January has felt like six months

But in a very productive and positive way... if we just ignore the news.

Hello my friends!

What a whirlwind January has been! I set some big goals this year for myself and Dyes Happy and I damn well am sticking to them. I set goals not resolutions, I find those toxic. Goals are my jam. If you don’t finish a goal, roll it on over to the next year. No harm, no feeling like a failure. Keep that positivity going.

I guess that is a good segue into my word of 2025. Positivity. I am not inherently a positive person. I am actually quite the opposite ever since I got sick. Last year I barely had use of my right arm and hand and swimming in that negativity made everything 10x worse. I have been working my behind off trying to be positive. I start my day with a small gratitude practice. Most days it isn’t in my gratitude journal (writing is still extremely painful) so I speak aloud to the Universe outside on the morning walk with Leo. Starting my day with a positive mindset truly has made a difference. Do you have a word for 2025? If so, I’d love to know!

Now for design news

First things first, I have a ton of new colors I am adding to my staple designs. Originally I wanted to have 6 new “signature” colors. But I went rogue and things got out of control with color research and trend reports. I won’t be continuing to post about the colors here (probably). You can see all of my color options on each of my designs that have various options. I have 38 colors now that I will be using with my designs (not all for each) based on what is trending and what actually works for the individual design. I really went crazy.

For example, this design has 14 color options.

Main January Goal: Surface Pattern Design Portfolio

I set myself with a big goal this month. It was to put together my portfolio so that I can start pitching my designs to companies for licensing contracts. I have put this off for almost a decade, but I had some friends give me the push I needed to do it. I am super excited to say that my portfolio is now up. It is a very small overview of my work, but so far I am happy with it. I would love your feedback if you want to share with me!

Other fun things

My favorite new podcast called Intoxicating History is a mix of history and alcohol facts and it is brilliant. One of my favorite beverage writers, Henry Jeffreys and food journalist Tom Parker Bowles host this insanely fun and informative podcast. For all you weirdos obsessed with royalty, Tom is Queen Camilla’s son.

Just got this cookbook for Scott’s birthday, we love Bobby Flay, he uses actual hot spices (thank goodness). It is absolutely incredible, I highly recommend it if you love to cook.

I stumbled on a hysterical series by Amanda M. Lee. If you have Kindle unlimited they are all free. You have to be into witchy paranormal genre. The banter between the characters rivals Gilmore Girls. I laugh out loud during every book and I read at night in bed- poor Scott. This series is set near where we used to live in northern lower Michigan so that makes me love it even more.

I hope you are off to a great start of 2025. If you ever are in need of hand dyed clothing or fabrics- make sure to reach out. This spring I will be setting up my dye studio until fall. I don’t advertise this side of my business much anymore, but it is still a big part of Dyes Happy. Have a great end of the month!

If you like my newsletters and designs but just have no use for them in your home but want to support my small business financially, please consider “buying me a coffee” of becoming a paid subscriber to Dyes Happy on Substack.