If you’ve been a regular here on this blog for a long time, you may have noticed I’m not as consistent in posting this year as I have been for the previous 15 years.  (Something that’s sort of funny is I wrote this post on Monday, got busy with other things, and realized Tuesday I never hit publish!)  Posting less wasn’t something I planned, but as this year has unfolded, I find myself having to drop “write blog post” off my daily to-do list more and more.  Writing the blog post has always been a top priority, but as traffic and income from the blog dwindle (I talk about that in detail HERE), it falls lower on the priority list.  While I am a “creative type” and a dreamer, I am also pragmatic when it comes to my business.  I am willing to look at the profit and loss reports and pay attention to which efforts are fruitful.

Right now, art is the most fruitful branch of my business.  It’s what is most profitable.  It’s where the exciting things are happening.  It’s where I’m getting more work than I can fit into a day.  I never dreamed this oil painting hobby I started in 2017 would roll into my business and then become the star of the show, but it has.  So, that is where most of my time and energy have been focused.  A very close second has been working on my books.  As I’ve shared, I have one about to launch (Move Slow & Make Things is available September 1), one that is in the layout phase, and one I’m currently writing.  I’m still figuring out the best way to balance everything, but I take it day-to-day and make progress on priorities in small increments.

What has been a huge surprise this month, though, has been the response to making my fine art prints available on the wholesale site Faire.  (If you’re a retailer and want to carry my prints in your shop, you can check out available prints HERE.)

I met with my friend Emily Lex earlier this year to ask some questions about her business.  We’ve known each other for years as peers in the home blogger space and, a few years ago, she transitioned her business to feature her watercolor artwork.  Our business paths are similar, so she seemed like a good creative mind to tap.  She told me to get my prints on Faire, so I finally did.

For the first few days, I didn’t receive any orders.  We were just getting set up and still needed to polish my listings and shop profile.  I figured I would have to invest in some advertising as well.  One morning, to my surprise, I had an order.  Then another one and another.  Orders have been coming in at a rate of 2-3 each day, which doesn’t sound like a ton, but when people are ordering dozens to over 100 prints with each order, it all adds up and it has kept me busy!

So, I’ve been running out of packing and shipping supplies and coming to the realization that my current set-up isn’t going to work for a higher volume of orders.

The nice thing about selling prints is that it is scalable.  Eventually, I don’t have to be the one packing up the orders.  I can hire someone to manage that so I can spend my time painting and writing.  For now, though, I need to be the one doing it, so I can refine the system and make adjustments.  I’m slowly figuring it out, but it means I’m spending a lot of evenings and weekends packing up orders.

Jeff has been helping when his schedule allows, but it still requires a lot of my time.

With the success of the prints, I’m taking time to consider other product possibilities.  I’m still ordering samples and testing out ideas, but I hope to have some new products to launch soon.  I may even sneak in a few before Christmas, but we’ll see.

One of the perks of listing on Faire is that it’s connected me with retailers who once carried the milk paint line or who knew of my work refinishing furniture and selling antiques.  I’ve received so many kind messages from people who lost track of what I was up to, and now they are carrying my prints.  It’s interesting how things change…