I'm Pivoting! Here's where I've been, and where I'm going

I’m pivoting! It’s been a long time coming, and I’ve been making slow moves for months now. So! It’s time I ‘fess up and own it. 

The short story: I’m discontinuing all of the guest artist pouches, and I’m going to be focusing almost exclusively on my own artwork moving forward. It’s likely I’ll bring back a handful of the bestselling zipper pouches at some point in the future, but they’ll no longer be the focus of my business.

The long story: I filmed a live video on Instagram last week - did you get a chance to watch? It’s worth a watch, if you’re interested in the history of this business and the many iterations it’s taken me to get to this point. (I also choke up a bit at the end!!).

Here’s the replay:

The gist of the LONG story is that I began my creative business endeavor in the sewing/fabric world by selling sewing patterns. In 2014ish I designed a line of fabrics and licensed the artwork to a fabric company and a collection of my fabric was put into production. And…. it was a total flop. 

In retrospect, I can clearly see that it was the marketing that failed, and not my actual artwork. But at the time, it felt like I spent so much time creating this beautiful artwork, and then no one wanted it. It felt like a complete failure.

I’m nothing if not resilient, so as soon as the contract expired, I put a new portfolio of brand new artwork together and submitted my work to dozens of fabric manufacturers for licensing. No one was interested in my work -- another big blow to my confidence.

Around the same time, FOXLY began. I started sewing and selling one of a kind bags, but it quickly became a lot to keep up with. I have always loved to support my local fellow creatives, so I started working with some local artists to create artwork that I would print onto fabric and sew into zipper pouches -- these became super popular! I really enjoyed collaborating with artists in this way. But, if I’m being honest, part of me felt like the middleman, and I wanted to inject more of my own creativity into my products.

Quietly, I began working on my own artwork again. I dipped my toes in the water of introducing my artwork to you back in February, when I launched the “Heirloom” collection - this art was directly influenced by the work of my great-grandfather, and it felt like a safe, comfortable place for me to begin showing art to the world again. And -- you all loved it! The response I got for that collection of work was SO encouraging - thank you.

In time, working with other artists no longer felt like the best way for me to connect with you all. Over time I realized that I wanted more personal connection to this business I’ve built -- because I’ve never seen it as purely business, it’s always been an extension of me, and a way I connect with others. 

So, I’ve been working on more artwork behind the scenes, and I will be going back to my roots for a limited edition collection in late August. Expect to see some new fabrics with art I’ve designed married with my classic bag styles -- some leather totes, crossbody bags, pouches, and more. They’ll be one of a kind and only available during the release…. More details to come!!

In the meantime, I have a lot of inventory of artist pouches that I will be discontinuing. I’ve planned a clearance event beginning on Monday, August 9th. If you’re signed up for emails, you’ll get all the info in your inbox. If not, you can sign up below to be notified. This will be your very last chance to get many of these pouches.