Whenever I have a tough week it’s a really good reminder why I persevere with surface pattern design. It’s something I can do - and that I enjoy doing - even when I’m in the middle of a chronic health flare and bouts of brain fog. Unfortunately other stuff, like writing these emails to you, is something that becomes stupidly hard in those times, and that’s why I’ve been a little quiet this past week or so… even though I’ve had plenty to share with you!
There were three posts I had planned for you last week, so I’ll be sharing those over the coming week instead - starting with our April Feel Goodies and a recap of the changes I shared in my last post.
I’ve also got some new designs to share with you in my next post, and after that keep an eye out for a post on how I developed my Crafting Notions designs into the rainbow pinwheel pattern we had for the goodies in March.
Read on to hear about the changes from this month and at the bottom of this post you can take a look at our April design - There is Calm in the Chaos - alongside the link & password to access this month’s Feel Goodies!
Time for a change
To say that February and March have been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement. Giving myself time to take the start of the year slowly and imperfectly has been an interesting adventure, showing me that if I want to reduce the risk of burnout and the impact of cptsd (complex post-traumatic stress disorder), which causes my chronic health issues, things have to change!
In my personal life that means we’ve made the decision to move back to the North-East, which will hopefully happen in early 2025. But making that happen that alongside work and health issues is going to be a slow and tiring process over the coming months.
This past year or so I’ve made lots of changes to improve my focus, reduce distractions and de-stress my to-do list. While I’m really proud of how far I’ve come with that, I’m still trying to fit too much into the work hours I have, and despite my best efforts still spending a lot of time feeling behind with everything I’m trying to do. So I need to do even less. But that actually involves me giving you more!
I can’t keep creating Feel Goodies in the way I am now. On the flip side, creating the design for this space each month is a really important part of my creative process, which helps me keep experimenting creatively, developing my skills and evolving my style.
However, it takes a lot of time to create the goodies and set it up behind the scenes to share it with paid subscribers and all the stuff that goes with that.
So from April the only things I will be sharing are…
…wallpapers for phones, tablets and laptops (mostly because that’s the bit of the Feel Goodies I love the most and use all the time!)
and
…printable art illustration - because I know some of my subscribers love to print and put them up in their spaces, and it’s something I would be doing too if my workspace wasn’t in the bay window of my bedroom!
And the best bit is that as of now EVERYONE will get access to all the monthly Feel Goodies for free!!!
Saying all of that, the little bit of monthly income I currently get from paid subscribers helps cover the monthly costs of creating all the stuff I do, so there is a downside to doing things this way. However, right now I have to prioritise looking after my time, energy and health, so losing that income is a risk I have to take.
I will continue to have a paid subscription option here on Substack (and via PayPal) for anyone who enjoys the things I create and are able to support me financially, and hopefully whatever I get from that will help keep things afloat until other sources of income - like Spoonflower and freelancing - become a bit more sustainable.
Your April Feel Goodies are here…
This month our theme is There is Calm in the Choas. Those of you who’ve been around for a long time will remember this as our theme from September 2021, back before the days of me hand lettering the quotes. Last year I refreshed the colour scheme of my main wildflowers pattern and added more complementary patterns alongside it, and this year I wanted to show them all off by creating a scallop clamshell quilt inspired pattern with them all!
It was also a chance to hand letter the quote! I’ve had lots of fun updating this one, and pushing myself to try different things. And although I’m focused on creating fabric for quilting and crafting, the scallop clamshell quilt design looks SO good on all the bits of home decor on Spoonflower - so I’ll do another post on that later this month (or if you’re impatient like me you can have a look at it right now over here)
The quote is inspired by wildflowers, because they have become a reminder to me that however chaotic life feels there is always beauty and calmness to be found within it all. Considering we’re currently in the chaos of decluttering our home so it couldn’t be a better timed reminder!
What do you think of our April design? What helps you find calm in the chaos of life? I’d love to hear what you think in the comments!
Download your April Feel Goodies
As I mentioned the Feel Goodies are free for everyone to download now. Use the password for April - BlueDaisies18 - and scroll down the page to find the download links for the phone, tablet & laptop wallpapers, along with the printable art illustration.
PASSWORD: BlueDaisies18
If you have any questions about or issues with downloading the Feel Goodies just leave a comment below or send me a message and I’ll help you get the bits you want!
I hope you enjoy our April Feel Goodies and I’ll see you again soon to share some new designs!