Crushing disappointment and Exhaustion

Well, let's face it, I am tired. So tired. Müde. Cansada. Kaput.

Every time I think things couldn't get any busier life goes and proves me wrong. Now don't get me wrong, being busy can be good. In regards to the business, being busy means business must be going well, that my awesome artwork is in demand. However, being busy also means little time to rest. The last few months have been rough to say the least. I've been going to a lot more events this year, partially to make up for being stuck at home all of last year and partially in case events get cancelled again next year due to the pandemic because let's face it, the pandemic isn't getting any better. While I love going to events and seeing people, it's easy to get exhausted over time. We've been driving all over the place, getting up early to setup, tearing down later at most events and the general prep for all of the events has been a lot to handle. It takes quite a bit of time and energy to cut, fold and package all of the cards. Plus, let's not forget creating new work. I've been clocking my hours and found that I've been working 8-12+ hour days almost every day of the week. During the week I try to create new work while prepping for events and then weekends the hubby and I pack up everything and head out to events. So yeah.... I've definitely been working myself too hard.

On top of the normal busyness, I've had 3 poor performing events within the last month which can be frustrating. Especially when you know that your poor performance at those events had nothing to do with you or your product. In each instance, outside forces made for lower turnout than expected and there was nothing we could do to better the experience or attract more people to the event.

But! Despite being burned out and taking a few hits to my self esteem, I refuse to give up. I am truly passionate about the projects I am working on (or want to work on but haven't had time) and I know that they are amazing. Whether some people like them or not I know they're worth it.

Speaking of projects, I spent most of August working on revamping the Puns of Fun project from earlier this year. If you remember, I had launched a Kickstarter project to try and fund a small enamel pin collection consisting of punny designs such as 'holy guacamole' and 'goat bless you'. Back in the Spring the campaign unfortunately did not achieve it's goal so we were unable to bring the designs to life. This time the Puns of Fun collection includes a 7th pin design as well as a ton of awesome stretch goals; a holographic sticker, acrylic keychain, and even a joke book. I've relaunched the new and improved project because I am truly passionate about it. I believe my designs can bring a smile to people's faces and make their days a little brighter. Because that's what we need right now isn't it? When things are rough like they are now, with the pandemic and all the politics, we just need something to bring a smile to our faces.

With that said, the project launched on September 12th and so far it has yet to reach it's goal. We are so close and I am on the edge of my seat hoping that others can see what I see in the awesomeness of this project.

I also created a new card last month inspired by my trip up to Minocqua in July. It turned out absolutely gorgeous. The card is of a beautiful water lily.

I also continued to create more smartly dressed animals. The first animal I drew was a raccoon wearing a bowler hat and holding a smoking pipe. After that I drew an awesome octopus holding an umbrella over his head and wearing a monocle. I even drew a meerkat wearing a vest with a chain. I can't get over how good they turned out! :) I started drawing a rhino too that's wearing suspenders, a camera and a hat but I had to put it on hold due to the Puns of Fun project. Exhaustion and being extremely intimidated by trying to draw the rhino also factored in my decision. I usually stick to animals with fur so when it came time to start laying out the penwork of the rhino, I got a bit nervous.

On the more encouraging side, I've seen my hard work starting to pay off. My husband and I have been having daily chats to brainstorm and work on implementing some changes to help my business grow further and hopefully cut down on my hours a bit so I can rest. All of this does of course mean taking some of my drawing time and converting it into business attention time. While I'm far from bringing in enough to live off of, I've made a modest profit so far this year. This is incredibly exciting to me since on average it takes most companies 5 years before they start seeing a profit. Despite the 3 setback events this last month, knowing that my company is still seeing growth only encourages me to keep going. No matter how hard things may get, I do not intend to give up any time soon. Hopefully this next month will go a bit smoother and I will have more positive things to report on. :)