I remember my first canvas painting. I got myself some acrylic paints (just the primary colours & white), a canvas and picked up a paint brush. I’ve always liked drawing, and painting felt like a newly discovered extension of the same thing.

After that, I painted many more canvasses. I was curious to see if anybody in the world (besides my mom) would be interested in my artwork. So I opened an Etsy shop. It was November 2013. I sold my first artwork. I created art prints of my canvas paintings to sell. Sold a lot more artwork. I participated in an exhibition. My creations for the world to see.

All these small steps were creative dreams of mine that I have joyfully accomplished over the years. But I have many other dreams that I want to give my time and attention too. That’s why I’ll close my Etsy shop.

Ukulele girl  [post about creation process, or buy original painting]

The Magical Daydream Etsy Shop will close Monday, March 20.

You have one last chance to get your hands on something nice, before I will close down the shop in a couple of days. If you’ve been eyeing a print or artwork for some time, I wouldn’t hesitate too long. I only have 2 kindness kits left, 1-3 prints per art print, and 6 paintings. Stock is limited. 

I’m not planning on reopening the shop again. This week is your last chance to buy something from my shop.

As a little farewell gift, I will pay your shipping costs when you buy one of my original paintings.

I’m guessing some of you might be curious as to why exactly I will close my Etsy shop. Well, three reasons.

Butterfly Tie [post about creation process, buy art print, or buy original painting]

Reason 1: I don’t think selling physical creations is the best way to turn Magical Daydream into a sustainable business.

Although I make some bucks with my artwork on the short run, it doesn’t make business sense to me in the long run anymore. It costs a LOT of time to sketch, paint, take pictures, edit pictures, print them, pick up the prints from the printshop, upload images and text to my shop, and package and ship each and every order single-handedly.

When I sell an artwork, it’s gone. This means I need to make more things and spend more time on them. It’s like a spinning hamster wheel that only stops when the hamster passes out.

I like having options for everyone, like some higher priced original paintings but also more affordable art prints. If I would price my products at the actual cost of the time and effort they took me, they would become unaffordable for most of my readers.

And maybe, if some day a company says, ‘Hey, let’s mass produce your kindness kit’, I’ll be up for a second fun ride to see where it goes. But for now, I won’t be cutting, glueing and assembling every part of it by myself anymore.

My tiny business is just me. No elves, no magic helpers. And I have a million other creative dreams I want to make happen. Even though part of me wants to do ALL THE THINGS, I think it can be better to consciously cut things out to make more space for new interests and explorations.

Hedgehog [post about artwork or buy art print]

Reason 2: Selling my art doesn’t closely fit my mission to inspire people to live creatively and playfully.

To make Magical Daydream a sustainable business, I need to spend my time and energy wisely, so I can share creativity and inspiration with many people. I have been exploring other ways to use my talents in ways that support my vision, like creating an Instant Inspiration Kit and the course From Dreamer to Doer in 30 Days.

These projects also use a LOT of time and energy to create initially, but they are not completely gone once somebody pays for my efforts. Hopefully, these endeavours will help me reach more people, inspire more lives. But when the number of interested people grows, the workload connected to these projects won’t grow exponentially too. So, less chances on burnout or going crazy.

Mr. Monkey Man [post about creating process, buy art print or buy original painting]

Reason 3: I want to reclaim painting as a hobby again.

My blog started out as a hobby. Painting also started out as something just for fun. When something is only a hobby, you don’t need to bother about figuring out how it will pay for your rent.

I am still willing to put that pressure on my blog, but no longer on painting.

I want painting as a hobby again. I don’t want to think about who will buy my art, or the tasks I need to do, like take pictures for my Etsy shop and make sure the quality is high enough to use them as an artprint as well. I want to paint without it needing to be anything other than passing time in a nice way.

It would be nice to be painting for fun, for relaxation, in the evenings or weekends, as a way to create something beautiful for the new life I’m creating with Joran, for our home.

Hedgehog [post about artwork, or buy original painting]

Run with your creative dreams in low-key ways

When people want to make a living out of something they love, I always tell them to test out the waters in small, simple ways. Make a few paintings. Open an Etsy shop. You don’t need to do this fulltime, get a million fancy paint brushes and rent an atelier. Start small. See where it takes you. Sometimes it’s just a fun ride, and that’s all there is. I discovered that even though I like painting a lot, I don’t love it enough to make it the focus of my business. You only know that once you’ve tried.

My Etsy shop is filled with creative dreams. But dreams change. That’s why it’s good to try out different things. You will figure out along the way what you like, and also if you like doing something enough to do it as a business.

I don’t regret creating and selling my artwork. I think it’s cool I accomplished all of this, by myself. Over the last 3 years I checked some nice things from my bucket list, like make a series of 10 paintings, open an Etsy shop, exhibit my art work, sell my art work and design a product that encourages kindness. These were valuable experiences that taught me many lessons and helped me crystallise my vision for Magical Daydream.

Kindness Kit [buy kindness kit]

If you want to buy my artwork or one of my kindness kits, you better be quick :) You have up until this weekend, Monday March 20. Then, the party is over ;)

PS. Click here to see what artwork is left in my Etsy Shop.