Sometimes I have a few days or even a full week inbetween projects. Time I really treasure, because it's necessary for me to stay on top of things. I usually take this time to work on my website, be active and plan my social posts out, do my administration and email new potential clients. Everytime I'm saying to myself 'if I'm done with these things, I can spend some time on personal work'. But when are you finished with the business side of things, ever?
This resulted in very little time to create some personal work. But lately I've been taking more time to create stuff for fun. I've figured I just need to set some time to create, and lower my goals (I typically feel the need to create a whole graphic novel over the course of three days. Obviously I'm left with a lot of unfinished projects).
I'm really happy with the patterns I've created last month. They're very easy to create in my downtime, and they don't take as much time as narrative work to finish. I've created a few over the last couple and really enjoyed making them. It really helped me to find the fun back in creating work for myself! Also the thought of the different things you can.make with these patterns is exciting. Can't wait to see how they look on children's clothing, on a wall, a cushion or as packaging!
I'm happy to announce five of them have been uploaded to Motiflow, a Dutch platform where designers can upload their patterns to sell. From there, the patterns can be printed on fabric, wallpaper and gift wrapping, giving designers 10% of the profits. It's all fairly produced and shipped in the Netherlands. I'm very excited to be a part of this platform, and will probably make more patterns in the future. Watch my Instagram and Twitter to follow my process!