Category: elainehowlinstudio

You Can Monetize Your Hobbies Without Destroying Them—Here’s How

“You should sell that!” If you’ve heard this phrase even once, you know the trap I’m about to describe. After years of letting hustle culture drain every ounce of joy from my creative hobbies, I finally learned the boundaries I wish I’d followed from day one. Here’s what I’ve learned: you can enjoy your hobbies without monetizing them—they don’t need validation. But you can monetize them too—just don’t let it destroy them.

Sadly, it took me years to figure this out. Let me save you the burnout.

TL;DR

• Started with joyful hobbies: blogging, BookTube, junk journaling
• Opened an Etsy shop after all the “you should sell this!” comments
• Hustle culture consumed everything—every post, photo, and video became a sales pitch
• Lost all joy, went silent on platforms, stopped creating entirely
• Hit breaking point, closed shop for a month, and rebranded
• Now I have clear boundaries that let me create AND earn without burnout
• Key lesson: You can monetize hobbies—just don’t let monetization become your why
• Practical boundaries: no checking stats, create when inspired, “so what?” to content pressure

How It Started: When Creating Was Still Fun

I started blogging about 10 years ago when blogs were in their heyday. I chatted about food, all the paper flowers I was making for our wedding, and then I started to lean more into books. I eventually started a Bookstagram and a BookTube and was having so much fun creating and exploring.

It was a creatively vibrant world full of people who were passionate about the same things as me. It was fun and felt full of possibilities.

Then Everything Changed

And with those possibilities came influencers and content creators. The online world started to change. Everything was SEO, followers, views, algorithm, yadda yadda yadda. Hustle culture took over.

I’m a big fan of hobbies. I think they’re great for your mind. Blogging was a hobby that led to BookTube, which led to junk journaling, which led me to creating an Etsy shop. When I start something new, the first thing I do is learn about it. I look up tutorials, I read blogs, I follow creators who talk about it.

But that was where everything went wrong for me.

The “You Should Sell This” Trap

I started my Etsy shop because I really enjoyed making digital downloads to use in my journals. It wasn’t exactly that I wanted to share them with people—it was more that people always tell me I should sell the things I make.

At our wedding, when people saw all of the paper flowers I made, the first thing they said was “you should sell these!”

And I’m sure you’ve heard this yourself if you’re a crafter. If you knit socks or crochet bags, it’s likely been suggested to you that you set up a stall at a craft fair or an Etsy shop.

The Dream That Becomes a Nightmare

And it sounds so lovely, doesn’t it? I mean, why not sell your crafts? They’re lovely and they’re so much fun to make! Wouldn’t it be amazing if this was your job? You could:

• Work from home on your own schedule
• Only make the things you want to make
• Work part-time until you’re able to call this your full-time job

Doesn’t it just sound lovely?

So that’s the trap I fell into. The dream of running my Etsy shop full-time, spending my days creatively, making pretty journaling supplies and engaging with other journaling enthusiasts. It sounds so pleasant and easy. So why not give it a shot?

When Everything Became Content (And Nothing Was Fun)

Well, I did give it a shot. I have an Etsy shop that sells digital downloads of junk journal and planner kits. Creating the kits was fun, but to run a shop you can’t just create, pop it on the site, and carry on your merry way.

The Hustle Culture Reality

You have to do the keyword research, the SEO stuff, have listing titles that make sense but are also stuffed with search terms. You have to hustle.

When I started my shop, I got so caught up in hustle culture I honestly did not have a clue what I was doing. Everything became about my shop:

• If I wanted to write a blog post, I had to make sure it was relevant to what I’m selling so I could plug my shop
• If I wanted to post on Instagram, I had to make sure something from my shop was somewhere in the photo
• If I wanted to make a YouTube video, I might as well make it a Journal with Me using my products

I was spending my time looking up search terms and keywords and making content based on anything relevant to my products. Everything had to be productive and on-brand.

“And it sucked the joy out of everything. My hobbies were no longer my hobbies. The things I used to do for fun and my mental health became side hustles. I couldn’t even read a book without thinking about how it could become content.”

The Breaking Point: When I Went Silent

My hobbies no longer served the purpose of what a hobby is supposed to. The things I used to do for fun and my mental health became side hustles.

My Etsy shop was profitable back in my hustle culture days before my brain got completely fried and I had to stop everything. In fact, I got so caught up in the idea that everything had to lead to my Etsy shop that I stopped creating altogether.

I went silent on all platforms for quite a while.

It just wasn’t fun anymore.

The Rebrand: Separating My Shop from My Identity

This past summer, I made the decision to close my Etsy shop for a month and rebrand it completely. I didn’t want to fully close because I truly do enjoy creating the kits and running a shop. I rebranded it because I needed to separate it from my identity.

It isn’t a part of me—it’s just something I like to do, and it’s just one thing that I like to do. Closing it and changing the name is part of me trying to find the joy in my hobbies again.

The Truth About Hobbies and Money

Hobbies do not need to be monetized. There is joy in them just as they are. Even in unfinished projects, because the process—the work we do to create—is what’s really important.

I fully believe the value of having a hobby like crafting or blogging lies in the creating more than the completed piece. But I also do sell items on Etsy. I make money from advertising and affiliates on my blog. None of these things make much money, but they are monetized.

Living with the Paradox

I’m trying now to separate everything, but it’s really hard because I love my Etsy shop. It’s difficult for me to reconcile my belief that hobbies don’t need to be monetized when I’m monetizing myself!

It almost feels like I’m telling people not to try—not to reach for their dreams—because I’m trying to limit my competition! I’m not! I guess it’s kind of like an author or an artist wanting to earn money for their work. I’m not saying I’m that creative or talented, but is it wrong to want to earn a living this way?

“I’m not anti-monetization. I’m anti-letting monetization hijack your why.”

What Changed: The Boundaries That Saved My Creativity

When I first started all of this, I got bombarded by hustle culture while trying to learn. Maybe I should have just learned by doing, but I looked for help and I got content trees, growth hacks, algorithm strategies that just sucked the creativity out of me.

I still want to create content, but I don’t want to grind. I want to make things I enjoy for the joy of making them—not for the end result or for a reward.

But this doesn’t mean I’m turning off my affiliates or closing my Etsy shop (these things only make about €20 a month, to be honest), and this is where I still struggle with myself. It feels disingenuous to create for the joy of creating and write about it online and have my content monetized. But I’m learning the balance between them.

I’m not actually charging you for access to anything here. Anything I earn is just a bonus. Like a tip. And if you decide you want to create a similar project to me, well, the kit is in my Etsy shop to buy or available for free on my Ko-fi. The emphasis is still on the joy of creating.

My Boundaries Now

Here’s what actually works for me:

1. I do not check stats or analytics. This is harder than it sounds because all of these websites push your stats in your face. It’s hard not to glance at them, but I make sure not to click on the stats or analytics tabs.

2. I create what I feel like when I feel like it because that was the entire reason I started any of this!

3. I’ve learned to reply “so what?” to content pressure. I do still get the little nagging voice in my head telling me I don’t have a post for this week, but I’ve learned to reply “so what?” and just carry on with my life.

These boundaries let me keep earning passively while creating primarily for joy. That’s the difference—joy first, income second instead of the other way around.

Where I Am Now: Creating Simply and Joyfully

I don’t know if I have this all figured out. This isn’t my career. I’m making only a small amount of money from this, but I’ve come a long way from where I started.

I’m no longer being pulled by the content train.

Right now, I’m creating for the joy of creating. It may be messy, it may be pointless, it may interest no one other than me—but it will be real and it will just be. Simply and joyfully.

Where Are You in Your Creative Journey?

I wish I had some profound advice to give you about leaving hustle culture behind, but I have none. I didn’t even realise I was being influenced by it until the stress got too much.

I’m learning to find joy in how I spend my time again. I hope that’s something you already have, and if not, I hope you can find your way to it. We all deserve our little moments of joy.

Share your story in the comments—I’d love to hear where you are and what boundaries have (or haven’t) worked for you.

The Bottom Line

You don’t need validation for your hobbies. You don’t need to monetize them. You don’t need to turn every beautiful thing you make into a business. You don’t even need to complete your projects!

But if you do want to earn from your creativity, you can—just set boundaries first.

This week, create one thing with zero thought about posting, selling, or optimizing it. Make it messy. Make it just for you. Remember what it feels like to create for the pure joy of it.

That’s where the magic lives.

Thank you so much for joining me today 🩷

Elaine