I heart Lolapop!

It’s true, I REALLY do heart www.lolapop.co.uk

Now, I know I say it like, all the time, but what can I say? I have a big heart with a whole lotta love for cuteness, and this site not only has an awesome name, it is offish my new home of cuteness!

AHH-MAZING merch, super-cute 50’s style design and adorbz model - I just go there for a dose of prettiness sometimes…The lady behind this total fabulousness is Kelly Armer, and I am trying to work out a way to make her my BFF, you will too once you’ve read all about her…she’s freakin’ fabulous!

Describe Kelly, the girl behind Lolapop, in five words…
Head over heels with plastic!

We HEART Lolapop goodness - for those who don’t know about our fave new label, what is it exactly?
LolaPop is jewellery made for all those cute and quirky dollies out there. It’s just fun adorable loveliness! Acrylic name necklaces, anchors, lipsticks and bows….if that sounds like a list of stuff you’d love, then be sure to stop by!

What’s with the name Lolapop?
Lola is a name that i’ve always had a major crush on and adding Pop to it made it all the more sweeter! It’s as simple as a super cute name that i think really suits the style of my jewellery.

How did it go from an idea in your head to a real-life online shop o’ prettiness?
Like most girlies I have a love affair with earrings, but they were always getting so tangled up and I kept losing my faves which is very heartbreaking! So, whilst searching for a solution on the internet I realised that there were no cute ways to organise my treasures! I designed one for myself, the anchor, and loved the result so it just esculated from there. Making treats for my friends quickly spread the word and I had enough to sell, so I thought I’d give it a go!

Do you create prods yourself too? If so, tell us all about them - how do you create them, what’s you inspiro?
Yep, I create all of the LolaPop treats, I guess I design things that I would want to wear and hope that other people love them too! There’s new treats coming soon like adorable personalized mirrors and super cute oversized bow rings! I’m also branching out and selling more than jewellery soon, so watch this space!

The list of inspiration is endless, I love the tattoos that I have and the ones that I’m planning to have, bows, Marilyn Monroe and pin up girls of the 40’s and 50’s, the 80’s brat pack movies, Alabama from true romance, the original tank girl comics (not the smelly new ones!), my fave artists - Fafi, Miss Van, Angelique Houtkamp and Tara McPherson. I love people watching, I’m very nosey and there’s loads of amazing fashion bloggers and street style sites that I’m sad to admit i’m pretty obsessed with!

Hmm here’s three of my faves that i have to check out every day…..oh by the way none of them are english but the pictures sure are pretty!
http://niotillfem.devote.se/
http://elinkan.blogg.se/
http://nenz.web-log.nl/ The lovely Nancy is always finding the cutest things!

What 5 tracks would be on a Lolapop soundtrack?
This question is too hard so I’ve picked some songs that remind me of some very important people to me…

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Art Star - makes me think of my lovely boyfriend who is a clean freak but puts up with all my clutter!
Wolf Parade - I’ll Believe in Anything - for my awesome brother (i’m a very proud big sis!)
The Postal Service - Greats Heights - this reminds me of my bestest buddy Lucy
Beirut -  Nantes
The Knack - My Sharona
…Hmm weird list!

What’s your best selling prod right now?
It’s always name necklace crazy, but the Love Letter necklace and the Pucker Up necklace are a close second. I have to say it’s one of my faves, it’s a lipstick with a mirror on the back, practical and cute! The anchor earrings are selling really well too, I love them so much I’ve made myself a pair in each colour!

What’s your style bible - book/mag?
I love Nylon magazine and Lula, N.E.E.T online magazine is amazing for indie designers and makes online shopping for cute treats so easy!

How has setting up an online shop been for you - can you give us an insight please?
Amazing! It’s such hard work but totally worth it, it’s the best feeling when people love your designs! I don’t know anything about setting up a website so highly recommend BigCartel, it’s so easy to set up and doesn’t cost much so it’s perfect for independent designers. I love every part of it from setting up the look of the website to wrapping up orders in adorable ribbons and bows! It’s very important to keep all my lovely customers happy, so it’s a big commitment. I’ve recently set up a etsy shop too, thelovelylolapop, that’s going really well so far especially for international orders. Etsy is super good for networking, it’s like a massive community of lovely crafty people!

What’s a typical day in the life of Kelly of Lolapop?
I’m not lucky enough to be doing this full time but I have a pretty cool day job, I’m a womenswear designer for a brand. I spend most of my lunch stood in the queue at the post office posting LolaPop treats! I get home, get a huge hug from my boyfriend and a big cuppa tea! I speak to my lovely mum and dad pretty much every day then I check emails, write lots of to do lists, put orders together and most nights I’ll be designing name necklaces! I’m super busy getting my new collection together, i cant wait to have it all completed so i can get it up on the site. It’s so much fun photographing it all on my gorgeous buddy Livvy, she’s ace and I owe her big time for being the face of LolaPop!

Quick fire round - what’s your fave:
Colour: eeeek! it totally depends on my mood, I love every colour but you cant beat a black and white combo!
Book: books have to have pretty pictures to hold my interest so Tattoo Darling, the art of Angelique Houtkamp
Magazine: Nylon
Place: Home
City: I’ve got so many cities to see but until then I love San Francisco and New York. I’ve got a super soft spot for Brighton too!

What’s your motto for life?
Eeek it’s hard to answer this question without sounding like a right cheese ball! I really don’t know, but i have to say that I trust fate (whilst cringing at myself!)

What advice would you give to wanna-be creative girls who wanna set up their own shop?
Just go for it! If you have that restless feeling like you really want to do something but don’t know if you should, you should just totally do it! If it works out then it’s the best feeling and if it doesn’t, at least you tried! I had the best night sleep ever when LolaPop went on line, it was such hard work and you might find you come across a few of problems that you never prepared for but when you get your first sale it so exciting! When I put LolaPop online I wanted it to be right and complete, not work in progress, so it took a lot longer to set up than i thought it would. I did loads of research on how much to charge for each piece and postage, how I should write the descriptions etc. It takes a while but if you’re proud of the end product then it’s worth the effort.

The colour pink. Discuss.
When I was younger and a right tomboy, I hated pink! But now pink is the colour of my beautiful cherry bomb 1974 beetle, I love all shades of pink and how wearing baby pink can feel so different to hot pink. It’s just gorgeous sweet cotton candy, icing on cupcakes yumminess!

Visit: www.lolapop.co.uk