A moment from our shared studio life. You may be coming at this post during the removal of most of our products or after, but either way, we hope this helps you understand.
What happened to Willow Lane?
Willow Lane has entered a new season.
In December 2025, we were asked to make one of the hardest decisions of our creative life: to close down most of what we make.
The change came quickly and unexpectedly. Our payment portal (Airwallex) introduced new subscription fees — costs that, as a small studio, we simply could not absorb. It was the last in a long line of rising expenses that made our mixed-product shop impossible to sustain. (We’ve talked about it more in these articles: Is this the end of Willow Lane? And What I think of subscription models.)
But the financial pressure wasn’t the whole story. It was only the circumstance God used to draw our attention to something deeper.
Over the months leading to this moment, we kept sensing that a chapter was ending — and that we were being asked to walk forward in faith into a new one. The practical realities simply made the timing unmistakable.
So Willow Lane, as it once existed, has now closed.
But not everything has ended.
What remains
Anything sold through Amazon is still alive and well:
- our novels
- our notebooks
- our colouring books
These can continue because they don’t require a payment portal, and we are increasingly certain that these three things — books, notebooks, and the imaginative worlds woven through them — are the heart of what we are being called to focus on next.
We don’t yet know the full shape of what’s coming. We only know that it feels significant, and familiar, and long-promised — something we almost gave up waiting for. We speak of it cautiously, because we hear imperfectly, but we also speak of it honestly, because many of you have followed our journey for years and have prayed us through difficult seasons.
So we are making space for whatever God is preparing.
What we’ve had to let go
Everything else in the shop had to close:
- cards
- prints
- mugs
- stationery
- tote bags
- all physical products outside Amazon
It was heartbreaking, because these were the pieces Lisa poured years of artwork into — the small stories in ink and colour that brought Willow Lane to life. We don’t know yet what will happen to the artwork that no longer has a physical home. For now, it rests with us, waiting for its purpose to return.
We also explored other payment providers in the hopes of keeping the full shop open, but none were viable. Every door we knocked on remained closed. And eventually we stopped pushing, because it was clear we were not meant to save the old season.
In our Virtual Office, we set up a task just for packing up Willow Lane, and for our board cover we chose:
Because this is how we feel.
This is why the feature image for this post shows an old, twisted tree under a sky full of stars — a picture of something that looks finished, dead even, yet is held within a universe of possibilities. Sometimes a season ends so that a new one can be born. Sometimes letting go is the only way forward.
What comes next
We are stepping into a slower, listening season — closing doors, clearing space, discerning the next path. We believe God is preparing us for something we cannot yet see, and that the work ahead will require our full attention and a simpler structure.
So this is where we find ourselves:
Ending one chapter.
Beginning another.
Waiting with hope.
Thank you for walking with us through this transition.
We’re not disappearing — simply turning a page.
There is more to come.
About the Author: Lisa Saul
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