I’m writing a book and it has changed my life

An unexpected turn of events to say the least

Dec 08, 2024

Hi there,

Elin here 👋🏼, this is the Follow Your Gut newsletter, where I write about the artist life and business from a soon decade long career. Thrilled to have you 🥰

I’m currently in the trenches writing a book that is now called Embroidery Wanderlust; Tales and Stitches Through Europe.

When I first started in September I used the title Travel The World Through The Eye Of A Needle. But I quickly realised that I had overwhelmingly many European embroidery street scenes in my archive that it made more sense to narrow the focus. I also realized that my initial time frame to be done by end October was… well… very unrealistic (are we surprised?).

Like the first title, the initial intent was completely different to what has ended up happening.

I wanted to create a physical art book curated from the vast library of embroidery art works that my husband and I have created through the past soon decade.

So far everything is going to plan on that point.

You can read about the project here.

But I also wanted the book to serve as a physical marker of sorts for a major transition away from the old brand and positioning as ”Charles and Elin” to only be Elin Petronella.

It’s been a couple of years since my husband took on other work and I’ve been running the show more or less officially solo.

After A LOT of personal change 2022-2024 (as if the years 2020-2022 didn’t bring change at all ehrm…), like going from one to two children and having done four international moves during those same two years, I felt like I lost touch with the Charles and Elin brand and that the only way forward was to change it.

My first thought told me that a revival meant a rebrand and restructuring. Like an entire revamp of everything including (but not limited to) branding, messaging, story, name (and as a result a rewrite of all pages, classes, redirections links, socials….) Pheeeeeeeeew!

Don’t ask me why it felt easier to start from scratch than to clean up what’s already there...

Well, thank GOD I started writing the book so that I no longer have to redo everything.

Going through the archive has given me an enormous revival of my love and passion for the art of embroidery AND the beautiful community I’ve created over the years.

It’s as if the dots are finally connecting again and I’m getting my feet back on the ground. The answer was always right in front of me. I was just too overwhelmed, sleep deprived and stressed to see it.

Though, if I’m being absolutely honest, my gut felt it all along, which is probably why I never got further with the shift than purchasing the new domain names (which by the way were the most expensive domains I’ve ever bought… ooops).

I contemplated for a long long time in silence, whereafter I started to announce the shift along with the announcement of the book project. Public announcements are the best triggers to see if a project will come crashing down or take off into the sky. Safe to say: this one crashed.

Suddenly it made sense why I had felt so blocked and unable to make actual advancements on the revamp. I had talked about it as a way to make it make sense to myself (and hopefully others). And I think I succeeded with both, to some extent… it was probably only the gut who never bought it.

There’s particularly one conversation with my husband that stands out. We were speaking about legacy.

What legacy do we want to share with our girls as they grow?

What do we want to show our girls from our lives’ work. The value we’ve added to the world…

And there it was: so obvious, so clear:

Charles and Elin.

My husband and I about a week after we met in October 2016. The backdrop is the Versailles garden.

Charles and Elin was our life for several years. It was involved in everything we did.

But with a global pandemic, becoming parents and more international moves than intended along with all the other oddities and stressors that comes with life and entrepreneurship in general, it’s not strange that we felt like our foundation was crumbling.

In reality, it wasn’t.

If there’s anything that has remained stable and supportive throughout the rollercoaster ride of the past years, it’s been Charles and Elin. Isn’t that the very definition of what a foundation is supposed to do? Hold you through all kinds of weather.

Writing it out like this, I feel in awe about it all. We made it. We made it through.

When we worked for Hermès in Paris 2019. Ps. I was pregnant with our first daughter on this picture. PS2. They didn’t like that my husband put the scarf on his head as opposed to around the neck… ”it pulled too much attention” haha. Once an independent thinker… always an independent thinker 🎊

The old was never broken. In fact, it’s more intact than ever. The legacy has been slumbering, waiting for the right time to get back to the spotlight again. Waiting for us to get ready again.

Though my husband isn’t coming back 100% yet (if ever), he too feels a revival.

A reconnection to the projects, the arts, and more than anything a desire to keep building our legacy and creative work. Together.

The years of turbulence have given him some distance to realise that he is as free as ever. He can create anything, whatever his heart desires and it will be ok.

In hindsight, this process was probably inevitable. I now see patterns through the cycles of creative business, where you plunge deep and then have to resurface for air before taking a plunge again.

By the way, I don’t mean a plunge as in drowning. Rather I’m thinking about a plunge as going deep into a project and breathing and living it everyday as if it was second nature.

To run a creative business is a lot like that.

You’re all in, and then suddenly you feel completely out of it, which can feel really scary and stressful.

The cycle repeats itself. And the more it repeats itself the more we can lean back into the experience of knowing that periods/seasons of flow will reappear as long as we don’t give up on our vision to create a lasting legacy.

The legacy bit has been crucial lately. Even more since the kids.

Especially realising that it’s not about speed or immediacy. It’s about building lasting impact for the lives we get the chance to touch (not only our own children).

Below is a 1min video from one of our early workshops at a café in Paris.

As I’ve gone through the archives, both visually looking at the vast amount of artworks I’ve done (I was actually shocked… it didn’t feel like that much until it was all bundled together), and looking at email letters from grateful clients, I got very emotional.

I’ve had the privilege to help people through moments of darkness by inviting them into the healing world of modern hand embroidery.

It was never just about me sharing my projects. It was always about how sharing them tickled a vein of creativity in those who saw it, and rekindled the joy and urge to create again.

Or for those purchasing original works… the joy it sparks for them every time they look at it (the embroidery and the place it depicts, likely triggering fond memories or dreams).

I write this to send out a wave of gratitude to the universe. For showing me that it was always there. I’m on the right path towards my legacy.

Nothing has been lost.

Everything we create brings us a step closer to where we’re supposed to go, we might not know where yet, but if we don’t stop it’ll sure be somewhere beautiful.

The first draft of the manuscript is done!

I’m currently working through edits of the first raw manuscript. The next step is to do a second round of edits together with Charles so that he can support me with the visual editing to get the images and text neat together (I’m aiming for a minimalist design… the focus is on the Tales and Stitches!).

The third step is to get a few proofreaders and THEN I’m ready to release the e-version before proceeding to get the physical prints ready… exciting!! ✨