What a difference a year makes (A review of my small business life in 2025)
- Kerry
- 2 hours ago
- 18 min read
The Neverending Rollercoaster
At the end of 2024 I was feeling a bit deflated and uncertain about what the coming year might bring. Deflated because of poor sales in the busiest festive period, and uncertain as to whether I was doing things right. I’ve always created the kind of work that feels right to me and in terms of what I had designed and illustrated that year, I couldn’t have been happier. I felt the weight of the rising costs of everything last year, and this impacted everybody and everything. In times like this, I gravitate towards the true friends and family members who essentially hold me and keep me afloat. The few customers that I did have were more important than they realise, and I only wish they knew how much they meant to me in that lonely period.
Out of December and into January, I found that I was creating artwork reflecting my mood. The little mole character came alive in my sketchbook and helped me find my joy again, but more importantly the will to carry on. I know I can get off the rollercoaster any time I wish, but the truth is I don’t want to, ever. It’s all part of it. Sometimes circumstances are out of our hands and all we can do is control the controllables. The worst thing would have been to stop at a time when my mind was overflowing with ideas and plans.
Hard Reset
Tom and I have a habit of taking a holiday in February to our favourite place in South Wales, and it is just about the right time to reset after the festive months to feel fresh and ready for Spring. It is the most relaxing time we have throughout the whole year, and it frees up my mind, shedding the previous year’s stresses. Naturally as my mind frees up, I have a whole load of new ideas, so I always make sure I have a notepad and sketchbook to hand.
The year began with a lovely commission to illustrate a book called The Best Bear We Know written by Jessica Davies. It was the first time that I had committed to illustrating somebody else’s story. Why? I knew I needed to try something different and get out of my own head for a while. Even though my mind was filled with my own projects that I couldn’t wait to get started on, I knew I needed to break the cycle for a bit. It worked wonders for my mindset. The encouragement from Jess as we worked together, meant that we built up a relationship based on trust which steadily brought her story to life over the coming months.
The story is about finding courage and celebrating your unique qualities by not comparing yourself to others. Maybe by immersing myself in this project I absorbed these themes and by the time it was completed I felt a renewed creative energy. Other commissioned projects followed during the next few months: A Kids Menu design for The Duke pub based in Buxton, complete with puzzle page (something I didn’t know I was capable of until I did it), and a delightful Activity Trail project for a Church in Newark which allowed me to create 10 church mice characters and another puzzle page. Both projects were out of my comfort zone, but still in keeping with my narrative style, so they were a complete joy to work on.
Leap Of Faith
There is nothing like the joy of Spring and the Easter season to lift my spirits. I am always shocked by how sales seem to suddenly spike at this time of year for me. I never feel 100% prepared, but I am starting to lean into the rhythm of it now, and I try my best to order as much stock as I can for this time of year.
At the end of last year, a small company based in Gloucestershire reached out to me with the suggestion of trying their laser cut UV printed wooden products. The new season seemed to be a good time to try designing some wooden decorations, with the intention of expanding on my Easter collection. Lightning Laser have been a wonderful business to work with throughout this year. I have been so pleased with the way they have been able to bring my hand drawn watercoloured characters to life. There is something about seeing my woodland characters on wood that really works, it has made them leap off the page and allows you to place them in a new setting.
It is always difficult to finance my many product ideas, but the beginning of the year was certainly a bigger struggle than usual. Still playing catch up from the previous year, I essentially had to take a leap of faith with the new wooden hanging decorations and wooden standees. The encouragement of trusted family members and the fact that I knew I had a couple of market stalls booked for the Spring season, meant that I gave it a go. I thought carefully about pricing, and I ordered what I could afford. Luckily the gamble paid off, and the reaction was so wonderful that I made a mental note to start designing Autumn/Winter collections as soon as time allowed.
Getting Out There
I made a conscious effort to use social media apps less this year and here are my reasons. I have always treated places like Instagram as part of my work/business plan – a free tool to promote what I do and hopefully lead to work and sales. While it has been brilliant for those things, I must keep reminding myself that it is effectively a big game and nothing is ever guaranteed. My algorithm seems to consist of a happy mixture of nostalgia, amazing artists and illustrators that inspire me, and small businesses. I love to be entertained by these things on there, but if I’m not careful they become too much of a distraction, and I find I’m not creating my own work as much as I want to. Also, it is easy to get pulled into the social media game of believing you must post something engaging every single day to make sales. This is not true. A lot of my online sales come through Etsy’s algorithm, and most of the time there is no link to my separate social media apps and sales. This was a bit of a game changer in my mind. By going on Instagram less, I found I was also enjoying it more. I found I had the time to connect with others more. I even found I started to like creating content on there more (something that I really fell out of love with by the end of last year).
I never planned to book lots of in-person events, but this year has been a busy one for market stalls and fairs. The first event of the year was Derby Book Festival’s World Book Day Party on 6th March. This was a first for them and I was over the moon to be asked to be part of it. Held at the Roundhouse building which is part of Derby College, it proved to be a popular day for local families of Derby. I remember how much I enjoyed the day because the sun was out and everybody felt positive about the event. Lots of workshops were going on as well as a live wall illustration by Mr The Beef (an old university friend of Tom’s) and live storytelling performances on the stage. I had a stall selling my books, cards and new wooden decorations, alongside my book friends Susan (Sprout’s Surprise), Clare (Charlotte & Arthur’s Adventures) and Pippa (Award-winning illustrator). I spoke to a few other local authors and illustrators (Suzie Sloth and Tanglewood Tales), and made a new friend in Carla (LoveLalaLand) who had designed the beautiful WBD Party invitation.
Next up was the Little Robyn Spring Fair on 5th April. Another opportunity to showcase my new Easter wooden products, books, cards and prints. It was the first time they had organised a Spring Fair, and it was at the same place as last year’s Christmas event, Horsley Village Hall. Another bright sunny day and always a lovely venue to spend time in. Whenever I am part of the Little Robyn events, it somehow feels like a big family party. Lots of family and a couple of friends called in to support the event and I came away feeling positive about the first quarter of the year.
A last-minute invitation to join in the Pulped event at Electric Daisy in Derby meant that I was once again setting up a stall on 27th April. Organised by the Illustration and Graphics Department from Derby University, this was an event to showcase students’ work, past and present. Pippa Curnick had asked if I would like to join in, and to be honest I leapt at the chance because it feels important to me to maintain a connection with the University. Plus, I really like the Electric Daisy venue, and I had a lovely time chatting to Pippa, Richard and Carl, the University tutors.
The next event was 7th August back at the same venue, Electric Daisy. This time it was hosted by Derby Book Festival as part of their popular annual Bookworms Kids Take Over event. I always love being part of this event and I was disappointed not to be accepted for the one they organised earlier in the year. I understand their reasons of course, it is a small venue with limited space, and they like to do a big push on craft activities (something admittedly I don’t always give a huge amount of thought to). What I love about Bookworms is it always feels full of positive energy, there is a special hut full of live storytelling all day, little stalls selling book themed goods and free arts and crafts for children of all ages. It is always a joy to see familiar faces, families who return each year, as well as new guests. It really feels like Derby Book Festival are creating a special community, inclusive and inspiring for the local area. This was also the first time that I met Author/Illustrator Chris White, who is a wonderful entertainer with his live performances and drawings. I was admiring him on stage at the World Book Day Party earlier in the year. He has a real gift for getting children excited about words and pictures through comedy and his natural energy. Inspirational to watch!
A summer book fair seemed a better bet in terms of getting dry weather than last year’s September event on Belper Market Place, so I agreed to having a stall on 10th August. It was part of the big summer heatwave which had been continuing for months, but luckily I remember feeling nice and cool under the market stall gazebo. The giant 10ft stall meant that it was a real luxury to spread my products out and give them the space they deserve. It also meant that I could sneak in a bit of the new Autumn range to see what sort of reactions I would get. To my delight the wooden Autumn decorations and notepads were the best sellers, and I didn’t sell many books that day!
With the re-opening of Derby’s iconic Market Hall, I knew I wanted to try out one of their pop-up barrows one weekend. I picked a Saturday when I was free, quite randomly, and before I knew it I was joining their Osnabruck festivities on 20th September. I had been as a visitor and just loved the venue. I truly think Derby are lucky to have it, and I hope the Market Hall continues to grow in popularity. It feels like we are in a strange transitionary period with retail at the moment. We are all shopping very differently to how we used to; a mixture of online shopping and real-life shops must be the way forward. I really believe there is space for both. What I have noticed, especially with DMH, is that when an event is happening, people will come out and fill the place. Weekdays and quiet weekends in the summer months seem to be much harder to get footfall. I suppose you have got to give people a reason to leave their homes (and screens), offer them something they can’t get online. Supply and demand in simple terms. I enjoyed my day at DMH and can’t recommend the pop-up barrows highly enough.
Here was an event that I applied for not really knowing what to expect; Derby Assemble at the Museum of Making on 25th October. I saw a call out on Facebook for makers of all/any disciplines to apply and offer a workshop and/or stall selling goods. I remember it being at the beginning of the year and having been turned down for the first Bookworms event, I decided to apply on a bit of a whim. I do love the Silk Mill building and the whole idea behind the Museum of Making is another one of Derby’s special gifts. I applied with that feeling of “wanting to be part of something” again. I suppose this year I have been trying to find my community of where I fit in and belong.
Derby Assemble was one of the busiest events that I have ever been part of, and I loved every minute despite barely having time to take a sip of water. The whole place was full of makers who specialised in such varied number of skills that no two stalls looked the same. The respect that everybody had for each other was noticeable and it was a joy to watch families engage and join in with the different activities (not just my own). I had a table set up with all my products, then a separate table with a few chairs, ready to offer a free space where children could sit and draw their own character designs and/or design a front cover for a book. I had some great chats with parents and their children about getting into illustration as a career, and deeper conversations about the future of AI regarding art and creativity. It was one of those days that will stay with me for a long time.
As November approached, it was time to start thinking festive, and my first Christmassy stall of the season began on the 8th with Derby Book Festival and their Autumn/Winter Fair back at Derby Market Hall. I was made aware of this event very last minute by the lovely Carla, who also ended up being my market stall neighbour on the day! It was such a great day and a wonderful start to selling my Christmas products. It was the first time that my new Christmas wooden decorations had started to sell and it gave me a real boost of confidence with the next crucial weeks ahead. I truly love being part of the local book community in Derby, and I love catching up with Susan Hughes whenever we can. I met another illustrator/author on that day, Sam Warburton, who was also a stall neighbour. Book people are always nice people, in my opinion.
Sunday 16th November brought another Little Robyn Christmas Fair to Horsley Village Hall. This was their last event, so they held a huge sale and this brought in a lot of people! It was lovely to be joined once again by Bees Knees Catering, who offered hot pork rolls as well as their usual delicious cakes and pastries. I think my stall looked the best it ever had that day and of course I enjoyed it, just like all the other events with the Robyns. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few neighbours from my street and I had some lovely chats with people who had come especially to look at my books (always my proudest moment when strangers buy my books).
Continuing with the Christmas Market season, I was offered a stall at Derby Market Hall as part of their Christmas Light Switch On, held on Thursday 27th November. I accepted at once and planned my stock around the pop-up barrows…only to be faced with a smaller, lower trestle table when I arrived on the day! I was a little disappointed at first, but made my table look as beautiful as I could, and to be honest, I had such lovely neighbours that day that the lack of pop-up barrow didn’t matter by the end. As it was a Thursday, the footfall was a struggle until about 5pm when suddenly we all noticed that the hall was a lot busier. By 8pm I had sold a decent amount of stock because the hall was incredibly busy. I didn’t see the Christmas Lights until I left the building, but I can see why so many people came out that night, it all looked beautiful. I really loved the way DMH had “decked their hall” for Christmas too – the giant star centre piece and beautiful garlands/trees. Lovely to meet some more local makers of Derby too, like Clare of CrZY Best jewellery, who I had messaged a bit on Instagram previously.
A few days later I was back in Derby at the Museum of Making on Sunday 30th November, to be part of their Museum Shop Sunday event. I was asked back in the summer if I would like to be part of it and I immediately said yes because any excuse to spend time in the Silk Mill is fine with me. I sort of knew it would be a quiet event, but I used it as an opportunity to draw a sketch related to my new book. It was 2 hours of lovely conversations with staff members and customers, while drawing my favourite things in one of the best buildings in Derby. What’s not to love?
My final event of the year finished at Memorable Events Gift Shop on Ilkeston’s High Street on Saturday 13th December. I always appreciate Mandy’s support with my books in her shop, and this event is becoming an annual tradition. Mandy always likes to offer a free Santa visit in her shop for a few hours, and not only that, but she gives every single child a gift bag full of treats. Her generosity is always above and beyond, and on this day, it felt like word was getting around. It was the busiest I had ever seen the shop, a queue for Santa and new faces as well as familiar faces joined us. It was really special for me to meet a couple of families who come back each year to buy one of my books from the shop.
New Adventures
After the disappointing calendar sales of the previous year, I really questioned whether to carry on making them. So much of my time goes into creating them, and this takes me away from time I could be dedicating towards my next book. However, even though I was down on calendar sales from earlier years, they were still decent enough to consider all the regular customers who come back each year to buy that one product from me. So I decided to work out a way of creating a calendar that might support my next picture book, rather than be an entirely separate piece of work. I am glad I decided to carry on making the calendar because this was the first year that I had managed to sell out of them before January. A complete contrast to last year’s!
The idea for the most recent calendar, Marmalade Wood, came to me just before Christmas of last year when I was thinking how much I would like my new picture book to be set in a world where woodland animals have cosy little village shops and stalls. I have written more about the inspiration of this in the “Story Calendars” section of this website if you’d like to know more about it. It took me many months to get round to starting the final artwork for the new calendar (I believe it was May), purely because of other paid illustration projects that had to take priority. I had a very busy summer of drawing all the illustrations for the calendar, as well as 6 brand new illustrations for the new card collection (Christmas at Marmalade Wood) AND further work designing wooden decorations for Autumn/Winter collections. It was a very productive time for me, but it meant a lot of 5am starts and it took a lot of planning around when I could get all the collections out at the relevant times. Working out when to get the products photographed and edited was just as difficult and time consuming as designing the product artwork. I managed to break everything down into manageable chunks e.g. Autumn decorations photographed, photos edited the following day, products listed on Etsy the following day, Autumn collection released in August. Then September was dedicated for releasing new Christmas collections. Somewhere in the middle of all that, the calendar was released!
Moments That Matter
One school visit that stood out for me this year was my visit to Field House Infant & Nursery School, a local school that I had visited once before. I had been invited back to do a couple of hours with the Super Squirrels and Marvellous Moles classes. I began with talking to each class about what I love about being an illustrator, and I showed them pages from my sketchbook and explained why they were so important as a place to practice improving artwork. The Year 1’s had each been given their own sketchbook and they were all enthusiastic about drawing and creating in them. I then offered to do a draw-a-long, something that can be a bit hit and miss with me, as I am more comfortable drawing tiny sketches without an audience! However, I really enjoyed the drawing together, and I was absolutely amazed by the results from the children.
The teacher told me afterwards that one little girl had always struggled with drawing in her sketchbook, purely a confidence issue, as she was more than capable. But after this session, she went home that evening and decided to draw another squirrel picture, which she showed the teacher with pride the very next day. I was so grateful that the teacher told me this and it is something I will always remember. Most of the time I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, and I find I am running on instinct, so to be told every now and then that some good might be coming out of it is a real confidence boost for me. It seems school visits work both ways – we inspire each other.
Finding the magic
A large part of this year for me has been about reconnecting with my inner child and remembering why I do what I do. A little bit of the fun disappeared for a time last year, and everything felt a bit too serious. I do a lot of overthinking and have a tendency to make things that are all consuming, sometimes forgetting that there is more to life than work. The trouble is I LOVE to work and I often joke that if it was up to me I would just work forever. This year has taught me that little breaks here and there are essential to my work pattern. I know that I need breathing space between projects in order to grow as a better artist.
One way of relaxing for me is to shift my attention onto a different creative project, and this year I have been renovating my childhood dolls house, with the help of Tom. It has been a complete joy to work on, from hand cutting rows of scalloped roof tiles, to painting individual bricks, to refurbishing interior rooms and finally the introduction of the Badger family into their new home; Marmalade Cottage. I had such happy times playing with the dolls house as a child and now all those feelings have come flooding back. That sense of play, the creation of a fictional world of my own, and the simple joy of bringing something tired and old back to life…it all feeds back into my work as a storyteller. I have been creating little stop frame animations to share the progress of the dolls house renovations over on Instagram and it’s been a fresh way of connecting with people on social media. It’s brought a bit of enjoyment back to me for the ever-necessary content creation too.
I feel incredibly proud that I have managed to achieve all the things I wanted to on my enormous to-do list. It has meant that I have perhaps sacrificed a couple of friendships along the way, and that I’ve dedicated an extraordinary amount of time to creating the kind of art that excites me and takes me away to ideas of future possibilities. I am realising more and more that you really can’t do it all. You have to prioritise and focus on what you want to achieve, otherwise it simply won’t happen. You have to give yourself deadlines in order to make things happen. Not everybody will understand this and those people will fall away gradually, but the ones who get it will stay by your side every step of the way. Those are the people that this is really all for.
I would just like to end this epic blog (well done for reading this far!) by thanking YOU for supporting me. If you have ever bought anything from me, not only does it keep my business going in the financial sense, but also and more importantly, it keeps me on a positive path with my work. It is validation for what I do and it is encouragement to continue. See you in 2026 for more adventures… xxx