VLOG 18 | Why My Shop Is Closed, Sketching People & Vegan Food! 

Oh Sara I feel you completely on the postal issue! I live on the border with the NL with Germany and used to ship with a little german town, that was close by. I got the memo on the second day of the new year with around 10 parcels ready to be shipped. I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Dutch side and ship them from there but can completely understand your trouble. I secretly hope this doesn't last, since they will be losing a lot business. But yea, wishful thinking. Hope you can find an alternative as well!

So sorry to hear with the shipping problem, hope it works out somehow. Also have to say that you are pretty much the only RU-vid I watch the entire vlog from, I just love them! I’m also so very happy about the fact that you have not turned this into a pregnancy RU-vid/Instagram. I love your content now and I see so many people completely turning their content into baby stuff. Of course small bits about the pregnancy/ baby is great but not just to much haha. And ofc congratulation!!! Love what you do, so inspiring😍

Aww I didn't know you were pregnant, Congratulations!. In regards to the postal issue I am so sorry to hear about it, but you can also keep selling your art as SVG or PNG files on Etsy. So, people who own a cutting machine can print and then cut from home.

It's been so long since I have had a chance to stop by and see you, Ms. Sara! I am so sorry to hear about what is going on in the postal services in your country. That is so unfair. But, I pray that it is only for a short period of time and things will get back to normal! I also want to say CONGRATULATIONS on your sweet baby to come! That is wonderful news about your pregnancy and I am so glad that you are keeping it mostly a private thing! But, I would so love and update every now and then to know how things are going and how you are doing! Stay sweet, ok?

HI SARA! 🌼 OMG i didnt know youre pregnant! congratsssss 🐙 so excited for youuu

Thanks for keeping us updated on the shop! I love the little snippets you include in your vlogs of not just art, but cooking, eating, making coffee, and Cooper too! Maybe an idea might be to show your watercolor process of drawing girls? The finished piece on Instagram was really pretty!

I am so sorry the german postal services changed that much... It sounds so inconveniant and time consuming !! I hope you are not too worried about it ♥ Loved the video as always ♥

Yeah, I got hit by that as well... so you can only ship flat drawings.. and I was just starting to prepare handdrawn boxes to sell :) now the best solution is to only sell flat drawings via online shops (because documents) maybe restrict to EU only and look for art and crafts markets that are in your region. If you know markets around stuttgart, let me know xD Other solution.... make shipping ridiculously high... but that is super sad for customers :/ Apparently you can apply for business shipping at the german post as well? Like, when you can confirm a certain amount of shipping you have to do per quarter, you can go back to the prices before the change. But I haven’t checked that yet I say good luck to you :)

Sara I've got an idea on how to eliminate the post office all together, make pdf files of your designs add the price & once the customer clicks on the payment option for the file, they then can download the file themselves & print it themselves. (I've seen Etsy shops do this). Do a little Google research tho! Hope this helps. #HappyKreating!

Thank you for your explanation!! I moved to Germany two years ago and at the end of 2018 I dealt with all the legal stuff and invested on an online store based in Germany, only to find out a couple of weeks later that the postal service rules had changed. Till today I was still thinking that maybe I hadn't understood clearly what they told me at the post office (my German is not very good). The prices are completely insane, and I'm very surprised that no one thought of the impact this will have on small business. I'll have to adapt all my products! :( All the best for you and your baby!

Aww sorry to hear that you've had to close your shop! I hope you find a different way to ship your products!

And this is precisely why I don’t have a shop. I simply don’t want to be at the mercy of unreliable postal services. I’m sorry you have to deal with this! Hope it gets sorted soon. Unlike many others I wouldn’t suggest you do printables, because someone might just resell your work as theirs if they have high res files. Aren‘t there alternative postal providers, that make things easier for you than the regular postal services?

Hey I just wanted to say, I’ve watched a bunch of your videos and I find you to be a very passionate creative person. It’s and absolute pleasure to see your creations and techniques also you seem to be a very gentle and loving soul. I’m happy to have found your channel and I find myself watching your videos as a way to get a breath of fresh air. Keep working hard and creating and I wish a lot of luck. Also congrats on your pregnancy.

This is really stressing, dealing with the postage service. I runned my shop in Argentina for 3 years now and I’m in the process of closing it due to the high costs of the post office and the insane commission percentage that the internet payment services takes every time I sell something. I’m moving to Europe to my grandparents lands, I really hope whatever I do there it goes better and I wish you the best with your shop, that you can sort this out somehow so I can buy some stuff from you later on 💜 and congrats for the baby! So happy for you 🙂

Just wanted to share with you, that this vlog inspired me to quit my day job and be a full time illustrator. so, THANKS :) Love watching your process and hope the shipping issue will be solved soon.

You're beautiful and soft spoken ❤️ Really adore your arts and your studio is a mood 🌙

Don’t worry hun everything will work out, you take your time to figure things out. We all support and love you!

Have you thought about hiring or asking someone in different areas to ship stuff for you, like someone in the U.S to ship to people in the U.S and Canada and then so on from there. Or checking out amazon influencers stuff

Sorry to hear about your shop troubles! Especially at this point in your pregnancy :( I was going to suggest a print on demand service like Printful.

Sorry to hear about the postal service! I hope you find a solution. And I love your videos! Hope baby is doing great too! I'm 30weeks pregnant and an artist too! 😊

So sorry to hear about the shipping issues 😯. I hope it gets changed when they see the negative impact it has on small business owners. But I'm always glad to see you and Cooper. I caught that wink, Cooper! 😉💖

Not sure if you're still looking, but you should totally check out Redbubble! That way you can outsource everything and just focus on creating more art

I love the coffee intro hehe

Love all of your videos, I would love to see a video of you drawing more!!!! such an inspiration

Ich liebe deine Vlogs! Und dein Hund ist so süß 💕💕💕

Hi Sara, I totally feel you on the shipping fees. I live in Australia and sending an A4 print internationally with proof of delivery, costs as much as the print itself does (25 AUD).. which is not very viable. Hope you manage to figure something out soon.

whoaaa let's get Sara to 70K!! She deserves it like where can we find a sweeter person hng

Ja das ist echt nervig mit den neuen Richtlinien was den Versand angeht 🙈 hab meinen Shop erst vor Weihnachten eröffnet und dann das 💔 Wieso können gute einfache Sachen nicht zur Abwechslung mal gut und einfach bleiben 🙈

all blessings! take care of yourself more than anything, keep up the hard work you are doing great! love the vlogs! take this time to really explore drawing on the ipad, you can tell a story in drawings!

Hi Sara. Your lunch looks amazing. Congrats on your pregnancy. A lot of artists do digital downloads of their artwork and doodling. I used to sell a ton of digital products on Etsy. Hope this might help since there is a demand for your items and you don't want to lose that income. Best of luck to you.

felt lazy in my bed this morning till I saw your instagram story, then I had to hurry wake up and start my day.

oh no that shipping change sucks!! must be so frustrating, hope you get it all sorted out soon!

I love that you are using your husband’s music!

love you so much, you are amazing artist and person. Waiting for every video from you. Thank you so much for sharing!!! Love

Ich hatte das problem auch beim verschicken. Aber wenn ich online Briefmarken drucke ist es viel günstiger und ich muss nix ausfüllen und die Briefe kommen immer an...

I love your videos are so cute! 💜

Congrats!!!! Sorry about your shop. Can you offer digital cricut print and cut files? Lots of us here in the US have printers and cricuts. You could do videos showing how to print and cut with cricut. Good luck.

That really sucks what happened with your shop. Hope everything works out soon!

I can’t wait to meet your baby. I’m sure he or she will be just a lovely as you are ❤️

Can't believe such an advanced country would do this to their young entrepreneurs or any small business people. Basically, diminish their livelihood. 🙏🏼

Hey Sara, I am so sorry to hear about the shipping, I hope they won’t do it here in the Netherlands! I am glad to hear the pregnancy is going well! I had a few questions, how do you put your illustrations you make with watercolor onto the laptop? Do you scan them or photograph them? And before you started freelancing, did you find it hard to paint in the evening? I find it a lot harder to draw and paint at night because of the tricky lighting. I love your work! You are very inspirational! Thanksss ✨

im really late watching this video. like over a year late but did you consider doing digital download prints.. that you could still sell. They would receive the file to like your patreon members and then they could go have it printed.

Appreciate the upload :) it's so chill. I need this

I know this video is old but paypal lets you print out shipping labels and they are cheap.

Your dog is so cute and well behaved ♥ I would love to see what you make for dinner. I am trying to add some new dinner ideas that are "healthier" and I am interested in people from other countries and what they eat on a typical day. I would love to see what you have for dinner. Just a friendly suggestion.

Diese neue Regel der Deutschen Post finde ich ziemlich frech, ich verstehe nicht ganz, was sie sich da überlegt haben. Ich hoffe, du findest bald eine Lösung!!

I recently discovered your channel and I love your vlogs. I'm sorry to hear that you closed your shop. Maybe while you figure out the postage issue, you could sell digital prints / stickers. That way you just have to email the file and not worry about mailing anything (just a suggestion, still gives you some income too). Congrats on your pregnancy. Hi to Cooper and your husband. :-)

just discovered your vlog. Loving it

May u make more drawing vids maybe tutorials :3

No matter what I’m doing, I can always stop to make time for one of Sara’s videos! So sorry to hear about all the trouble your going through, I hope you’re able to figure something out! Please please do a video of you going through your sketchbooks, I would, and I’m sure many others, would absolutely love to see that! *Edit: I also see you got the new iPad! What are your thoughts on it? Is it worth the upgrade?

Love your vlogs and your art style! ♥️♥️♥️

Sara, I love that coffee machine! Do you perhaps have a link to where to buy it? I’ve never seen one like that! Much love ❤️

Awww Sara, i think you may be working toooo hard. I have only just found you in my inbox;- i have to say how pleased I am, you are truly a breath of fresh air. I am so sorry to hear of your postal problems, i can see how problematic this makes things for your business and shop, i feel for you especially with your baby so near. I am quite sure you or your friend 's will come up with a solution to help you. I am subscribing to your channel;-although Patreòn will have to wait for the moment as i have been unable to work due to a serious injury. I look forward to watching more of your vlogs and your baby being born. Wishing you all the very best;- and you will be in our thoughts ( including your darling doggo). M + M &ZAZZY.X 💖🐾🐾👍

Im sure someone has already mentioned this to you but you could do downloadable stickers. Where everything stays the same except customers can instantly download the stickers all they need is sticker paper and a printer.

I cant be the only one who watches saras vlogs twice. Once to watch the video and once to look for any glance of a baby bump 😂

your videos are so beautiful Sara 🥳 loveee them

I get posters made through printful and have been happy what the color matching and quality :) What a frustrating thing for you! Im sorry you're dealing with that :(

Hello! You could test, sell only digital art, illustration packs, for customers to print at home or on the press. I have worked with the post office for 10 years, and there have been so many changes, that they hindered my work, and also delays, which I am glad I do not need them anymore. You can take inspiration from the work of Dawn Nicole Designs, Teela Cunningham and Christine My Linh.

I was about to buy things from your Etsy Shop and then I saw this video :

I’m so sorry that everything got so complicated for your shop... and right at the end of your pregnancy too! I’m sure that you’ll figure a better way. As an artist myself, I’m not a huge fan of Printful. My experience with them was short, but not great. They really messed up on shipping with some of my orders. One order took 3 months to fulfill and then it was sent to the wrong address. Another was a large print. The tube arrived empty. They never taped the end caps. Perhaps your experience will be better.

Ugh european guidelines suck! In the Netherlands it's even worst (we have to 21% vat)... maybe you can try Redbubble? Since they ship the products for you and you don't have to pay for paper etc. (and it's from the US), so you only have to upload your work. I don't have a shop so I don't have my own experience, but I've heard it's really good! I ordered from there too (still have to pay some vat tho but that's typically the netherlands)

I love your video style!!!

Cooper is so precious!!

Hi😊 könntest du vielleicht mal ein Video machen welche Programme du zum schneiden benutzt? Und ich fänd es gut, wenn du uns auf dem laufenden hälst wegen der Post und einer Lösung😊❤

I love your videos!💕💕🙌🏻

Copper is gorgeous! 😍

so sorry to hear about the postal issues, that's the worst! Have you tried POD sites like Redbubble before?

Do printables, no shipping 😃💞

Das tut mir so leid :( Hoffe DE ändert mal was 😌

Sara this is such a shame. I don’t know if you’ve already thought of this, or if it is possible, but is there a way that you could find a person in another country where they don’t have these charges so that you can bulk send them all your orders every week or so and they do the shipping directly from their country instead? Best of luck x

Oh I’m so sorry honey. Have you considered getting someone in the uk to print and ship for you? I’m more than happy to help out if I can xx

Sara I love your art! can you draw a picture of a girl with short hair like me?

Verwendest du ein 11 oder 12,9 Zoll iPad Pro?

Which app are you using when highlighting the Q&A? 😊

Sara is this a new law or is your local post office just messing with you? Also is this just in Germany, or all of Europe?... Hope you get something sorted soon ❤️ Maybe you could sell digital prints? you send a hd pic and the customer prints it?

What if, you connected with a USA printery or a person who also does what you do, have them print it from the country they are from and you can pay them a fee for it to save on hassle?

The postal story is crazy! I’d go over to Poland once a month, it’s close to Berlin, right?

Maybe offer some of your stuff as a digital and people can download and print themselves.

8 mo.s already? Wow. That went by fast! 😊🍭🍼☕️🥗🌯🍲

Love youuu❤️❤️❤️

This sounds horrible! I wonder if it's a new EU thing? I really want to open my own shop this year and shipping is what has always stopped me, especially considering the insane cost of everything here in Denmark, I hope this change doesn't last :( It's really bad for small business. I guess you can look into offering digital products instead, but it takes away the personal connection with the customer :(

❤️❤️❤️ so pretty

What ipad do you use?

Hi! What screen protector is on your iPad?

What app are you using to organise the patreon q and a ( 13:17 )

Regarding the third party companies, I use Printful and they have excellent quality on mugs, tote bags, and pillows. The prints are also nice, but I wish they had thicker paper. Sadly, they don't do stickers and stationery, in general. They are great at shipping, though, never had any problems. You could also look into Printed Mint and Gooten. From what I saw on their websites they have a diverse range of products. I heard they are great too when it comes to the quality and shipping and I wanna try them this year as well :). Good luck with everything! I love your vlogs, btw!!!

Ich habe schon länger im Hinterkopf einen Onlineshop zu eröffnen und irgendwie macht mich das Ganze jetzt echt down 😔 Ist das nur in Deutschland so bekloppt geworden?

Love this video! But question! How is your procreate white? Are you using the pocket version ? Bc I’m using regular procreate for my tablet and it’s black. - Aunaamire

yay!

Love your videos, but I think I’ve seen this comment before... please watch your audio volume 😅 you speak so quietly, but your “working music” is so bass heavy it blows out my eardrums every time. Again, big fan, just something I’ve noticed a lot with your videos.

Ever just watch a video at the very end of it you’re like I just watch some random chick make coffee three times for 20 minutes? What just happened

你好可爱

♥️♥️♥️

I look at you and remember beach. Why?

Germany, wth??

Wow that's a really poor postal service its very draconian

❤❤