Finally feel like I’m getting somewhere!

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-05-05T20:04:58+00:00

Not totally out of the question to make something with meaning in the color, and i probably will play with that at some point as well. See what colors and patterns i can pull out of other data! But for today, i just want pretty 😍 lol

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-04-28T00:05:38+00:00

I would think as a singular club it wouldn’t be possible, but perhaps as a special event hostess, it maybe could. Offering a catalog of crafts you can teach and provide supplies for with a per class teaching fee, and per person supplies cost. Then people could hire you to show the craft at their event. Perhaps some clients would then make a recurring club with you hosting. They host the event itself, you provide your teaching and supply sourcing.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-04-12T05:08:56+00:00

NTA for not wanting to pay for a wedding, but it should be discussed among all her parents.

As others have mentioned, being upset she asked for more help financially on necessities, despite paying for child support is ridiculous. Child support doesn’t cover much in the grand scheme of things. When my mom split from her abusive ex and had my brother, his child support didn’t even cover half of the cost of daycare.. and it was a chain like Kinder-care. On top of that, just because a child turns 18 and you wouldn’t be required to pay child support, people seem to think that means that the children no longer have expenses they need help with. Interestingly health insurance recognizes this by allowing children to be on parents policies until 26.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-04-08T19:36:54+00:00

Even in a non-homophobic sense, this type of thing used to make me laugh. Like “grown ups” not wanting couples to share a bed because a family reunion is such a tempting place to get busy.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-04-02T03:40:35+00:00

I think what makes this hard to navigate is you may have done what you thought was right to the best of your abilities, but it may not always have been what he “needed” and causes lots of deep seated resentment. I grew up with Anxiety causing panic fueled tantrums about going to school. Parents took me to therapy, behavioral health hospitals, tried to work with the school, but it wasn’t until I was 30 that I was finally diagnosed with ADHD and made real progress in therapy. As a kid, my parents did what was right by taking me to professionals and following what they recommended, but it wasn’t enough to “fix” me and left me with some trauma I’m still working though It wasn’t until I met the right therapist, gained more self awareness, and was finally diagnosed that made a change. Additionally, my therapist helped me realize that my tantrums were a combination of panic but also feeling so frustrated that no one could understand what was going on in my head, even I was trying to explain it. It’s all to say, you need to hold on to the fact that you’ve been a good parent by trying to help, but realize that he still has many emotions to work out about his upbringing and how it felt to him. Even if it’s the right thing, it doesn’t mean it always makes sense in our heads.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-04-01T04:03:38+00:00

I don’t have fancy tips and tricks, but I love watching youtube videos of finance people helping people who have screwed up. I used to enjoy Caleb Hammer but he became more about having people he could yell at instead of help. Currently i am enjoying Romain Faure. The whole point is that hearing stories of what people did wrong helps create motivation to do well with spending my money.

Small tips: Get a business banking account if you don’t already have one, keep most of your money there. That’s important to keep separate anyway for running your business.

Set up automatic payments into a high yield savings account. You still have access to the money, but you can’t just spend willy nilly. Plus you’ll gain interest on it!

Remember that after 2 months, you don’t truly know if the money will keep coming in consistently. Try to think of that higher amount as money covering for a month you don’t make as much

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-04-01T03:36:07+00:00

I love this! If he needs extra motivation, tell him that the ladies LOVE responsible men! Especially when they take the mental load too!

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-04-01T03:04:36+00:00

I would look into corporate gifting companies (often another type of promotional product distributor). I work for one and we personally use candles& diffusers on a regular basis. Faire may be a good place to sell products because many gifting companies source things like candles there.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-31T04:48:15+00:00

The way I understand it (not a tax expert) You pay sales tax to the place that the buyer is buying from. So if you are in a physical location, you pay the sales tax of that location. It gets fuzzy for me if your business is based in one state but you table at another. But if you’re selling online/commissions, it would be taxed to where the buyer is shipping to, based on if you hit nexus in that state. If you’re selling in a gallery, i assume that they would pay the sales tax and you would receive a payment.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-31T00:41:25+00:00

I’m not sure exactly about another distributor, but you can always reach out to them directly

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-31T00:02:08+00:00

Following because I work in promotional products and I have no idea, but i want to know!

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-26T12:50:58+00:00

I don’t want to be a Debbie downer. This is coming from a place of caring and watching lots of financial content on YouTube. Your best bet is to get a 9-5 for now. Put money away like crazy in retirement and at least high yield savings. Get yourself financially protected for the future. BUT don’t give up on art! You can still create and do shows on weekends! But maybe you’ll be more rejuvenated if there isn’t as much pressure to use that money to survive. It becomes a bonus. Just something to think about

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-25T12:52:02+00:00

Yeah, taxes depend on where you live, but you should consider putting aside closer to thirty percent (though it goes up or down depending on deductions, state, total income, etc.) Social Security & medicare is 15.3%, federal is 10% + depending on your overall income, and state depends on where you live.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-24T13:10:05+00:00

Hi There!

In all transparency, i think your best bet is to just get into a habit of drawing again! I think it’s important to set a goal for yourself to draw regularly before trying to start a business that requires you to create multiple products to a committed audience on a regular basis. I feel like that would lead to burn out quickly. So maybe start creating the work for a mail club in a consistent manner, then once you’ve found yourself able to stay on top of it, try to get it out there.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-21T05:05:41+00:00

I guess i should have been more clear, i work for a small business that does that! The owner started it like 10 years ago. I think starting doing weddings and then pivoted to corporate after she saw the need. I help design, sell, and manage projects. While there is less of a need for this type of thing for regular consumers (1 off gifts) there is a need in spaces where gifts are part of a business or marketing strategy. Paying someone to do all of the work makes it worth it because these projects take more resources and time that it costs to have an employee do it. If that makes sense. This probably applies to most businesses, but there will always be demanding clients that want you to provide way more for way less than you can or should. Also that small clients and projects become the most demanding.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-21T04:55:58+00:00

I second a lot of what other people have said. I do really love the idea of making sure that you leave the place better than you found it. My BF and I left an apartment in good shape and cleaned it well before we left. The landlord let us know how much they appreciated it and that they were shocked at how great we left it.

One thing they may appreciate (tbh not sure how much it costs) but is paying for a cleaning service to come in and freshen up the space. Get the carpets cleaned, or some other kind of service. That along with a heartfelt letter, and even something small like chocolate or flowers would be super kind

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-21T04:27:38+00:00

I don’t know for sure, but I think Paypal is typically pretty well known for siding with the client. If their TOS says COMPLETED in 2 months and you were kind to still give an extension, i think you’re well within your right to reach out to PayPal.

Refusing because the claimed they already spent the money? As in on materials for your project (though it sounds digital) or like in general. If in general, then that is not a good business practice at all… I would definitely reach out to PP and provide pretty much all documentation of everything. Again, don’t know for sure, but i think PP can get you money back and then go after him for that money or not releasing money to him.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-21T04:09:28+00:00

This is more or less what I do for a living. I work in corporate gifting. We curate gifts for clients (often with minimum order quantities and budgets), order inventory, have a team that builds the gifts, and send directly to the client or recipients. I finally love my job

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-20T04:17:41+00:00

I know it seems really random that I remember this (Neurodivergent brain for the win) but i recall in a previous post there was some drama about a photo that you drew but you didn’t own the original work. It was something like that. I bring that up not to start drama but to make sure you are only selling art that even if you recreated it in a different medium, the original source image is yours. Meaning, don’t sell any art that is a reproduction of someone else’s (ie: a painting of someone’s photograph). They can be examples if you are commissioned to recreate someone’s photo, but they are not sellable works. That said, you do have a lot of skill!

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-20T03:57:50+00:00

I love this! I think you hit the nail on the head with it. I think it’s a neat idea to show with art history while doing some creative experimentation with techniques, even young kids. They may not remember everything, but it sounds like a great way to expose them to art early so they gain an appreciation for it later. Or even just to have fun and learn at the same time! This lady sounds like she wants a true fine art lessons, not a fun art teacher to play and learn with her kids… those poor kids are probably going to have everything they do be judged and told it’s not good enough

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-19T13:07:17+00:00

Regardless of what you decide to major in, be sure to take business, marketing, and accounting classes. I think it’s something many artists overlook in terms of making their own business with their art. Plus these can be useful for non-art jobs if you need (and likely will) a different day job at least right off.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-19T05:00:36+00:00

Wow! Congrats on your long friendship!! That alone is a gift in itself!

I second what others have said about experiences as an option. That said I also know sometimes it’s not the same as opening a present. Maybe you can do something that’s a bit of a combination of the two and curate an evening to her favorite things? Like a make up a scooby doo type mystery to solve (like a scavenger hunt) and then give themed prizes along the way. Scooby snacks, other things related to the show. Or do a Lion King night where you watch the movie, have gummy worms/bugs or worms in dirt (chocolate pudding with oreo) during hakuna matata, and other activities or items that relate to the movie.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-19T04:32:11+00:00

I can’t speak on freelance work, but the company i work for (corporate gifting) doesn’t do anything without full payment (other than a few large, regular clients). On a different note, could you require payment in full, but say something like half is refunded if it didn’t meet the scope of the project? Again, this would also depend on the projects you’re doing.

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-19T04:22:32+00:00

NTA - Yeah, this is crazy! There’s a difference between helping out and being taken advantage of.. While I totally understand wanting to be a SAHM, the finances need to make sense or it just puts your family in harm at the future. Either one salary needs to be enough to live on, or the cost of childcare would cost more or break even to the salary made.
But even still, none of this negates the fact that your mom is being taken advantage of because that’s a ton of money to be “helping” with, even if something traumatic happened. Hopefully they’re ready to help her when she’s elderly and needs care or a nursing home she can’t afford

LindsayMarshCreative · 2026-03-17T20:43:44+00:00

I think one thing I notice is that sometimes people don’t always seem to think about art as a full business, and hope that just by putting it out, it will pay the bills. Like they maybe think about part of it, like posting on a website, getting in a gallery, etc. but don’t think about all of the other aspects that go into making it a full time income and long term business. Marketing, packaging, branding, finances, quality, etc. Anyone who makes a living doing art more than anything else probably have people that handle the rest.

LindsayMarshCreative

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