a little note

As I'm sure some of you are aware, that little 'shop independent this Christmas' image has travelled quite far, for which I am immensely grateful for. 

To begin with, I loved seeing it pop up, and I was excited at the prospect that it could be a real, much-needed turning point for my business. 

That feeling didn't last long. People felt the need to crop the watermark and not credit me, so others reposted that, and it's now gone way too far for me to put a stop to it. It has, unfortunately, left a bitter taste and I've been a nervous wreck for the past week. 
Whenever someone tags me in an uncredited one, and I see comments like 'stealing this!', I feel physically sick and my heart drops. For someone who deals with mental health problems, this ain't fun. I created this image to tie in with a blog series that would encourage others to support independents, and for fellow indies to support one another. It's wholly ironic that you're actually doing the opposite of that. 
You're probably wondering, why does it matter so much? It's words on a screen, you should be happy a piece of your work is flying around the internet! But it's not my work, at least that's what people who don't credit are telling their followers/viewers. 
I completely understand if you've just reposted it from someone, but please, try and find the original source before posting. It might take a bit of time, but it's the right thing to do. I'm just a tiny business, trying to make a living and do what I love, so I'm going to want people who like it to know it's my work. I know, so selfish! 

I'm so glad people are sharing the message around, and that there are people suggesting other indie shops in their posts, I just wish it was being shared fairly.

Lesson learned.

I want to thank all of those lovely people who have shared it responsibly, and to those who have tagged me in uncredited ones. This really isn't a dig at anyone, I just felt I had elaborate and put it out there.

This is the last I'll say on the matter. I'm also probably going to have a little break from social media this week, as it's affecting me a little too much, and that's rather silly. 

Thanks for reading this very ranty post (sorry if you're bored of it all, I am too!).