Autumn Lessons

Happy weekend friends!

I saw this quote yesterday while scrolling through Instagram and had to letter it.

Another reason to love autumn!

I'm getting ready to head to our local orchard and treat myself to a cider slushy. Yum! Hope you're having a fantastic day!

Too Early?

Nope. Bring it on!

Print available HERE

Happy fall-ing friends!

{October happenings}

Hello friends!

How is your October going so far? 

We've been squeezing in all sorts of fun fall activities at our house. The boys are on fall break this week and I've been soaking up being able to enjoy every minute with them (OK..maybe not EVERY minute because 8 year olds are a but nuts, especially after 8 pm 😜 😂). But seriously I'm not taking this time with them for granted, and honestly getting a bit weepy about the fact that I go back to work in two weeks. It will be bittersweet for sure. 

In art news, I've also been working on new illustrations and patterns! I've found that anymore I can't let a day go by without creating something new.

So here are a few peeks into our past week through my Instagram photos...

Morning walk through the park...so lovely. 

Working on some happy fall signs for an upcoming show! Gold sharpies are one of my new favorite things.

Orchard! They still humor me with a photo, even if tongues need to be stuck out.

Outdoor office = sabbatical life.

This needs no explanation, right?

I've been stocking up on cute new dresses and cardigans in anticipation of going back to work on November 1st. (Easing the sting a little, you know?)

The above is an Old Navy dress and TJ Maxx cardigan, and the cardigan below is from my favorite local boutique, Luxe Lizzies!

We are lucky to live super close to an arboretum that has beautiful nature trails. We definitely need to take advantage of it more! This nature walk has been the highlight of my month with them for sure.

Random happy fall doodles

Another sign I'm working on for that upcoming show. These chalkboards are double-sided so I'm thinking about fun double quote concepts. 

A new happy illustration...I have missed doing daily quotes.

And brush lettering! A fun new thing to practice. I'm using Sakura Koi brush markers here. 

Perfect fall break morning (you can grab the mug here)

Pottery painting! It had been awhile since I took the boys to do this, and I was excited to see how much their dexterity and creativity has grown. 

And new patterns!

I can thank my Pattern Camp group for the creation of these. Jessica (our fearless leader) gives us a weekly challenge, and these were acorns and ghosts. So fun!

Here were my original sketches for the ghost pattern...

With my favorite fall treat in hand of course! I ate WAY too much candy corn + peanuts yesterday. Addictive I tell ya!

So whew...that was a lot of photos but a fun recap I think! Hope your October is going along fabulously as well!

XO,

{new illustrations}

I've been busy working on a fun fall favorites collection, based on all of my favorites things about the season. 

Here are all six I've created so far!

Campfire favorites...

Favorite treat...

 

Comfort foods...

Fall nature walks...

Orchard favorites...

And favorite outfit...

This has been such a fun collection to work on. Did I miss anything? What would yours say?

XO,

{new collection in progress}

Happy Monday friends!

I'm excited to share a new collection in the works. It started yesterday when I was thinking up ideas for something fun to letter. And of course I have FALL on the brain so I went with my favorite things about orchard trips...

And today I decided to add campfire favorites to the collection...

What will be next? Stay tuned!

XO,

{hello FALL!}

Happy first day of actual, real, 
even though we've already had our 
decorations out for a month, FALL!!

I'm celebrating with a homemade vanilla latte 
and working on an exciting new illustration 
project this morning. 

AND offering you FREE SHIPPING 
on everything in my Etsy shop today only! 
(Use code FALLISHERE)



Print available in my Etsy shop, or if you are local, 
you can grab a copy at The Tin Cup or Roscoe's! 


XO,

{felt leaf garland}

I'm in full on fall decorating mode around here. 

Pumpkins on every possible surface. That's a post for another day though.

Today I want to share a super easy DIY project with you. So easy that I debated even sharing it, but it turned out so lovely I figured why not!

Saturday I broke out my felt, yarn and hot glue gun to whip up a happy little fall leaf garland. 

I took a trip to Joann Fabric to pick out the felt - four coordinating colors that felt like fall to me and also matched my other decor. I free handed the leaves (used a sharpie to draw out the more complicated shapes), but if you need a bit of help with shapes a Pinterest search is super helpful. I even found a template here.

My first attempt at stringing them together was with a needle and clear thread, but it was a total fail. I wanted them to lay facing out when hanging, and that wasn't happening with the string. So I broke out my trusty old glue gun and some yarn. 

And it turned out perfectly! I might make another to hang over our kitchen window.

The fun thing about this project is you can cut out any darn shape you want! Feathers, acorns, pumpkins...and felt is super forgiving. 

Hope this inspires you to create some of your own fall decor!

XO,

{sweater weather}

Who doesn't love a good cardigan day?

I had a lot of fun with this one, and you can grab it now in my +Society6 shop on mugs, totes and other happies! (And they are offering 10% + free shipping this weekend!)

Click here to shop my mugs!

And you can grab the print in my Etsy shop here!

Hope you're having a fantastic holiday weekend!

XO,

{moving slowly}

I began writing this blog post with a horrible tension headache this morning. And for me a headache like that = major drama. Like the world is crumbling down around me, 13-year old drama. It is a bit laughable and a lot pitiful.

I can't handle a darn thing in a rational way when I have a headache like that. Is this a thing for other people? I hope so. 

Not that I want others to have horrible headaches, but the whole "my life is in a shambles because I can't see straight" thing. 

I don't want to be the only person alone in that crazy messed-up state. 

But I've come to figure out that my cure (most of the time) for these darn tension headaches is some drawing time + coffee. So after downing 1 1/2 cups of cinnamon coffee (my new favorite find from Kroger. YUM!) and creating some new lettering (up there), I'm feeling clearer and able to handle the day without teenage-like angst. The cool fall breeze is certainly contributing to my mood lift as well!

As a side note, I've been searching for those yellow ball thingamajigs up there for what seems like forever and found some at Hobby Lobby yesterday. Day.made. 

So now to what I really want to chat about...my sabbatical. 

I'm one month into the second half, and I feel like now it is really time to dig in and get to work. August was a total detox period for me. A lot of shedding and figuring out, and letting my intuition guide me a lot more than my to do list. 



One lesson this sabbatical is teaching me is what an immense joy, but also difficult challenge, it is to allow yourself to move slowly through life. 

Like forcing myself to cook eggs for breakfast this morning even though I wanted to grab something quick.

This sabbatical is showing me how much our souls and bodies were created for a slow paced life. One of savoring and paying attention. Two things I've been doing a lot of the past month.  

It is funny how having all of this "free" time works. Yes, technically I'm not at work. But life has a tricky way of filling up that time rather quickly if you let it. Despite the fact that I'm not punching a clock these days, I'm still finding myself overwhelmed most mornings, figuring out how I'm going to fill my time, and what tasks are going to take priority over others. Some days that can be a bit paralyzing. 

So I've decided to adopt a new way dealing with this anxiety. Instead of ignoring it, letting it take over and ruin my day, or taking a pill (which was what I used to do...believing it was the only way I could get through the fog), I'm acknowledging it, embracing it, figuring out what I can learn from it. 

It is magical in a way, when I do it right. 

Often my anxiety is tied to a very concrete thing that I can remedy by simply getting the darn thing done.  Like paying a bill, finishing a project, or changing the cat litter (that last one causes me way too much angst). But sometimes the culprit isn't immediately fixable...and in that case I rely on drawing, crying, praying, taking a walk...whatever helps to clear my head and find a new focus. 

I read somewhere recently that we can learn a lot from our jealousy, and I think that is also true for anxiety. Figuring out where it is stemming from can help us make healthy changes in our life. 

I'm learning so much about myself during this time which is equal parts exciting and scary. Enjoying this new rhythm of life some days so immensely that I don't know how I'm going to adjust to going back to work. But I know that I have to, so I will embrace that too. 

But I'll also remember how good and healing this time felt. 

And I'll carry that with me going forward. 

XO,

{fall-happy}

I don't really know how to put into words how happy I was today. 

There is something about fall-like weather that brings me to an entirely different level of existence. I think if you are a fellow fall fan, you totally know what I mean, right? 

There is a fall-happy that doesn't match any other level of happiness in the world. 

I found myself at my computer this morning, feeling the 60 degree breeze blowing in the back door, sipping my coffee while working on a fall illustration and searching Pinterest for anything and everything autumn. 

Pure bliss.

I rounded up a box full of acorns in our yard and bought apple cider donuts at the orchard. I planted a mum. I'm seriously ready for fall. 

And today made me SO giddy about being able to enjoy this autumn season while I'm on sabbatical. It is a huge gift that I'm not taking for granted. This slower pace of life during this particular season is such a blessing. 

This was the view from the parking lot at the orchard today. Clear blue Indiana skies sitting atop bright green corn fields are one of my favorite things. 

I want to stuff everything about today into a jar so I can savor little bits of it whenever I need a boost. 

And not that today needed any help in the sunshine department, but here is 99/100 of #100daysofyourtruth...

Holy cow I'm one illustration away from finishing this project!

What will I draw for #100? Stay tuned friends! 
(teaser...I have absolutely no idea!)

XO,