06/12/2026
Hello friends! It’s Friday! 🌞
This is going to be a long, heartfelt post. ❤️
If you know me, you know this business has been my dream for years. From the days of an iron and a Silhouette cutter to now printing thousands of shirts a year and shipping wholesale orders all over the US, I have poured my heart into Eleven Seven Designs.
And for that, I am incredibly thankful. 🫶🏼
But lately, I’m tired.
Not just “I need a nap” tired. Mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted.
Running a small business isn’t just making shirts. It’s answering messages, ordering supplies, printing, packing, shipping, social media, bookkeeping, customer service, troubleshooting equipment, and trying to keep up with life somewhere in between. 😮💨
Most days I’m working from the moment I wake up until 8 or 9 at night while also chasing two little boys, keeping up with a home, and trying to be present for my family.
Lately I’ve felt like I’m missing moments I can never get back. 😭
The past couple of weeks have been especially hard. My printer went down. I wasted a stack of expensive shirts trying to figure out the issue. The tech support wasn’t much help. Then when we finally got the printer running again, my heat press started acting up. Then the printer stopped reading designs...
It felt like every time we solved one problem, another one showed up.
I was awake until 3:00 last night wrestling with,
"Is this really what I'm supposed to be doing?”
I have the growing business I prayed for.
But what good is success if it comes at the expense of my health, my peace, and time with the people I love most? My happiness..
My garden is overgrown. Laundry is piled up. The dishes never seem to end. And most importantly, my boys are growing up faster than I can believe.
After a long conversation (and a good cry 😅) with my husband this morning, I’ve decided it’s time to slow down a little.
I’m taking a step back from wholesale for now & just doing so much in general.
Not because my business is failing.
Not because I’m giving up.
But because sometimes growth isn’t about doing more. Sometimes growth is about knowing when to do less.
The pic below is actually the perfect picture of how I’ve been feeling.
A pile of misprinted shirts that represented wasted time, wasted money, frustration, & disappointment.
Instead of throwing them away, I dyed them black and gave them a second chance.
Standing over that pot, I couldn’t help but think about the shirt I posted last week:
🍋 “When life gives lemons, Jesus makes lemonade.” This is my pot of lemonade! 🖤
Maybe that’s what God has been trying to teach me all along.
The misprints weren’t the end of the story.
They were just being made into something new.
And maybe I am too. ❤️🩹
I pray that you all will still be here for my little business. (I know you will be.) I just need to slow down. I ask for your patience as I am trying to get caught up on the workload I currently have. I will still be selling plenty of graphics on the site! I just need to take a breather every now & then & enjoy my babies! 🩵💙
