is a name that many of you are likely becoming familiar with. This Creative Market shop, specializing in wedding invitation templates, was started a little over a year ago by the talented Leanna Rosengren. Today, we’re lucky enough to get to chat with Leanna in order to learn more about her and Knotted Design.
Hi Leanna, thanks so much for being willing to chat with us today and share your story! Can you start off by telling us a little about yourself and where you’re located?
Hi, my name is Leanna Rosengren and I live in Thunder Bay, ON with my wonderful fiancé Andrew and our weird creature of a dog, Luna. We live near the stunning shores of Lake Superior, in the isolated region of Northwestern Ontario. I am lucky to live in such an inspiring place with unique beauty and with the added bonus of being able to find solitude in nature within only a few minutes travel. I have a quiet disposition and I enjoy hiking, camping, and reading. I am a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer, as well as the proud owner of the Creative Market shop, Knotted Design, where I mainly sell wedding invitation templates.
Those sound like vacation worthy surroundings! So, painter, illustrator, and graphic designer, how did that all start for you?
Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to be an artist. The creative career ambition has stayed consistent throughout my life, although my expectations have become more realistic and practical as I became older. I promise that isn’t as depressing as it sounds. The goal to be an artist but also to make a living has been an amazing journey and it has led to a career with the perfect balance between all of my creative passions.
During University I took a fine arts program and after graduating I had to decide what exactly I would do with my degree (I had the typical “what now?!†complete with the Edvard Munch, The Scream, expression). My professors all spoke of grants to apply for after school, as a way to make a living while making art, but I knew that wasn’t for me. I have technical skill but I am a rubbish conceptual artist and have little patience for deep themes behind a series. After University, I went back to painting and drawing whatever I thought would look cool or beautiful and not worrying about underlying messages. I assumed I would always need to have a traditional job and just sell some paintings on the side. When I found Creative Market, I was instantly hooked and excited to use my creative interests to produce digital products.
Painting, drawing, graphic design, the list goes on (Hello multi-talented!). It sounds like you’ve had a multitude of interests and abilities for quite some time. Have any of them developed into a favorite area that you most enjoy focusing on?
Oh so hard to choose! I am so lucky to have a variety of creative outlets so that when I feel blocked with one I can drop it and move on to another. I really love to paint and I love to challenge myself with realism. I would love to do a couple photorealism paintings in the near future. Painting is something I do in my free time and for myself. It is the only creative outlet I have that I get a hankering for. The need to paint is intense and unmovable and doesn’t go away, just like a chocolate craving.
Haha! That’s an analogy we can relate to! Do you have any particular artistic mediums that you enjoy working or experimenting with?
I fell in love with printmaking in university. I had very little knowledge about the subject initially, and it was a new and exciting medium to learn. I especially loved doing etchings — drawings with intricate cross hatching detail that you can duplicate over and over — sign me up! Then came learning about linocuts and screen printing. I ended up buying screen printing equipment, determined to print t-shirt designs to sell, but that didn’t end up panning out. I still screen print the occasional shirt and I love to create linocuts to make my own stamps. I made one for my sister to stamp on her wedding envelopes.
Can you explain to us the process that you go through when you create digital assets?
Everything always gets drawn out on paper first. I have owned a Wacom tablet for over a year but I still haven’t quite gotten the hang of it and I prefer the pencil, it just feels more natural. Once I am happy with what I draw I will go over the lines with pen. Then I scan the images, put them in illustrator and turn them into vectors. For watercolour assets in my templates I just go in with the paint right away and experiment. A lot of the time things don’t turn out, but I find with watercolour some of the best outcomes are the result of happy accidents so I don’t like to plan it. After I have a set of digital assets I am happy with, I put in the text to create the invitation templates.
So, you said you were excited when you found Creative Market. How exactly did you end up finding us?
I remember I first came across a graphic pack of MakeMediaCo. on Pinterest and it led me to her Creative Market shop. I absolutely fell in love with her rustic illustrations and it inspired me to start drawing right away. I poured over the rest of the site and was blown away with the variety of products and talent from the shop owners. I started working on illustrations and when my sister asked me to design her wedding invitations with a rustic theme I eagerly took up the task.
That’s awesome! And Callie and her products are so amazing, it’s no wonder they drew you in! So, what made you decide to take the exciting leap to open a Creative Market shop of your own?
Last year, I was working as a graphic designer at a great local company but I wasn’t working on anything that really inspired me. My ideal career was working from home, (who doesn’t want to work in their pajamas?) doing what I loved and I was determined to make it happen. I posted the Rustic Wedding Suite, which I had designed for my sister’s wedding. I didn’t expect much, but after a few sales I was encouraged to think up new wedding invitation designs. I started making more sales, not enough to make a living but I was confident that if I kept creating more products, the sales would come. So, I quit my job and put all the efforts towards my Creative Market shop and in just a few months I had an income I could live off of. Having the freedom to do what I love and choose my own projects to work on is such an amazing blessing, and I’m thankful that I stumbled across Creative Market a year ago. It is like they say: love what you do and you never work a day in your life!
That’s a fantastic story Leanna, and we’re so excited that you’re able to do what you love every day! Now that you’ve been a shop owner for a while, what would you say is the best perk of being part of the Creative Market community
Everyone is so kind, supportive and inspiring! Even though I am very shy and don’t participate in the discussions, I look through the site every day and still feel like I am part of the community. I also love how I feel connected with other creatives and with buyers from around the world. It is an incredible feeling to know that wedding invitations with my designs are out there.
Out there AND being a part of some of the most special events in the lives of many people. That’s pretty cool! Do you have any exciting new projects and/or products in the works?
Yes actually, I recently opened up a new shop for my illustrations called Paper Bear Studio. I will continue to post new invitations in my Knotted Design shop while working on new graphic products for the new shop. I am eager to spend more time drawing and less time glued to the computer screen.
Keep the conversation going!
This chat doesn’t have to end here! Can you relate to Leanna’s creative journey or process? Did you learn something new? Are you just excited that you’ve been introduced to the wonderful woman behind such a great shop? Chat with Leanna in the comment section below and keep the conversation going.
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I’m an ex-schoolmarm who is excited about all things creative. Photography makes me smile and when I find a new-to-me dress that fits just right, it makes my day.
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