Company Timeline 

This page presents some of the ups and downs of the company throughout time.

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Late 1980s  (approx.):
Whimsical drawings are created at the family home in Bronx, New York.  Illustrations depicting hearts doing various things are drawn on paper, just for fun. Eventually, the drawings are taken seriously, and the idea of a greeting card company begins to take shape. Different versions are tried in regards to paper used, methods of cutting, details of illustrations, etc. Each card is created by hand, using card stock, pencils, and markers. One or two cards are sold in person. 
 

Late 1990s (approx.):
In Schenectady, New York, an attempt that was made to create a website to sell the cards is abandoned.  Lack of money and ongoing problems with the cutting of the paper (even with a machine) leads to the project being abandoned.  Although the project is revisited in thoughts, it remains dormant.

2017  (approx.):
Ms. Hudson's arthritis becomes a disability for her.
 

2018 (approx.):
Ms. Hudson is diagnosed with lymphedema.  Additionally, at some point, her plantar fasciitis flares up. Unlike a previous episode, this flare is ongoing for a long time.

2019

May:  
In Southeastern South Dakota,  attempts are made to try again.   This time, technical knowledge is part of the scenario.  The idea of opening a design shop replaces the thought of opening a card shop.

Original designs from the past are brought back and brand new designs are created, as well. Illustrations are applied to a variety of items, including greeting cards.  After many frustrating attempts to come up with the right company name, Designs by Sharon Lee Hudson wins!

October:  
A design shop named after the company opens on the Zazzle website.

November:  
The first sale is made. 

2020

January: 
The card shop, Cards by Sharon Lee Hudson, is created and opens on the Zazzle website. All the cards from the design shop are moved to the card shop. The store is opened to the public for a very short time. The store is then removed from the public while it continues to be worked on.
 

February:  
The card shop reopens to the public on Valentine's Days.  In the future, the card shop will close and open again one or more times, while Ms. Hudson continues to try to find her way.
 

April 18th: 
Electronic cards (e-cards) are created and, appear an e-card website.  For various reasons, after a few e-cards, the idea of creating  more e-cards is discontinued.

The company's first sale that does not involve friends or family occurs on Zazzle. 
 

April 20th: 
A heart with the initials "S, L, H" written on the left side, within the heart, becomes the official logo of Designs by Sharon Lee Hudson. 

August 4th:  
A color version of the logo becomes an official color logo for the company, and the main logo.  The inside of the heart is colored with a pale pink and slightly darker dots. "S, L, H" is still written on the left side.  This colored version appears for the first time on merchandise.  It is applied to the back of a greeting card.

2021

January: 
Work begins on no content books (blank books) and low content books (books of logs and forms).  Covers for journals are designed and work begins on creating interiors (pages) for low content books.  The first book published is a paperback blank book- a journal and appears on Amazon. The journal wears the design, Dreams of the Heart, which is heavily based on Ms. Hudson's original design, My Heart Dreams of You.

A new logo is created.  It contains a heart with initials outside the heart, in script. Everything is framed in black. (In June, a variation will be created. That one has no frame.

February:  
Products with the whimsical heart characters at the design shop are moved to their own store, and Northern Hearts by Sharon Lee Hudson is born!   At the original shop, the design, Living the High Life in the Tropics is finally displayed on objects, after going through a major change. The design advocates for clean environments for wild aquatic creatures.  Previously, the design was just an illustration used to spice up a page of the company's former website.
 

August 16th:  
After almost 2 years, Ms. Hudson finally settles on a logo that she sees as permanent, and she is happy about it!  It's a heart character carrying a sign that contains her initials, and is flanked on both sides by little hearts. (In the future, the little hearts are removed and the heart character is slighly modified).
 

Mid-September:  
Seal characters start to make an appearance at the main store.  Advocacy messages, such as "Keep Oceans Clean" appear in the water in the artwork.  Over the next several days tiny stories are created involving these seal characters and put into the descriptions of the products. 

The exotic fish of the design Living the High Life in the Tropics are replaced with the original fish, as an earlier design is now used instead.
 

Late September:  
Northern Hearts by Sharon Lee Hudson is no more.  The whimsical hearts are now back at the main store.  
 

December 1st:  
Sharon Lee Hudson's Teddy Bear Gift Shop opens on the Zazzle site, but only for a short time.


2022

October:
The teddy bear gift shop is reestablished.

December:
Bag it, by Hudson; December, and its Holidays, by Hudson; and Whimsical Love, by Hudson are all established:


2023

January:
Currently, the company is known as Designs, Sharon Lee Hudson.   The main store is known as Designs, Sharon Lee Hudson, as well.  In 2022, the word "by" was replaced by a comma to reflect the fact that some works are used from the public domain.  Cards by Sharon Lee Hudson is now known as Cards, Sharon Lee Hudson for the same reason.  However, with the exception of the shop known as Art Classics on-the-Hudson, most of the artwork found in the company shops continues to be created by Ms. Hudson. 

March & April:
Ms. Hudson decides to move the merchandise from all stores on Zazzle except one, to the company's main Zazzle store.  The main store is now the only active store on Zazzle and has over 1300 products.  Various reasons went into the decision, including Ms. Hudson's health issues and her disability.

Mid-year:
Ms. Hudson's reoccurring plantar fasciitis reaches disability levels.  This along with her arthritis and her lymphedema makes life difficult and very painful for her, but she keeps going with her business.

Summer:
Due to sales, Ms. Hudson's status on Zazzle is changed to PRO.

2024

March: 
After spending most of her time in bed for a month and a half due to illness, Ms. Hudson comes out of the bed and stays out.  She deletes all he videos and starts anew.

May 25, 2024: 
In addition to it being Ms. Hudson's birthday, it's also the anniversary of the day she decided to start the company.  Five years ago on this day, Ms. Hudson acknowledged that her health was not getting any better and that she had to do something.  She decided to start her own business.

Ms. Hudson's YouTube channel is in full swing and she finally begins to get comfortable with it.  Due to inferior sound equipment, she continues not to speak during any of the videos.  The videos consist of words, pictures, and interesting music.  But the channel works!  She uses the channel for a variety of things, such as business and advocacy.

November 2024:

It's been 4 years since the main shop opened. After having spent years of going back and forth regarding various issues, such as creating stores beyond the main shop, then at some point deleting them, only to create them again further down the road, Ms. Hudson decides to stop cycling.

Currently, there are three stores:  the main shop, an art classics shop, and a winter & Christmas shop.  The last two are recreations of past stores.  Ms. Hudson decides to keep these stores for a long time, whether they do well or not.  Because of a lack of marketing, Ms. Hudson feels that she cannot decide if those two, or even the main store are good stores or not.  She decides to keep all three stores for a long time, whether they make money or not, since there are no fees to keep the stores open.  Ms. Hudson decides to move forward, with three stores and a professional website she created.  She decides that in the near future, the focus will be on marketing the company.