Origin Story

A few months back I was the spotlight speaker for my referral group. This was the first time I was going to do the spotlight not representing my former employer. It was so much fun to give the history of my small business. So when this picture came up in my timeline I thought it was time to revisit!

Sara Hickman designs was not always what it is today, just like I am not the same person I was in 2008. It started out at Top Secret Science and within a year I had to change the name of the business to Touch of Home Learning. I would go into daycares and perform science experiments, with stuff that you would probably have at home. The idea was to get them excited about science and go home to recreate it.

Well life happens, there is a financial crash, enrollments tank and when baby two came (who I am 8 months pregnant with in this picture), it was just too hard to manage it all and bookings were really drying up so I PIVOTED.

I started selling digital teaching resources for preschool with a science focus. Things have been growing and changing since. You can still get digital teaching resources at Teachers Pay Teachers and now you can also get coloring pages and clipart. You can get digital downloads directly from my site for coloring books, SVG files and more. You can get physical items from my online boutique and on Amazon.

The nice thing about being in business for yourself is that you can do just that, PIVOT as needed.

Groundhog’s Day

Alright Puxtony Philly boy! Well, is it going to be an early spring or 6 more weeks of winter?

Truth be told, here in southern Ohio it has been a pretty mild winter, so either is fine with me.

I remember it always being fun to learn about shadows on 2/2. I remember there being several fun labs about shadows, crafts where we would make a groundhog popping out of a cup. When I was a preschool teacher I would do shadow tracing and other fun things too.

So since this day is supposed to be silly and fun I have some silly and fun clipart and digital stickers for you!

You can get them right here, https://payhip.com/b/P3pi.

If you prefer to download things directly from Teachers Pay Teachers you can do that here, https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Groundhog-Day-Clipart-6525833

Hello February

To say that the last few months have been difficult would be an understatement. Our lives have been a roller coaster ride since March. Holy Cannoli that has been almost a year! No wonder why it seems like I have aged a decade in the last 11 months!

To be honest we are not out of the woods yet, but we have come a long way and I won’t get into all the details, because there are just too many.

I do want to talk about a business change that this roller coaster has lead to. Instead of a portion of the proceeds from each purchase going to a business of your choice, it will go to one organization per month. This month that organization is The American Heart Association. Heart disease has affected our family in major ways. Glory to only God with the fact that we have not lost anyone to this disease, but it was close last month. This disease has affected both of our sets of parents, several of our grandparents, and if we are not careful it could affect us too.

If you want to share with us a loved one affected by heart disease feel free to do so in the comments. If you have a prayer request for someone battling heart disease, grief from loss, or any thing else really just let us know below or through a DM if you want to keep it private.

Regarding the SVG design launch today.

The launch of the SVG designs is going to be delayed a few days. It will launch by the end of the month, but it will not be today. 

I tend to be a pretty private person – when it comes to the real stuff. I tend to put on a face, show that I have it together. Man I can put together a good highlight reel. Keep it together, be positive, have faith. I mean it is the second word of what this business really stands for. However, there is one before that – Family.

That word, is the reason I am pressing pause on this launch. 

1. You, as my customer family, deserve my best. I can’t give that to you with this launch. I can in a few weeks, but I can’t scramble to do it today.

2. I need to respect that even I have my limits. My family deserves that I to recognize when I am hitting that limit. 

I have hit that limit. 

I am not stepping away, taking a hiatus or anything like that. I am pressing pause of this release, today. 

Without going into tons of details, but still being authentic – I will try to fill you in.

1. Parenting is hard. Parenting through a pandemic, even harder. 

2. Being an adult is hard. Being an adult during voting year, even harder.

3. Being a white, slightly conservative, slightly traditional, Christian woman used to be easy. It’s not easy in a world of civil unrest. 

4. Being a daughter used to be SUPER easy. Being a daughter to aging parents is hard. Being a daughter of aging parents living 400 miles away, is harder. Being a daughter to aging parents during a pandemic is excruciating. 

It’s this last one that has pushed me to my limit today. This last one has made me hit my knees more than anything else over the last 6 weeks. This last one is making my knees bruised. This last one is making tear stains on my glasses. This one caused me to pull in my prayer warriors. If you don’t have prayer warriors – get prayer warriors. We cannot do this alone. This last one has me crying out for help that only God can provide. 

So today, I hit pause. 

Pause the launch because if I am going to say this business is Family – Faith – Flamingos (and it is) I need to recognize when I need to hit pause and focus on one of those aspects. 

Thank you for understanding.

Announcement: SVG/Cut Files

If you opened the newsletter this week you know that today is announcement day. Well here it is and while I am super stoked about the Pantone colors this year – that’s not it.

Here it is!

Starting next Friday (1/15/21) you will be able to purchase SVG cut files.

• Direct Download – so no wait time!
• Personal and Limited Commercial Use – you will be able to sell things you make with the designs
• You will get SVG, ESP, PNG and PDF to eliminate any compatibility issues. ** Bonus you can use the PDF as a coloring page if the design works for it.
• A new theme is going to be release every 2nd Friday of the month. — This month is the Boss Diva Designs!