✷ greetings ✷

hi y’all! consider this a liminal letter (fun way of saying this is both a december and a january newsletter, Because Of Reasons). i hope your holidays were bearable or better. this is gonna be a long one!

i am finally taking time off at the insistence of basically everyone who cares about me :’-)

i thought business would be slow enough to take it easy without officially closing up shop, but that wasn’t the case! it’s a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem when you’re a workaholic. this is evidenced by the ridiculous amount of people who “liked” my instagram story about taking some time off. i’m taking the hint!

i’m about a week into “not working” (etsy is on vacation, my web shop is still open) and i finally feel less like a specter, haunting my own house. i’ve been at the intersection of burnout and seasonal depression before, so i know how it works. it’s gonna be excruciating to be alone with my thoughts for a while. i’m gonna watch a lot of tv until i finally muster enough energy to pursue some creative inkling i have rattling around in my head. i will rest a lot and gradually grow less overwhelmed with all perceived obligations i have. i just don’t know how long it’s gonna take to recover. sometimes it’s a month. sometimes it’s a lot longer. i’ve been in this cycle for most of my adult life (thanks internalized capitalism!), and it gets easy to throw myself deeper into work once i’ve exhausted myself to the point of depression. the depression is like, “well it’s not like you’re capable of experiencing joy anyway, might as well be busy!”

it’s too bad you can’t self-awareness out of mental illness. anyway, i finally got to my therapist and i’m feeling slightly more stable, so that’s a start.

✷ THANK YOU! ✷

anyway, thank you so much to everyone who bought stuff from my shop for the holidays, or ever! i did a lil price increase across the board to keep up with inflation (website remains cheaper than etsy). as always, if you want something and it’s an unnecessary hardship for you, just talk to me and we’ll work something out. i’m so grateful to everyone who has hyped or shared my work, let alone bought something.

after the etsy strike this year, i started including a lil note in all my etsy orders explaining that it’s a better deal for us both if folks buy from my website. i didn’t expect it to do much, but it was a fun workaround, since it’s technically against etsy’s policies to use their site to drive traffic elsewhere. to my surprise, A LOT of people left reviews urging prospective buyers to shop my website instead, and i saw an increase in my web shop traffic this year as a result. it’s still not feasible for me to quit etsy, but every little crossover helps!

image description: a scene from brokeback mountain where jake gyllenhaal’s character is saying, “i wish i knew how to quit you” to heath ledger’s character. heath ledger’s face has the etsy logo superimposed over top of it. (yes i made this just for this newsletter, i know so many people who feel similarly).

✷ zine lunch ✷

i was so fucking nervous to do zine lunch and it ended up being really fun and totally fine! here’s a link to the recording. maybe i’ll do another zine workshop someday! i highly encourage folks to check out other zine lunches, it’s a really rad program that’s free to the public and they’re good to artists (like, i got paid to do that. in money, not exposure!)

✷ armory holiday market report-back ✷

i had a lil breakdown in the days leading up to it (fun december theme lmao) but it went well! it was well-curated and i discovered a lot of new artists/makers and talked to more folks than i normally do at a market. i bought a great sticker that says, “work. not even once.” i also bought a fun wavy trans flag pin from cyan, who has a very cool website. i really like venturing into the meat world for markets, but i do wish they were less of an intense drain on my energy. also, the armory is a very promising spot for big events. it made me think about the punk rock flea market. maybe there will be one of those in 2023. don’t hold your breath tho!

✷ stats! ✷

i’ve been seeing other people’s fun stats and i wanted to do my own, specifically for the nonbinary zine, because it’s the only thing i’ve kept a careful tally of (and because i’ve been suspicious that i’ve hit 1,000 copies sold for a while). i get the guts of this zine printed at my local copy shop, and i’ve ordered them so many times that the older lady who handles my requests has actually read the zine and commented on it. she always rushes over when i pick up copies and tells me how she’s old and there’s so much she didn’t know (and reminds me that she’s giving me a discounted rate). it’s kind of sweet, i feel like a VIP. it could be topped only by her actually using they/them pronouns for me lol.

• 2022 physical copies sold on etsy (246 eng + 6 span): 252

• 2022 digital copies sold on etsy (136 eng + 4 span): 140

• 2022 website digital copies sold (19 eng + 1 span): 20

• 2022 website physical copies sold (60 eng + 4 span): 64
   

• 2022 combined etsy digital+physical: 392

• 2022 combined website digital+physical: 84

• 2022 wholesales & markets: 199

• 675 total sold in 2022!

• 1,162 physical copies sold all-time! (and 412 digital copies sold all-time)

thanks for being a part of this fun discovery! i’m more proud of this zine than anything else i’ve made (it’s also maybe singlehandedly keeping my business afloat!). so many people have told me what a relief it is to be able to hand it to loved ones instead of having to explain everything, and i’m so glad to help my community, even if i can’t help my own family lol. thank y’all again!

✷ 2022 intentions revisited ✷

image description: a list of 2022 resolutions in my phone's notes app

not a terrible tally. i did table ozf, but not pzs! also worthy of note: becoming a regular freeway driver, flying by myself, hosting my first workshop, making it onto antiquated future’s 2022 best seller list, other stuff i’m forgetting.

✷ 2023 intentions ✷

i was much less ambitious this year.

image description: text from my journal that reads, "2023 intentions: prioritize fun & rest, work less - smarter, analog over digital, develop movement routine, art for art's sake, no in service of yes."

i’d also like to visit sauvie island and the quarry more than i did in 2022. and rest as much as i actually need to, instead of being burned out all the time. i was more tired in 2022 than any year prior. part of this break will be spent trying to completely reimagine how i work/rest.

✷ next thing ✷

i dunno what’s next. feb's newsletter will be more normal. i’ll probably return from vacation in time to sell some valentines. or i might not. i’ve budgeted to be able to disappear all january if need be. i’m excited to hang out in portland for my bday (feb 10th) and see vista house, babytooth and pile up at kenton club (say hi if yr there?). if anyone wants to send me bday mail, my address is:

alyssa giannini
225 milroy st nw
olympia wa 98502

if you made it this far, i made you a little ribbon to commend your effort! take care <3

image description: an olive green ribbon that reads, "congrats! you read a really long thing and i appreciate it!"