emilyckohl

Longer days are ahead 🌅

The sunlight in my office today felt very hopeful and warm even though it’s currently winter

It’s finally here! My very first Black Friday sale!

All Coloring Stickers are 50% OFF now through Cyber Monday!

https://emilyckohl.etsy.com

My first ever Black Friday sale! 🤓

All Coloring Stickers in my Etsy store will be 50% off Friday 11/24 - Monday 11/27

Even though I’ve had my Etsy store for 12 years, I’ve never been able to run a Black Friday sale because I didn’t have the inventory on-hand, and I usually had to work at one of my other jobs. I realized a couple of days ago that I actually do have the availability/resources to run a massive sale on my Coloring Stickers this year, even if I can’t afford to extend that sale to the rest of the products in my store just yet, so here we are.

My first real Black Friday sale & I’m feeling pretty hopeful. I cut a few freebie stickers to throw in with the Coloring Stickers too, but I have to remind myself not to get crazy adding free stickers when the Coloring Stickers themselves are only $2 each; it’s just really fun to surprise people.

https://emilyckohl.etsy.com

Forgot to share this Wednesday wallpaper over here on Tumblr when I made it last year. Enjoy! 🕷️

Hi, I’m still absolutely terrible at updating my Tumblr because, in all honesty, this app isn’t as fun to use as it used to be, but I’m desperately trying to find ways to make it more enjoyable.

I typically have Instagram-specific art projects & TikTok-specific projects (have you checked out my Gilmore Girls Movie Journal yet?) for 2 reasons: First, people have a reason to follow me on both & they hopefully don’t get bored just seeing the same exact content getting reposted somewhere else. Second, it gives me a reason to actually want to use both apps individually.

I would create some Tumblr-specific projects to give me more reason to share posts over here, but at the moment, I’m not sure anyone would see it. My main blog has been active for well over a decade, and even though it says I have over a thousand followers, most of those accounts have been inactive for a very long time. In years’ past, most of my posts would get a lot of attention, but in recent years, the majority of my posts get less than 5 notes on them, if they get any at all. It can be very discouraging. I feel like my community left this platform a long time ago, but I can’t find where they all went to.

But if you’re somehow seeing this post, I appreciate you. If you’d be interested in me working on some sort of Tumblr-specific content and posting more often, let me know. A short comment goes a long way when this app usually makes me feel like I’m shouting into a void.

ANYWAYS—

There’s quite a few spooky Halloween goodies in my shop that’s I’m very proud of 👻 Clothing, Posters, Greeting Cards, Stickers & a super cute yard flag that says “Trick or Treat” 🎃

Shop on Etsy or through my website emilyckohl.com

(Yes, I technically make a couple cents more if you buy it directly on my website, but when you order through Etsy, you help boost my store’s standings in Etsy’s algorithm & have the option to leave a review which boosts my store in the algorithm even more leading to more sales on the platform. Wherever you choose to shop from, you’re still greatly supporting little ol’ me & I do a little happy dance every time I get a new order) 💛

Something a Little Different Today…

But I don’t know where else to really vent about this, so here we are.

At this point, it’s been several years since I actually enjoyed using social media. As if I needed more evidence that I’m an 85-year-old woman on the inside, I recently asked Google “is there a social media platform that feels like 2012 tumblr?” Google’s best guess: Pinterest 🙃

I haven’t logged into my Facebook in years (honestly, if I took the time to un-friend everyone until I got down to 10-20 people, I might actually use it again). I deleted the chaotic train wreck formally known as Twitter after I realized I was only using it to keep up with news headlines & hadn’t interacted with anyone or posted over there in ages.

My brain doesn’t like short-form video content. I like to feel in complete control of the time I spend on my phone, and I feel like short-form videos (& infinite scrolls) take that control away from me. I open TikTok once or twice a month to upload my own videos, and that’s typically it for me. There are days where I scroll past every single Reel on Instagram; Doesn’t matter who made the Reel or what it’s about, I’m honestly okay without it. If I could disable Reels on Instagram altogether, I would do it in a heartbeat. People send me Reels and TikToks everyday & I don’t watch them. I control my time online, not them.

Why am I trying so hard to build an audience on these apps when I don’t even like to spend time on them myself?

It’s a little insane to me how much we use our phones these days (I say while currently typing this on my phone). I lived for years without one, and now I just have this little device that stays within arms’ reach every second of every day. That doesn’t feel right to me, but I don’t really understand why.

I would like to find ways to make social media feel enjoyable again, but sometimes I also want to just delete all of it & never look back.

Some of my favorite tv shows and movies that I watched in 2022 🍿

It’s interesting just to see how much time has passed since I’ve watched a particular show or film (it’s always waaaaay longer than I think it’s been).

{Spread from my 2022 🍊 Bullet Journal}

Sure, we’re in March, but I finally decided on a word/theme for this year.

I struggled to find the right word because my goals for this year are essentially just more of the same things I did last year. It’s a good problem to have; I’m so content in my day-to-day life that I really don’t want it to change very much.

Of course, there’s always room for improvement. For now, the strategy is improve in small steps where I can & otherwise enjoy the ride ✌🏼

[stickers are available in my shop]

These were my words for 2022 (couldn’t narrow it down to just one)

I did pretty well with both balance and consistency until the summer started. Any sort of routine went completely out the window after that.

I didn’t decide on a word for 2023. More-of-the-same-and-maybe-just-a-little-more didn’t have the right ring to it.

Do you pick a word for the year?

{This is a page from my 2022 Bullet Journal 🍊}

I didn’t really meet my sales goal for the year, but 2022 was still my biggest year in online sales. For someone who spends almost nothing on marketing, I’d say that’s not too bad. 🤓

Otter sticker by @krsextonart 🦦

My new favorite page in this year’s bullet journal 📚 I’m excited to fill it in

Make It Yourself:

I’ve reached the age where out of my top 100 songs of the year, not a single one was actually released in 2022 👵🏼

Page from last year’s bullet journal 🍊

I will remember 2022 as the year I learned Hall & Oates actually is as good as my mom tried to tell me. I also leaned heavy into nostalgia and guilty pleasures because they made me smile.

My 2022 Bullet Journal 🍊

I almost gave up on it halfway through the year (May-July are 4 pages total), but I’m so glad I picked it back up and finished it. Part planner, part scrapbook for what ended up being quite the year.

I plan on making a few posts for specific pages, but for now, here’s the full product. 📓

Oranges Spiral Notebook is available (along with other notebooks, stickers and journal templates) in my Etsy store and on my website ⬇️

Happy October 🍁☕️🍁

It took me two and half years longer than I originally expected it would, but my alphabet series is finally complete!

(The digital versions, at least. I’m still making the hand-painted canvases. A-K is complete. L-O are currently in-progress.)

It feels so nice to have these done. It’s also been very fun to make mock-ups now that every letter has a design.

I have a few other projects planned based on this alphabet, but for now, I’m getting ready for what’s usually my shop’s busy season: Fall, Halloween & Christmas. 🤞🏼

Just realized I never posted the “sister piece” to the Find Your Happy Place artwork.

My backyard is a blank slate at the moment, so I was trying to imagine ways I could make it feel more cozy. 🪴

Some of my favorite products currently in my Etsy shop. 🧡

There’s 260 listings at the moment, so I had a hard time narrowing it down.