Jux a journey through time; Unhappy to Juxtaposed; a novel.

"what's in a name?!" -Juliet 

Have you ever felt stuck in a rut, unable to break free from the chains of unhappiness? That's exactly where I found myself not too long ago (like right now). But instead of succumbing to the darkness (even though that sounds kinda interesting), we decided to take a leap of faith and embrace change.

If you want the short version- We are changing our name to better fit our values.

If you want the long version of why I decided to change the shop's name and rebrand keep reading. I will warn you there is a fair amount of parentheses, bad grammar and probably spelling mistakes but it's real so... 

How we got here

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away (2019), our shop started with a dream and a quirky name. We were young, ambitious, and full of energy (and maybe a little too much caffeine and not enough medication lol)... wait let's go further back... allllll the way to 2017! This is going to be long so hold onto your butts.

It was 2017, planners were all the rage and had been big in the craft stores for a while now and I always thought they were cool! I really loved the idea of a rad planner full of quirky stickers to reflect my style. Unfortunately for me in the whole isle of planners and stickers there was only a few that I thought were "just ok". They were all too cheerful and (yuck) encouraging (they could at least make them funny). So I'd wait for Halloween releases and stock up on skulls and halloween themed washi and stickers to cover up my otherwise overly cheery planner I picked out begrudgingly. It was the least offensive to my dark sensibilities. Sometimes in the summer there was the occasional gnome or random cute monster/alien in the kid's section but it wasn't enough. I wanted more. I felt unseen. I guess that's what you get for being a little weirdo right? I was a little jaded and a bit resentful of the fact that none of the planner stickers out there fit ANY of my styles. If you know me or even just to look at me; you know that I have a unique aesthetic that's a mix of a bunch of styles (it's always been a little confusing actually). 

One night when I was sitting on the floor making a giant mess (as one does when planning) cutting up stickers, piecing words together to make my own nasty, snarky sayings out of sickeningly positive quotes and pairing them with the equally cheerful deco they came with. I suddenly remembered that I can draw and know how to use photoshop! Naturally, a cheep printer and some blank labels were purchased the next day from the office supply store and I got busy drawing. If you have ever tried to draw in photoshop you know it's not really very easy... so I would draw on paper and scan it to edit and print. Great! I was being creative, planning AND saving money not buying the craft store stickers! BUT it was a lot of work, mostly the cutting out by hand. I had seen a vinyl cutting machine down one of those craft store isles so I did some research and sure enough there was a print and cut option!!! I was determined to have a cool planner so forked out the cash for my first little bright yellow cutting machine and I was unstoppable. I couldn't help but think that there was probably some other lonely, sticker loving, weirdo out there that would appreciate what I was doing and might like to purchase some strange, creepy homemade stickers. I went on that famous handmade goods online market place (you know the one) and set up a shop. I was all set except for the name...

I needed a name. I love a good pun and I was full of spite at this point towards all those big planner brands. There was no question, I was naming the shop Unhappy Planner! IYKYK right?! It was perfect! I started an instagram account and the rest is history.

Jump to 2023.

Many of you reading this have been with me since the beginning so you might know all of this but some of you may be new here so I'll elaborate on a few things as I go.

A virus had literally just rocked our world (in a bad way) for the last few years you were there, you know. It was undeniably good for business since were all stuck at home, but bad for our collective mental health. It did however kind of force us to be on social media more to get that "human connection" that even introverts like me crave. Needless to say I made a lot of good friends through Unhappy Planner so changing the name has been a bitter-sweet decission. But several mental break downs, overwhelm, burnout and other random health problems lead me to shut down the shop for months at a time more than once. This gave me the opportunity to focus on my own healing, growth and self discovery. It also led to the diagnosis of untreated life long 'disorders' I didn't know I had and a few "spiritual awakenings" (not me using air quotes because I'm still not totally comfortable using that saying due to it's inherent positivity). Don't get me wrong though. I'm still snarky and sarcastic with a dirty little mind. I still love the macabre, the strange and everything in between (maybe even more so), nothing's changed there. I still have A LOT of work to do on my mental health and am still finding out more about myself every single day. I expect this is life yeah? Anyways, I'm still all those things but I'm SO MUCH MORE TOO. I find myself being more positive and hopeful. Heck, one might say I'm even happy. *insert collective gasp* I'm constantly learning new things about myself, the world, the universe and beyond. With all that out there why would I want to box myself into any one category or label, especially when I have spent my whole life avoiding those boxes and crushing all the labels to make my own. haha get it?

As unimportant as the name of a shop seems, when you pour so much of yourself into something it becomes a part of who you are. So when I think of the word unhappy it carries a heavy weight, it reminds me of the person I was, not the person I am now an the one I'm becoming. That's a burden that I no longer wanted to bear. I love my past self, I was pretty cool I think, but a cool caterpillar needs to turn into an even cooler moth at some point right? So, we spent some time in a cocoon (blanket fort) shed our old layers of Unhappy Planner and shall emerge as... duh duh dunnnnnn!

Juxtaposed Creative Co. A name that represents the duality of life, the contrast between darkness and light, sadness and joy. Opposites attract here and coexist in harmony. It's a name that reflects our journey of transformation but also sends a little shout out to who we once were. I've always naturally cross bred different art styles, themes, visuals, concepts and Ideas meticulously to create something new (in life as well as in sticker form) as Unhappy Planner. Only now there's a name to match.

What's next

No longer feeling claustrophobic being stuck in an unhappy box we're feeling anxious and insane with power, but as Spiderman once said "with great power comes great responsibility." So were going to take it slow-ish. We don't want to get overwhelmed doing too much too soon. Part of the the growth I spoke of before is knowing my limits and giving myself grace, so if I feel like I'm doing too much too fast you bet i'm going to slow down. But make no mistake there's a lot coming your way.  

The only thing left to do is actually 'open our doors'. Easier said than done, it has been way more work than I had anticipated, especially when you throw in a few rando, unexpected health struggles into the mix right before opening day. But hey, call it divine intervention, a blessing in disguise, kismet whatever! Turns out I was wasn't as ready as I thought I was and I would have struggled hard after launch. We're determined to bring you the best shopping experience this side of the universe (once Bix and I can figure out how to turn on the lights). 

So there you have it. The long and short of it... mostly the long.

Stay tuned for the grand opening of  Juxtaposed VERY SOON. We promise it'll be worth the wait (if you're into quirky, offbeat, and slightly chaotic shopping experiences).

See you on the flipity. 

e.

and Bix too.