It seems like the madness is finally settling down! I hope everyone had a good holiday.

As you guys know, my hiatus from commissions technically isn't supposed to start until the 15th, but I'm getting REALLY amped up about finally being able to work on stuff and things for FWA this year. So soon! I really need to get started in serious mode, so I'm going to go ahead and say my hiatus starts now instead!

"So Lily, what ARE you workin' on exactly that's gonna take up so much of your time?"
I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED! 8D

I'm doing a number of things that have been funded by my Patreon! It's thanks to my wonderful supporters there (and here too) that I'm now making one of a kind, custom acrylic charms. I'm also going to be making buttons within the next week or so, and my next set of purchases will include sticker paper!

I have a number of limited edition prints featuring the characters of my raffle winners that I'm creating, and others I plan on making including a gorgeous underwater piece featuring a certain shark character I draw. I'm also going to be making some prints to match the con theme this year, so ancient orient themes!

If I have the time, I'm even going to be placing up a small journal filled with ink wash paintings for auction at my table this year. It'll feature wildlife and scenery done in the traditional Japanese style, and will probably be anywhere from 50 to 150 pages of work. Hell, I might just break it up into three smaller books!

I'm also going to be putting together and mailing out my annual thank-you care packages for my patreon supporters as soon as I've finished my prints and gotten everything together- it might be a close call, but I will be sending them out before the convention.

"WOW, that's a lot of stuff! But how are you going to get all of that done?"

Same way you eat an elephant- one bite at a time! I've broken up my days into "draw" and "do" days, alternating between stuff that requires me physically assembling something (assembling backings for charms, cutting out stuff, putting things together etc) and actually drawing, painting, whathaveyou. On the days when I'm working on digital things, I'll be streaming on Tigerdile so you guys can pop in and see the things I'm putting together, and later this month I'm planning on taking preview images for you folks here on Weasyl.

I'm also going to be breaking my cardinal rule of "I don't work on weekends" because I want to get everything finished on time. In order to prevent *alarm sirens on*

IRREPARABLE HARM

*alarm sirens off*

and avoid burning out, this ALSO means that I won't be working as many hours a day as I usually do. I'll be cutting down to about five to six hours instead of my usual ten or twelve.

"Cool, okay so.... are... are you going to be posting anything HERE anytime soon?"
Short answer? Maybe.

Long answer? Not any full images anytime soon, I don't think. Journals, teasers, and pictures from my request streams for sure! And then once I finish them, I'll be resizing and posting digital versions of the prints I'm planning on selling. But soon? I dunno. It depends on how quick it gets done.

"So when does this hiatus for commission work END, exactly?"

Wednesday, April 15th.

"WOW..."

Yeah?

"...THAT'S A LONG TIME!"

Yeah, it is!

It seems like it, anyways! But I want to be absolutely sure I get everything ready and prepped before the convention so I'm not scrambling at the last minute. This is in case of a number of things happen, like finding out I can't use my printer for the quality I want for my prints and having to order through a 3rd party. It's also so I can make sure all the images I'm selling as prints are as high quality as possible, and to give me the time I need so I can thoroughly scour them for errors.

All in all, I'm excited! And I hope you guys are too! Without your support, I wouldn't be able to take the time to do these things and I really don't have words for how much I appreciate that. That goes doubly so for the folks who're donating and participating in my Patreon. Y'all took a leap of faith in trusting me to get things done and keep up with all of my other stuff as well, and gave me the confidence to really strive for what I wanted to do. You da real MVP.

TL;DR:

Hiatus starting early. I'm overambitious. You guys rock.