Hey, hi, hello there pals!

I thought I might share a blog post about the Holiday bandana release and give a little bit of insight into the Behind the Scenes mojo going on over here at Home With Hound. That's a very fancy and roundabout way of me saying that I'm really pleased with some of the photos I was able to capture and would like a place to dump them for you to see.

For those of you that know me (Gabriella), before Home With Hound I focused on working with other small brands (hello, Hundenfolk crew!) to help take some of their creative and product photography. I have had a passion for photography for many years, and in the last few years I started looking for other ways to grow that creative muscle, since I did not have any particular interested in focusing on Portrait or Wedding photography. I'm very blessed to have had Hundenfolk trust me with their product photography for so long and to have their support as I branch out into new things. The experience I gained working with them in invaluable to me and has really helped jumpstart my confidence for working to build Home With Hound as a brand and a small business.

While I truly enjoy working with my hands and get a lot of satisfaction and pride out of finishing a beautiful hand-knit sweater, or trimming the final threads off of a new bandana, something I really enjoy doing is making creative beautiful images with those products. It may not seem like it, but the majority of work done behind the scenes at Home With Hound and, I'm certain at other small businesses, goes into creating beautiful images and sharing them with the world in a tantalizing way for your audience.

Now, Home With Hound doesn't have a large audience by any means, but I hope that as I continue to create fun new items for the shop and as I continue to exercise my creative muscles through photography, that I might be able to communicate the vision I have for Home With Hound to my tiny, but (I hope) mighty audience, which may in turn encourage them to share with others, and in turn grow. The Holiday bandanas for Home With Hound were a lot of fun to create. I know it's still early, but I do feel like I could have done more to have these beauties released even sooner (next year!). I hope you can enjoy the designs I have chosen, I did my best to honor the tones of winter and the holidays, without getting too kitschy. 

And finally, I will leave you with a quote from NPR host Ira Glass that I think of often, and one that encourages me to continue to grow and "carry on":

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”― Ira Glass

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Holiday release, and hope you enjoy!

Cheers,
-Gabriella