HELLO FEBRUARY...

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!
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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,