Hey friends. I wanted to check in with you and see how you’re holding up. I know we most likely don’t know each other personally, but if you’ve spent any amount of time on Lars, you know that we value you as a reader and participant in this community. You are important to us.
When people ask me how I’m doing right now I sarcastically respond, “just living my best life!” because humor somehow makes it better, no? The truth is, I’m definitely in “surviving not thriving” mode. That said, there are definite pros and cons to staying at home while the world runs amuck.
First, the pros. Being with my little 2 year old boo, Jasper hands down. Both Paul and I work full time so in the past he’s had some great babysitters during the day. I can tell that he’s gotten so used to us being with him full time that he cries when one of us leaves the house, which he didn’t really used to do. And if you follow me on my personal Instagram account, you’d know that his sleeping patterns have been going through a switcharoo (we figured it out!
And life has been SO much better since–it’s called a crib tent and it’s changed our lives!). Anywhoo, I know we’ll look back on this and realize what a treasure it’s been to be with him, especially at this adorably active stage. Actually, I’m trying not to have a look back moment and enjoy but live it all now.
That said…Paul and I both work full time and with no childcare it’s been SO TRICKY. (See photo above from a live Instagram I did with founder of Eighteen B. I tried to keep Jasper occupied with treats but then he found a box of chocolate cookies and I just had to go with it.) On Paul’s end, he started a new job a couple weeks into stay at home so he’s been working more and more. On my end, I’m trying to keep Lars alive….
Which brings me to my next point:
I’ve had a lot of people ask what they can do to support Lars. It’s a very thoughtful and supportive question to ask so thank you so much. Like many other small businesses, we’ve certainly been affected by the economic change. Many of our clients have either canceled or postponed our scheduled projects and the influx of new business has dwindled. As you might have noticed, sponsored campaigns is something we’ve been doing for the past many years–it’s how we’ve grown our business and team. We value our clients.
The Lars Shop
THANKFULLY, we started a shop almost two years ago now. Up until the last six months it was a small focus of ours, but we’ve been putting more and more energy into it adding in templates, patterns, printable pages, art prints in our Print Shop, and items from our collaborations. Once the pandemic hit, we realized the need to provide people with items that they could do from home and you guys picked it up pretty quickly. We offered all of our printables and templates at 40% off for the first month, as well as a daily coloring page every day for 30 days.
Then we put out the Picture Hope: The Social Distancing Coloring Book, a printable coloring book for now, knowing that we needed to spread HOPE and contribute to the cause by donating all the profits to charity. And a few of our print shop artists have been donating their profits to charity. It’s nice to feel like we can contribute. We’re also in the process of developing some new resources for you and your children, which will be available soon!
While the shop has done remarkably well considering the circumstances (exceeding our expectations!), it was such a small portion of our revenue that we still have a ways to go before it fills the gap of where we were before all this.
Ways to Support
I feel funny answering the question, “how can we support you right now” because there are so many things and people vying for our deserved attention right now. Health, lives, serious stuff. How many of us feel like we want to help everyone out but are limited by finances and time?! But, I’ll do my best to answer it.
As a reader, supporting our shop in any way you can is the best way to show us your support. There are products at every price point (from $1.50!) and for many purposes. Our mission is to encourage people to make things with their hands because when you do you get in touch with your soul and your quality of life improves. Everything in our shop is intended to fulfill this purpose. You could call it the perfect “stay at home” resources long before we were required to do so. Our print shop is also a wonderful place to spruce up your Work From Home spaces.
Number two, supporting our book, Craft the Rainbow and/or journals, My Life In Color (and notebook, and journal) wherever books are sold. 
For those limited by budget right now, we get it. Buying is not a real thing for so many people right now. In that case, if you have bought our book(s) in the past, consider leaving us a review or sharing it with someone who you think might be interested.
Some other, non monetary ways to support right now is to follow us and engage more on social media channels like Instagram (we’re almost to 200k!) Pinterest, and Facebook. Engaging means liking our posts or leaving comments. The more you engage, the more visibility we receive from other people as a whole.
If you’ve found any value in our site, shop or tutorials in the past, please share it with those who you think might be interested. I’m certain that people will benefit from the resources that we share–it’s just knowing about them!
And lastly, if you are a business and have considered working with us, now’s a time to get in touch and figure out a way to work together and partner up.
Ok, NOW, the question is…how can we support YOU! What do you need? What types of resources would you like to see from us? Products, classes, tutorials, tips? Come on, what are they?! We want to serve you in the best way we know how so feel free to speak up!