Lettering Works Business Journal - December in Review
~ NOW BOOKING PROJECTS FOR JANUARY 2026 & BEYOND ~ If you’d like your brand to be expressed in a creative, real way to get the attention of your customers, let’s chat.
BUSINESS JOURNAL: A PLACE TO CELEBRATE WINS & REFLECT - 72ND EDITION
December’s highlighted included a successful artist reception, trip to Florida, mentee sessions, a podcast interview, and lots of reflection, end-of-year wrapping up, and planning for 2026.
Art show at Logan Square Pilates and Core
Friends came all the way from Peoria to attend the reception
The Blue Line Train Sign went home with Marie and Neil
The Midwest Nice Sign went home with Sarah and Maria
The Big Wins
Had my art show at Logan Square Pilates and Core where 40+ friends joined to celebrate. The show features over 20 layered, wooden signs. My artwork will be up through January.
Added the wooden signs to my website for custom order. You can see the 24 available designs and place a custom order here.
A week in Boca Raton to celebrate my mom’s birthday
A night out in Delray Beach with my family to celebrate
Custom Design for Springdale Cemetery
Custom Design for Springdale Cemetery
Chicago Pizza Embroidered Patches are restocked
Spotlight Sessions podcast episode coming soon!
Vacationed in Boca Raton with my family to celebrate my mom’s birthday. Highlights of the trip included swimming in the ocean, relaxing by the pool, game nights, a thrift scavenger hunt, playing pickleball, a night out in Delray Beach where we caught a concert and stopped in a few art galleries, and lots of laughs. We also spent Christmas with my parents in Milwaukee.
Finished up custom merchandise designs for Springdale Cemetery as well as a special wedding design for a friend from high school. I also shared some initial design concepts with two local businesses I’m working with in a trade capacity.
Had two 1:1 mentoring sessions with my new mentee as part of the Adobe Creative Apprenticeship Program. I also had another “Take Chelsie to Lunch” session to help a friend think through logistics of taking her hobby more seriously in the new year.
Presented to Next Level Exchange mentees and alumni, where I spoke on branding basics. I was the first mentee presenter that NLE had do a workshop. I also met with my mentor, Steve, and attended the NLE holiday party.
Filed the annual report for Lettering Works’ LLC status, selected a healthcare plan for 2026, contributed to my SEP IRA, worked on wrapping up 2025 books, and reflected on the year. End of year tasks usually take up a good bit of December. I enjoyed using YearCompass this year for some reflection and 2026 planning.
Restocked my Chicago Pizza embroidered patches. I am still deciding on restocking my enamel pins because of their increased costs.
Booked a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico for February as our annual get-out-of-the-Chicago-winter trip. If you’ve been, I’d love to hear your recommendations.
Attended the end-of-the-year virtual party with the Adobe VIP crew and enjoyed a handful of local holiday parties with friends and colleagues. I also had a nice brunch with some of my Sunnyside Chats small business friends.
I was interviewed by Justin for one of Adobe’s Spotlight Sessions. A recording of our conversation over Discord will be turned into a podcast episode soon.
Reached 2,000,000 total review views on Google Maps. This has been a small way I’ve been supporting small business the past couple years.
Started to dream up how I’d like to celebrate 10 years in business in 2026. I’d like to honor the first decade of Lettering Works by doing some special things and am open to ideas if you have them!
December was filled with connection and wrapping things up for the year. I always enjoy looking back on my numbers and seeing what goals and intentions were accomplished, as well as spending extra time with family and friends.
In January, I’m looking forward to wrapping up some fun projects and kicking off my 10th year in business. If you want to work together in 2026, please reach out. I will be prioritizing wholesale, custom merchandise design and branding.
Thank you for being here, for supporting me, and for following along with my entrepreneurial journey.
PS - Have a project you’d like to chat about? Send me the details now to ensure your project gets on my calendar in 2025. Bring on all the logos, branded merchandise, + brand identity projects… let’s make some beautiful + impactful things together.
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