March: on creative growth & sustainability

Hello there, I hope you’ve been having a wonderful spring so far!

As the days grow warmer, I’ve definitely been feeling the seasonal shift - all of a sudden I have more energy, and actually want to spend time outside now that it’s not freezing. It’s been a really nice reset after this particularly cold winter. Here’s a peek into what I’ve been up to this month:

I’ve been spending lots of time finishing workshop pieces. I’ve just finished last month’s rings and am about to start on the ones from my March workshop! Each ring takes me a few hours to finish and polish, so it’s slow going - I appreciate everyone’s patience as I get their work to them.

(And if you’ve been wanting to join a workshop, exciting news: I have new workshop dates below!)

Last week I vended at Yours Truly market for the second time. This was such a fun day - thank you to everyone who stopped by and said hi!

And then I hopped on a flight to Seattle! My main purpose was to visit my brother, but I was lucky enough to catch the cherry blossoms here. My joy truly knows no bounds.

And to wrap up the month (of course something bad had to sneak in at the end) - I got hurt as soon as I stepped off the plane back home. I’ll have to take it easy these few weeks to not aggravate my injury (also why this newsletter is a few days late) so for people waiting on moonkat orders and workshop rings: thank you in advance for your patience! I’ll have them ready as soon as I can.

Now that I have some (forced) time to slow down and stay off my hands, I’ve been reflecting on how I spend my hours - and how that aligns with the kind of artist I want to be and the creative business that I want to build. One thing that’s surprised me: even with a fully self-directed schedule, I don’t actually have very much time to dedicate towards actively working on new ideas. A lot of it goes into the less visible (but no less important) parts of running a small business - answering customer messages, prepping inventory for markets, post-workshop finishing work, and doing the rest of the behind-the-scenes tasks that is essential for making sure moonkat studio keeps moving forward.

Right now, vending at markets and running workshops are what allow moonkat studio to exist - and they’re also parts of the process that I genuinely love. Getting to meet people and share what I know of this craft is incredibly energizing. At the same time, I’ve been reflecting on how to carve out more room for my own personal experimentation alongside that. I don’t think the answer to this is to suddenly stop attending markets and holding workshops - first of all: these are the two biggest sources of income for moonkat, and secondly: I would genuinely miss connecting with people at these events. But I do want to try to prioritize spending at least a few hours a week on my own personal projects.

This spring, I’m making a conscious decision to make time for my own exploration: trying out new techniques, testing new ideas, and experimenting with wacky concepts that might not lead anywhere but would be good learning opportunities regardless. I’ve probably said something similar before - but this time I mean it!! I’m excited to share what comes out of that in future newsletters - hopefully in the next few months, there will be a new color on the weekly time chart that expands as I devote more time to the “exploration” category.

But of course, just because I want to spend more time on personal projects this spring doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop with markets and workshops! Here’s what’s coming up:

• April 11 + 12 [NYC] - Renegade Craft Fair!

  • This is my second time at Renegade’s Manhattan location, and my first time shelling out for a full booth (last year I was in a shared space). Nervous but excited for this!

• April 25 [NYC] - ring design workshop at RecCreate Collective (sold out!)

• May 9 [NYC] - MAUM Market

• May 10 [NYC] - ring design workshop at RecCreate Collective

• May 15 [Philly] - Carve & Sip ring design workshop

  • I’m so happy to be back at the lovely Persimmon Coffee for another Carve & Sip workshop! This is a small, intimate space with limited seating, so tickets tend to sell out fast - as a special thank you to my newsletter readers, here’s early access to workshop tickets :)

• June 14 [Philly] - Carve & Sip pendant necklace workshop

  • Introducing a new workshop - pendant making! This is a new offering for me, so seats are limited. And same as above, you guys get early access to tickets.

That’s all I have for this month. Thanks so much for tuning in to another edition of moonkat musings, and I hope that everyone has a beautiful - and SAFE - start to their spring!

Cheers,

Katherine ♥️