Issue 30: Life is Life-ing Again!
2025 Survey, Website Update, and New Studio Supplies!
Hello hello, friends and good folk!
I hope this change of the seasons is finding you well! I decided to send this out on April 2 because I wanted to avoid April Fools Day lol.
It feels like every time I lay down good groundwork, something big shifts unexpectedly, and I have to drop a lot of balls I’m juggling to switch my attention, and the last few weeks of March were no exception.
I had to switch servers for my website because the one I had been using was just so terrible lol. It would literally crash every time I clicked a link inside the admin side of things, and I’d finally saved the money to switch to a new one.
When I did that, though, I ended up having to basically wipe my entire site to start from scratch 🥲 So I apologize if you’ve tried in recent days to access the Recent Reads blog post and were unable to!
I tried archiving that 2025 on the Wayback Machine before I updated my site, but it looks like it didn’t save, so I’ll be rebuilding that into a hopefully even better experience for you over the next couple of weeks or so! Luckily, it did save Recent Reads 2024, though, so if you want to catch up on that, you can!
I’m now learning a new website building system and working with a new theme, and I’m excited about the way it’s taking shape so far. This new system has a LOT more customization available, so I’m very happily plugging away at in between all my other work and Co-op tasks.
Given all the chaos, this week’s newsletter will also be pretty light. I still have some fun goodies in here for you, though!
2025 SURVEY
I’m still running my 2025 Survey! If you’ve got thoughts you’d like to share on your experience with the newsletter, things you’d like to see, products you’d like me to offer, this is a great place to share those with me!
Especially with refreshing my website, I’ve realized I miss having a blog where I can share things more in depth, too, and I had some plans that never came to fruition that are still making me itch to play with, so let me know if that’s something you’d like to see!
IN THE STUDIO
One of the projects I’ve been working on with my partner this year is to improve the accessibility of our home, especially my work space and to make it easier to make more traditional art. I was really glad to find some wonderful storage options on Etsy and wanted to share them here. (None of this is sponsored, btw, just wanted to spread the love!)
Given that the items are sold by small businesses rather than from a big box store, the prices are of course higher than you’ll find for most storage options out there, but this was worth it to me to use some savings for. I’m grateful to have some items that are a little more sustainably made, too.
This first one is a colored pencil organizer from a shop called Shop at the Wood:
I really appreciate how it can handle all my pencils and that it rotates! The rotating feature is also super helpful with how many there are. I do wish the rotating parts were made with metal rather than plastic, although my lower back appreciates that when I lift this, it’s a bit lighter with the plastic lol. Overall, I’m pretty pleased with this, and look how inviting it is!
Oh, this shop also had a lot of other great options for pencil storage, too! I really liked how they listed all the brands they tested the fit with, too.
Another item I got is this pair of paintbrush organizers from a shop called Black Lab Mill:
These also rotate, making it easier for me to grab and use my brushes at will, and I think they also look quite nice and inviting on my desk! I appreciate them having space for various thicknesses of the handles, and I like that they were made with metal components in the rotating bits, too.
I’m really hopeful that these three will help make it easier to reach for my tools and make more traditional art again this year 💖
CARTOONIST COOPERATIVE
I’m starting a new weekly event in the Co-op! It’s called Art Huddle!, and we get together once a week on Zoom on Thursdays for 30-45 minutes just to draw. I’ve got a slide deck loaded with big and little prompts for each week from now through the end of the year, and I’m so excited to know I have a set time each week for some drawing time.
I’ve been trying to change the fact that nowadays I struggle to make enough time for myself as an artist to just play and have fun, especially with traditional mediums that I really love. So I’m looking forward to this new routine— even if I do feel a bit daunted about a weekly event! 😂
RECENT READS + FAVORITES
Thank goodness for graphics when posts are down! 🥲 I only had time and energy to read one comic these last couple of weeks, and it was Immortal Souls from Power & Magic Press. I love their anthologies so much!
And here are some of my favorite things from the past few weeks:
Watching: Spring Baking Championship and Hilda (a rewatch)
Experiencing: Fresh air and open windows!!
Doing: Attending the Co-op’s critique groups! We have such a great group of folks!
How about you? What have been some of your favorite things lately?
Hope this week is kind to you 💖 Thanks for reading!
