Mursblanc is on vacation.

I am famously known among people that know me to jump into things heart first and worry about how to fit the rest of my body in later. I do this with relationships, packaging, adventures in far away lands, and hair brained ideas. A perfect example of this would by my first shop - Mursblanc. I jumped in not knowing what I was doing or even how to really make art. I didn't know anything about the art of running a business or even how to create the things I wanted to create. I'm a trial and error kind of girl. I learn as I go. The problem with this way of living is that I tend to let other areas of my life fade to black - I waste a lot of money and time - and I create huge messes - and at some point there is a crash and burn. Whether because I simple move on to new exciting projects and ideas - get bored  - or life steps in and moves me to a part of the world were running a shop is - impossible.

Two years after I started my shop - Mursblanc - was at an all time high. I was finally making the sales. I was finally getting attention from the social media world. I was finally getting approached for wholesale deals. People that knew me were finally accepting that what I did for a living was a legit way of living- and finally referred to my " hobby" as a job! I was on top of the world.

and then.... I moved to Asia. For three months. My shop crashed and burned. Literally over night. 

The biggest problem was that Asia has a bad rap on Etsy. I won't really get into the details of this because it's a touchy subject. Basically the world didn't trust me anymore because my shop was located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

The second issue was - shipping! It was a nightmare. I asked my new friends in KL for advice and how I should go about with mailing my art prints to anywhere - and they laughed at me. All of them. They said that KL was known for the worst and most unreliable postal system. Shipping time would take anywhere from 14 days to Never to arrive. 

The third issue - I couldn't find the supplies I needed in KL to actually create my prints. Paper sizes were different, unfamiliar brands, and it was impossible to find quality shipping supplies.

I tried to find solutions to my problem. I asked friends and family to print and ship for me. This worked for a little while - but because my heart wasn't into it - my sales slipped. I sold a few prints here and there but now my " job" was nothing more then an impossible hobby.

I moved back to Europe and tried to pick up where I had left. I thought it would be easy and everything would go back to the way it was. Wrong! I was sluggish getting back into the normal daily routine of living - I'll have to write a blog post on the what living in KL was like. I was lazy about creating new art. I was bored with promoting, and blogging. 

I had given up.

Where am I going with all this? oh right. Today I took Mursblanc offline. The shop is closed. Etsy has this neat little button that allows me to take my store offline and go into " Vacation Mode" this means that my shop is still " alive" but it's closed for now. I have been going back and forth in my mind of what to do with my shop - and because I can't make up my mind  - I closed it. I need sometime to figure out what I want to do and if I want to keep making art prints.

Mursblanc was my pride and joy. I'm so proud of myself when I think of everything I accomplished and how many of my prints are hanging in homes around the world... 

but I can't give it my full attention right now. I have two other shops that take a lot of my attention and that are doing so well! Better then Mursblanc ever did! These shops take up all my time, and I have other ideas and big things coming that it's not fair to let Mursblanc  crumble to the ground.

So for now - Mursblanc is closed. I have hopes of opening the shop December 1st -  for those customers that would like to purchase Christmas gifts - but the future of Mursblanc remains - unknown.

Sometimes we have to let go....

X Lorraine