The saga goes on!

I tried different crafts as time went on. I wanted to be able to make something I liked, that was a good 
I got hooked on needle felting, loved creating pictures then turning them into needle cases.

I kept getting asked for patterns and started writing them down. After a while I turned a few of them into easy to follow patterns and put them on my Etsy shop as downloads.
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I painted, tried more crafts and kept looking. Then I came across word art. It was very basic but I loved it. It also incorporated 2 things I really enjoyed, words and art. 
​I played around with it, having fun and learning. I liked it but I wanted to create better pictures. Pictures that were more life like.
I spent months looking for the right software, not too complicated but good enough to create what I envisioned.
I finally found the one I wanted and set to work.
I kept practising, drawing new styles and pictures.
Then I realised that I needed more software for the finishing of the pictures. They would need editing. Making the right size, leaving a margin in case they were framed. Also being able to move words about so the right ones were larger and more prominent and the less important were clearly visible but smaller. 
I found the right software and had to learn how to use it for what I wanted. It was frustrating and fun all at once. Bit by bit I was getting where I wanted to be.
My first ones were very basic and I tested the waters with those. I made a few sales but hadn't gained the skills yet to alter the words without it being obvious. The price was low while I worked this out but I didn't do many orders. I wasn't really advertising them much, afraid to put them out there in case it was a failure.

​Of course sometimes the universe gives us a push.
I was made redundant.
I briefly considered getting another job but then decided I would give myself at least 8 months to turn this sideline in to a viable  business. 
I was going to call it a hobby but it was always more than that.

Now I was working very long hours to make this into a business that worked.
Gradually the pictures were getting better and I was building a basic collection. A few became a dozen and kept growing, until I had a reasonable sized basic collection. I added a few to my Not On The High Street shop, then a few more. I kept practising but still they took many hours to create, it was all so new. I wanted each one to be perfect.
Very slowly, orders began to come in. It was exciting and scary too. 
The first  Christmas I did 30 in the November and nearly the same amount in the December despite a cut off point. Considering each one took most of a day, more if alterations were needed, that was a lot. By the Christmas I was exhausted and ready to drop.
At the same time it was exhilarating.


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