Wanting some cute, indie, Pokémon plush objects to cuddle up to this Christmas? IndieBloom have you covered with Adorable Potato 🥔

Mashed potato

Sprouted by Bailey who’s based in Everett, Washington in the US, she describes her business as - ‘Adorable Potato is all around fun, there are so many great aspects of it. Making cute merch for everyone to enjoy has to be the best part. Learning new skills everyday is also very rewarding. And the ultra flexible schedule is great too.’

Offering ‘chibi’ plushies and much more - badges, enamel pins, stickers and bookmarks, these are perfect lil stocking gifts.

Reduce, reuse, recycle, (Rihanna)

Sustainability and looking after the planet are key factors for brands these days. Adorable Potato does its part with its campaign called Environmental Impact.

It’s a process to learn how to be more environmentally aware. For example, I bought eco-friendly plant based compostable plastic bags to protect my enamel pins, but only after I ordered 1000+ bags I learned that in order for the plastic to break down each bag needs to be commercially composted, there is no way that each customer is going to bring each tiny bag to a commercial composter. So I learned that it’s better to use either a recyclable paper product or something that can be reused indefinitely by the customer. I recently restocked my entire shipping supplies shelf with all recycled and recyclable products by eco-enclose and will be switching over to these products when I run out of my old shipping supplies.

Caring for our world 🌎♻🗑

Adorably cute

Originally taking inspiration from the Lion King Fan Art Archive, Bailey learnt a lot there and decided to switch her art style up when she felt they were similar. What has Bailey enjoyed creating the most?

My favorite project I made is my Snorlax Cuddle Friend Plush. It’s just so chonky and cute and I love Snorlax. The fabric is extremely thick and soft and I used glass beads to give the plush some serious heft, which makes it a great soothing plush for anxiety. The fabric was a huge pain to work with so I don’t plan on making more anytime soon. I love each plush that I make, each one is unique and has its own personality, it’s hard sending them off to their forever homes.

Being seen online is crucial to an indie business. Bailey’s advice and strategy has involved -

It’s tough to be seen on social media. I don’t use Etsy due to their fees and policies so all of my traffic is up to me. Algorithms tend to hide art and sales posts which make it that much harder to get noticed. In the beginning giveaways helped me reach my initial followers, but now it seems like short videos are the way onto people’s screens.

Sweet Potato

Some words of advice for all you indie creators starting off the journey of your brand - ‘That it’s okay to mess up, fail, or ruin projects. Not to price yourself too low. And if something is giving you lots of problems, it’s best to stop working on it and come back to it in a few days.’ This has allowed recognition and praise from her local newspaper, with further positives following -

My best Adorable Potato moment was when my latest Kickstarter Enamel Pin campaign raised over $12,000. This was a huge success and I was blown away. The pins are still in the manufacturing process, but I should be getting them soon. I haven’t had any real bad low points, besides the typical low sales (especially with inflation and the recession), or things not selling as quickly as I like, Adorable Potato hasn’t had any real setbacks (yet).
Being an independent creator is a dream job for me. I tend to work best on my own, and like being in charge of myself. I want to have kids and home school them one day and Adorable Potato is something I can do to continue to make money on the side. Adorable Potato is great too because it offers so many creative outlets, if I ever get burned out of one thing, like plush making, I can just spend my time doing another thing, like pin design. I jump back and forth between lots of different types of projects to prevent burnout. I also get to work as much or as little as I want or need, which is ideal for my lifestyle.

Potato salad

Ending our conversation via email, which at the time in Seattle, Washington there was thick smoke from local wildfires which made Bailey’s head hurt so bad it was hard for her to read the screen, apologising for any errors (there weren’t any 😊).

Thank you for your interest in my work! Adorable Potato has been so much fun and a huge learning experience. In the last 3 years I learned how to manage a business, build and maintain a website, I learned to sew plushies, and manufacture pins, I learned how to use lots of new machines like embroidery and circuit machines, how to pay taxes, and how to ship large quantities of packages. I wake up excited every day to work and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Thank you again!
Bailey (Potato)

With a commission status, Bailey added: “My commissions are closed, I don't do any kind of custom work at this time. Deliveries are not to the UK currently due ‘to the confusing import laws.’” 🇬🇧 😣

With things looking to be in full motion in 2023, follow all of Adorable Potatoes major social platforms which are Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Linktree. The Potato Club is a monthly subscription membership service where you join the private community and unlock special perks such as monthly discount codes, early access & sneak peeks and a members only shop - What are you waiting for?

For all you art aficionados, check out IndieBloom’s previous artistic posts. If you didn’t know also, you can support IndieBloom via Patreon - another perfect Christmas gift 🎄🎁 😊

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