How It's Going... (Mid 2025)

By 2023, three years after those initial iPad doodles in lockdown, the business hit a sweet spot. Regular wholesale and online orders were coming in (soon Tilly Scribbles products were stocked in over 100 independent shops across the country!), and I was getting a good amount of commission requests.

I was still operating everything from my home studio (ie. a desk behind the sofa), and we were quickly running out of space. Every spare moment was spent prepping orders. Friend coming over for a movie night? We'd be tasselling 200 bookmarks as we watched. Heading into town? Can we swing by the post office? It was hectic, but I found a rhythm, and made it work.

Just when I thought I might be ready to scale the business and take on someone part time to help out...personal circumstances meant my partner and I had to move back to the UK.

Early 2024, I announced on socials that Tilly Scribbles would be closing in Australia as there was no way I could keep it going from the other side of the world. That's when I received a message from Kate - a keen customer who had an idea: 'could I come onboard and take over Australian operations?'. We quickly met for a coffee the day before my flight to discuss how it could work.

I was lucky enough to spend three months travelling the country before moving back to the UK. Meeting all these inspirational animals cemented the idea that we should try and keep Tilly Scribbles going.

The logistics took several months to figure out with some very early morning / late night phone calls between the UK and Australia, but we got there. I'm thrilled that Kate is now my local wonder woman on the ground in Wollongong and is keeping the dream alive down under!

I'm loving that this means I can keep illustrating Australian wildlife (and that I have a reason to keep coming back to visit 😉).