Now that 2025 has come to an end...

[bonny]

How were your events and sales this past year?

[bonny]

I added some events, deleted others. Overall, the numbers show I'm up about 30% from last year. How it feels: I slid through the doorway at the end of the year backwards and upside down at Mach 10. I'm taking a breather in January (slow month) to figure out how to stabilize things for next year and organize my product storage to make an easier system to manage.

Bonny Wagoner - Artist/Illustrator

[CactusCats]

Very slow year for us, with our largest show of the year being skipped due to illness in September. Some new shows were tried, and it's been quiet across the board in our region. Resetting as we gear up and get planning for the year. 

[rtfulk]

2025 was a good year for us. We picked up the NCSF, and it was very good. We are gearing up for 2026, and with fuel prices dropping, we are seeing our importing shipping prices drop, which is always a good thing. Here’s hoping everyone has a great 2026.  

[bonny]

I've noticed import prices easing up a bit as well. It's a good thing.  Every little bit helps.

Bonny Wagoner - Artist/Illustrator

[scaryann]

We had a miserable year. We lost my sister-in-law in February, our store trailer lost it's tongue pulling into a parking lot in March, my uncle passed away in April, my sister's roof blew off the following week, a cousin passed in early May and my other half stepped on a staple at the end of May. His foot became infected and by the time we talked him into going to the ER they said he was within 24 hours of losing his foot to gangrene. His kidneys failed while he was in the hospital. They got them going again, but not as well as they wanted so he had a five month wait to see the kidney specialist. A couple of weeks after he got out of the hospital for his foot, he went back in for congestive heart failure. We were almost back to our "normal" when our only means of transportation decided to crack a piston. It's in the garage getting it's engine rebuilt. 

This year is going to be better, I refuse to believe anything else.

ScaryAnn

[bonny]

Yeah, you've been through the wringer last year.  Here's to hoping for a kinder year in 2026. 

Hugs, 
Bonny Wagoner - Artist/Illustrator

[JacintaOgden]

2025 was good for 3D Scanning commissions for me.

I understand that there were several barriers why I didn't do so great last year so, I hope 2026 is a better year for everything and I can focus on myself and my goals in life rather than being told what to do. (For example I was conned into joining the army reserves which I think is a very unsuitable way into work for a creative like me)

I only had 4 sales last year and all of them were commissions so I hope this year people like the products that I already have available that I have 3D designed and printed. 

I am very grateful for the orders that I did have. 

If you wish to check out my shop it's available at: www.seasonalsapphire.com 

[bonny]

A million years ago, I enlisted in the military as a way to pay for college and to get on the job experience as an illustrator.  Even the military has a graphics department.  The work was unique and more often than not, the scope was more than I would ever had the chance to work in a regular shop.  So even if superficially the experience doesn't seem to be beneficial to you now, you might find a use for the experiences you are getting in the army.  And at the end of your service commitment, you can walk away.  I ended up staying for 22 years.  If someone told me that in the beginning, I would have said they were stark raving mad. 

Best wishes for a prosperous New Year filled with exciting projects. 

Bonny Wagoner - Artist/Illustrator

[JacintaOgden]

I have a degree and Masters in Graphic Design. Can't for the life of me get a job so they suggested I sign up to the army and get shot instead. I'm failing to see how this is going to help me get a job in the outside world. I also can't run fast enough to get to the assessment centre and even if I made it that far they'd probably send me home with a previous spinal injury and several other things wrong.

[bonny]

I have a degree in Art and Illustration.  I worked for Intel designing their user manuals.  Not something I was aiming to do, but they pay ridiculously well. Even if the work was soul-sucking, it helped set me up for future opportunities, so in the end, it worked out.  Is there a way to leverage this experience into something else?