“Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I'm very excited for my 6th Annual Flash sale coming next week! It will be Tuesday, June 6th in my Etsy shop www.jessicaillustration.etsy.com and it's 24 hours of 50% off artwork. A coupon code is posted right before the sale commences at Midnight EST time zone in my shop banner and on my social accounts @jessillustrator at Twitter & Instagram. This will be 1st time I am offering more than just 8.5 x 11" prints. This year I am included special new original works in different price points-sketch styles and more premium larger works. I also will be offering digital downloads in various sizes for those who want to save on shipping. I have been working hard on creating beautiful things and also finding older works that I have long forgotten to have posted that will be included.
A 13 x 20" original up for grabs for the sale! This is one my favorites.
This sale has become such a fun time of year for me and all those who enjoy what I make. It feels like a celebration of what I do for a living. Mainly because Etsy and my everyday customer are what allowed me to get where I am today. I started my shop in 2009 thinking I'd post a few sketches...and didn't take it too seriously because I thought there was a chance I would sell nothing. Putting my art out there made it easier for me in time to take it all more seriously and want to do the best I could do. So I concentrated on finding the right inspiration and staying true to myself and what I was feeling. It took a couple of years of working hard before I started to see sales daily, and starting in 2011-2012 a steady year of selling daily numerous works and taking on freelance work changed my life entirely. It was a time in my life I will never forget, and I am so grateful that you all have connected to what I make.
This sale is very special because as some of you may know I experienced a life threatening blood clot in my lungs late last year. (See previous blog posts for the recap). It was a very difficult experience and I was able to find so many who helped me through it all. I was able to be cleared by a blood specialist a few weeks ago and find that my blood is back to normal levels and that I do not have any underlying issues. Basically we discovered that because I had a virus when I was leaving Scotland (a stomach one) and boarded the plane my sickness allowed my blood to clot easier and created a perfect storm of events that lead me to the hospital. I feel so much relief seeing the specialist as she helped answer a lot of the mysteries surrounding that scary time.
When I received my final bills for my hospital stay, it was hard to see what my insurance lacked to cover. But the first thing that popped into my head was I could raise enough if I asked for the help and did a special sale. I thought immediately of my favorite Harry Potter quote. "Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it" As much as I didn't want to open up about this, I knew that I needed to be open about this sale and ask for your help. I am using the funds from the flash sale to pay off my hospital bills. So I will continue to make the best art I can for you, as a thank you for your support and I hope you'll find something special. And I know that once I pay that hospital bill off...I can move forward in a new way feeling less stress and pressure. I have some pretty amazing fans who know what I have been through. I am thankful everyday for all the positive, encouraging energy you bring into my life and I hope to reflect that back to you with my words and my work.
