{new pattern}

The pattern camp group I participate in on Facebook has a weekly pattern challenge going on, and this week the theme was "portraits". I decided to do some portraits of my favorite letters to doodle. 

This pattern reminds me of junior high when I would fill my notebook pages up with doodled words. Oh the memories. Do you think kids even do that these days, or are they too busy texting? Sigh. 

Do you have a favorite letter to write or doodle?

XO,

{4 tips for working through creative fear}

I periscoped for the first time from my art studio today and shared four tips for working through creative fear. 

Honestly it was mostly a way for me to give myself a pep talk, but it was helpful to others as well, so even better!  

You can still catch it here within 24 hours, but if not, here's a bit of a recap with my tips...

I was facing a huge attack of creative fear this morning. I have been working on a painting for a local art auction for the past week, and was stuck about halfway through. 

I loved how it looked so far, but I was absolutely terrified I would screw the thing up if I added one more stroke of paint. 

That white spot in the center felt like the grand canyon. 

So as I was drinking my morning coffee and talking myself out of a panic attack, I thought, "What the heck am I so scared of? 

A canvas and some paint?" 

Yep...it sounds so silly but I totally was. I was also scared of having my art viewed in public by lots of amazing people I admire. I share my art every day online but never have to see other's opinions face to face...there is a huge security in that!

I needed someone to talk me out of this anxiety spiral. 

So I messaged two of my very talented painting friends with an SOS and asked for advice. 

While I waited to hear back from them I worked on a few other projects (not art related) which was a good distraction. 

By the time I was ready to work on the painting, one of my friends had replied with some great tips and encouraging words. Turns out she faces the same fear in her creative work. Who knew?! I think this is universal which is good news for all of us. 

I took her words of encouragement and decided to grab some scrap paper, paints, and a brush, and practice a few ideas. 

First I tried hand lettering. That is HARD with paint! And the letters weren't turning out as crisp as I wanted.

I ended up with a few decent attempts but decided...nope...I was not going to try to hand letter a quote on this thing. 

The other idea that had been floating around in my head for a few days was a butterfly. I had noticed butterflies showing up all over the place...on TV, on Pinterest, in a book I'm reading. So I decided to practice a few of them, and liked what I was seeing. 

So I took the plunge. 

I sketched one out lightly with pastel and then went crazy mixing paints. And for a gal that hasn't done much painting in her creative career I'm darn happy with the result!

I'm super excited to submit this for the art auction, and I'm also going to scan it for a print!

Here's a recap of my four tips for getting through creative fear:

1. Ask yourself "What am I scared of?" - deconstruct your fear into less scary parts.
2. Seek out the advice of a friend who has experience with what you're working on.
3. Do something else for awhile...take a walk, watch a show, work on another creative project.
4. Practice! Make that scary thing your friend! 

I hope this helps you a bit with a creative project you might be working on!

XO,

{an experiment}

Now that I have all of this time to dedicate to my art, I'm finding my curiosity and interest ALL over the place...one minute I want to doodle, another I am pulling out my paints, and yet another I'm grabbing my pastels. 

Yesterday I was inspired to do something geometric with pastels and so far these two pieces have been the outcome...

Excited to do a few more in different colorways!

XO,

{a reminder}

Take a deep breath

enjoy coffee or tea in your favorite mug

give yourself a manicure

dive into a new book or magazine 


Gentle is the new hustle.



XO,

{new patterns!}

Oh this pattern making sure is fun. I've been playing around with different motifs and color palettes...I could do this all day!

The rainbows make me happy and remind me of childhood, and the kitchen pattern has a midcentury vibe which of course I love. 

I've added these to my Spoonflower shop and they'll be available for purchase as fabric, wallpaper and gift wrap soon!

XO, 

{free printable intentions worksheet + cards}

Happy Friday friends!

I want to talk a bit today about intentions and how I'm setting some for myself during my sabbatical. I shared earlier this week about how having all of this free time has felt scary and paralyzing, but now that I'm a few full days into this break, I already feel lighter and know I'll be able to make wonderful use of this time. 

With that said, I'm not a huge goal or list maker. I tend to follow my intuition and what feels right for me on a given day. So instead of making a ginormous list of goals or tasks for my sabbatical, I'm writing down my intentions - areas I want to work on like practicing my hand lettering, branching out into different areas of illustration, pulling out my wacom tablet and trying more digital drawing, exercising, cooking more, and spending more time with my boys and husband.

Each day I want to be aware of these intentions and focus on the ones that come up for me the most strongly that day. 

To help me along in that process, I've created an Intention Worksheet and Intention Cards that I also want to share with you! 

If you follow me on Instagram I gave you a peek into the doodles I used to create them a few days ago...

I'm having lots of fun with new lettering and used some of those new styles in these. 

The finished printables are colorful and I hope they inspire you to set some intentions!

{click on the images below to download}

You can use these daily, weekly, monthly or any which way you want to help you focus on your intentions for your life, work, or creative goals.

Pin the worksheet up over your desk, in your kitchen, next to your bathroom mirror - wherever you need a reminder of the things you want to be intentional about with your time.

Fill out the individual cards and choose one or two each day to focus on. 

I would love to see how you make these your own. You can tag me on Insta and use #thisgirlsintentions to share how you are using them!

Wishing you a March full of fulfilled intentions and time for rest!

XO,

{the space between}

This past week I've been in the strange tension between finishing a crap load of work to prepare for three months away from my job, and the anticipation of having twelve straight weeks free from my office. A three-month sabbatical (followed by another of the same length this fall!) is a HUGE blessing and gift. And yet I'm feeling so conflicted. 

Feeling all the feels, as the young kids say.

As a bit of a background, my day job is Director of External Relations for a seminary, where I do event planning, fundraising and marketing. And I've been given the awesome opportunity to take a 6 month sabbatical to do research and, most importantly not have to actually GO to work, which is maybe the most amazing professional opportunity, ever. 

I've had an 8-5 office job basically since college graduation. As an adult, I've never not worked full time. So for the past 17 years my life has fit into a predictable container. And I've been OK with that for the most part. When I say OK I guess I mean that it is what I expected life to be like...I never stopped to think it could be different.

But it is about to be very different. And this huge shift that is on the immediate horizon is bringing up so many questions and anxieties...my head is spinning. The past two and a half years have been a steady progression of moving more and more into my life as a professional artist (but on a very limited schedule). It hasn't been easy balancing my art with my day job, but it has become such a huge part of my identity that I have found ways to make it work. 

This break will be the first time I've been able to focus on creating for more than an hour at a time, after the boys go to bed or on the weekend. I have lofty intentions for this time, which is equal parts exhilarating and, let's be honest, freaking scary. 

I have been working on this blog post since this past Monday and couldn't quite pull it together, and then came across the quote up there and it stated perfectly how I feel. I'm allowing this big chunk of free time + the place I want to get to with my art bring out all of my fears and anxieties. I need to allow myself to let this time be an inspiration, to encourage me and not paralyze me. 

Do you feel the same way about something in your life right now? Is there a goal you want to reach or a place you want to be that's leaving you feeling anxious and paralyzed instead of encouraged and inspired? 

Let's promise each other that we'll let that space between where we are and where we want to be give us tons of inspiration...that potential should encourage us! 

What intention can you work on today? No matter how small or large, give it the space to grow. 

XO,

{in my sketchbook}

Happy Sunday friends!

I've been a bit all over the place in my sketchbook lately...trying out all sorts of new shapes and motifs to figure out where I want to go next with my illustrations. Lettering, animals, faces, shapes from nature...nothing is safe! :) 

Close-up of my favorite doodle from the page above...

I'm loving the vintage pyrex vibe.

Lots of happy and sleepy animal faces!

And clouds because I can't go very long without doodling them.

If you've been following along with me lately you'll know that I begin a three month work sabbatical on Tuesday, and my head is spinning from all of the things I want to create. I literally feel like the ideas are going to explode out of my head if I don't get them on paper. I have a feeling my new sketchbook is going to fill up fast, so stay tuned! 

XO,

{in my sketchbook + meeting Lisa Congdon}

Goodness this weekend was pretty darn amazing. I had the pleasure of hearing one of my favorite artists Lisa Congdon speak at the Midwest Craft Con in Columbus, Ohio.

If you aren't familiar with Lisa's work, she does lovely illustrations and her journey to becoming a professional artist has been a huge encouragement to me these past few years. So, to hear her speak and get to meet her was such a treat. I also got to spend the day with my good friend Sara who is also a Lisa fan.

It was an exhausting day for this introvert, but I came away with some great ideas and tips, a super encouraging one-on-one with a book agent, and topped it off with a high-five from Lisa. I mean, come on. :)

And oh yes...this post was supposed to include some recent peeks into my sketchbook too!

Clouds, feathers, and coffee. Some of my favorite things!

Hope your week is off to a good start!

XO,

{in my sketchbook}

I've been paying more attention lately to what wants to come out of my pen and onto the paper. The past few days it was organic shapes and intricate pattern. 

Drawing these shapes is major therapy for me. As my pen glides across the paper I can literally feel my anxiety flow out with the ink. 

Landon came over to me while I was filling this one in and said, "That's a lot of tiny circles!" Yep, sure is buddy! 

This owl is another piece I created last week...

And here is a peek of my process cleaning up some of these intricate images in Photoshop...

As I'm starting to see a collection of these designs come together, of course I'm thinking of another coloring book. I'm excited to see what continues to happen in my sketchbook and tie it all together!

I'm also busy working on organizing and decorating my new art studio space in our house. It is so exciting to have an inspiring space to create in. Yesterday I hung two art pieces by Jessica Swift, a pretty string of lights, and tucked in a framed sketch by my Grandaddy. 

I love having his art near me when I'm creating.

My goal for this space is to surround myself only with things that bring me joy and inspiration, which means A LOT of purging is going on. But that feels so good!

Before I go, a couple shop updates:

If you're looking for a fun Valentine's Day activity, you can grab a copy of my printable Valentine's Day coloring book for only $5!

And I've added a bunch of new prints of my licensed pieces back to my shop. 

This guy is one of my favorites. 


Here's to a caffeine-filled and fabulous Monday!

XO,

{from sketch to pattern}

I thought it would be fun today to take you through my process of sketch to pattern! I've started making patterns again this week after a few months off, and I had forgotten how fun and addicting it is! 

{I learned how to create digital patterns by taking Jessica Swift's Pattern Camp course, which I can't say enough good things about!}

I drew those friendly lightbulbs up there a few weeks ago and knew right away they would make a great pattern. First I scanned them at a high resolution (300dpi or higher) and opened the image up in Photoshop. I removed the background and corrected the color balance so the black is super dark, and then saved each "motif" as a separate file. 

Then I opened up a new Illustrator file, placed my motifs, and recolored them. The recoloring is probably my favorite part of the entire process, other than seeing the pattern magically work at the end. 

Then I arranged them into a pattern...



And the finished product!

Man those little lightbulbs make me giddy.  I want them on a tote bag or a pillow. Or a journal! 

I also created this camping pattern which I can picture on children's bedding or a sleeping bag. 

If you are interested in learning more about making digital patterns, seriously check out Jessica's course. I learned SO much and use everything I learned not only for this purpose but in lots of other design work.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

XO,