Reflections on 2025

I’ve just read back through my 2024 Reflections blog and the vibe of 2025 feels much the same. Once again, I find myself unsure how to write a round-up of a year that has been quite unkind to many independent businesses.

This year has been a mixed bag for Hannah Kate Makes but I’ll do my best to pick out the good bits alongside the less so.

January and February saw me complete two commissions (pictured), both in ink and focusing on fine lines and details.  A theme that followed me into my fan art piece to celebrate what would have been Brandon Lee’s sixtieth birthday.

At the end of February I shut up the business ready for The Big Move north-ish.

We had a nerve shredding experience with a rental property that fell through at the last minute yet still managed to find somewhere to go within our originally planned timescale. On 1^st March we carted our worldly possessions up the A1 to our new home in Lincoln.

We noticed the damp on our second evening there, which rendered the largest downstairs room unusable until remedial works took place. After months of heel dragging by our landlords, these works eventually took place in October, with great disruption to our personal lives and damage to the running of Hannah Kate Makes. Most of the ground floor was stripped back to bare brick for chemical treatment before being replastered, painted, radiators replumbed, and sockets and light switches refitted.

The good news is that the largest room and the kitchen became usable in November, with no more crumbling plaster adding to the (quite seasonal) haunted house vibe.

The bad news is that on day one of the works beginning, suspected asbestos was found in another downstairs room. Tests, analysis, removal and reassessment for damp took 10 weeks – those heavy-footed landlords again – and so we had to cancel hosting family Christmas at short notice.

Currently that room is still totally gutted to bare brick and acting as a heat sink below our bedroom. Many of our possessions are still boxed up from last February and stacked in a tiny studio space, the garage and the spare bedroom.

We have a date for the next phase of remedial work to begin of 30^th January 2026. I’m considering taking bets on whether we’ll be able to unpack fully before we hit our one-year anniversary of moving in…

Needless to say, all of that has had a knock-on effect on my business and I’ve been unable to work at full capacity for most of this year.

However! I do love where we’ve moved to and am happy that we relocated when we did. Lincoln is a vibrant city and still feels full of life. It also embraces independent businesses and (shock horror) people really are much friendlier up north!  

In-person events this year have been a rollercoaster, some dire for us and others record-breaking. I’m glad to report that our final event of 2025 – The NightFair Before Christmas – was our best ever and gave me hope again that my business can still work. I’m planning a different approach to in-person events for 2026, so be sure to check out the events page to keep up to date with when and where we’ll be out on tour.

Drawing challenges this year helped keep my creative juices flowing. Draw As You May was a great way to quick start my practice each day and I had great fun playing with fast sketches and different materials.

As always, Mab’s Drawlloween coaxed more regular creations from me in October and saw the birth of a few of my most recent favourites! My Metal Gnome has become a bestselling print at markets.

Tiny Art Frames have also become a firm Hannah Kate Makes favourite and I have more plans to develop them in the coming months. It’s fun to see which small creature will catch a person’s eye or hear feedback online about what animal is speaking to someone.

As always, the end of the year saw online sales pick up for the holidays, allowing me a sigh of relief after a slow year for my ecommerce.

This reflections on 2025 blog rounds out a baker’s dozen of articles for the year. Perhaps in 2026 I’ll get back into my writing groove again and manage a few more for you, to a more regular schedule.

Have a wonderful January and a happy new year!