Why Is Your Shop Closed?!

Some of you may have noticed that my online shop is closed. Ever since last Christmas, I haven't been feeling the online retail life, especially coming from working too many grueling years in retail. I love making things, but hate the whole business side and the having to try and sell myself that comes along with it these days.

I keep trying because I want to feel like I'm contributing to our household bills. In reality, running a handmade business costs a lot of money, and it seems the costs keep going up. From platform fees to postage, on top of supplies and marketing it's a nightmare. Truthfully I don't want to charge anyone an arm and a leg for cards + stickers just to come out even.

This year it doesn't seem like I've produced a lot, but I'm always sketching and painting. My passion seems to have shifted from making things to making art. I figured out how to make a repeating pattern and found I make more money with a lot less time commitment using Spoonflower + Society6.

Spoonflower lets other makers use my designs to produce amazing things and it makes me happy to see everyone's creations. Society 6 lets people buy my designs on fun things like mugs + phone cases (which are requested the most) without me having to figure out the logistics of it all, which means less stress + more creating.

Without the pressure of having to constantly be putting new stuff out, be trendy, or jump on the enamel pin bandwagon, I'm finding my quality of life has drastically improved. The time I would use to market, make, package, and all that jazz is now spent on more self love. This month, I've started working out (yay endorphins), taught myself to crochet, been able to start all those home improvement projects, and of course spend even more time with my daughter without worrying about customer messages, marketing + filling orders. My phone not constantly going off has been heavenly.

I know some people thrive on this handmade/entrepreneur life, but it's just not for me. I'll still be creating, but on my own terms. That doesn't mean I won't re-open my online shop at a later date, but for right now I'm happy creating fabric designs.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years! It means a lot to me and thank you to everyone who continues to support my art through purchasing through Spoonflower + Society 6. xo

PS I'll be updating my Society 6 soon + I'm working on a new geeky fabric pattern. Can you guess which fandom I'm diving into?

Puff Stitch Slouchy Beanie

Lately, I've been super into crocheting. I started my first project at the end of June that turned into an awesome Twilight Sparkle themed afghan at the request of my three year old daughter.

For my next project I wanted to tackle hats. I made a simple hat for my husband out of some yarn I've been hoarding from Fancy Tiger in Boulder, CO. He liked it, but I wanted something more slouchy for myself + to give to my friends this Christmas. I found this pattern from The Hook Nook through Ravelry.

Jessica from The Hook Nook had a simple YouTube video on how to do the puff stitch, and making the band was similar to the hat I had made using this pattern. I only had to restart once, because I made my band too big. Sadly, I ran out of the yarn I was using and it wasn't as slouchy as I would've liked it to be. It's still super cute and I'm excited to make more and tweak the pattern a bit. This was my first time attempting to read a pattern, but being able to get on YouTube and get a visual of the elements of the hat helped a ton!

 

You can find all the information on the yarn + hook size I used on my Ravelry. The color of this yarn is  Painted Canyon. I couldn't find it through the Hobby Lobby website to input into my project on Ravelry, but it's beautiful. My only regret is not buying more.

You can find this pattern in the Hook Nook's shop or if you're not into crocheting buy one pre-made from Jessica.

Are you on Ravelry? If so, let's be friends!

Fall Fabric

This weekend I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season, and then went to Target to stock up on other pumpkin-y goodies. Fall is my favorite season! This Fall Festival fabric is one of my favorites! Full of pumpkins, apples, and acorns...not to mention a very Fall-y color scheme! You can purchase it here!

Please share your projects using #HelloQuirkyFabric so I can ohhh and ahhh over them. I'd also like to share them across my social media too! xo

PS I also have a very kawaii Halloween fabric available!

September Goals

I am so excited that it's September! I love fall and my daughter is really getting into it too. I made some goals for August and I didn't complete all of them, but I did pretty good overall.

Here are my goals for September:

1. 1-2 new fabric designs up in my Spoonflower shop. I exceeded my own expectations last month with fabric designs (mostly holiday), and this month I'm hoping to keep up the momentum. Designing fabric has become my main gig these days, and I'm really enjoying it.

2. Morning Routine. I am not a morning person, but my kiddo has a very consistent internal alarm clock (up at 8am on the dot). I want to make use of being up so early and get things done (like exercising <started BBG today>, morning pages, etc.). I've been looking on Pinterest for some ideas to get my morning party started.

3. Blogging! Still struggling with this one + always loosing momentum. Here's to not giving up!

4. Children's Book. I've got ideas that I need to flesh out and lots of sketching to do. I also need to learn how to actually go about writing + illustrating books. I bought a few books to help me. Fingers crossed I make time to work on it this month.

What are your goals for the month?