{"id":10863,"date":"2014-01-16T05:51:49","date_gmt":"2014-01-16T10:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/?p=10863"},"modified":"2022-04-22T12:52:40","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T16:52:40","slug":"commissions-rebooted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/commissions-rebooted\/","title":{"rendered":"Commissions: rebooted"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had to take a break from my crochet pattern commissions<\/a> towards the end of last year, to keep up with my book deadlines. Now it’s time for me to start them up again, and this is a good opportunity for me to re-examine the process and see how I can improve it to make it more sustainable…<\/p>\n

The Good<\/h2>\n

I love accepting commissions for new amigurumi patterns – I’ve come up with some very special designs that I’d probably never have got around to making, had they not been commissioned. Knowing that people believe and trust in my ability to create a certain animal makes me even more determined to get it right! <\/p>\n

\"PlanetJune<\/p>\n

The Bad<\/h2>\n

The idea of the commissions is great, but the reality of fulfilling them has contributed to my stress in the past year; my skin condition makes me essentially allergic to deadlines because it’s triggered by stress. The more pressure I feel, the more that manifests physically, and that only adds to my stress (as well as stopping me from taking any in-progress photos until my hands heal – a big problem when I’m trying to get a new pattern finished!) <\/p>\n

Moving Forward<\/h2>\n

I’ve thought long and hard about this, and here’s my solution: the new commissions model will have no hard deadlines<\/strong>. Expected time to completion will be 1-3 months, depending on when inspiration strikes. If the stars align and I’m not working on anything else, I may be able to complete a commission in 2 weeks! But if the design isn’t working out as planned, being able to set it aside for a while and let my subconscious mull it over while I work on a different project will be much healthier for me than the nerve-wracking running-out-of-time feeling.<\/p>\n

You still end up with the same end result – no PlanetJune pattern is ever released until I’m satisfied it’s as good as I can possibly make it – but without the time pressure of the deadline, the process should run more smoothly and help keep me healthy enough to keep designing for many years to come. There’s a lot more that I want to accomplish, and physical or mental breakdowns aren’t part of that plan! <\/p>\n

Dropouts and Top-Up Pledges<\/h2>\n

If you’re not happy about this change, I do understand, and I’m happy for you to cancel any pledges you’ve made towards future commissions. I’ll be emailing everyone who has outstanding pledges to confirm that they’ll still be happy to honour their pledges when the time comes for me to collect them. Please check your email if you’ve made any pledges!<\/p>\n

If there are dropouts, some of the designs already in the fully-pledged waiting list may no longer be fully pledged, so I’ve come up with a plan – I think this is the fairest way to tackle it:<\/p>\n