For me, the last days of the year always mean reminiscing and are typically spent evaluating the entire year. The exception to this was last year, because it was 1 year since my daughter was born, so the annual summary was first pushed to January, and then canceled due to lack of interest. This year, however, I am faithfully keeping my tradition and this time I am not only looking back on my personal life, but also on the events related to crocheting in 2023, i.e. my small business. In this year's last and rather personal blog post, I will share with you my year-end habit and self-care routine, I will summarize what happened to me and bunnymoonHU in 2023: what patterns have emerged, what larger-scale events have happened to me and I also look a little into the future, what awaits you if you join me on my crochet adventure.
Photo: Own (Rebeka Novák-Szabó ev)
Self-care tips to start the New Year
Photo: Own (Rebeka Novák-Szabó ev)
Well, now the end of the year has come and I will share with you in this post what I will definitely do on the last day of the year in the name of self-care. With my husband For years, we have been making a short list on New Year's Eve of what concrete goals and wishes we have for the coming year, which we would like to see fulfilled. It doesn't require any special preparation, since it just you need an A4 paper and a pen to make it happen. Every year it is exciting to unfold what we planned the previous year, and what was realized and what was not, and what was the reason for that. Of course, this should not be understood as the obligation to do everything we wrote down, since these goals only give direction to our lives, what is written there is not set in stone, but they can still serve as a crutch for us throughout the year, especially if we tend to aimlessly swim with the tide. Of course, before writing the little list, it doesn't hurt if, between the two holidays, you think about what will be on that paper this year over a cup of coffee, or have an intimate conversation with your partner or close relative over a glass of wine about what happened to us this year and/or what future plans we are making. All of these help to end the year and, although it's quite a cliché, we start the new year with a different momentum. Although for many this day is no different from the others - especially with family - I still think so every year it is worth preparing a full year's accounting in this case in some form.
Everyone can complete the annual summary according to their time and habits. If you feel like a short list, or a few minutes of meditation, why not you want to be more serious about the end of the year, and this time to build a slightly deeper recollection of the previous year, as well as a more conscious next year, from the heart I can recommend the Year Compass, a small booklet that can be downloaded for free (by the way, you can also buy this ready-made on the site). He gave me a lot of help when I still had time to process the previous year and plan the new one over a delicious tea, even over several days. If you are not a fan of such a targeted year-end, or if you do not feel strong within yourself, on the other hand during the year (also) you want to pay more attention to keeping your work-private life-self-care triangle in balance, then also with a warm heart I recommend that you purchase a creative deadline diary, which can help you plan your self-care more consciously throughout the year and not get lost in the gray weekdays. I the Creative self-awareness diary I used it before and I really liked its structure and content, so I dare to recommend the book if you want to do more with yourself next year.
I trust that this little insight into my year-end self-care routine was useful for you as well, and if you use them, they will help you in the future, as they have helped me. I believe that a healthy body, a healthy mind, and vice versa: a healthy mind, a healthy body. Self-care is essential in today's world. Caring for your loved ones always starts with yourself, don't forget this in the future either!
And then let's move on to my work this year in the next half of the article!
What happened at bunnymoonHU in 2023?
Even though in 2023 my focus was not on crocheting, but on my personal life, there were still big advances in my small business. One of my long cherished wishes came true and my website was completed thanks to my husband! I thought a lot about the content, what topics to share with you and the visitors who are mistaken for this, in the end, the whole year's plan came together quite quickly and there are already plenty of topics for next year that I want to write about for you. Thank you very much for the feedback, many of you have written that you like the topics and my writing style, which means a lot to me, great joy and gives me further impetus for next year!
This year, what you could read from me on my website among the blog posts
- crochet related content and tips (how to crochet for him, about copyright - what is allowed and what is not, what to pay attention to when crocheting for a baby, etc.)
- crochet pattern recommendations from other designers
- Spinning series in the context of my experiences with certain yarns (formerly a series of articles on my Instagram page called yarn reviews)
- my free samples were also added and expanded during the year
- the latest crochet pattern from my category has also been added to the page, i.e. one VIP sample (only the description of these samples - without pictures and videos - free of charge only a for subscribers and the Facebook groupavailable to members)
- my paid samples were partially presented and the new releases were also added
- for the face of the amigurumi videos about embroidery I shared it with you
- my sister, Viktóra Szabó psychologically-themed articles related to parenting and self-care you could also read, who, by the way, already PsychoPogi you can also find more content on this topic on Facebook
- the one in 2023 Advent Crochet you can also find his articles on the site
Planned in 2023 and published my samples:
Peti Kócos, the crocheted sparrow crochet pattern
Butterfly Nap Scarf Crochet Pattern
Jojo the Caring Monster Crochet Pattern
Jack the Colonel Crochet Pattern
Loop the piggy bank crochet pattern
In 2023 I participated in these crochet events:
Monster CAL (crochet along)
Advent Crochet 2023.
What else was there?
Apart from these, a lot many posts have been made for my social media pages, unique entry a in my private Facebook group, which was also newly created this year. They were in the group crochet pattern testing opportunities, various prize games, where you either had to crochet a certain pattern of mine, or you could name it with any of my patterns, and there were times when you had to look for treasure. I think the members enjoyed the last one the most, so it will definitely be the same in the future! This year I also made a couple of educational videos for my YouTube channel: about embroidering the faces of the figures, crocheting techniques, or introducing the more difficult parts of my patterns. Total this year I have made 13 such videos, which you can either find publicly at on my YouTube channel, or you could get it from my samples (also on YouTube as a non-public video).
From September this year I send you a newsletter every two weeks, in which you will receive coupons entitling you to unique discounts, you can find out about the latest content, the possibility of testing crochet patterns, prize games and crochet events in which I participate. Many of you have subscribed, which is a special pleasure for me, as it proves to me that it makes sense to prepare not only the newsletter, but also the content for the website.
What can be expected in 2024 at bunnymoonHU?
I outline my plans for next year only in general terms, because I am planning many things as a surprise and I would not take the excitement of this away from you right now. Which is sure to continue there will be blog posts on various topics, I will try to have a slightly more collected social media presence and for multiple video logins (you will probably see this in my group), with the possibility of sample testing and prize gamesI am also preparing for you. The latter will have a new type, intended for a slightly longer term, but I hope you will like what I came up with. What I definitely want next year is to organize my own surprise CAL, the details of which I will come with when everything is ready! In addition, what I will definitely participate in is a self-organized Temperature Blanket challenge 2024, and I trust that next time I will be richer with an almost finished blanket!
As I have written before on social media the prices of my samples will increase at the beginning of the year, which means that I have revised the discount system as well. In the newsletter and in my Facebook group, members receive a fixedly available coupon, in addition, here and there, I occasionally give bigger discounts and flash sales so that those who actively follow my creative life can get more favorable access to my samples, and there are also a few VIP samples planned, the description of which is only it will be available to them for free.
comingI plan on it, that I will polish the English version of the website a little and I will make sure that it is also here in the webshop you can buy a sample from me within the EU. The English page is already live, however, the automatic translation writes nonsense in some places, so these parts need some correction! My Etsy shop is still available from outside the EU, but I will look around for other sales platforms and it is possible that you will be able to buy my patterns on Ravelry and Ribblr as early as next year!
This year, the focus was on creation in connection with my small business, so you could see several posts in which I presented patterns designed by others. Next year though the language of the scale design and creative work I want to decide in that direction, so maybe I will crochet less from others, on the other hand I hope I can surprise you with more samples. This does not mean, of course, that I will not make other people's crochets and share them with you. Of course, I will present all such things not only here on my website, but also on my social media pages!
You thought it was final
This year was not easy for me, and it was no different for my small business. There were things and thoughts that I let go at the end of the year, or that I had to think about whether it was really worth it or whether it was worth investing energy in, and in the end, the answer was unfortunately no. I trust that the future will bring my positive outlook back to where it is now, but if not, then it was meant to be. However, what is certain is that the I continue my creative life, many of my drawings are already waiting to take shape and reveal themselves to you. This way too thank you all for sticking with me this year, you were happy together, you crocheted with me, from my patterns and that I got to know many of you better! After all for me, you are primarily not customers, but a community of which I am a part, with whom I feel comfortable and they make me happy and also motivation for further creation. You are the ones in this area of my life with whom I can share my joys, my sorrows, my discoveries and my doubts. Thank you for being me and I wish you all a very Happy New Year!
Hurka, the lucky pig be with you! 😉🍀
