updating my donation %

if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know i’ve always made sure to take 20% of all income to donate. 10% goes to my church, and 10% goes to St. Jude Children’s Research hospital. i’ve done this ever since i had my very first job, and it just became part of my life and how i operated with every job. when i switched to running my small business full-time, it remained the same, even when things were financially rough— God always provided!

however, i recently ran into an issue with taxes (yuck). i thought i could handle it, and make the money i needed, but i miscalculated. even if i raised my prices again and sewed as much as my chronic illness would allow, i wouldn’t be able to cover my April bills as well as the money i still owe for taxes.

i’m not in debt (one of my biggest fears, as i’ve always been super anxious with money) but this will be the first time in my life where i have to put something on a credit card without having the money in my bank account. my savings is empty again. it’s terrifying. it feels like i failed— like maybe attempting to go full-time on sewing plushies was a bad idea, and not as sustainable as i thought. but i talked it over with my parents and my friends, and they comforted me and helped me to see it’s not a failure; it’s a learning experience 🧡 i know what i need to set aside in the future, and next year’s taxes will be much easier.

however, one of the biggest things my dad has been encouraging me to do as i face financial hardships, is to reduce the amount that i donate. 20% is what i’ve done for over 8 years, but it’s something that i need to change to help me on the journey of feeling comfortable financially again.

so, until further notice, i will now only be donating a total of 10% of all income total. 5% will be donated to my church, and 5% will be donated to St. Jude.

as i said before, this was a really hard decision for me to make. but my dad has been urging me to make this change for months, and it’s finally come to the point where i know this needs to happen. the extra 10% that i will keep will help immensely with bills and putting money back into my small business so i can keep this running!

and while there won’t be any price increases happening right now, i think it’s only fair to disclose that there will very likely be price increases in the future. i know i’m still undercharging for all the work that goes into each plush i make, but i’m taking price increases slowly as i continue to grow. it’s really hard for me to understand the value of my own work (imposter syndrome things 🙈) and the last increase already had me sick for a while… selling anything over $100 was scary, and anything over $200 is terrifying! but at the end of the day, i need to be able to afford to take care of myself, and i’d love to be able to afford to give back to the community in whatever way i can! but for now, nothing is changing other than my donation amount. one hard decision at a time 😭

the goal is to be able to end up in a spot where i can go back to donating 20%. but i’m not sure how long it will take to get there… maybe months, maybe years. it’s all uncertain, and i get horrible anxiety from dwelling on the future, so i’m trying to just take things a day at a time 🧡

now, all that being said… this is effective immediately, and will be applied to my upcoming April drop! so if you see some scratched out numbers on your “thank you” cards in orders, i’d appreciate if you could ignore that. i’ve written “10% to my church and 10% to St. Jude” for so long, it’s second nature. it is going to be a HUGE adjustment to start writing 5% instead!

so…yeah! that’s the update. a very wordy way to say, “i’m donating 10% now instead of 20% and it is a hard decision for me to make”. but hopefully all the words show you just how much this means to me 🙈

THANK YOU SO MUCH if you read all that! you’re a real one 🧡 i love you all! thank you for being here and helping my dreams come true 🥹 good luck if you’re participating in the April drop! i hope you have a lovely weekend!!

packaging updates

i’ve added a couple new eco-friendly packaging solutions! i’m always striving to keep my small business as eco-conscious as possible, and i’m currently just doing it slowly as i’m able to afford it and as i need to restock things.

i’ve restocked:

• 100% recycled and curbside recyclable/compostable tissue paper!

i’m adding:

• plastic-free curbside recyclable glassine bags (for freebies)!

• 100% recycled and curbside recyclable, no-waste shipping labels!

• 100% recycled and curbside recyclable “WE CARE” cards

you can always read about my efforts to run an eco-conscious business on my eco-info page!

plushie updates

a couple things are changing with my plush! DONT PANIC! please read through!

first of all, the pricing for the glass beads i buy has increased.

it’s not a super large increase, and since i JUST had a price increase on my plush, it isn’t going to affect my pricing for now. but it probably will the next time i have to order beads (within the next couple months). i always like to be transparent about my pricing and i think it’s fair to let you know what kinds of things are requiring me to update my prices!

secondly, I GOT NEW STUFFING!!!!

this is actually a huge deal for me 🥹 i’ve had the same stuffing for YEARS….like i think since i first started making plush, around 2021 or something crazy like that 🙈 if you didn’t know, i started making crochet plushies, which are solely filled with fiber filling. so my sister bought me a HUGE giant box for my birthday one year! and then, my brother gifted me a large bag of silky stuffing! those filled up well over 2 large plastic tubs and have kept me going for, again, years. there was a period of time where i wasn’t using ANY stuffing in my plush, just weighted filling. slowly i started getting more comfortable mixing the two, and now, the Ews have used up SO much, SO quickly!! i’m almost a bit emotional that i’ve finally gotten through it and can now supply my own stuffing!

since i have the option to CHOOSE what i get, i compared my options. the regular poly-fil my sister got me was affordable, but it clumps and can texturally be icky for some people. the silky stuffing was nice, but i still feel like it was missing a squish factor that i want my plush to have. i combined the two for a while, but that still wasn’t what i was looking for.

so, i bought 2lbs of cluster filling! it’s basically teeny tiny balls of stuffing that don’t clump together and thus are GREAT for keeping squish but holding shape! i’m actually making the switch IN THE MIDDLE of the Ew Ew Ew drop because i ran out of stuffing as i was halfway through making the drop plush…so, the first 3 guys have the regular filling i’ve been using, and the rest of my guys from now on will have the cluster stuff!

as of right now, i haven’t used the cluster filling yet. but boy have i been squishing it! it feels like it will be PERFECT and i think it will give my plush exactly the feel i’ve been looking for!! very very exciting 🥹

so, yeah! that’s all for now :) i’m so excited to share these small business milestones with you!! thank you for being here!

time for another friendly shop update. this one is kinda long, but it’s very important, so i encourage you to read through this whole post or watch the video i’ve attached below. the video goes over the exact same points, but it’s in video format if that’s easier for you to take in the information!

video update

text update

to start, a bit of context. it's tax season, and i figured i'd get a head start on it so i could get it out of the way. i always need to pull some money from my savings, and luckily this year i actually had a pretty decently sized savings, so i figured i was good. but apparently, i made a LOT more money last year than i thought i did. which is great! my business grew a lot, and i'm so grateful for that.

however, when you're self-employed, there's a LOT of taxes you'll need to owe. and you need to withhold that yourself, otherwise you end up in my situation.

i saved less than half of what i need to pay my taxes this year, which is not ideal. this made me realize i really need to be withholding a much larger percentage of my income for tax purposes. which means a larger percentage of the cost of my shop items, is money i'll never actually see.

i estimate i'll need to withhold:

• 30% for income tax

• 8% for sales tax

that, PLUS the 20% i always donate, as well as a 3% payment processing fee, means 61% of all my income is money i don't get to keep. that means if i sell a plushie for $100, only about $40 goes towards paying my bills, as well as going back into my small business so i can keep this running. which really puts things into perspective! that's not even counting materials costs, the intention and care i put into packaging, freebies, all of those other expenses.

i could donate less money, but i've been donating 20% of all my income since i had my first job. that's not something i want to change. i love being able to share my income with those who need it! but this means i need to change my pricing so i can still afford to pay my bills every month AND make additional income.

this is a really hard decision for me, i do NOT take this lightly at all. i love being able to bring my plush to as many people as possible. but if i'm going to do this full time, i need to start pricing it to reflect that.

this isnt a hobby anymore; this is my job. it needs to provide for me, and allow me to take sick leave without guilt. i need to be able to take time off without feeling like i need to be working.

i'll still make fleece plushies and prototypes! which will be sold at a great discount. and of course i'll be doing Right To Buys, which are very payment plan friendly. increasing my prices also allows me to do giveaways more often! so i'm really hoping to give back to the community as soon as i'm able to.

my current plan is to have my february drop with increased pricing (which has already been applied to Cheez-It and Chocolotte), but still some lower-cost plush, and then have a smaller drop with bigger/higher-cost plush, and then have a preorder drop. ideally that will cover all my taxes that i owe

the change is going to be pretty big:

• $15 increase for smaller plush (like the rats, bunnies, etc)

• $20 increase for bigger plush (puppies like Bingo, raccoons, etc)

and again, i will still have lower cost plush! just probably not for a while, since i really need to focus on making the tax money before they're due.

i'm hoping that this increase will also allow me to draw more, so i can make even cheaper products like stickers and keychains and wallpapers, and maybe even apparel!

as i said before, this is a really hard decision for me to make. but my small business is growing, and this year i'm dedicated to making this my main source of income. so i really need to take it seriously, and price my work fairly 🧡

thank you all so much for being here! i truly cannot thank you enough. your support of me and my work over the years has been astronomical, and i still can't believe the growth and community i've built over such a short period of time.

i'm forever ineffably grateful, and i hope you'll continue to stick with me even as i make these changes to my small business.

thank you! 🫶

i got a few little updates i wanted to share!

i’m marking my new website as a sort of turning point for my small business…new beginnings and whatnot. part of this new beginnings for me meant redesigning my “thank you” cards! i’ve had these ones since summer of 2024…definitely a little overdue for a redesign!

it’s cute, but i know i can do MUCH better now. my art has grown a lot since 2024 and i’d like that to be reflected in the packages i send out!

so, without further ado, i now introduce: the NEW thank you cards!

*insert booming fanfare and wild applause*

ISN’T IT SO CUTE?! i’m absolutely in LOOOOVE with how it turned out! it really looks like gooby 🥹 from his big nose to his toothy smile, all the way down to his big fluffy paws! i went for a blue card this time just to try something new, and it also compliments the orange of his fur really well. but kept it fun and bright with some scribbly stars! i of course had to keep the iconic text…everyday is a Goob day here, but i like to think a topes package on your doorstep makes your day a little Goobier!

i also have another minor update regarding packaging!

all plushies will now also come with an ADOPTION CERTIFICATE!

each adoption certificate will also have the plushie’s birthday on it! this way you can kinda know what “litter” your friend is from, even if it looks similar to other plushies i make. i also just think it’s a fun thing, to know what day your plush was officially born on 🫶 and then make the adoption official with your name and signature!

i still have some of the old “thank you” cards, so to not waste them the next few orders will still have the old ones. BUT! once i use all of those up, THEN all orders will come with the new “it’s a goob day!” card! and all orders with a plush will also have an adoption certificate. fun stuff all around! super excited to get the new cards in rotation 🌟

also, i do have an exciting announcement 👀

there will be a small preorder drop today at 3pm CST! there will be 5 chippie rat preorders and 5 mystery fluffy rat preorders available! they will all be $60 each with a 6-8 week TAT. i’m a little nervous but very excited to have my first little shop drop on my new website 🥹 hopefully everything goes well!

i’ll also be sewing again starting today! our house is officially clear of any and all viruses, and even my cough is pretty much gone! so i’ll be getting started on a valentines drop and working on preorders alongside that. thank you SO MUCH for your patience as i was resting and recovering! i’ve missed sewing so much, and i’m so glad to finally be functioning normally again!

that’s all today! wishing you a very goob day!! 🧡

well, it’s the same shop…but now i have my own domain! which is so crazy to say and SO exciting. this has been a goal of mine since…well, pretty much since i started selling online!

i know there’s a LOT to see, so feel free to take your time to look around! this basically the hub where i store all the important information, as well as of course host my online shop and shop drops! i also want to utilize blog posts to set up and track goals just like i did on ko-fi. i think it would also be a good place to keep track of my journey and see my growth! i always love looking back at how far i’ve come :)

i’m so excited, i put a lot of time into making the site look nice! there’s a lot of cool features i’ll get to use, so i’m hoping the navigation/shopping experience is nice for you too :) i appreciate your patience as i continue to navigate it! there’s a huge learning curve, but i’m excited to be able to have sooo many tools that will make my job as a small business so much easier.

that’s all for this post! i just wanted to make a little post talking about the new site. i’m so excited to see where my small business takes me from here! thank you for being here!!