Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaitlyn Novak.
Hi Kaitlyn, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Little House Letters was really birthed out of faith, along with my love for hand lettering and painting. I started out dreaming that my little side business would focus on creating hand-lettered pieces for weddings, baby showers and all the big life moment celebrations. Business was steady and it seemed to help our family when we needed it most but I didn’t get that “big break” in the event arena I was hoping for. This year, right before Covid hit, I was in the process of transitioning out of a creative part-time job and needed to come up with a way to help support our family because we had a fourth baby on the way!
One night I was laying in bed wondering how I could use my talents to bring in finances steadily for our family. I decided to stop “forcing” things to happen and just create. At the time, we lived in a small house that we seemed to be outgrowing. We had our eye on a house that was in the process of being renovated so it could go on the market that was right next door to my family’s house. During that season of waiting, I used a wood slice ornament I had leftover from Christmas orders and hand-painted our “dream” house on it. We prayed and prayed for months for this house. The little home ornament I painted was a symbol of our prayers, hopes and the desires of our hearts. Three months later we moved into that dream home and the ornament became a reminder of a prayer fulfilled. With a couple months left before transitioning out of my current job I faced my fears and did what I had been wanting to do since I began hand lettering; start an Etsy shop! I had just one hand-lettered sign up on my page, along with a digital download listing… I needed more options for people to look at. Solely to get some more products on my page, I took a picture of the house ornament I had painted and posted it as a listing. What started out as a personal project that filled empty space on my Etsy shop ended up turning into my best seller! Since I sold my first “Sweet Home” ornament, they have quickly become one of my most favorite things to paint and have inspired new hand-painted + lettered designs that today fill my shop.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been tears, mini freakouts and many pivots along the way! From shifting the heart of my business to trying to find a backup (to my backup) ornaments available to purchase during peak season, to coming up with a system to help eliminate mistakes to searching for the perfect paintbrushes for lettering on wood to shipping struggles… each bump has lead to progress! The growth has been so smooth and it truly was with the help of my family, friends and our community who supported me and shared about my business. Their support has been a blessing that has helped launch my business!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in hand-lettered and hand-painted pieces but I’m most known for my personalized ornaments that incorporate both! My Sweet Home ornaments, along with my “faceless” Family Portrait ornaments, are the best sellers on my shop. I am most proud of staying true to myself and my artistic style (which sets me apart.) I fall somewhere between a realistic and a cartoony style but definitely lean more towards a “cartoon” bubbly vibe. Additionally, I love looking at the details and capturing those unique things in my art; like the landscaping of the home or tiny designs on a dress I can paint to help illustrate the character, whether it be a house, person or animal, well!
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?Since launching my Little House Letters shop in June I feel completely blessed by the growth that has come! My sales goal I set for half the year was surpassed and just in Christmas of 2020 I had the privilege of hand lettering + hand painting 225 adorable ornaments. To me it’s been incredibly humbling to know that people like my art so much that they purchase it for themselves or to gift! For the last half of 2020 I was able to ship and sell to 25 states in the USA as well as Canada, Japan, Germany and Belgium! I’m so excited to celebrate more wins as Little House Letters grows.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleHouseLetters
- Instagram: @littlehouseletters
