Hello, all!
It has been a wee while since my last post. I had mentioned some big plans for the future and and then disappeared for ages… Well, I thought it time for a little catch up to tell the world how that is going.
Firstly, the creative business I’m preparing is on ice for a while! Not surprised, eh? Let me tell you why:
WE HAD A BABY. He is healthy and gorgeous and huge and his name is River. His birth was a pretty hectic and traumatic experience, but I’ll elaborate on that in another post at another time. Shortly before we got pregnant, work picked up pace and for awhile things were utter chaos. I was juggling projects at work and trying to cope with constant morning sickness and exhaustion, I stopped drawing (and pretty much all other hobbies and creative outlets) altogether because there simply wasn’t energy left for it! Pregnancy was a weird and wonderful journey, and while the beginning was really difficult, I took extra leave before our due date in order to focus on… *drumroll*… Moving back to Auckland! Our hard work and preparation finally paid off! At the end of February this year, we finally managed to join our family and friends here while working remotely for our jobs in Wellington. It felt like months of insurmountable stress, but it was absolutely worth while. We were both almost immediately in a better headspace after coming back, and feeling the lingering warmth of summer without howling cold wind thawed our weary souls. While Auckland isn’t quite our dream location, we decided to come back to be closer to our family and friends for our baby’s sake, while we prepare to buy our first home elsewhere.
As I write this, I am due to start back at work in two weeks. The last 4 months since River’s birth have flown by so inconceivably fast. I am filled with anxiety at the thought of going back to work, but I will be keeping Baby at home with me until he’s older and as stressful as I know it will be juggling being a full time mum AND having a job, it does give me some comfort knowing our son will be with me. He is currently going through sleep regression and cutting teeth simultaneously, so I have no idea how this will go, hah!
Needless to say, we’ve had our hands full for a long time, and as we adjust to our new normal over the next few months I will still continue tinkering away on a new website with a shop and some new content to share when the time is right! I had all these grand plans, but I think I should rather ease myself into things and only release a limited amount of products to start. At this stage I am planning to only release stickers and a few art prints and focus on growing, as I gain confidence I will look at releasing more varied products. I think it will be insanely hard to create a business in this vein, that needs my input constantly without being lucrative, while I have a full time job and an infant. But I want to try! As I find the time, I will try to post fun updates here once in awhile!
For now, I shall bid you adieu and wish you all the best as we enter the final quarter of the year (seriously, what the hell?). I hope your stories all feel as warm and fuzzy as mine, and that things are only on the up for all of us, it’s been a tough pandemic.
Be good, be kind, love you lots.
Madi
xxx
MUDLANE WORKSHOP 