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Let me tell you why this release isn't really about the sales at all
If you follow me on social media, you've already caught glimpses of these bonnets over the past few weeks, and the full collection is up for preview on the website right now. But I wanted to sit down and actually talk to you about what this collection means to me, because it's more than just a release.
As many of you know, I've been running this business for over 10 years now. This November marks the 10-year anniversary of the moment Sweet as April went viral, the moment my dreams truly came true. It's been a rollercoaster ever since, building this small business while watching my children grow, while trying to figure out motherhood, all without losing my creative voice along the way.
Back in 2020 through about 2022, I lost that voice almost entirely. I nearly lost the whole business too. There's a bigger story behind that season of my life, one I may share someday, but for now, I'll just say I've spent a lot of time in therapy processing what I went through. Since then, I've been rebuilding, slowly and intentionally, trying to make this business something sustainable that still lets my creativity lead.
I've mentioned before in this blog how I feel like I've come full circle, back to the creative bonnet maker and painter I always wanted to be. There's grief tied up in that too, grief for the years I lost, and I've been doing the deep work of figuring out how to build a community around a creative business without losing myself in the process again.
I say all of that because Fairy Bloom Storybook is exactly that work made visible.
Here's the honest, slightly funny truth about finishing a collection like this: I don't actually have selling as the goal. Creating it, finishing it, following through on something I truly believed in, that was the win. Not the dollar amount. Not the sales numbers. Not financial success. I wanted to pour myself into something that felt completely, unmistakably me, a real reflection of how far I've come over the past five or six years.
I keep thinking of it like turning in a final exam. The studying is done. The papers are written. The test is complete. You did everything you could. The sales are just the grade that gets reported back. But nothing can take away the pride I already feel for following through on something I believed in. So no matter what grade this collection gets, the success has already happened.
I cannot wait to share it with you tomorrow at 9pm EST.
I'm so grateful for all the feedback and suggestions you gave me while I designed this collection, especially the storybook bonnets. I truly love what I do, and none of it would be possible without the community around me. I'm careful about how much of myself I give to social media these days, protecting my own mental health matters too, but the friendships and connections I've built through this little corner of the internet, and through these bonnets, mean more to me than I can really put into words.
My mantra lately has been simple: I'm still here. I'm still making these bonnets. I still love doing it. And I still get to share it with a community that, for so many of you, has been here since the very beginning.
Thank you for being part of this with me.
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Love and bonnets,
Carrie
Sweet as April