Monthly Donations, Parrot Pillow and Being Honest About Money

Working on my Parrot Pillow

I was working on my latest pillow, this one with silk embroidered parrots,  when the idea came to me.

When I first decided to take donations on my blog a few people asked me if I would have a way for them to make monthly payments.  At the time I was just getting used to the idea of asking to be paid for the work I do on my blog and was a bit overwhelmed by the idea of monthly donations.

So I put it off, thinking someday…..

Now it seems like someday has come.  In the past week I had three people ask me if there was a way to make monthly donations to my blog.  This time I emailed Chris at Mannix Marketing, my web designer,  to see if it was possible.

It took him a day longer than usual to get back to me, but when he did, he said they could set up monthly payments through PayPal.

He gave me a price  and I only hesitated for a moment, wondering if it would be worth it, then reminded myself to think big, not small and sent back an email giving him the go ahead.

The idea that came to me as I was working on my Parrot Pillow, was that if I could make and sell four more pillows, that would pay for the new monthly payment option on my blog.

I was planning on making more of the pillows anyway, but somehow, thinking of the next four in this way lifted my spirits.  Maybe because it created a specific goal.  Not that I don’t have a specific goal every month to pay my bills, but this was up and above the usual.

Lately Jon’s been talking about managing money creatively.  How it makes him feel more confident about money when he thinks of it that way.

I’m not sure if my plan really makes a difference or not, since I’d be making and hopefully selling the pillows anyway.  But it does make me feel like I have a solution, a way of paying  that extra this month.

I never wrote much about the financial side of being an artist before.  But I’m finding its freeing to be able to.  Freeing to be honest about it.

And since I’m being honest, I’ve actually been hiding it by not writing about it.  Hiding it because it made me too anxious to admit.  As if it meant my business wasn’t successful and I was a failure.  But, of course, hiding anything only make it worse.  Makes me believe  as if I have a real reason to hide it.

As much as I don’t want money to be the focus of my life, art or business, it is a reality and a constant balancing act.  One that, if I open myself up to, can be as creative as any other part of my life.

 

 

 

 

10 thoughts on “Monthly Donations, Parrot Pillow and Being Honest About Money

  1. I’ll be looking for the announcement! It feels lopsided giving monthly support to Jon but not you. I enjoy both blogs and the podcast too!

  2. Well said, Maria, and very much appreciated. I applaud your courage and your integrity. It not only serves your own growth but lights the way for others as well. I have so much respect for that.

  3. As soon as I saw this post, it came to my mind about the things that I routinely “subscribe” to on a monthly basis and never give them a thought: kindle unlimited 9.99 a month; newspaper online, 3.99 a month, etc.

    And yet your blog gives me more pleasure and joy (yes, joy!) than any of those other subscriptions. The process of fiber art, which I had not really ever thought about (even though, growing up, all the women I knew quilted, crocheted, and sewed.) And your Monday morning ritual. And loving your animals. And interacting with your plants. You bring back memories, and you give new experiences, every day. Your blog is like reading my favorite book again and again, finding new things each time.

    One of my favorite lines is “It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied. Kalil Gibran.” Your gifts to us all come from the earth and our satisfaction will be in giving you what monetary rewards that we can! So thanks for the opportunity to recognize what you do for your readers.

    Sincerely, Barbara

    1. How beautiful Barbara, you’ve got me crying. The Gibran quote touches me deeply. Reading it I got the image of a circle, the “gifts” being passed around and around, and everyone benefiting from the in their own time. Your words have given me joy this morning. Thank you for that.

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