few cards for them, and thought I could do this for a business, it all started from there. The educational series was developed when Lexi was continually given some really heinous books on things like alphabet, counting and colours, they were all very American based and just awful designs. Being the creative person I am, I decided to create some well designed-Australian based flash cards for her to learn from.


What is your favourite design?
 
This is such a hard question to answer, I like my products for different reasons, but because of it’s originality I really like my name charts, I haven’t seen anything like these and love that it can teach kids the letters of their names in a creative and fun way.

We are the proud owners of 3 of these name charts

Where do you find your inspiration?

I’ve just finished redesigning my new range of cards, gift tags and wrapping paper and my flash cards, so it was a big time for research and figuring out what would work. I look at a lot of things for inspiration, from Instagram and what is happening in fashion to magazines and what people are putting in their homes, I try to stay on-trend and current, looking at new ways to do things with design. Colour is a big part of what I do, so I try to see what is working for people now and include them into my colour palettes. I also get a lot of inspiration from Lexi and and my niece and nephew, to see what they are liking and put these things into my designs for my kids range of cards and prints.

Where do you work from?

I would totally keep this!

I work from home and utilise lots of it. In summer  I love to work upstairs on my bed as the light is beautiful there and I can spread out, in winter, I tend to stay downstairs on the couch under the heater. I have an office nook, but it really just houses my products, and my kitchen table is always covered in my work. One day I hopefully will be able to have a little studio. At the moment though, I don’t think any room isn’t used for Two Little Ducklings. 

What do you love most about what you do?

I can't bear it!

I don’t think I have ever felt happier at work than doing what I’m doing now. I get so much enjoyment from sending orders out to my beautiful supportive customers and stockists. I love seeing my work on my stockists shelves and get a real buzz when I get another order. I feel very humbled that so many people love what I do. I worked very hard to get to where I am, with a four year university degree and then eight years building my career.

I love that I get to see Lexi so much and don’t have to rush off to work, I like that I get to choose what will work best and to solve problems, as a designer that is primarily my job. Apart from my product range I also run my own little design studio and I love that I get to work with my clients and build brands for them and develop their companies look, it is completely different to working on my own stuff, but it is lovely to see happy clients.

What is your ambition for Two Little Ducklings?

I am approaching my first trade show next month and that is a major step in getting Two Little Ducklings a little further around Australia and hopefully New Zealand, which is what I would love to see, I’ve always envisaged owning my own stationery store so perhaps that is something I would like to eventually aim for, but in saying that I am just taking it one step at a time and seeing where this little business takes me, I am very much enjoying the ride. I could never have imagined it would grow to what it is now, so I figure shoot for the stars and see where I land!

I highly recommend check out the website or pop into a stockist, whatever you do, you really need some of these adorable things in your life!