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A fan writes in with a question:

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"I have come across your page and have fallen in love!! Are you open to custom designs?"

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I get this question every week. And if you’ve ever wrote in asking me this, then you know the answer is…

… umm…

… no.

But it reminds me of a story hubby once told me of when he was working as a graphic designer a long, long time ago.

His clients used to ask him to create these designs for them.

And after he was done, they’d take a look and go…

"Umm… I’m not sure… could you change this around, this around, this around?"

And my hubby’d reluctantly change it.

Because each progression would make the work uglier and uglier.

But when you’re working with a client, you don’t really have much choice.

And after he was done with that, he’d show the corporate client, who is a high ranking executive at a well-known company, again… and they would say…

"Umm… I’m not sure… let me ask my mom. Oh, my mom says she doesn’t like it. Could you change this around, this around, this around?"

And eventually, the design became so convoluted and full of unicorns and rainbows and kitties that my hubby would hate himself for creating it.

And that’s how he went to sleep every night.

Full of self-loathing and doubt.

Anyways, 10 other reasons why I don’t do any custom work:

1. I can’t create great art if I’m not creating something I want and like.

2. I don’t want to do stuff that doesn’t excite me.

3. I don’t want to have to change up the art I create, making it worse every time.

4. I don’t really care about money. Well, I do… a bit. But not that much.

5. I know that I’m going to procrastinate on it and take forever to finish.

6. It takes time away from other projects I’d rather do.

7. It gives me something to write about. 😉

8. Some clients are good. But some of them are mean. I don’t want to spend time filtering out the meanies.

9. I can’t really be as creative as I want to be.

10. I want to go to bed at night knowing that I did my best work.

Well…

While I don’t do custom work.

I do take suggestions. And interesting ideas.

So if you have any have ideas you’d like to see and buy in the store, feel free to send me a message and…

… if your idea strikes lightning and inspiration into my soul and fills me with divine revelations…

… I might think about it. 🙂

He he.

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Sloth Bunny No Work"

Dear Friend,

Here’s a little story to brighten up your new year…

A while back:

I was reading a biography about Walt Disney.

And in the book, it mentioned how there was this time at Disney’s peak where…

… they were having massive success with their movies.

And everything was going well revenue-wise.

But not health-wise for Walt.

Because of all the years of long sleepless nights, nerve-wracking work, and mental over-exertions, he was at the end of his rope.

So…

I don’t remember who, but I think it was his wife who told him to take a year of vacation and just get away from it all.

So he took the vacation.

And…

Traveled.

Experienced new things.

New places. New people. And…

Took up some new hobbies!

For example:

He unexpectedly discovered that he was fascinated with trains.

So he eventually went to a train parts manufacturing factory and spent lots of time there watching them build the parts.

They eventually gave Walt the chance to build some of the parts himself.

And everyone was shocked at how amazingly talented he was at it.

Along the way…

Walt discovered that he actually loved making mechanical stuff way more than he enjoyed drawing and animation.

So when he went back home:

He got himself some train tracks. And set them up all around the house. And he got himself a small train too.

He put everything together and started playing with his real-life "train set" every day… riding it around and around while relaxing and watching life go by…

He worked on it…

… and tweaked it…

… and made it better daily…

… and just had the time of his life playing with his life-size "toy" train.

He used to have these dinner parties where he’d invite all his friends and neighbors.

And they’d come to his house along with all the kids.

And ride on the train.

Food was served. Ice cream. Hot dogs. Burgers.

And they just had the time of their lives.

And so did Walt Disney.

That year actually became a major turning point in his life.

Because it re-ignited the fire in him, and this was the "starter fluid" that inspired the birth of…

… Disneyland!

Which went on to become, in many ways, even bigger than a lot of the Disney movies.

And it all started because Walt took a year to get away from it all… connect with himself again… and discover new things he truly enjoyed.

So, wanna have the year of your life this year?

Even if you’ve been bordering on burnout the last few years?

Spend more time reconnecting and rediscovering yourself.

Find new things and activities you truly love.

Healthy things, of course.

And just have fun enjoying them while happily watching the days go by.

You never know.

You might just create the next Disneyland.

Oh, and if you need art to decorate your new attraction?

I’ve been having fun doing what I love too. 🙂

Lots of new drawings up in the store now:

https://turnip.co/store

Sincerely,
aurelia nobleia
"future disneyland decorator"

P.S. I hope you enjoyed the free gifts I sent you for Christmas last week. 🙂

I’ve gotten a few emails gushing about how cute they are, and how much people like them!

If you didn’t see them, they might have fallen through the cracks into your spam folder…