For a long time I’ve struggled with making my digital art look less, well, digital. This week I finally discovered a way to make it look more traditional. This is a journey, folks!
Trying the life of a digital nomad
Finding Solutions to my Online Shop Conundrum
Following on from last week’s vlog, here are some of the solutions I’ve come up with following New Zealand Post’s policy changes.
How far my work has come. What a difference 10 years makes!
This was another weird week. I found out that New Zealand Post are changing their policies, so I’ll no longer be able to sell most of the products I currently have on my store. There was a bit of frustration there.
On the plus side, I did find some pieces of art that I did when I was 16. Watch on to see how far my work has come!
Bookstagram Photography
A little practical vlog looking at how I take my bookstagram photos.
No internet, old artwork and getting back into reading
This week was full of frustration. My internet didn’t work for the first part of the week and I’ve had more issues with my hands and shoulders. On the plus side, I had the time to show you some of my old artwork and drawings I did at my art class.
Creating that sweet, sweet work/life balance as a freelancer
This whole work/life balance thing can be hard sometimes, so in this video I decided to create some rules around how I’m using social media. I’ve been having all kinds of issues with my neck, shoulders and upper back, which has been causing tingling and pain in my hands – not ideal for someone who works with their hands all day.
While hard work is SUPER important when you’re setting up a business, it’s also imperative to set up sustainable habits so that you don’t burn out or end up having to quit.
Here are my social media rules, at least for now:
No post on Sundays. Do you like my Harry Potter reference? This basically means no social media all day on Sunday.
No screen in the bedroom. Again, this applies mostly to social media. Scrolling though Instagram before bed isn’t conducive to a good night’s sleep, so I want to cut that out.
No screen 1 hour before or after sleep. As with number 2, this is to improve my sleep quality and give my hands a break from using my phone.
Check Instagram twice a day at set times. I suspect this one will be the hardest habit to kick, but it’s so important for avoiding mindless scrolling.
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LINKS
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30 days of yoga: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
Dragon pins: https://www.hollydunndesign.com/shop/...
Daniel Pink: https://www.danpink.com/
Unboxing new enamel pins, selling out of new products in 20 minutes and wax seals
Monday was the launch of the new products I featured in last week's vlog. The new enamel pins arrived too, which was super exciting. They'll be up on my site next week. Later in the week, I made a bunch of wax seal envelopes for my bookmark bundles and I show you some new drawings I'm working on.
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MENTIONED:
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My shop: http://www.hollydunndesign.com/shop/
The Girl Aquarium by Jen Campbell: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Iron and Ink Designs: https://www.ironandinkdesigns.com/
Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo: https://www.goodreads.com/series/2350...
Alchemy and Ink Candles: https://www.alchemyandink.com/
Silvana by Belinda Mellor: http://forestdreaming.com/
Preparing for a new product launch, mini book haul and SOCKS!
I’ve been dealing with a fair bit of pain this week. What I thought was RSI from too much drawing turns out to be a problem with tense muscles in my neck and upper back. It seems to be fixable, but it’s very uncomfortable at the moment. So, in lieu of doing my usual amount of drawing, I filmed some other things. This video includes a mini book haul, a sock haul from Out of Print Clothing and some behind-the-scenes of the Spine Magazine podcast.
This week was the lead-up to the launch of some new products on my shop, including new notebooks and bookmarks. There’s a sneaky look at those in this video too.
Making Fundraising Enamel Pins, Podcasting and Public Speaking
I’ve been a little absent from YouTube over the past few weeks, and have been trying to figure out what this channel will be going forward. This is the conclusion I’ve come to: studio vlogs with a bit of behind-the-scenes, a bit of art and design, and a bit of me talking about books. Oh, and plenty of Lyra. We all know she’s the real star!