Well now, it is usually around about this time of year that I announce my August break because my little one is off for the Summer holidays and requires my attention, but this year my little one has become a big one and has been home from university since the end of May and if I took all the time off he would like me to have (his jealousy of my laptop is I think well-documented), why I do believe I would have to sign myself off until mid-October because it rather seems that British universities are part-time establishments with full-time fees.

(Ooooh get me going a bit political! I do that occasionally much to the chagrin of those who love me!)

So this year I am forging ahead, because in a house stuffed with passing teenagers and way too much testosterone, I have come to regard BrocanteHome as a sanctuary for my soul I hope it is for you too.

Thus I got to thinking that it might be useful for me do a little round-up of both what has happened on Brocante recently and what I've got planned for the rest of the year...

So Far This Year

* I created my Whatsapp PenPal Coaching Package. I am so enjoying coaching via Whatsapp and those who have been enjoying it with me are loving it too, because it means you can have an ongoing conversation with me at your own convenience and together we can create plans to help you navigate all that feels difficult, plan routines and rituals that will help and offer clarity when things domestically or deeper inside you feel complex. 

It has taken the fear out of coaching for so many of you and I'm delighted to have found a way to coach without the barriers that are so often shyness and the complicated and often inconvenient issue that is time zone differences! Learn more about my Whatsapp Penpal coaching package here.

* I changed platforms. Much of this year has been spent doing something huge behind the scenes: moving everything I have created in the almost twenty years online on to one site to create a more cohesive space for both readers and my Library members. Hopefully this didn't impact you too much, though there is still ongoing work here, (I have got much of the blog over, the layout of the Library is almost complete, and the shop is pending, but will hopefully be moved in a week or two and I am happy with the way everything links within the one site here on Kajabi and hope you are too.

* I closed down the BrocanteHome Facebook community. Mostly because I find Facebook intrusive and I didn't really want to carry on forcing you be somewhere I didn't enjoy myself. It has been a month or so, and so many of you have emailed me to say how much you miss it. And I do myself, I really do because I miss YOU! Facebook was always supposed to be a bridge between our last community and the one I hoped to build here on the new site, but I'm still not fully au fait with the way community works here and anything I do create community wise needs to be something that feels comfortable and integrated for all of us. So watch this space for news on that front as I wait for the universe to show up with a happy little solution!

* I shifted focus. I created both Renaissance and Renaissance Lifestyle and I am absolutely thrilled with the response to what has been a gentle shift in my focus here at BrocanteHome. I feel more in alignment with what I am now writing and that feels downright lovely.

* I made a new shop (and now I'm closing it!). My Etsy shop went from strength to strength (over 1000 sales and five star reviews!) and though half way through the year I created a more complete store, almost all of my sales have remained at Etsy, so I hear you! The ease and convenience of Etsy means that there isn't any sense in maintaining another store and I will be closing it asap and going all in at Etsy with links directly to each product here at Brocante. 

(One of the things I have learned over the years is that it is essential to watch, listen and respond to what YOU want as opposed to just responding to my own whimsical ideas! Life is nothing, if it is not a continual lesson.) 

* I created more seasonal loveliness! Finally I have carried on creating each of the month's calendars and companions and the Brocante Year in the LIBRARY is positively STUFFED with seasonal inspiration for your home and heart. (The August edition of a Very Brocante Year is now available!)

Goodness! It's not often I toot my own horn, but sometimes I get to thinking that I haven't got much to show for six months of work and then I make a list like this one and feel content in the knowledge that I am successfully birthing my vision for BrocanteHome, even when it feels all hiccups and stops and starts. I know I may seem a little topsy-turvy, but my vision is strong and there is always method in my madness!

And What's Next!

* My next all new download The Lovely Living Room will be released on August 1st, so that you can putter your way to a more nurturing space in time for Autumn with a to-do list and some truly gorgeous puttery instructions.

* So many of you have asked for a simple route through the myriad of advice, inspiration and resources available in the LIBRARY so my new step-by-step course IMMERSION will start on September 1st with registration opening in August, so watch this space for more news if you are feeling overwhelmed.

* At the beginning of the year I did what I shouldn't do and jumped on a bandwagon - namely Substack, While I do not doubt that it is a lovely platform for some, I found that as a subscriber to a lot of newsletters I had just created a lot more noise and notifications for myself and that had me reflecting on how I want to show up in your world. So having dithered for a while, I have made a decision. Here on the site there is an option for premium posts and I will be using those going forward for those of you kind enough to subscribe on Substack. this won't mean any major changes for you as you will still receive my emails in your inbox once subscribed AND you will have access to more PREMIUM content here at BrocanteHome. More details will come to your inbox via my last letter at Substack next week.

* My affiliate program will launch at some point int the next few weeks because I want to share my work with as many women as possible and with a profit share of 40% for those of you who have platforms of your own on which to sell it, I am keen to make my offerings as generous as possible so it is worth your while promoting The Library and my courses.

* And finally for this year, come September I will be sharing a new Christmas product... because I do believe our world has changed and the excesses of our festive yesteryears no longer seem quite as desirable as they once did. I'm so looking forward to sharing A Very Brocante Christmas with you.

(ALL courses and downloads above -other than Renaissance - are included in THE LIBRARY).

By the end of this year I will have created and completed much of what I have long wanted to and that feels incredible. BrocanteHome was always intended to be a very particular body of work and though I have still got so very much more to say, by 2024 I want to be writing books again and layering what already exists in The Library with as much useful inspiration as I can so that the Calendar can become a truly useful, integrated guide to life the BrocanteHome way.

After all these years, I regard so many of you as the most incredible friends and it is such a pleasure to keep on serving you in this way - hopefully still inspiring you to put yourself at the very heart of your home so you can find true sanctuary for the woman you are supposed to be.

I hope you are having the loveliest of Summers.