Have you ever seen a girl with a bright pink binder trying to woo people into buying her stickers? Well, chances are that’s Serena Bowman, a CHS senior who is devoted to making people smile with her cute sticker designs. Most of the stickers Bowman designs are anime/TV characters, animals (like frogs and dinosaurs), and other cute designs. 

This isn’t the first time Bowman has dabbled in making art. In fact, art has been a passion of hers for a long time. “I’ve been working on designs and figuring out what things people like… [and] I’ve been practicing my art since [my] sophomore year,” said Bowman. 

Drawing is an art form Bowman grew to love and wants to use her art and sticker business to make people smile while also making money for college in the process. She wants to learn how to draw in college so she can make people happy. Bowman hopes people who buy her stickers will use them to spread joy to the people around them. “That’s my main goal… this world is kind of screwed up and I want to make it a little bit better at least,” said Bowman. 

Sticker prices vary; but in general, they go for about a dollar per inch (3 inch stickers = 3 dollars, etc.). But if you have a five dollar bill, you can either get three small stickers or one small and big sticker. Bowman has many variations of sales that she will be happy to discuss with you if you’re interested. 

A lot of time and effort was put into the creation of her stickers. Bowman works with a company that helps print out the stickers, but there’s also tons of behind-the-scenes work that goes into its production. “Well, I measure the amount of time, and I measure the… quality, and what stickers are [typically] going for,” said Bowman. “I went on Etsy and I saw how much stickers cost and I calculated the time per quality of [the] stickers.” 

When Bowman gets a spark of inspiration, it takes her about a day or two. But the process between sketching, outlining, coloring, and setting effecting, which takes her about four hours of her time. So customers have to pay the “small business premium”. 

In addition, Bowman claims that even after a friend of hers (accidentally) put her sticks through washing and drying machines, they came out perfectly fine. Which unofficially (officially) makes them water resistant, so they’re great for water bottles. 

In the future, Bowman hopes to open up an Etsy shop to further expand her business. “I would like to have an Etsy business,” said Bowman, “And hopefully in the future I can make even more designs. I can put them on mugs or t-shirts, and I could have a full-on website, just for my stuff.”

For those who want to pursue artistic careers but are hesitant about the effects it may bring, Bowman thinks you should just go for it. “Practice and it’s not cheating if you use references. Always practice and whenever you get inspired, or just want to do it, just do it,” said Bowman. “No matter how many people are, like, cringing at you like—ok, maybe it looks like you[‘re character has] a broken arm, so what? That’s your art and if your character has a broken arm, literally do it, it’s fine.”

If you’re interested in buying from Serena, there are several ways you can go about that. If you see her in the hall, just ask her about the stickers! She’ll be happy to sell to you.

Other forms of contact include:

School Email [email protected] 

Instagram rayn_shine