Growing Nina Paloma

Aim: Investing in a new kiln, having stock readily available, create sleepwear, scale this business with wholesale, improving the studio space

THE BACK STORY…

My name is Nina, if you’re here - you may well know my story and have followed along for a while, but here’s a quick introduction to me & the business. 

I live in the Kent countryside and after studying my MA in illustration at Edinburgh College of Art, it was summer of 2020 and I began selling handmade ceramics inspired by nature and environments. Illustrating comes naturally to me, and being able to bring it to life by handcrafting these pieces makes it all so much more exciting for me. It is thanks to all of the amazing people I have met along the way (so far!) that Nina Paloma has been able to grow. I have had the ability to develop new ideas and get the business to where it is today thanks to all of your support. 

Running the business has become my whole life. I strongly believe in meaningful products over mass produced, and in turn I want to help shape the future of handcrafted homeware. Everything produced in the Nina Paloma studio is handcrafted with care and carefully researched materials. Moving forward to dreaming of the sleepwear collection; these will be ethically produced with my own illustrations creating beautiful, cosy pyjamas. 

WHAT ARE WE RAISING MONEY FOR? 

To tie nicely in a bow;

- having stock readily available 

- to invest in another kiln

- to scale the business with wholesale

- kickstarting the sleepwear collection

- improving the studio set up 

- growing my homeware collection 

A MORE IN-DEPTH ‘WHAT I AM HEADING TOWARDS…’

Currently I am only able to work towards online ‘drops’ at the end of each month. I would love to be able to have seasonal collections of both ceramics and homeware, readily available to purchase and ship. I regularly get emails or messages asking for pieces outside of these ‘drop’ times and it’s difficult for me to keep up with demand. 

Currently I just have a 60L kiln (which only fits 36 mugs), which is wonderful, but I am desperate for more firing space. The firing process from switch on to complete cool down is 24 hours with her, so the process is incredibly slow and during busy periods (lead up to events and Christmas, its incredibly stressful and tight on space). Unfortunately last year in the run up to a very busy event, I had to bin almost 100 mugs because the ‘big kiln’ had another huge, very expensive Issue. 

Being able to offer much more for the wholesale market and also take on more cafe/restaurant production. I have been so lucky to work with a handful of restaurants, chefs, independent shops and cafes; producing handcrafted unique ceramics for use within their establishments. Currently what I am able to offer is limited & I would love to be able to offer a full range of products within the collections. 

The ‘homeware’ collection was extremely popular last year, and we had endless requests for so much more (currently it is just tea towels), such as aprons, Aga covers, napkins, travel bags, bedding, dog beds…Which would be INCREDIBLE!! But it is just not really possible without funding. 

Beginning the journey of Nina Paloma Sleepwear (oh its even exciting just writing that!). But the idea is to start with a winter edit, my best selling mugs are by far the winter fox and polar bear designs, I will be using my illustrations to be printed onto well fitted, lovely material, cosy pyjamas. I really have for a long while now wanted to have edits of sleepwear. The perfect pairs of pyjamas for people from all walks of life. I LOVE a good pair of pyjamas…I love the bougie-ness of coming home after a long day & getting into your *favourite* pair of PJ’s & curling up on the sofa with the pets (most likely with a glass of wine too of course). Through  this crowd funder I will be using some of the funds to start this journey. See drawing ideas below.

Currently the studio is an incredibly organised mess. I am lacking shelving and work bench space, so any additional funding will go towards making the space a much more functional work area. Also into clay, glazing and a decal printer for my own print production. 

And finally…

It is not lost on me how bold it is to ask for your help like this, especially during times like this. And I have been back and forth with whether to go for it or not, but I don’t want my business to be stuck in this rut anymore. I truly believe everything that is created within the studio is wonderful and brings so much peace and happiness to those who use it. I want the business to thrive and I have had the most incredible support from people across the world so far on my journey. You have no idea how much that means to me. But now its time to grow and develop what I have built so far. I am excited to have some really lovely ‘rewards’ in exchange for your kind donations!

 Now the best bit -The Rewards!

Early access Christmas code! £5.00 

Giving you a WEEKS early access to this years winter collection. Every year the Christmas collection gets bigger and bigger, and more and more popular! So beat the stress of missing out with an early access code.

Whale shark pin badge £10.00

(Enamel pin badge, made in the UK)

Tea towel £15.00

Limited edition crowdfunder design, 100% Cotton, printed in the UK tea towel.

Small Decoration £15.00

(Flat tile like decoration with crowdfunder illustration)

Ceramic Coaster, crackled glaze with a choice of illustrations £15

A choice of either round or square coaster

Shopper Tote Bag £25 

(Crowdfunder design, printed in the UK large shopper tote)

Pack of 3, A5 Woodland Creature prints £25

(Giclee print illustrated woodland creature prints. A5)

Crowdfunder small or medium mugs £30-35

(Limited edition, crowdfunder design. Small mug 280ml | Medium mug 330ml)

A4 Print £35

(Giclee illustration print. A4)

Large tile decoration £35

(Flat tile decoration with crowdfunder illustration)

Galaxy Croissant Cappuccino mug £35

An ever popular mug, but in limited edition colours, each unique and stamped with your crowd funder number! 

Personalised dog/cat bowl £50 

Tell me your favourite colours and I’ll create you a dog or cat bowl with a paw print and their name written on the outside!

Set of 2 Pasta Bowls £60 

(Wheel thrown set of two pasta bowls, glazes have 3 options)

3 Piece Dinner set £100

(Wheel thrown 3 piece dinnerset, glazes have 3 options)

Custom made illustrated serving dish £160

(Example photo)

Half Day, 4 hours with Clay £150 per person

(A four hour course with clay, a mix of throwing and hand building. With refreshments included. All pieces will be glazed and posted)

Illustrating with Clay Day! £1600 

A one day course for 1 day, lunch and refreshments is included. A day mixed with creating wonderful pieces and exploring the cross over between drawings and clay. All pieces will be glazed and fired. Up to 8 people, all refreshments and a light lunch is included. Dates TBC.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 8th August 2025 at 9:40am