Morning friends! I woke up early today, around 6AM. As much as I would love to be one of those people who can just roll over and fall back asleep for hours (ahem, husband), I am not. My brain starts turning, usually about work, and I find myself either getting up or spending too much time scrolling Instagram.
Today I got up. I made some coffee, grabbed a banana, and came to this blog post page to write. I find the days between Christmas and New Years to be slower, less people shopping. It’s helpful to me because it gives me time to design and write and reflect on the year.
While 2015 has not been my favorite year, December was a great month. I did my first and only holiday show, the Queen Been Market, in Oceanside. I worked to make my booth extra festive and had fun figuring out how to display my new gift wrap and washi tape. I met some new people and got to catch up with people I have grown to know through the show. I had taken a break from shows in general and it felt good to be back in the scene.
For the rest of the month I juggled staying on top of the Christmas rush with a lot of family and friend time. We celebrated J’s birthday with our best friends around a bonfire in our yard with s’mores and Fireball. We also spent a lot of time with his family for Christmas. I definitely had a hard time being away from my family though. I think as I get older, it is just starting to weigh on me a little more heavily. I miss them!
With Christmas passed now, I’ve been focusing on designing new cards for a January release, as well as planning my goals for JAA in 2016. There are actually quite a few of them, which has me a little overwhelmed, but also excited. One on-going goal that I have already started working on is my newsletter. In 2016 I plan to offer a lot more free, exclusive goodies to my newsletter subscribers. Think printables, desktop wallpaper, etc. It not only gives them a little something extra special, but it gives me more design practice just for fun. I can actually see these newsletters one day becoming my version of a blog post, so if you wanna stay up-to-date (and get free shit!) make sure you’re signed up here.
What about you? Are you ready to say goodbye to 2015? What are some of your 2016 goals?
2016 is bringing some additions to my shop and it’s got my stomach in knots. Good knots and bad knots. I’m going to be adding digital offerings and trusting people to not be turds and screw me over is so hard.
I somehow missed your wrapping paper. I must have been living under a rock. Merp! They are so fun!!