News from the studio (Patreon)

Hi my lovely Patrons, I first want to welcome all our new members who chose to continue with their membership following the 7 day free trial. I'm so glad to welcome you into the fold and look forward to seeing your paintings and works in progress in Discord and your faces on our livestream sessions.

Ant and I are back from an amazing two weeks in Yellowstone, You will see just a few photos from a very full trip! You might even recognise some of the spots! The holiday has left me feeling like I need another one to recover but that might just be the jet lag!

Before we went away my Instagram account was suspended. This is a big fear for all digital content creators/small business owners who rely on social media. I had hoped the very strange suspension would have been rectified by now but I am still in the dark. I managed to have an actual conversation with (what I think was) a real person through Meta yesterday but it doesn't show any signs of progress yet. Instagram Close Friends stories was a key tool for my Daisy Tier, getting early access to see what I was painting on Youtube each week. However I also know that some members don't love social media (I'm starting to agree with you!) and it got me thinking about how I could get round the current insta issue as well as streamlining the process. I'm very happy to announce that from next week I'm introducing a weekly feature for the Daisy Tier and above called From my Camera Roll which will be a Patreon post with a gallery of images/videos with notes on everything I've painted/been inspired by that week including what's going up on Youtube. If and when I get Instagram back I will continue with the Patreon feature and do away with the close friends feature as I feel you will get a better experience of it on here. I will of course let you know if I get any Instagram progress.

My Reverse Colouring Book 'Draw Your Way' comes out in the UK this week and I am heading to Cheltenham Literary Festival on Sunday 6th October for a free drop in event at The Snug from 10-12 and to Cass Art Bristol on Tuesday 10th October for a ticketed (£5 against the cost of buying the book). It would be so lovely to see some friendly faces at either of these events. Especially with Instagram down I'm a bit scared no-one will turn up!

In the coming week I will be adding a new product to my shop; a set of fine line pens that will be a great compliment to the book. They will go in the shop on launch day 10th October. For all of you who have pre ordered the book THANK YOU. It makes such a difference to the confidence of book sellers to stock the book. I know it can be a little frustrating when I then stock the signed copies in my own stores once publication day comes around but if you need a second or third copy you know where to go!

The advent calendar is approaching and I have loved looking through your suggestions. I can't believe all the new suggestions four years in! While I give my patrons a lot of early access you will all be enjoying the surprise of each new advent illustration with the rest of the world. If you don't have your copy you can buy one here but Patrons get a free digital download version (attached to this post).

I'm really looking forward to painting and filming YouTube and Patreon tutorials on Monday, full of inspiration from your suggestions.

I will be seeing some of you in person next week in FRANCE! For those of you joining me at Uptrek, I am so looking forward to it. We're going to have a great time!

Lots of love from Harriet, Ant and Crumble xxx