I’m quite happy to bid farewell to 2011: although I’ve had some amazing experiences over the past year, it’s also been the most bizarre and difficult year of my life. Trying to keep my business going while moving halfway around the world and coping with 6 months of illness has been a tremendous struggle, but now the transitional year is finally over and I’m welcoming a new start in 2012!

All things considered though, I don’t think I did too badly on the craft front this year:

In 2011:

• I published 22 new crochet patterns across my amigurumi and accessories ranges, as well as creating my annual ‘art’ project (my amigurumi Columbo, a tribute to Peter Falk).
• I continued to create high quality crochet video tutorials, and detailed, honest book reviews.
• I took an educational approach to a spate of copycat designs with my posts on inspiration vs copying and tips for aspiring designers.
• I started a monthly series of wildlife posts, which I don’t think is too tangential on a craft blog, as they demonstrate my passion for nature – the inspiration for most of my designs!
• PlanetJune Crochet-Alongs took on a whole new direction
  and are now being run directly from the PlanetJune Ravelry group, which has also blossomed into a fun and supportive crochet community. I hope to see it expand further over the coming year!

Now I’m living in Africa, my priorities and my lifestyle have been forced to change. I no longer have easy/inexpensive access to yarn and craft supplies, books, DVDs or video games; instead I have easy/inexpensive access to amazing wildlife, and temperatures that let me explore nature year-round. The time that I once spent on weekly shopping trips to Michaels, I can now spend sitting in my garden and noticing those little magical things like butterflies hatching and fast-as-lightning lizards darting along the walls.

White-Eye eating an orange on the feeder in our garden

It’s a simpler, less materialistic life, and I like that. And, I can (with some difficulty and/or generous friends) import yarn, books, etc, but no amount of money can buy the amazing experiences I can have here. During our Christmas ‘staycation’ we’ve seen wild antelope, tortoises, ostriches, seals, mongooses, and more, all within an hour or so of our house – an endless stream of inspiration for my future designs.

My resolution from last year was to “to figure out what’s really important to me and to be true to myself in the decisions I make” and, although I’m still working on that, I’ve definitely made progress this year. I’m more aware than ever that my biggest barrier is lack of time, and I need to keep examining where I want to take my business and make sure I leave enough time to actually have a life too!

I worked myself into the ground over the past few months, trying to build my business back up after the move and sickness, and trying to keep up with my own ideas and self-imposed deadlines. I’ve spent days and weeks holed up in my craft room trying desperately to get things finished and having little time for anything else, which was, in retrospect, both unhealthy and a little crazy. So I decided to take December off from designing, and try to catch up with other things in my business and really think about where I want to go from here. And we took 2 weeks off over Christmas for a much-needed break.

Amazing white sand beach at Cape Point

I’ve had a bit of an epiphany: although I do, of course, want to have financial success with PlanetJune, I’ve realised that money is not my motivator. Most of the things I enjoy are free or inexpensive, and having the time to do them is far more important to me than making more money. Doing things well is what I value: creating beautiful designs, making high-quality tutorials, learning new techniques, and improving my skills.

So, my resolution for 2012 is to work smarter, not harder. I need to slow down and enjoy life, not let it pass me by while I’m working non-stop. I want to invest time into things that will, in the long run, save me time in the technical and administrative sides of the business, leaving me with a larger proportion of time to spend on the creative and instructional sides, and having a life apart from my work.

Helping people (both customers and potential future customers) is something that’s important to me, so this will hopefully allow me to continue to do that without having to spend all my time answering emails. I’ve already started with an expanded FAQ and a bank of canned responses to common questions I receive by email, and I’ll continue to build on both of those so I’ll be able to spend less time on admin tasks in future.

We picked the most delicious cherries ever at Klondyke Cherry Farm

I have no idea what 2012 will bring for PlanetJune. I have so many ideas and plans that if I could split myself into 3 people I still wouldn’t have enough time to implement everything! But I’m not stressed about that; I actually feel calmer than I have in a long time. I have no deadlines, no commitments, no big events on the horizon, and that’s a huge relief. As you can see from my photos, we’ve had a lovely relaxing break (our first chance to relax in a year and a half) and now I’m looking forward to jumping back into work – I wonder if my new tranquillity will show in my 2012 designs..?

I know I’m very fortunate to be in a position where I can support myself (from wherever in the world I happen to be), but it wouldn’t be possible without your support, custom and friendship, so thank you for following me on my journey! I hope you’ll stick with me for the next chapter 🙂

Happy New Year – I hope you have a very happy and healthy 2012!

Although it may not look like it from the new PlanetJune Accessories collection cover pictures, I had a really hard time getting those photos – it actually took 6 photoshoots to get enough decent photos to release the collection. That’s 6 sessions of dressing up nicely and doing my hair and makeup, and 6 sessions of getting strange looks as I posed, feeling like an idiot, in various locations near the river…

It’s spring here, not autumn, and if you look carefully you can see huge palms, giant cacti, and other unusual foliage in the background of my photos, which doesn’t exactly set the autumnal scene I had in mind… Plus my two winters in a row this year, together with months of being stuck in the house with my busted rib, has left me with an even paler than usual complexion (if that’s possible).

It’s a world away from the carefully controlled lighting and scenery I use for my amigurumi photos! For the whole time I was trying to get these pics, I was blessed with bright endless sunshine every day, which meant I was often either squinting in the sunlight, or hidden in deep shadow. When there were a few clouds, by the time I got dressed up and on location, the clouds had all mysteriously vanished. And the wind! The wind here is so strong that it has its own name (‘The Cape Doctor’, as it supposedly blows away all the pollution). My lacy scarves and shawls would not stay put, and my carefully-styled hair whipped across my face and into a mess within seconds.

I was about to throw out all the rejected photos (500+!), but I thought these few were a good demonstration of a tiny fraction of what I went through, so I made them into a little animation for you:

Hahaha! It’s a miracle I ever got any half-decent photos, with winds like this!

And by the way, for anyone who thinks you can’t block acrylic yarn, look at the drape of my shawl! Blocking works miracles on ALL yarn.

Don’t forget you only have until this Sunday to take advantage of the launch week discounts on the new PlanetJune Accessories collection (details in the previous post) – and thank you so much to everyone who’s already bought some (or all) of my new designs! I hope you’ll enjoy crocheting them as much as I enjoyed designing them, and a lot more than I enjoyed modelling for them 😉

One year ago today, I launched my first PlanetJune Accessories collection. I designed my patterns to showcase what I consider to be the beauty and variety of crochet, and also as teaching tools, with full written instructions, technique explanations and tips, photos, illustrations, and charted stitch diagrams.

The customer feedback I’ve had has been so positive (check the reviews in my shop to see!) that I’ve been eager to find time to create another set of designs. Over the past couple of months, I’ve been working hard so that I’d be able to launch my second collection today, on the anniversary of the original launch. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been Accessories-obsessed, stressed to the eyeballs, with no time or energy to spend on anyone or anything else, just to try to get this collection ready to launch by the end of September.

Um, does that seem stupid to you too? Why am I torturing myself by working myself into the ground, just to meet an arbitrary deadline?!

You may not appreciate this (I didn’t, and I’ve been through it before, so I really should have remembered), but there’s a ridiculously large amount of work that goes into creating a collection of patterns when you do it all yourself. Designing, crocheting, pattern writing, testing, stitch diagram drawing, phototography, modelling, editing and layout – the list goes on, and every stage is time-consuming if you want to do it right and produce a high quality product. Then multiply it all by 5 or 6 and try to work on them all simultaneously without losing your mind….

This process has made me think seriously about the way I’m running my business. I have a lot of ideas, and a lot of things I want to create and accomplish. But there’s only one June, and only so many hours in the day. I set myself big goals and push myself far too hard to reach them – I don’t want to get sick again, or burn out.

So that’s why today’s post is to announce that I will not be releasing a new PJ Accessories collection today: I’m going to take a few more days and make sure I do justice to my new designs. I’m really excited about them, and I hope you’ll love them too!

Here’s a little taster of what you can expect:

Look out for the new PlanetJune Accessories collection, coming soon, with launch week discounts! If you want to make sure you don’t miss them, sign up for my newsletter – I’m going to hold back my September update so I’ll send out the newsletter, including the discount codes, as soon as the collection is ready.

And now, I think I’m going to stop working (for a few minutes, at least) 🙂

Have you entered my contest to win your choice of Vanna’s Choice yarns and a PlanetJune pattern? It’s open until Thursday – don’t forget to get your entry in!

I thought you might like to see my new photo studio and a glimpse behind the magic (ha!) that goes into my crochet pattern photos. Things have changed for the better since I last showed you my light tent setup and tutorial photography setup. My photo setup in Canada included 2 swing lamps and 2 goose-neck lamps (all with daylight bulbs) and my light tent:

Light tent in the good old days

It worked well, and I was happy with it. The only problem was when I made something too large to photograph in the light tent (e.g. Reepicheep, dinosaur group shots): then I had to fall back on the (thankfully) good natural light in my craft room and wait for a bright, overcast afternoon to give me the right conditions to shoot in daylight.

My new craft room has no natural light to speak of – our house is on one level, the windows are small, and there are trees right outside my window, so it’s dim inside on even the sunniest day. (I’m sure this will be a blessing in the heat of the South African summer!)

Pretty view, but dark interior

As I couldn’t bring my old lamps with me (wrong voltage), I had to sell them all before I left and buy everything again at this end. There’s no IKEA or equivalent here, and 4 lamps and 4 bulbs at South African prices was not an appealing prospect. I also couldn’t find those daylight-coloured bulbs anywhere…

All these factors made a perfect excuse to upgrade my setup and invest in some professional lighting. I found an excellent local photographic shop, Studio22, who helped me to find a pro lighting solution that was within my budget. I bought 2 light stands, 2 fluorescent lamp heads (each with 2 sockets), 4x38W daylight bulbs (expensive, but they should last for years), and 2 translucent white umbrellas.

The new setup

And oh, what a difference!

• I can light my static scenes with an even light without having to fiddle with 4 lamps to get them all into position.
• The bulbs are cool, so I can shoot for hours without raising the temperature in my room.
• Without the confines of my light tent, I can light anything that fits on my desk, at any time of day or night.
• I can set up to shoot a tutorial or video and light the scene much more easily and evenly (and without roasting under the hot lights!)

Of course, nothing is perfect: my craft room isn’t huge, and those umbrellas take up a lot of room! When I have it all assembled, I have to pick my way around them to reach the computer. And this desk is also my sewing table, so I have to get everything out of the way if I want to set up my sewing machine. It’s really not a big deal, though: to dismantle, I just furl the umbrellas and move the light stands (still set up and plugged in) and camera tripod to the corner of the room. When I next need a photo, it only takes a minute to set it all up again.

Setting the scene (that’s my camera in the foreground)

On the desk, I create my scene. In this case, I have:

• My handpainted ‘dappled forest’ backdrop, stuck to the wall with sticky tack. (I painted this backdrop for my AfricAmi set in 2008, and I’m so relieved it survived the move without the paint cracking.)
• A fabric ‘ground’
• Fake foliage courtesy of the dollar store (I really miss dollar stores for buying props!)
• And, of course, the star of the show – my Aardvark in this case 🙂

I complete the setup with my camera on a tripod in front of the desk. I use the remote control (toe-operated!) when I’m making tutorials or videos, sat behind the camera with my hands in view, and otherwise take photos the regular way.

Hopefully my pattern photos will now be so irresistible that the business will repay my equipment investment in no time!

Do you find that reading a review for an online product really helps you to make a buying decision? I know I do, and I always wonder if there’s something terribly wrong with a product that has zero reviews: maybe it’s so bad that nobody has ever even bought it..?!

Lots of people find me through a google search for, e.g. “corgi crochet pattern”, and may have no idea who PlanetJune is, or know about the quality and detail I put into all my patterns. I think that seeing a review from a fellow crocheter would help reassure them far more than a sales pitch from me could, so, to help these people, I’d really like to have at least one review available for every pattern in my shop.

I’m getting close – there are now an amazing 273 reviews posted in my shop, covering almost all of my patterns and products, which is fantastic! I really do appreciate every review, and that’s why I host my monthly ‘Review and Win’ contest to reward you for taking the time to write them.

If you can help me reach my goal, I’d be ever so grateful. I’ll also give you a double entry into this month’s ‘Review and Win’ contest for every first review for a pattern you write. To make this less of a treasure hunt, here’s a list of all the patterns that (at time of writing) have zero reviews:

• Aardvark
• AmiDogs Basset Hound
• AmiDogs Boston Terrier
• AmiDogs Corgi
• AmiDogs Custom Set (any 3 patterns)
• AmiDogs Great Dane
• AmiDogs Jack Russell Terrier
• AmiDogs Labrador
• AmiDogs Miniature Pinscher
• AmiDogs Set 1 (Shiba Inu, Labrador, Dachshund)
• AmiDogs Set 2 (Boston Terrier, Jack Russell Terrier, Beagle)
• AmiDogs Set 3 (Husky, Corgi, German Shepherd)
• AmiDogs Set 4 (Chihuahua, Pug, Miniature Pinscher)
• AmiDogs Set 5 (Great Dane, Airedale Terrier, Boxer)
• AmiDogs Set 6 (Akita, Greyhound, Border Collie)
• Dimetrodon (Dinosaur)
• Ice Cream Bear
• Kingfisher
• Plumeria
• PocketAmi Set 6: Pets

If you’ve bought any of these patterns, please write a quick review in my shop so that other potential customers can know what to expect if they buy the pattern!

To write a review:

1. Click the link above to get to the item in my shop.
2. Click the Reviews tab.
3. Click the write a review button, and leave your opinion!

Thank you for helping me to reach this goal 🙂

Good news: my shop has re-opened for sales of PlanetJune-exclusive products! I know some of you have been waiting (im)patiently for the all-important Detail Stuffing Tools and my cute and practical Stitch Markers for crochet to be available again, and now they are.

When you order, you can also request a FREE signed PlanetJune bookmark to keep with your copy of my Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi – it’s almost as good as getting your copy signed, and a lot less expensive than mailing it to me in South Africa so I can add my signature 😉 (Note: you can also order the free bookmark alone, and just pay for the shipping.)

Eyes for amigurumi

Did you know that many of the eyes you can buy on Etsy and at other online stores are of inferior quality? Up close, the plastic looks cheap and shiny, there are little plastic burrs where the eyes haven’t been moulded smoothly, and the washers are next-to impossible to attach. It’s difficult to tell this from product photos online, but if you compare the actual eyes side by side, the differences are horribly obvious.

I’ve always sold only the highest quality eyes at PlanetJune, and I refuse to compromise that and to jeopardise the trust I’ve built with my customers. This has been a very difficult decision to make, but due to logistical difficulties I’ve decided to stop selling eyes and noses. Don’t worry though, I won’t leave you hanging: Michelle of Suncatcher Eyes has agreed to look after you for me!

In addition to her beautiful handpainted eyes, Michelle now carries a full range of black and clear animal eyes for your amigurumi. These are the same high quality eyes you’ve bought from PlanetJune. Like me, Michelle prioritises quality and customer service, and Suncatcher Eyes ship worldwide (with very reasonable shipping costs).

Getting Focused

PlanetJune is a one-woman show: I am the pattern designer, writer, publisher, layout and graphics designer, technical editor, photographer, technical illustrator, web developer, accountant, administrator, and envelope stuffer. I set very high standards for myself and for my business, but there are only so many hours in the day and I have to prioritise firstly my health (I’m still suffering with my damaged ribs) and secondly the directions I’d like to concentrate in for my business.

I’m no good to anyone if I push myself so hard that I burn out. Making this decision means I’ll have more time to concentrate on my designs and tutorials, my technical editing services, and my exclusive products. This hasn’t been an easy decision to make, but I can already feel that it was the right one. I just hope that you, my wonderful customers, don’t feel let down, but I know I’m leaving you in safe hands with Michelle.

Thanks for your understanding!

Every month, I draw a winner from all the reviews received in my shop that month, to receive a free pattern of their choice. I thought the contest was worth a post of its own this month, as the number of new reviews has been dropping off lately. I only had 5 reviews in June, and while that means my reviewers had excellent odds of winning, I’d really like to see more people adding their reviews.

The June ‘Review and Win’ contest winner is Heather L, with her review of my Stegosaurus pattern:

This is a super cute little dino. Don’t let all the pieces concern you. The pattern is well written, and finishing instructions make it a snap to put together. I’ve made it twice so far, and I expect I will be making more.

Congratulations, Heather – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize!

I hope you’ll all visit my shop and add reviews for any of my patterns that you’ve enjoyed, and continue to do so as and when you make more of my designs. Reviews are really useful to help other customers make an informed decision as to whether to buy my patterns.

Adding reviews is a great way to support my business without any cost to yourself except a couple of minutes of your time. And, of course, you may win a free pattern too 😉

Thanks so much!

Better late than never: my blogiversary was a over week ago and I’ve been so busy and unwell that I totally missed it! Still, I want to note this milestone: I can’t believe that I’ve been blogging for 5 years now. I owe so much to this blog; I wouldn’t have my crafty career without it…

Year 5 Review

This was a year of turmoil. Between finding out we’d be moving to South Africa, preparing to move, 2 months of bronchitis, selling the house, actually moving, living out of a suitcase in temporary accommodation for months, and a second bout of bronchitis, I’ve been forced to spend far less time on PlanetJune than I would have liked.

Despite all that, I have had some accomplishments in Year 5:

• I designed and published 16 new amigurumi crochet patterns.



• I launched the PlanetJune Accessories pattern range with 6 published designs.



• My first crochet book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi, was published and very well received (4.9 out of 5 stars on amazon!)



• My kingfisher was published in Inside Crochet magazine in the UK, and, in the US, Create and Decorate magazine ran a feature on PlanetJune.



• I completed two major art projects: my punchneedle-embroidered 3D globe, and an amigurumi Reepicheep (from The Chronicles of Narnia), who won the Craftster Fantasy Crochet Challenge.



• I started the PlanetJune YouTube channel to create high quality crochet tutorial videos, and it won the Flamie award for Best Crochet Video (Amateur)!

• I also received Flamie nominations for Best Crochet Blog (for this blog) and Best Instructional/Technical Crochet Book (for The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi).

Hmmm, it doesn’t seem so bad when I look at my work all together like this… Imagine what I could do without sickness and international moves occupying all my time!

Goal Review

Last year, I had grand plans for Year 5:

My goal for the coming year is to build my business to the point where I no longer have that niggling feeling that I should really go and get myself a ‘real’ job – a feeling that comes down to the grim reality of earning enough money to continue to support myself.

…and I’d taken significant steps along that road before I hit the major roadblock of moving to another continent and having months and months (still in process) with very little time to devote to the business.

Here’s a very clear illustration of that: of my 22 new patterns this year, 16 were released in the half-year before Christmas, and only 6 in the half-year since then! But, looking on the bright side, that was a pretty good record until my life took its detour, so I know I can get back to being prolific once things settle down here.

What’s Next?

For the upcoming year, I’m not going to set any real goals, as so much is still unknown at this point. I need to figure out the logistics of operating from here and how to get myself back on track under such different conditions. It’s certainly going to be a challenge! For starters, it may be another month or more before I can get internet hooked up at our new house, and that obviously makes a huge difference to how I operate.

I need to prioritise getting settled into my new life and getting my health back. Only then can I really focus on making PlanetJune everything I know it could be if I only had the time… It will happen – I am determined to keep moving forward, no matter how hard this road is to travel. Losing the past few months (and maybe one more) isn’t going to ruin me. My ideas aren’t going anywhere – I just have to have the patience to keep them on the back burner until I have time to fulfill them to the standard I expect from myself.

Thanks!

I just wanted to add a thank you to you, my readers, for all your support and for following on my journey. This has been the hardest and loneliest time of my entire life, and knowing that you’re out there means a lot to me. I’d never have made it this far without you!

Now, onto Year 6…