For me, October has become a bit of a landmark in my year. A decade of working on this project has more or less invaded my autumn, but it's a welcome challenge, and a part of the year I do really look forward to!

I got into making adopts sometime in 2015 at the encouragement of my best friend, who would later suggest the idea for the Advent calendar too (thanks Clock!). It's been an enjoyable ride and a serious honing of my art and design skills. Beyond the scope of this advent I'm pushing close to 800 designs made and sold, traded, and given away! It's a significant part of my life and has not only been creatively challenging but also very helpful in making a living, ha.

The tenth year was an exciting milestone for me, but unfortunately one I had to skip in 2025 due to serious burnout. I'm glad I did——so far I've managed to never be late on a design, a point of pride for me——but I'm excited to finally put the capstone into place and celebrate the final year. A part of me had imagined doing this forever, but I think this is plenty!

Thank you to everyone who ever joined me on this adventure, whether through buying designs, sharing the calendar, or simply sending an encouraging or complimentary word my way. It's really special to be able to put a whole lot of effort into something year after year and consistently have that effort reflected back to you in the excitement of your peers. And, every time I see one of these designs in an artwork, commission, or profile, I'm filled with an incredible fondness. I'm endlessly grateful to all of you!

Every year, usually around late September, I would post a calendar with design themes and some mysterious descriptions. It would be open for preview for a week or two so that interested parties could get a good look at it; then, on a specified day and time, I would open preclaims! (It could get quite competitive trying to claim the design you wanted....)

Designs were claimed without knowing what it would look like. Each design had a release date specified on the calendar, on which it would be revealed and the clean files sent to the buyer. So, it's sort of like buying yourself a little future October treat! Designs were less expensive to preorder, but the price went up a bit after they were posted. (I think only one design was ever purchased after posting.)

There was also the finale design, a character with two forms who was a bit more expensive and generally themed around the calendar itself.

All of these designs have homes now, but if you ever see one floating around up for trade or resale, why not grab 'em!