A Steady Week of Work, with an Eye on the Long Term

Over the past week, most of my time shifted back toward earning income from my usual freelance sources while still making space each day for work on our Zazzle stores. That balance is not always easy, but it’s necessary. The bills don’t pause just because we are building something for the future.

As promised in our last post, here are Doreen's actual end-of-month cash-out figures for November 30th: $67.00 from Prolific, $14.54 from Cloud Connect, and $21.00 from Atlas Earth, for a total of $102.54. This reflects a lighter payout than usual due to pending studies and a temporary shift of focus toward Zazzle work.

On December 2nd, I spent the day attending a seven hour long Zazzle workshop with Elke Clarke. Her evaluation of our shop confirmed that the foundation is there, but there is still a lot of work to do. Much of that work involves rebuilding mockups so they read more clearly on mobile devices, where most shoppers are scrolling quickly and deciding in seconds whether to stop or move on. We are also spending time each day on building our social media platforms for our Grace and Light and We Love Dragons shops on Zazzle.

In January, I plan to join Jen and Elke Clarke’s ongoing Design Divas training to continue improving both my designs and my mockups. They offer additional programs I plan to take further down the road, but for now the focus remains on paying down debt with my Prolific, Cloud Connect, etc. work, while strengthening our Zazzle stores step by step. One thing that Jen and Elke emphasize repeatedly is that Zazzle is not a get-rich-quick platform. It rewards steady work, patience, and treating it like a real business rather than a casual side project.

This week, the Grace and Light spotlight is on a design inspired by scripture and the simple rhythms of home and garden—faith expressed quietly, through patience, care, and daily tending.

This is our Country Garden Blessings Coffee Mug:

“Little by little, one travels far.”
- J. R. R. Tolkien

For those of you who have a fondness for Tolkien, Amazon Prime video has a five episode series, included with Prime, called "Looking for the Hobbit" that goes into the legends that inspired his work. I have watched the first four episodes, and have one left to watch, "The Creatures of the North." I recommend the series.