Hey Reader
Last Tuesday, I stood in my kitchen staring at my counter. Mugs of half-finished cold coffee, butter knives, a small plate with a half-eaten piece of toast.
I wasn’t even doing anything. Just… staring. Overwhelmed by the mess and all the “right” ways I should clean it. Should I organize the mugs first? Wipe down the counter? Load the dishwasher in the “correct” order?
Then I looked at my phone and saw an email from an artist asking: “Should I build my website on Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress? Do I need a blog? What about SEO? Should I hire someone?”
And I realized: we’re doing the exact same thing.
Staring at a simple task, paralyzing ourselves with all the “should I” questions, when what we actually need to do is just pick up one coffee mug and put it in the sink.
Your online presence doesn’t need you to research 20 platform options and compare pricing tiers. It needs you to build one simple page that works.
My kitchen didn’t need a complete organizational overhaul. It needed me to wash one sink of dishes.
So today, I’m going to save you from the website overwhelm spiral I see artists get stuck in every single week.
We’re talking about the difference between landing pages and full websites, why you should start stupidly simple, and exactly when it makes sense to expand.
Ready? Let’s do this.
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Karna & Kind Fabrics – Bold Patchwork Repeat
• Color That Refuses to Whisper: This palette is pure dopamine—hot pinks, mango orange, sunshine yellow, aqua, lavender. It’s fearless. What caught my eye is the confidence. Nothing is muted, nothing is apologizing.
• Pattern Structure Power Move: The tiled patchwork layout is doing heavy lifting here. Each block feels like its own mini print, but together they create rhythm. This could easily expand into a full collection—each tile becoming its own hero coordinate. You could also scale this up dramatically for a statement repeat.
• Best Fit For: Quilting cotton (obviously), kids’ apparel, backpacks, planners, or bold gift wrap. This would also kill in stationery—think spiral notebooks or art teacher tote bags. It screams creative classroom energy.
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Sara - Papillon Patterns - Vintage Garden Panel Repeat
• That Moody Background Glow: The charcoal ground makes those ochres, reds, and dusty blues absolutely sing. It feels heritage-inspired but still modern. The structured framing gives it almost wallpaper-panel elegance.
• Pattern Structure Strength: This is a structured block repeat with strong vertical alignment. It could be refined into a tighter repeat for fabric, or exaggerated into larger wallpaper panels. You could even extract single florals to build softer secondary patterns for a full licensing collection.
• Best Fit For: Wallpaper (especially in a powder room or study), tea tins, journal covers, fabric for upholstery, or high-end gift wrap. It has that “museum shop but make it cozy” vibe.
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Sofi Grace – Swedish-Inspired Patch Floral
• Soft Palette, Strong Personality: The sage greens, muted reds, buttery yellows, and dusty blues feel nostalgic but not dated. What caught my eye is the spacing—there’s breathing room. It feels calm and curated.
• Pattern Structure Potential: This patchwork grid is gentler than the bold one above. Each square could be separated into its own mini print, or the entire layout could be simplified into a tossed floral using just the central motifs. The modular nature makes it flexible.
• Best Fit For: Kitchen textiles (aprons, tea towels), baby bedding in a softer recolor, scrapbook paper, stationery sets, or fabric for handmade dresses. It has strong cottage-core-with-structure energy.
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Tip #1: Stop Waiting for the "Perfect Website" (You Need a Landing Page, Not a Masterpiece)
Have you’ve been putting off your online presence because the whole “website thing” feels overwhelming?
You’re spiraling between Squarespace vs. Wix vs. WordPress, wondering if you need to hire someone, stressing about navigation menus and contact forms and whether you need a blog.
Here’s what I wish someone had told me years ago:
You may not need a full website right now.
If you’re just getting started, what you need is one simple page that does three things: tells people what you do, shows your best work, and gives them a way to contact or buy from you.
That’s it. That’s called a landing page, and it’s where you should start.
Why a Landing Page First?
Because building a full website with multiple pages, navigation menus, and all the bells and whistles is genuinely overwhelming when you’re juggling art-making, client work, maybe a day job, and life.
A landing page is one page. One.
You can build it in an afternoon using simple tools like Canva (yes, Canva does websites now), Carrd, or Linktree. Most have free or cheap options.
No coding. No complicated tutorials. No $2,000 web designer invoice.
What Your First Landing Page Actually Needs
Keep it ridiculously simple:
- A clear headline that says what you do. “Botanical Pattern Designer for Home Decor” beats “Welcome to My Creative Journey.”
- 3-5 of your best designs. Not your entire portfolio. Just your strongest work that represents you.
- One sentence about yourself. Skip the life story. “I create hand-drawn florals that bring warmth to modern spaces” is plenty.
- One clear action. An email address, a shop link, or a “contact me” button. Pick ONE thing you want people to do and make it obvious.
That’s the whole page. Done.
No blog. No about page with your entire origin story. No 10 different menu options. Just the basics so when someone asks, Do you have a website? you can say yes and send them somewhere.
“But Mandy, won’t people think it’s too simple?”
Nope. They’ll think: “Oh good, I can actually find what I’m looking for.”
Simple beats overwhelming every single time.
Tip #2: The Four Signals It's Time to Graduate to a Full Website
Your landing page can live happily for as long as you need it while you build your portfolio, test what sells, and figure out what your business model actually looks like.
But eventually, you’ll hit a point where one page isn’t enough anymore.
Here are the four clear signals that tell you it’s time to expand to a full website:
Signal #1: You Have Multiple Offerings
You’re selling products AND offering custom design work AND maybe teaching workshops.
A landing page gets messy trying to explain all that. When you have different services for different customers, you need different pages to organize it all clearly.
Signal #2: Your Portfolio Has Actually Grown
You’ve got 30+ patterns, multiple collections, different styles, and you need space to organize and showcase them properly.
Not “I created 10 patterns and want room to grow.” I mean you literally have too much work to fit on one scrolling page.
Signal #3: You’re Getting Serious About Licensing or Client Work
Art directors and potential clients expect to see a comprehensive portfolio with case studies, process work, and professional presentation.
They want to see your range, understand your style, and get a sense of how you work. One simple page won’t cut it for those conversations.
Signal #4: You Actually Have Time and Budget
Building and maintaining a proper website takes effort. If you’re barely keeping up with creating art, answering emails, and shipping orders, it’s too soon.
Wait until you have the time to do it right instead of rushing through it and hating the result.
The Truth About Timing
Most artists build websites too early and then get overwhelmed maintaining pages they don’t actually need yet. Websites break. They need security updates. It can easily turn in to yet another distraction from your main job, creating art.
If you don’t have a website yet, you’re not behind. You’re being smart about where you spend your limited time and mental energy.
Start with a landing page. Put your energy into making art and finding customers first.
When you hit those four signals, that’s when you graduate to a full website. Not before.
Simple beats perfect every single time.
Your First Landing Page in Under an Hour (Using Canva)
Good news: you already know how to do this.
If you’ve ever made a social media graphic in Canva, you can build a landing page. Same platform, different template.
Here’s exactly how:
- Go to Canva and search “website.”
- Pick any clean, simple template that doesn’t make your eyes hurt. Seriously, that’s your only criteria right now.
- Delete everything except one page. You’re building a landing page, not a whole site. One page is all you need.
Add these four things:
A clear headline at the top that says what you do. “Botanical Pattern Designer for Home Decor Brands” beats “Welcome to My Creative Journey.”
3-5 of your strongest pattern designs. Not your entire portfolio. Just your best work that makes people go, ooh, I want that on my walls.
One sentence about yourself. Keep it simple: “I create hand-drawn florals that bring warmth to modern spaces.”
One way for people to contact you. An email address or a link to your Instagram DMs. Pick one and make it obvious. Hit publish.
Canva gives you a free URL (something like yourname.my.canva.site). Done. Is it fancy? No.
Will it work while you’re building your business and portfolio? Absolutely. You can always upgrade later.
Avoid the tech overwhelm. This gets you there in under an hour.
That covers it for this week.
Here’s the thing about tech overwhelm: it’s rarely about the actual technology.
It’s about trying to build the “right” thing instead of building the “right now” thing.
Your landing page doesn’t need to be impressive. It needs to exist so when someone asks, where can I see your work? you have an answer that isn’t just your Instagram handle.
Start simple. Start today. Upgrade later.
The fancy website can wait until you have a portfolio worth organizing, multiple offerings worth explaining, and actual time to build it properly.
Right now? A clean, simple landing page gets you in the game.
Stop waiting for perfect. Perfect is procrastination wearing a professional outfit.
Before you go build your ridiculously simple landing page (seriously, go do it this week), I’d love to know:
| Before you go, I'd love to know where you are on your web-presence: |
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