From Monthly Rush to Seasonal Flow: Shifting the Pace of the Creative Flock

An update for subscribers and members 💚

Hello Flock Friends,

As I mentioned in my April round-up, I’m making a few changes to the Creative Flock, to give myself (and you, my lovely subscribers and members) more space to daydream, play, and dig deeper into bigger creative projects.

It’s been 18 months since I launched the Flock, and the experience has been richer than I ever imagined. I’ve connected with amazing people from around the world, and it’s made my dream of building a supportive, thriving creative community come true. Hosting live sessions has nudged me out of my introvert shell, and showing up regularly - whether the work felt polished or still in progress - has helped grow my confidence. It’s also kept me accountable and far more productive than I would have been working alone in my studio.

That said, I wear many hats behind the scenes, and sometimes my creative time gets stretched a little too thin.

So, it’s time to enter a new chapter for the Creative Flock, one that better supports my personal rhythm and gives more breathing room to the creative process.

What’s Changing?

I’ve decided to shift away from launching a brand-new theme every month. While I love the themes, I often feel rushed, barely getting into a groove before the next one rolls around. This format hasn’t always aligned with my creative flow, or with real-life needs around health, family, other work commitments and personal time.

Instead, I’ll be moving to a seasonal format, with each theme unfolding over three months. This gives us more space to explore deeply and meaningfully. Here’s the general rhythm I’m planning:

• Month 1: Gather inspiration, references, and ideas. Percolate and plan.

• Month 2: Experiment and play

• Month 3: Develop and bring work to a more complete place

There will almost certainly be some overlap as I carry projects forward and some cycles will naturally be slower and more gentle to reflect the season we’re in, but the goal is a more open, flexible structure. One that honours the seasonal nature of creativity and allows us all more time to engage without feeling overwhelmed or behind.

Why This Matters

April’s hedgerow theme was a joy, but illness kept me from getting out and sketching as much as I’d hoped. I felt like I’d only scratched the surface. This new structure gives space to explore each theme more thoroughly, without rushing.

I know many of us are short on time and often struggle to keep up with the fast pace of online content. I never wanted to add to that noise, I want what I share to feel timely, meaningful, and useful.

Creative Flock has always been about sharing my practice and passions, offering inspiration, and exchanging ideas, not pumping out content for the sake of it. The monthly subscription model can sometimes push creators into that cycle, and I want to be intentional about moving away from that pressure.

Subscription Updates

With these changes, I’ll also be adjusting subscription rates slightly to reflect the new rhythm and value:

• Annual Membership - Ideal for those who want to invest in their creative journey, explore themes more deeply, and enjoy the full seasonal cycle. This is already more cost-effective than the monthly plan, but to help you afford this investment, I’m reducing the cost from £75 a year to £65.

• Monthly Membership - Suited to those who want more flexibility, join sessions that align with their interests and availability, or to access any of the sessions, workshops, videos and posts from the archive. This will increase from £8.50 a month to £9.50.

• Founding Member - No change to this tier for now, it will continue to be a way to support my work further and to help keep the cost of regular, paid membership as low as possible. But, I would like to add some extra perks to this tier in the future, i’ll keep you posted as this develops.

Note for existing, paid members:

These changes and new rates will come into effect for new, paid subscribers in June. Subscriptions renew at the original rate the subscriber pays as long as they don't cancel and resubscribe, so if you’re already on the monthly plan, it will remain at £8.50 a month unless you cancel and resubscribe. The same with the yearly plan, subscriptions will renew at the original rate. In the case of the yearly plan, as the rate will become lower, you’ll benefit from cancelling at the time of renewal and resubscribing. If you have recently signed up for the yearly plan, I can arrange a pro-rata refund for the difference between the old and new rate. Drop me a message on Substack or email me to arrange - contact@emmacarpendale.co.uk

What’s coming up for May:

In May, we won’t have a specific theme, but there’s still lots to come for subscribers and members. Look out for my next post, which will have all the details.

Thanks so much for being here and being part of this evolving journey. I hope these changes bring more ease and joy to your creative life and mine. xx