Happy September! A new season arrives and to celebrate, this month's desktop wallpaper is filled with a mellow sun ripened harvest, as we wander through the grape vines and sample the fruits of a long hot summer. If you would like to get this FREE desktop wallpaper, then here's a link to where to join my mailing list: JOIN MY MAILING LIST HERE My mission over the summer was to complete the 2023 Wall Calendar and get the first batch printed. I am delighted to share the full, finished design with you here and announce that they are now available from my Etsy and Folksy shops. Just like my previous annual wall calendars, £1 from every sale is donated to Secret World Wildlife Rescue here in Somerset. Once the final print run has sold out I make a final donation for that year - which means so much to me, because I know that every penny will be used for important conservation work. Secret World are a vital local charity that rescues, rehabilitates and releases wildlife across our region. Over the past few years, your orders for calendars have helped rescue many wounded and orphaned animals and birds, and seen them safely returned to the wild. Thank you so much for those orders! The work SWWR do is just amazing, to find out more here's a link to their website: https://www.secretworld.org Here is a closer look at each page of the new 2023 Calendar.... Another project I have been working on over the summer is a continued c0llaboration with my local Crafty Collective Gift Shop. We have been working together to develop sublimation printed giftware, which can be personalised as they are printed to order in the shop. I have started to set up my Birth Flowers collection as personalised, ceramic hanging heart decorations, to offer them in my Etsy shop. Each order is fulfilled by the Crafty Collective and collected, packed and posted by myself. A handful from the collection are ready and listed in my Etsy shop, but more will follow very soon... Our hope is that these will make lovely little keepsakes for birthdays,
which are very easy to send through the post. The plan for September is to complete this collection and set to work on some Christmas themed ones which can also be sold in the gift shop. Talking of the 'C' word, there will be plenty of other projects involving that theme this coming month, so it is time to get my jingle on and 'sleigh' the day! (Sorry about that - it's been a long summer spent with my teens) Whatever your plans for September, I hope you have a very lovely one Best wishes
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Happy February! Love is all around this month and these little Blue Tits know it. What better way to warm any heart than with a lovingly home baked cake! If you would like to get this FREE desktop wallpaper, then here's a link to where to join my mailing list: JOIN MY MAILING LIST HERE January felt like a slow and steady way to ease into the year. It's been a funny one because the same time last year we were all in lockdown. Yet this year, it has felt far more typical to the years before the pandemic... but also not the same if that makes any sense? After the past 2 exhausting years, slow and steady is just what's needed. It has been a great month to reflect, take stock and work out what lessons have been learned in the past two years. Also work out what I want to take forward and what things can be left well and truly behind... My main lesson has been to always ensure you have the logistics for a plan B in place. I've always called it building my ark.. because it's always good to have an ark ready. Moving forward, my business plans now need to always factor in a 'just in case'. This year, my focus will be finding more ways I can spend less time on logistics and fulfilment and more time on creating. This is a big deal for me right now as I feel like the balance isn't quite right, so that needs to be addressed head on. It was always all about creating for me, but as things have grown, time always gets diverted elsewhere especially when you are a soloprenuer wearing all the hats in your business. However, after making a start on some research, I'm learning there are LOTS of things available to help with that -more so than ever. Perhaps that is one little silver lining to the past two years for small businesses like mine - that bigger businesses have found new ways to adapt. Consequently, they have identified the true value of all the little creative businesses as a potentially huge market to tap into, therefore serving our needs much better - meaning we can offer better to our customers too! ... It's certainly something I shall be exploring lots this year, as I want to be able to offer more choice to my customers, without taking away precious creative time to develop new designs and collections. It's a tricky balancing act because my shop orders equal creative time, and creative time feeds the shop - one thing supports the other. That's why it is really exciting to see the possibilities I'm discovering are available. There are so many tools to help businesses manage sales, stock and product production - many of which are focussed on cutting carbon footprints and finding sustainable, planet friendly ways to do things. It gives me lots of hope and I can't wait to move towards adding some new things this year... The good news is, I made a start in January with clear focus and a renewed sense of hope. Sometimes that's all it takes, the first few steps to put you back on the right track. It feels good to be creating new illustrations and patterns again, I look forward to sharing these with you soon. So here's to a new month with a new season emerging, bringing with it green shoots - hopefully for us all! Wishing you a wonderful month Best wishes, |
AuthorAngie Spurgeon JOIN MY
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