January 2026 Review and February Goals

Here’s an overview of my goals for January, the progress I made, and my earnings! I’ll also share my plan for next month. Enjoy!

Goals

My goals for January were to:

1. Create and publish 10 new designs to my Spoonflower shop.
2. Write & publish my weekly newsletter documenting my shop growth and progress.

I completed both of these things! Here’s a look at the new designs I created this month:

I created these inspired by some of my best-selling work from last year, so my expectation is that over time these will be found and picked by shoppers.

Earnings Overview

I’m writing this a little ahead of the end of the month, but so far I’ve earned $12.36 in January.

While this may seem low, the start of the year is always a little slow in terms of sales. Last January I earned a whopping $6.40, so I’m actually ahead this year!

In my next newsletter for paid members, I’ll be sharing a deep dive into my earnings and what designs sold best this month, so stay tuned!

My Learnings

Slowing Down

I’m working at a much slower and intentional pace compared to last year. Before I was much more focused on quantity because I didn’t really know what types of designs would sell well.

This year I’m slowing down and focusing on working at a more natural pace. I’m using last year’s data to make more informed decisions about what I create so I don’t need to create so much.

I’m also using the extra time I have to rest more which is helping to fuel my creativity.

Trusting the Data

Not only am I using my past data to help me create new designs, I’m also relying on it to establish what normal sales volumes look like month-to-month.

Past me would have been concerned about how low my earnings were this month compared to the past three to four months, but when I look at my data, I still see growth compared to this time last year.

This is helping me stay committed to my plan and not unnecessarily freak out about the numbers.

Next Month

This upcoming month is a busy one for me. As I’m writing this, I’ll be flying to Japan for nearly 3 weeks. Then I’ll have a week in February at home before I leave for a ski trip for a week. So I only have 1 week in February to get any work done.

My plan is to:

1. Create and publish 5 new designs to my shop. These will be more simple designs like stripes and minimal geometric patterns. While these are simple, they have sold well for me in the past.
2. Write and publish my newsletter weekly. I’ll be batch writing a few when I have the time to go out when I’m away so you’ll still be getting updates from me.

That’s all for this month! The next few weeks for me are going to be busy but exciting. I’m looking forward to getting out of the house (and country) and refilling my creative tank. Thanks for reading!