Krys Kestrel

A lot has changed this past year, but change is great! As a way to share a brief update from me, here are some highlights:

I Started Practicing Art Consistently

While I have always loved to doodle on my notes, sketch out little things when I travel, and paint in an art class or two, I have not committed a lot of time and practice to those artistic skills. Last December, as a Christmas gift to myself (and definitely a long-term saving goal), I purchased an iPad Pro for my digital notetaking for university, mobile entertainment (Netflix and Youtube on the go, etc.), and for fun. One of the apps I decided to get was Procreate, and since then I have drawn quite a few things on my little iPad! This is definitely a personal win, as I’ve seen some improvement over the past year, and also seen consistency, which makes me proud. Hopefully in 2023, I can get a little better with faces…

I Opened an Etsy Shop

This was definitely not a planned excursion, but at the advice of my partner, I decided to put some digital stickers up for sale on Etsy. You see, I love digital planning – Goodnotes is my bread and butter, and using stickers/images to add some flavor to my notetaking is a great time! One area where I’ve started to refine my notes is in my session notes for D&D – through this, I wanted to make a little pack of stickers for myself to decorate and organize my own notes, and ended up making a whole set! After choosing some color schemes and making some alternate versions, it was time to post it for sale.

After the first product, I found that I enjoyed the process and wanted to make more, so my digital drafts have grown, and now there are a couple of digital ttrpg-related products up for sale. While I’m not sure if I will firmly stay in the ttrpg space on Etsy, I know that I want to primarily focus on digital products, providing the most accessibility I can.

A Flash Fiction Piece I Wrote Was Selected

The final product is not yet published, so there’s not a ton to report just yet, but there’s a collection of stories being worked on called the 42 Stories Anthology being run by B.A. Mullin. On a whim, I decided to choose a category, work on a story, and try to submit it before the deadline – I believe I ended up submitting it one night at around 4AM just because I knew if I didn’t send it then, I might hold back and not send it at all. To my absolute shock, my story was selected to be a part of the upcoming final piece. I’m so excited to release more information when it comes out, but keep up with me on social media if you want to hear from me first:

• Threads
• YouTube
• Etsy
• Instagram

I Worked on Myself

All in all, the year was long and difficult for a lot of us. I want to take a moment to note that throughout the year, I took steps to be better where I could, reflect, and work on things. While I am far from perfect, I am proud of the progress and effort I’ve made, and want to encourage anyone else reading this to try and give yourself that pat on the back too. We’ve got this!

Thanks for reading this update, however casual and informal it is. I hope you’re having a great month, and I wish you the best of luck in rounding out the year.

Krys Kestrel