🌾 September's Newsletter: October's break, shop reopening, updates on Flower mail & more!

Hello friends, and Happy Autumn Equinox!

I have a lot to cover for this month's newsletter, so I'm just going to jump right into it~

IMPORTANT:

• All active patrons will not be billed on October 1. Billing will resume on November 1. All new patrons that sign up will be charged and will receive August/September's print+sticker since I have extras!
• Aug/Sep's rewards are delayed - expected mail out date~ Early/Mid-October
• Winner of November's theme! Foraging woodland nymphs

OCTOBER'S BREAK

Another month, another break! 

Last month I skipped September's Patreon print to work on a wonderful opportunity for a collaboration project with the brand Dreamily! (https://www.dreamilyapparel.com) They're a L.A based apparel brand that combines anime-inspired artwork with original designs. I received an email right as I was finishing up last month's print to be a part of this project, and I was over the moon for a chance to create an apparel artwork design. I haven't been able to talk or share much about it since the winter collection hasn't been announced publicly yet. However, I am very happy to share that once it has been officially announced, I'll be able to share the process, wips, and the final result with all of you! 

Sad news: while working on the project, I injured my hand and now suspect that I have carpal tunnel. The worse symptoms and pain was mostly during the project, but once I finished last week, I've been using my time to rest up. Not sure how long I'm going to be dealing with these symptoms, I'm going to guess between 1-2 months of needed rest based on other artists' advice.

While that's happening, I wanted to take the opportunity to reopen my shop!

SHOP REOPENING

I'm aiming for November 1st! I've sold out most of my previous Patreon prints but I wanted to take a chance to restock them. I want to provide an extra chance to grab other month's prints+stickers if you haven't had the opportunity to do so. I'll be posting a poll for which top 5 items I should bring back sometime early in October.

UPDATE ON AUG/SEP FLOWER MAIL:

As some of you might know, I always order proofs for my prints to double-check any issues with clarity and color before sending them out. Usually I have to do some minor color correcting so I don't end up with getting a second round of proofs. This time around I wanted to experiment with a different paper texture, a more watercolor, dimpled paper compared to the smooth satin one I normally get, but once I got the proofs in my hands, I really felt like the paper didn't match the illustration. The colors were off and the texture made all my small details unnoticeable! I ended up ordering another proof earlier in the month, but my printing manufacturers have been so slow with communicating that it's taken 2 weeks to finally have my proofs sent out again. I'm pretty frustrated and I'm sorry that it's been taking a little longer than anticipated to mail them out. I will have to wait another week after approving them to get all the prints so they might be sent out during the middle of October  😖 I'll definitely update discord and send a quick message on Patreon that they've been sent. 

...& MORE!

I've been getting more and more opportunities lately to showcase my work! This past month I've been:

- invited by WIA (Women in Animation at CSUF) to speak about my journey as a sapphic illustrator and give basically my own online lecture about finding your own style in art! It'll take place on November 13th and of course all of you are invited! I'm very nervous about talking for 1-2 hours in front of so many strangers so I'd love to see some familiar faces joining in. We're currently working out the details but I'd love to answer some of you guys' questions as a part of my lecture. I'll save that for a future post where you can just let me know what you want me to talk about and go more in-depth about.

- invited to be a guest comic for OJST! (Oh Joy, Sex Toy)! I don't think I ever shared this, but one of my other dreams is to create a NSFW illustrative comic. I'm in no means a comic artist/writer, but I would love to explore and create a poetic series of pages of sapphic sex that borders between comic and illustration. I'd love to expand that and create a zine that has a pearlescent cover and softly textured pages. I don't always have to time to indulge in some of my own larger personal projects, but this might be the universe telling me to do it!

- Sponsored review of acrylic charms by Vograce. I've always wanted to expand the type of physical merch I create but I'm pretty scared of trying out new things haha. Even if I don't end up using Vograce as a manufacturer middle-man, I think this might be a great way to dip my toes in the water and see my art through a new medium.

I'm not really sure where my career as an artist is going, but this year I started getting a steady stream of opportunities that has helped me to expand my own abilities and gain a little bit more confidence as well. I know I say this often but I always mean it when I say I'm very grateful for all the support you guys have given me!! I love you guys so so so very much!! 

I'll see you very soon in the next post! 

Stay groovy 🌈 ✨ 

Karlovy