A really BIG update <3

Hello friends,

It has been such a long time since my last blog post, so much so that I feel a little awkward as I’m not sure where to begin. My last post was in April last year, and a lot has changed since then, and I apologise in advance if there are more words than there are yummy pictures!

Before I get into it, it’s probably worth mentioning that I’ve updated my shop with some new goodies, there’s t-shirts, enamel pins, socks and much awaited desk buddies! If you’ve come here from my newsletter, then there’s a lovely discount code in the email for 10% off!

» SHOP HERE! «

Now, to the update…

Maybe the best place to start would be last year, when I decided to be exceptionally insane! 2025 was a year of bravery and lunacy - I said no to all paid work. You read that right: NO.

Why did I do this? Well, I did say I decided to be exceptionally insane!

In all seriousness, I wasn’t enjoying the projects I was working on. I’d worked myself into a niche that didn’t pay well and the deadlines were so tight that the work I was making was just soulless. It was the only work coming in, I needed money, so with low pay I had to take on lots of them, leading to severe burnout and no time to experiment or create for fun.

I’d been in deep with this market since 2022/2023, and I was really unhappy. So, last year I decided I’d take three months off those projects to experiment, make some new work, play with new medium and have fun… then I met my agent, Georgia (<3). Those three months turned into an entire year as I ended up developing and pitching some really great projects… with success!

And while that’s all so amazing to say, and that I’m so happy to be working on dream projects right now, I cannot emphasise how scary last year was. I didn’t get into MCM London in the May of last year, which was £3-5k lost, my mum had a hip replacement and I had to help her and my dad out, and my perilous degu, Aramis, decided to land me with a £900 vet bill. Needless to say, more money left my bank then went into it. There were many moments spent on Right Move making sure our house hadn’t suddenly lost all its value, so at least we still had that if everything went truly wrong.

How did I survive? I thankfully had some savings, emergency pet portrait commissions covered the vet bills, and I really couldn’t have done this without the support of my idiot, Tom, who’s sensible enough to have a steady wage and also insane enough to encourage me to do this.

A little pet portrait of our beloved Nibbles <3

I also poured a lot of energy into my shop, with the idea that if no one liked my ideas, at least my shop could grow and become something. I also spent a lot of last year rebranding my website and online shop, so everything had its own platform. The idea was to really separate everything shop from everything portfolio/illustration. I then was accepted into MCM London, Birmingham, Thought Bubble and two Endless Love Creative markets in the autumn/winter meant I knew some money would be coming in, and I invested the last of my savings into lots of stock. I even booked a corporate booth for MCM May and October this year and am renting a storage unit for all the stock.

Looking back, it was all very ambitious, and if I’d known that during those winter events I’d end up in London meeting with multiple publishers, having many calls with my agent, and making such big decisions that have all led to the crazy situation I’m in now… I probably wouldn’t have bothered growing the shop as I did.

However, I had booked the corporate booth at MCM London for May this year, so I had to just get on with it or else lose a lot of money.

I guess, maybe, if having a corporate booth at MCM London had been financially worth it, I may have continued with the shop. And I can’t say that it was a loss at all, we made £5,000, which covered the cost of the booth, travel and accommodation, but it didn’t quite cover the five months of work, planning, designing and time that had been put into it around my other projects. Unfortunately, I didn’t know any of this when I booked a corporate booth for this October, so I do have to go through it all again… but I’m not thinking about that right now.

Our corporate MCM booth. So “corporate” as I went for the candy shop vibes, aha.

So this year, I feel like I have been pulled in two different directions. The second I get quiet time from my illustration work, which has only been a few days at a time, I’m feverishly trying to catch up with the mountain of shop admin I’ve fallen back on. And I’m really exhausted. In his eternal support for me, Tom has even dropped a day from his sensible job to help me with the shop, and it’s still too much.

But, when things feel too much, it’s usually a sign you need to step back and assess what’s working and what isn’t. Running your own business is a constant balancing act, and I know the illustration side of things is doing well right now and I really want the work I’m creating to succeed. I’ll never put all my financial dependency into one area of what I do, but the shop is a huge cause of stress at the moment, and I can’t give it the time it needs, not without sacrificing the work I’m really passionate about.

So I’m now scaling the shop back. In this update you’ll see lots of items have either been discontinued or are on sale, this is to hopefully sell as many items as I can to reduce how much we’re storing, and future updates will be smaller and less frequent. I’ll shift my focus to selling prints and small runs of experimental products, like the enamel mugs I’ve been dreaming of for years.

I’ll also continue doing events in person, but now I no longer have that financial stress on my shoulders from last year, I’ll just keep to smaller markets, and only applying to Artist Alleys at the larger ones (goodbye corporate booths!). I work alone four days a week, with only the company of three insane rodents to enjoy, so doing events is a nice change of pace, allowing me to meet up with other creative people and meet you guys in person, so I never want to lose that!

My awkward face at an Endless Love Creative market… hi!

Anyway, that’s everything for now, and I apologise for how long and rambly it’s been, hopefully I can find a little time amongst all the secret thing I’m working on to write here more frequently, as there’s a lot of things I want to put out there. Like sharing sketchbook pages I don’t share anywhere else, exposing you all to my terrible uni. projects and maybe sharing some of my supposedly “wise” rambles.

Thank you all for reading this, especially if you made it this far. I logged into my newsletter account to find my contact list had exceeded the number of free contacts, which I never thought would happen, especially so quickly! It’s honestly so humbling to know that so many of you want to be here, reading my silly rambles and wanting my even sillier products.

Like, I’m literally just one small human, doodling away in my tiny home studio, surrounded by three insane rodents. It’s so cool knowing so many of you want to be here, so thank you. <3

I leave you with a few things to look forward to in the next few months!

Coming kinda soonish…

Anyone remember that poem I wrote about a raven and some singing mice?

Well… I have finally formatted it into a teeny, tiny book! I’m sending it to print today, but here’s a peek of the cover:

It’s very short, very silly and will be available hopefully before Christmas! It’ll definitely be coming with me to MCM London (23rd-25th October), Thought Bubble (14th-15th November) and Endless Love Creative Newcastle (28th November) where you can pick it up in person.

I’m also working on getting some new beanies made, which will hopefully arrive in time for my winter events, and will also be available online before Christmas!

And, despite saying I’d never do clothing again after t-shirts, I’m getting some samples made for embroidered sweatshirts. If they turn out well and there’s enough interest, I’ll open pre-orders for them as soon as I can, so watch this space if you’re excited for those.

Thank you again for making it this far!

Big love,

Ruth x