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Reflections on 2024

Writer's picture: Hannah KateHannah Kate

Much like the festive gift guide, my annual writing reflecting on the year-just-gone took a break during 2023-4.


Fear not!


This return is not going to feature a flashy highlight reel showcasing the picture-perfect life of a super-human small business owner. Because… well because this is me and this is real life.


In truth, I’ve been a little reluctant to write this particular blog article. Not because I have any back-to-school, please let the holidays continue vibes, but because 2024 was pretty awful for me, personally.


Now, while I do try to allow my personality to shine through in my writing for you here, I also attempt to pair that with professionalism and providing you with information that is (at least vaguely) relevant to the art world and Hannah Kate Makes as a business. I’m aware that I don’t always succeed!


In my mind, the events affecting my personal life have coloured the entire of last year with a sense of sadness and a feeling of taking one hit after another; all while navigating a cost-of-living crisis which saw many in the UK struggling to put food on their tables. Not the most conducive set of circumstances for selling art to people.


To provide further context for those of you who do not know me personally, my family suffered a bereavement in 2024 that shook me more than I could ever have imagined. Grief is a funny old thing, and it continues to completely kneecap me at the most inconvenient times, rendering me incapable of speech, sensible thought and removing any notion that I might have a care on how to make enough money to keep a roof over my head. I have, in fact, just completely ruined my make-up while trying to convey the most superficial of those feelings through this paragraph.


Luckily, I keep a “celebrations” section in each month of my planner, and I can look back at these to pick out some good things that happened last year. Still, as promised, this is not one of those highlight reels.

A large eagle aggressively seizes a human figure with its talons. The sketch is in blue and purple lines with no background details visible.
Concept sketch for the Creepy Cute Challenge prompt: Aquarius.

January began on a positive note. The second Creepy Cute Challenge, hosted by me and the wonderful Becki Lamby Art, took place. I still have a couple of concept sketches from that event that I would like to work on further and create fully realised paintings.


I was approached by an American diamond art painting company, and I licensed some of my artwork for the first time. I had never tried diamond art painting before, so it was a new world to me, much like the licensed art world.


Colorful diamond painting of a horse skull with blue eyes, pink flowers, and blue mane. Tools and materials are scattered on a brown surface.
Mari Lwyd as a diamond art painting kit - before I began!

The company sent me a sample of the Mari Lwyd canvas for me to try out and, while it was great quality and the finished piece looks well rendered and beautifully sparkly, I can safely say that it’s not a hobby for me. I’d rather spend those (many) hours creating my own original art.


Early in the year I released three new T-shirt designs: Adorable Nightmare, Dragon Moon and Mermaid’s Warning. I also sent my original Forget-Me-Not painting to her forever home, up in Scotland, as a memorial piece.



My very first range of Tiny Art Frames were released in March and half of them sold within 24 hours of their launch! Since then, the range has evolved and expanded, with every part of the tiny frames now being made in-house, as well as my original art being added to them.


Miniature fox art held in hand. Snow-like texture on top, surrounded by autumn leaves and greenery.
Tiny Art Frame: Fox in the Snow.

I retained my Etsy Star Seller badge until June, but then (after holding it for almost two years) slow sales meant that I lost that accolade. I regained the badge in November, as orders began to pick up steam for the festive season.


March saw the inaugural WhimsyGoth Market take place in Camden. It was a fantastic event, we had a lot of fun and met some lovely new people, as well as catching up with old friends. We returned in June and September, and it’s fast become one of our favourite markets to trade at. We’ll be back again in March 2025; you can check out the events page here for details.


In May I took a step back, after realising that I was dealing with burn-out as well as grief, still working but at a much slower pace than over the previous five years. I kept this sedate pace up until the end of June and then took a real break through July and August.


During this time I made the difficult decision to close The Library, my Patreon page. You can read more about that in this article.


Just as I was gearing up to return to full time work in September, my back gave out and I was benched for a few weeks. The best-laid plans…


Once I’d recovered, we discovered that our home of seven years was being sold, with our landlord hoping to complete the process before the end of the year. Cue a world of worry about being Section 21’d and having to pack up, find a new place and move during my busiest time of year. Thankfully, none of the worst possible scenarios played out, but they definitely added a few more grey hairs to my head!


Close-up of a hand with purple nails drawing a detailed face sketch using a pen. The focus is on the intense eyes and shading.
Work in progress image of my drawing for the Mab's Drawlloween prompt: Frankenstein.

It wasn’t until October that I felt that spark of inspiration with my creations again. This arrived with Mab’s Drawlloween and saw me on the road to drawing more regularly again. You can read about the beginning of the challenge here. Unsurprisingly I did not complete the prompt list, but I intend to return to it in the coming weeks and dip in and out when I need nudging towards my sketchbook.


The end of the year saw sales pick up for the holidays, a final flurry of markets and then a gentle retreat from the fray to focus on family over the break. I noted that throughout 2024, I traded at 13 in-person events. The previous year I attended that many in October to December alone! I’ll share the thought process behind that decision in a future blog entry.


Woman with red hair holds a paintbrush, smiling. She wears a blue and white striped shirt. Art supplies visible in dark background.

Now, on to 2025!


So far, I have new hair (a return to my favourite colour and I already feel better for it), there’s soon to be a new home (in a new city) and I’m already working on new plans for the year ahead. But more about those next time.


Have a wonderful January and a happy new year!


HK x

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