I’m getting personal this week, taking a break from patterns while I’m on a business trip. I hope you don’t mind.

So today I’m going to answer the question, “What does the future hold for Chelly Wood?”

In March of 2022, I’ll turn 55, which means I’ll be able to retire from my “day job” as a school librarian, if I want to.

But as I write this, I know that’s not something I can do right away. I won’t be able to claim my pension until I’m 58, and this website doesn’t actually earn any money to supplement my income anyway.

That’s right… You read that correctly… This website doesn’t earn money.

People are always surprised by that fact, when I tell them, so let me explain.

Here’s an overview of how much I’ve earned on YouTube since 2011, when I first started my YouTube channel:

I know that not everybody is data savvy, so let me interpret this analytics page for you.

In ten years, my channel has gotten nearly one million views (997,438 views so far). I have 7,745 subscribers. And the graph shows that my channel has been steadily growing, with a bit of a dip since February of 2021, but peaking with about 900 views on a single day in April of 2020 (when Covid kept so many people home-bound).

And yet, in ten years’ time, I’ve only earned $1,324.96 TOTAL. In TEN YEARS.

Now, the cost of running my website is almost $250 per year (or $499 every two years), and the software I use to make my videos is another $180 per year. That’s $430 per year in fees.

You might wonder why I’m paying the “WordPress.com Business” fee when WordPress offers free websites. I used to have a free website, ten years ago, but I’ve uploaded so many patterns that I had to upgrade to a professional level fee. There’s no going back without deleting all the patterns I’ve been sharing with my followers.

So between the costs of the website, my video software, my fabric purchases, snaps, elastic, and advertising, I actually found when I went to pay my taxes last year, that I’d spent more than I had earned — even after I calculated the amount of revenue I made from ads on both YouTube and my website.

What does the future hold for me, then?

Hope.

I hope lots of people sign up for my classes with Creative Spark.

I hope C&T Publishing offers me a book deal.

I hope people use my affiliate marketing links to purchase sewing products.

I hope I can retire from being a school librarian and work instead as a writer and doll clothing designer — if you can call that work (because I enjoy writing and creating doll clothes patterns so much, that it doesn’t feel like work at all).

On Friday, November 12th, I’m going to announce a brief change to the format on this website, and when I do, please bear with me. I’m embracing my hope!

It’s almost like I can feel the abundance moving toward me like a shooting star. I’ve given and given, and then given some more. This type of generosity doesn’t go unnoticed by the universe.

Soon, I hope, I’ll be able to reap the rewards of ten years of dedication to this website, my YouTube channel, and the generous interchange between you — my followers — and myself. So yes, it’s time. And I definitely have blessings and HOPE.