Logo
  • About
    • Our Authors
    • About Spoonflower
    • Design Challenges
    • Spoonflower Gives Back
    • Spoonflower Ambassadors
    • Business ResourcesWhether you’re an artist selling designs on Spoonflower—or you’re a handmade small business owner—this digital series delivers professional advice to help you promote yourself and stand out.
  • Projects & Tutorials
        • FOR MAKERS

        • DIY Projects
        • Sewing
        • No-Sew
        • Free Sewing Patterns
        • FOR ARTISTS

        • Design
        • Spoonflower 101
        • Artist SpotlightBehind every design is an independent artist from around the world. In this series, we introduce you to Spoonflower’s talented artist community.
  • Get Inspired
    • Wallpaper
    • Home Decor
    • Handmade Apparel
    • Sustainability
  • Our Community
    • Meet The MakersInterviews and spotlights of makers who use Spoonflower for their handmade business
    • Ambassadors
    • Design Challenges
    • Small Business HandbookThe Small Business Handbook welcomes creative entrepreneurs to share how they’ve grown their business through meaningful mission statements, successful partnerships and so much more.
    • Spoonflower Seller HandbookDo you sell your designs in the Spoonflower Marketplace or are thinking about joining our growing community of independent artists? In this series, learn how you can promote your work and stand out in a marketplace that’s growing by the minute.
Search
Custom-printed fabric, wallpaper and home decor Shop Spoonflower →
Logo

Browse popular categories

  • Adaptive Fashion
  • Artist Spotlight
  • Business Resources
  • Community
  • Creative Community Spotlight

Most recently posted

  • Artist Spotlight
Artist Spotlight: 19 Indigenous Creatives You S...

By Betsy Greer on November 24, 2021

  • Artist Spotlight
Why Artists Should Create at Their Own Pace

By Betsy Greer on May 12, 2022

  • Sewing Tutorials
How to Make a Set of Quilted Coasters

By Anna on May 9, 2022

  • About
    • Our Authors
    • About Spoonflower
    • Design Challenges
    • Spoonflower Gives Back
    • Spoonflower Ambassadors
    • Business ResourcesWhether you’re an artist selling designs on Spoonflower—or you’re a handmade small business owner—this digital series delivers professional advice to help you promote yourself and stand out.
  • Projects & Tutorials
        • FOR MAKERS

        • DIY Projects
        • Sewing
        • No-Sew
        • Free Sewing Patterns
        • FOR ARTISTS

        • Design
        • Spoonflower 101
        • Artist SpotlightBehind every design is an independent artist from around the world. In this series, we introduce you to Spoonflower’s talented artist community.
  • Get Inspired
    • Wallpaper
    • Home Decor
    • Handmade Apparel
    • Sustainability
  • Our Community
    • Meet The MakersInterviews and spotlights of makers who use Spoonflower for their handmade business
    • Ambassadors
    • Design Challenges
    • Small Business HandbookThe Small Business Handbook welcomes creative entrepreneurs to share how they’ve grown their business through meaningful mission statements, successful partnerships and so much more.
    • Spoonflower Seller HandbookDo you sell your designs in the Spoonflower Marketplace or are thinking about joining our growing community of independent artists? In this series, learn how you can promote your work and stand out in a marketplace that’s growing by the minute.

How 4 Businesses Grew With Our Small Business Grant

  • Business Resources
  • Meet The Maker
  • Small Business Grant
  • Small Business Grant

Past Winners Share How Spoonflower's Small Business Grant Helped Them Level Up

Edited: May 17, 2022
0 Comments
Share

Whether you already have a business or have an idea for a new endeavor, it can be hard to find time to explore where you’re heading next. Our Small Business Grant program has given over 80 makers (and counting!) a chance to dream up new ideas and take new risks with their businesses. We thought we’d check back in with a few of them to see what happened after they won and what they’re up to now. 

Twice a year, Spoonflower Small Business Grant recipients are chosen to win up to $1000 USD Spoonflower.com credit. If you’d like to find out more, please see the blog post “Everything You Need to Know About Applying for Our Small Business Grant” and the related FAQ (you can apply through this link as well!).

A colorful patchwork blanket rests on a bed of grass. Two legs extend into the lower right handside of the blanket, wearing jeans and green-and-blue floral print shoes.

Maker Sally Otis lounges on the very first Small Joy blanket that launched it all.

A child sits on concrete wearing gray shorts, a neon green top and a red watch. They are coloring a mat with a red marker, making red highlights on the legs of an orange tiger. The design features black-outlined illustrated zoo animals, a zebra, elephant, alligator and more, on a white background. The other animals on the rectangular mat in front of the child have been colored in with markers of different colors.

Sally’s daughter “E” ‘tests’ an early version of the Color-Me Mat featuring lellobird’s design Coloring Book Zoo.

Sally Otis portrait

Sally Otis of Small Joy

smalljoy.org 
https://www.instagram.com/smalljoy402
https://www.facebook.com/smalljoy402

Spring 2021 Spoonflower Small Business Grant Recipient

About Small Joy:
Through Small Joy I create eco-friendly outdoor picnic/camping blankets and play mats featuring bold colors and designs. Every product is created with care and intentionality to bring others joy for years to come.

What did winning the grant mean for you and your business?
Winning the Small Business Grant was a big boost of confidence in what I’m doing and my vision for Small Joy. It adds to my stability as a new business and what I can offer my customers.

Did winning the grant change anything?
Winning the grant was HUGE for me as a new start-up business. I’ve been able to prototype and introduce a new product much sooner than if I had to build the capital on my own. Also as a new business, the grant allowed me to purchase material sooner so that I can spread my workflow out more evenly and take advantage of slow sale months to build inventory.

How have you used your grant money?
The very first thing was to upgrade to SpoonflowerPRO, which has been priceless for free shipping, discounts and quick turnaround on orders. I ordered sample designs and test fabrics for Color-Me Mats, a new product I’m launching soon. I was then able to order large quantities of fabric to build up an inventory for both Color-Me Mats and my Outdoor Picnic Blankets ready for Spring/Summer markets.

What projects are you currently working on?
I’m continuing to fine tune my process and, as a new business, working on refining my brand’s “look.” (Sheena Bean’s blog post 3 Tips for Shopping the Spoonflower Marketplace was really helpful, along with Jennifer Diederich’s branding tips post, 7 Branding Tips for Creative Entrepreneurs!) There are so many colors, patterns and styles available at Spoonflower, but now I’m starting to really define what Small Joy means to me… and sewing like mad getting ready for spring markets.

What’s next?
This spring I’m launching Color-Me Mats and I’m excited thinking about themes and developing additional pattern designs for those. I’d also like to work on developing a few of my own patterns for my Outdoor Picnic Blanket.

Close up of four small zipper pouches. The bag on the far left has a black background and light blue sharks with their mouths open, surrounded by small light blue hearts. The next two bags have designs of chocolate covered strawberries, ice cream sundae bowls each with three scoops of ice cream, one orange, one purple, one green, squares of chocolate and the word FOOD spelled out as if on a road sign, one bag has a yellow background and the other bag has a gray background. The bag on the bottom right has the same open-mouthed shark design with small yellow stars and a black-and-white striped background.
A small neon green bag with two handles and a zippered section in the front featuring rows of white bears with tattoos wearing hats outlined in black. The bag is lying on a black-and-white geometric print surface.
Armand D. Castilleja portrait

Armand D Castilleja of The Honest Crook

thehonestcrook.shop
https://www.instagram.com/thehonestcrook

Fall 2021 Spoonflower Small Business Grant Recipient

About Armand D Castilleja:
I’m the maker and creator of The Honest Crook, which focuses on fun colorful quality bags for everyone!

What did winning the grant mean for you and your business?
More opportunities to try new things and take bigger risks!

Did winning the grant change anything?
Yes! The pandemic has been rough and since going full time with my business I’ve had my highs and lows. That being said, this grant really changed a lot for me and my business! I am beyond grateful!

How have you used your grant money?
I’ve been working on new collections of fabric for my fanny packs and tote bags. I love playing around with the Spoonflower Color Map and trying new color palettes out!

What projects are you currently working on?
Bags as always, but with this grant money I am planning on sewing more apparel and home decor.

What’s next? 
New collabs coming soon! I am working on expanding and growing The Honest Crook into a full-on lifestyle brand that feels good to me.

A woman stands looking up in the middle of a road with large leafy trees on either side. Both of her hands are at her sides, holding the gown slightly out. She wears a gown with a white background and a gold and green left design.

Martrecia wears her Road to Argyle Falls Gown, pictured along the road to the Argyle Waterfall in Tobago. Photo by Steffan Bryce.

A woman stands in a grove of trees with her left arm up held behind her head. She is wearing a caftan with a print that shows a beach scene at twilight, with an orange sky, trees, sand and a gray sky.

Martrecia wears her Miami Beach Barbados Feathered Kimono Duster at Mount St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago.

Martrecia Alleyne portrait

Martrecia Alleyne of Photo-Synthesis Designs

photosynthesisdesignstt.com
https://www.instagram.com/photo_synthesis_designs_tt/

Fall 2020 Small Business Grant Recipient

About Photo-Synthesis Designs:
Photo-Synthesis Designs is a Trinbagonian born photography-based fashion and soft furnishings lifestyle brand that merges my love for travel and photography with my background in fashion and interior design. The brand is dedicated to spreading the ‘love for country’—whichever country you may be from, and aims to end xenophobia and racism one product at a time with its concept of synthesis (i.e., the combination of components to form a connected whole).

What did winning the grant mean for you and your business?
Winning the Small Businesses Grant allowed my small businesses to continue to make new pieces during a very challenging economic period. It allowed us to experiment and create new, more expensive products like coats and pushed our brand creatively into the realm of costume design and even a short film. The grant also facilitated our expansion into two new markets: Barbados and the Bahamas, plus the launch of our accessory line.

Did winning the grant change anything?
Apart from the freedom the grant gave me to create and the brand awareness gained, winning the grant was quite validating and gave me additional confidence and pride in my brand. Seeing other success stories within the Spoonflower community was also very motivating. Winning the grant played a large role in speeding up our expansion into new markets and our ability to afford to diversify into creating accessories.

How have you used your grant money?
With the Spoondollars from the Small Businesses Grant I was able to create a number of pieces for my pageant and pre-pageant wardrobe for a competition that I represented my country in, in the Bahamas last year. This included my national costume, a tribute to the Scarlet Ibis (one of the national birds of T&T) and the Caroni Swamp in Trinidad and Tobago; a number of resortwear pieces: a jumpsuit, dresses, caftans, wraps, swimwear and two gowns. In essence, I was able to build a mini collection from which customers could place orders and experiment with a few new items.

What projects are you currently working on?
One of my main objectives for 2022 is to enter new markets in the Caribbean region. I am just getting my accessory collection for the Barbados market into a boutique there called My Collection Barbados and I am completing a number of Barbados-inspired resortwear pieces.

After receiving such a positive response to our first handbag design, I am working on creating a number of variations for different destinations. I am also excited to be collaborating with another Trinidadian designer based in the UK (Thalia-Mae Nero of TMBoutique) to create a mini-jewelry collection featuring images of various Caribbean landscapes.

What’s next?
I plan to add two gowns to the Barbados collection later this year and fully launch the Barbados collection with a number of photoshoots on the island. I would also like to complete two climate change themed video shoots in Barbados for this launch to bring attention to that meaningful cause that is impacting the island.

I am hopeful that my business will secure wholesale orders from key buyers in Barbados, St. Lucia, Curaçao and the Bahamas this year. And we hope to expand our reach to key Caribbean diaspora markets in the US and UK through additional marketing.

Anthony stands in front of a wall with his hands behind his back and wears a shirt with a red background and a design with green and black ravens. The wallpaper on the wall behind him is the same design as his shirt.

Featured design: Skyful of Ravens by aekieren. Photo by Alonzo Maciel.

Anthony stands in front of a wall with his right hand behind his back and wears a shirt with an orange background and a design with pink and red pomegranates with green leaves. The wallpaper on the wall behind him is the same design as his shirt.

Featured design: Luxurious Pomegranates by aekieren. Photo by Alonzo Maciel.

A.E. Kieren portrait

Anthony Ernest Kieren of A.E. Kieren Illustration

aekieren.com
https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/aekieren

Fall 2020 Small Business Grant Recipient

About A.E. Kieren:
A.E. Kieren is an illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York, who is interested in creating big, ambitious textile designs that explore new subject matter.

What did winning the grant mean for you and your business?
It’s been an amazing opportunity to experiment with new and untested products that I was excited to try but might not have dared on my own since I couldn’t be sure in advance how commercial the new products would be.

Did winning the grant change anything?
I am really appreciative of the validation and recognition, which has helped me acquire more and better projects with new clients.

How have you used your grant money?
I developed and produced three versions of my illustrated posters on a fabric concept.

What projects are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on some new textile designs exploring some new unexpected subject matter.

What’s next?
I’m continuing to generate new illustrated textile designs as I market myself to brands and interior design agencies as a designer of ambitious custom textile designs.

Want to meet other Small Business Grantees?

See more grant winner posts
Alexa Terry Wilde portrait

Alexa Terry Wilde

Alexa Terry Wilde is on the Brand Marketing team and is Spoonflower’s Maker Community Manager. She also runs a vintage clothing business called Antlers and Astronauts.

Related Posts

  • Design Tutorials
  • Spoonflower Ambassadors
  • Tutorials
How to Make a Quilted Jacket in 2 Easy Ways
By Betsy Greer on February 14, 2022
A cream armoire with floral embroidery at the bottom and red edges sits on a dark wooden floor in front of wallpaper featuring a design with large off-white flowers and details outlined in dark blue on a gray and dark blue background. A hand is reaching in to adjust the armoire to highlight it’s small scale. A white ceramic vase sits at the bottom middle of the armoire and a stack of books to the bottom left. A small plant in a copper planter sits to the armoire’s left. 
  • Community
  • Inspiration
  • Meet The Maker
Exploring the World of Me Made Miniatures
By Betsy Greer on February 14, 2022
Sydney and Savvy stand in the Spoonflower factory in Durham wearing jackets that they made for Me Made May. Savvy wears a jacket with a zipper front. The jacket has small repeating columns of various zodiac signs in turquoise and teal blocks. Sydney is wearing jean shorts, a black shirt and jacket with black cuffs, a black zipper front and an orange, red and green butterfly design with a cream background.
  • Handmade Apparel
  • Inspiration
27 Different Ways to Wear Spoonflower Fabrics
By Betsy Greer on February 14, 2022

1 comment

0 comments

Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Shop Spoonflower
  • Shop Fabric
  • Shop Wallpaper
  • Shop Living & Decor
  • Shop Dining
  • Shop Bedding
Design & Sell
  • Upload Your design
  • Design Tools
  • Designing FAQs
  • Selling & Comissions
  • Seller FAQs
More
  • Help Center
  • About Us
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Privacy
Stay Updated
© 2022 Spoonflower Inc | Site by Reaction.

We use cookies to enable and enhance your site experience. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Accept Learn More