I swear I’ve lived about ten years since Christmas, but somehow it’s only been a little over a month (ha!). Since the start of January, we’ve had:
❄️ SNOW!!! (A rare but magical sight around here.)
🎉 Two trade shows.
📢 A full marketing revamp.
🛠️ A business structure overhaul. (Still in progress—send coffee.)
🚀 Prepping for TWO pop-up shops in February.
🆕 Rolling out a TON of new products.
Yeah… it’s a lot, especially when you’re committed to work/life balance and trying to fit everything into a set number of hours. But hey, we love a good challenge.
Starting, growing, and running a small business isn’t for the faint of heart—I truly think you have to be at least slightly crazy. But I have an amazing team, an incredible support system, and a creative fire that just won’t quit. So no matter how tough it gets, I’ll keep showing up and making art, because that’s what I’m meant to do.
The absolute highlight of my month? Two glorious days of snow! Watching Caedon’s pure joy as he played outside was everything. We built a snowman, had snowball fights, but his favorite activity? "Clearing the road for the cars," which meant hours of scooping snow off the road and piling it in our yard. (Absolutely precious.)
Inside, I made soup and fresh bread, and we ended each night by the fire, working on puzzles. After the holiday chaos, it was exactly what our family needed—a slow, cozy start to the year.
Just two days after the snow melted, April and I packed up the car and hit the road for Atlanta Market—one of the biggest trade shows for retail buyers looking to stock their stores. And let me tell you… we went all in.
✔️ Hosted artist signings
✔️ Reconnected with old market friends & made new ones
✔️ Sponsored a Happy Hour event for the Museum Store Association
✔️ Attended a hospital gift shop buying event
It was non-stop for five days, but it ended up being our most successful trade show EVER—so, totally worth it!
I promised myself I’d MAKE time to MAKE art this year, and guess what? We’re already rolling out some new collections!
📅 State Flower Series – Launching 2/4/25
📅 Ireland + American Samoa + US Virgin Islands – Dropping early March
📅 Easter & Spring Series – Launching 3/10
📅 Enclosure Cards (ahhh!) – Coming 3/4
Andddd… over a year later, we finally got the "Get ready, it's happening soon!" from our <<<BIG NAME ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON>>> representative. 👀 Stay tuned, because big ol’ things are on the way!
We wouldn’t be here without you—so from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for being part of this journey. Your support means everything.
Xoxo,
Amanda & Team
Comments
Amanda, your great news make my heart very happy!!! I believe it’s very important to continue to grow and invent new things and stay on a path with guidance and direction, from other sources, God included.
So glad you & your family had a wonderful holiday season . Here in Columbia SC we enjoyed the snow….not so much the brutal temps.
I’m looking forward to seeing your new stuff this year!