Henlo {{first_name | frendo}}!

I’ve decided to switch newsletter platforms for a few reasons, so this email looks a little different than you’re used to! But nooo worries, it’s still me ( ദ്ദി ˙ᗜ˙ )

As I’m still ironing out how everything works, please don’t hesitate to let me know if something looks off and I’ll try my best to fix it moving forward!

One of the more interesting reasons I switched platforms is so I could separate out Sent with Dandelions into a separate newsletter, which you can subscribe to above! At this rate, I write literally just a small handful a year, so I promise, as always, no spammy emails or too many emails or whatnot, I literally barely have the energy to exist online at all so you can trust that I would not send anything unnecessary!

I’ve actually been thinking about whether it should be a separate entity since before I ever started posting any dandelion chapters. At first it seemed fine to keep it and talk about it here, since it is still my art after all, but as time went on, it just felt weirder and weirder to be mixing it with various more “regular” announcements. The vibe unfortunately… did not vibe. Internally, anyway. (ᵕ — ᴗ —)

It’s a double opt-in (one of the less fun reasons I switched platforms, bots have been swarming my mailing list (╥﹏╥) ), so be sure to check your email (and spam folders) for the confirmation email! You’ll know you’re properly subscribed when you get a welcome email.

I’ll announce new chapters in that separate newsletter now! It’s a totally 100% new mailing list, so please do join me over there if you’re interested in Sent with Dandelions, as it’s rather empty and lonely at the moment! I plan on releasing a new chapter this upcoming Tuesday. 💌

Another round of storybox commissions! You can find all the commission info here, and put yourself on the interest list here. As always, let me know ahead of time if you have any questions!

It’s been a slooow year, to say the least. I actually haven’t done any events at all since the 2025 holiday season :’’’’) Buuut that’s okay! I still have a couple of my usual events lined up for the second half of the year:

Both are free to attend, with free parking, and a bajillion other incredible creators! ❤

^{^ that is a cat, if it is not clear LOL}

ALAS. I know I’ve been gone again for quite a while. I feel like I’m just constantly in a cycle of [waking up and trying to do things!!!] and then [L I F E] happens which leads to me [hibernating yet again] and then [back to waking up and trying to do things!!!], with very little to no [actually doing things] in that cycle. (_ _'")

I feel rather ashamed about it by default, but since I’ve been practicing thinking about all my lil’ parts as, well, lil’ kids, I keep thinking about how I definitely wouldn’t want to shame a little kid for trying and (perceived) failing for so long. And I definitely wouldn’t want the shame to prevent that kid from getting up to try again.

So here I am, getting up and trying again… for the billionth time… even though the thoughts of feeling like a failed artist have been quite strong lately :’) In reality, I’ve still been working slowly in the background, on commissions and sent with dandelions and various fun personal life things! It’s just that I keep failing to make new products or “regular art” or follow through with my plans from the beginning of the year… although… I’m not really sure why I’m so good at discounting the work I do do and feeling like nothing I do is ever enough LOL ;w;

Well, no, I know exactly why, but I still do it, which is the frustrating part.

That’s okay! It’s a process! I’m healing, and even if there’s parts I’m still frustrated about, I know I’m a lot further than I was say, a few years ago. And frankly, there was a lot of personal life things going on too, so, it’s okay that work stuff fell behind for a while. :’)

I’m going to get back up and try to encourage myself that I still matter and that my work still matters and that it’s okay to hibernate when I need to, even if I fall into hibernation more often that I thought I would!

ANYWAY. Here’s a photo of Kaiya as a reward for reaching the bottom of this email.

Thank you for being here, thank you for your attention, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Best,
Jessica