PlanetJune Craft Blog

Latest news and updates from June

6th blogiversary

Yes, that’s right, I’ve now been blogging for 6 years! Somehow, that doesn’t seem as surprising to me this year – usually it’s a big ‘wow’ moment when I realise my blogiversary is approaching…

Year 6 Review

This was a year of acceleration (and braking). After the stress of Year 5 (an intercontinental move and extended sickness and injury) I started Year 6 trying to get back up to speed. In fact, I worked so hard I was stressed up to the eyeballs. I took December off from designing to relieve the pressure on myself, and took 2 weeks off from everything except essential daily admin over Christmas.

This gave me an inkling of the direction I wanted to move towards – producing high quality work and still having some time left to have a life aside from work. But the break also got me fired up and ready to make changes, so I’ve been setting up a lot of new ‘pieces’ to the world of PlanetJune that will make life run more smoothly for me in future.

PlanetJune logo

I created a new commissions system, finished my new logo, built and coded a new blog design and menu, launched a page to promote people who sell ready-crocheted PlanetJune designs, built up my FAQ, committed to producing at least one video tutorial per month…

Unfortunately, the result of all these grand plans was that I ended up even busier than I was before Christmas!

In between all my other PlanetJune work, I managed to design and publish 24 new crochet patterns:

PlanetJune year 6 crochet patterns

That’s barely more than the 22 I released the previous year, but I’m aiming for quality with my designs, not quantity. I think it’s always worth putting in the extra time to create something special, and that also holds true from a business/profit standpoint: 1 amazing design can easily bring in more money from long-term sales over the years than 10 mediocre patterns.

Goal Review

My strange situation meant I didn’t set myself any real goals for Year 6:

I need to figure out the logistics of operating from here and how to get myself back on track under such different conditions. […] 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.

While it hasn’t been easy, and I’m still not 100% settled here, I’ve basically met the ‘adjusting’ goals and moved onto expanding and improving PlanetJune and the resources I offer – yay!

What’s Next?

If you’ve read my post from a couple of weeks ago on beating craft business overwhelm, you’ll already know the strategies I’m working on implementing to make the ever-growing PlanetJune more sustainable with less work on my part: automating, prioritising, and re-energising.

I love doing what I’m doing here with PlanetJune; I really do. Even though I’ve worked incredibly hard to reach this point, I know how lucky I am to be in the position to do what I love for a living, and I don’t take that for granted. Yes, I am slightly overworked right now because I’m in the midst of building all my new systems, but that won’t last forever and then I’ll have the payoff: being able to concentrate on the work I really enjoy: creating, innovating, and explaining crochet techniques. I can’t wait!

Thank you for continuing to accompany me on my PlanetJune adventure – now onwards, into Year 7!

8 Comments »

  1. pam said

    Happy Blogiversary, June! I know the past year has been at times completely overwhelming and the work load exhausting. But look at the giant leaps you have made in realizing your dreams.

    I only just “met” you this year – this same year that I have just taken my first little uncertain steps into the world of crochet. Your tutorials and videos have been a huge help in the learning process (love the invisible decrease!) and your designs offer an exciting destination!

  2. Chrisie Merriman said

    Happy Blogiversary! Here’s to many more!
    Recapping the year does shine a light on all you’ve accomplished… I’m glad you did this post. 🙂

  3. Judy Kelley said

    Congratulations June!! Since I first started crocheting in 2009, I have looked to your blog for education, inspiration and fun. Your blog is always the first place I look for help and I know there are many others that do too. Your blog is often mentioned as a great resource.

    Job well done, June!!!
    Judy
    (puglette)

  4. Ana said

    Congratulations! You are really an inspiration! 🙂

  5. I love that you are organized about this enough to do a year-in-review. I could stand to add a little more of that to my business. Right now I am feeling very seat-of-my-pantsey.

    • June said

      It’s worth doing one! Sometimes it feels like I’m not making much progress, so it always gives me a boost to see a whole year’s work all together and see how much I’ve really accomplished. You should try it! (When you have time, of course…)

  6. Lindy said

    Happy blog annivesary! You’ve done wonderfully well:)
    Love, Lindy xx

  7. Monica said

    Congratulations!!! It’s so exciting, and unbelievable, that it’s been another year already!!! I’m so glad to have found your blog and patterns, they are the best I’ve come across! Good Luck, Happy Crocheting ;), and Best Wishes 😀

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