We've had a few really nice, summery, days here in Portland so I've been in my backyard quite a bit. I've been mowing and weeding and trimming and drawing and playing with Chloe and drinking a little wine. It's been good.

As you can see, Chloe has been having a pretty great time playing fetch.

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the first day of summer. The longest day of the year. This means that the days will slowly start getting shorter and Fall, my favorite time of the year, is next up in the line of seasons. I'm already looking forward to it. I do like warm weather days, but I know the summer heat will be ramping up and I don't like hot weather. I like cozy socks and hoodies! I also really like wearing jeans. Shorts and skirts are probably my least favorite clothing article.

In other news, my calendar is in production as I type! I'm really excited about this. I really hope that they're received well. I kinda went out of my comfort zone with this project and I'm worried it might fall flat. But, if the Instagram photo I posted is any indication of whether or not people like it, I think that it will be well received. 

Today is my Monday and I've been working on a few orders and updating my Etsy shop. Last week I was feeling pretty disheartened by Etsy as well as how slow my wholesale orders have been. Well, almost immediately after I posted that post, a shop I had contacted almost a month ago e-mailed me and offered to do some consignment! The shop is called Gather and it's in Bloomington, Indiana. 

I also contacted Tender Loving Empire last week and they were interested in selling my work at a couple of their shops here, in Portland. So really good news all around. I feel like I have a little more of my confidence back!

I got three new cards listed in my shop today! You can find them here:

Thank you

Poppy Birthday 

Bon Anniversaire

Well, hopefully the week will bring some new illustrations, more wholesale and consignment orders, and some more backyard time. 

I started a new greeting card design the other day. 

This is it, almost done.

I used this bird cage that my friends gave me a few years ago as inspiration. I recently planted some hens and chicks in it. I'm not really sure if I'm happy with the card. I might re-do it. 

I've been doing that a lot recently, second guessing myself and my work. I've been having a lot of feelings of not being good enough, lately. I think it's a normal though process to have when you making a living as an illustrator/artist. Especially when business slows down, and wow, Etsy has slowed down for me significantly.

They recently changed their stats and before I'd receive between 150-200 views a day, or more. Recently I've been receiving an average of 30 view a day. The traffic to my shop has stopped. I don't know if it's because they've weeded out search bots, or if their search has changed. Maybe my search engine optimization is really bad?

I feel like I'm getting buried under thousands of other shops. It's discouraging and disappointing. I've been working on my Etsy shop for 10+ years. All that work. Nothing.  I feel like somehow older shops don't get the traffic that newer shops do. I can't prove this, but I do know some other very well established shops that have seen a huge decrease in traffic too. 

I'd love to invest more time and money into this site, to make it a commerce site, but I just don't have very much of either right now. And building up traffic to your own site is no easy feat. 

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. I think focusing on doing more craft fairs, farmer's markets and really working on my wholesale business are the best bets right now. I'm going to also try to stay positive, and try not to be so hard on myself. 

I'm so happy my poppies are blooming. Last year I only got one to bloom, the rest of the buds rotted out and fell off. I think I'm going to get even more of these beauties in the next few days.

It inspired me to make a new birthday card. My little nasturtiums were also an inspiration, although they haven't bloomed yet. 

I'm also re-working a holiday card from last year. I was never really happy with the colors, so I made another. I always feel so rushed when it comes to holiday cards, and I think it effects the outcome. I'm still not sure if I'm happy with the colors, but I'm moving on for right now. I have a few more card designs in mind, and at least one more holiday card I want to re-work.

I've been seeing a lot of photos from this years National Stationery Show and it's been really motivating. I'm not sure if I'll ever do it, but seeing the quality of work that is showcased there is really pushing me creatively. It's truly inspiring to see so many of my peers really excel at their game. It makes me want to be better at what I do.

I'm hoping to get my calendar done very soon and some more stickers printed and ready to go soon! I feel really excited and motivated and it feels really good.

I know it's a long weekend for most people. Try not to forget why it's a long weekend, folks. Hope everyone is safe and enjoys the extra day off!