Lately I've really been struggling with figuring out what I like to make, finding my own style, the colours I like to work with, the tools I feel most comfortable with. I wanted to pick up blogging again because it was something that I really enjoyed in the past. It made sense to me to start blogging about painting and drawing and pattern design because my favourite blogs are the ones where you get to see into someone's studio.

I especially love to follow along with daily drawing and painting challenges because there's something so cool about watching someone's creative struggles and their progression. But let me tell you, sharing things that aren't 'perfect' and that you aren't totally proud of is really, really hard. Like way harder than I thought. So when I decided to start up this blog again and I had a plan all mapped out, I totally froze.

Everything I made wasn't good enough to go on the blog or on Instagram. I found it much more difficult than I was expecting to show my not-so-great work. Even though that's something I really like to see in other artists! I like to see the off days just as much as the on days. It's about documenting the hard work that normally nobody sees. And to me that's really what making stuff is all about. Slogging through those days where you just don't feel like it and every paint stroke or line is a struggle. When you stare at a blank page so long that you scribble something just so it stops staring back at you. That's where the magic happens and where the inspiration for your good days will come from.

So in the spirit of that, here's a painting I worked on the other day. I don't love it. I don't hate it. But it's a step in my creative journey so I'm glad I made it. Now grab a piece of paper and make something! Even if it sucks. Even if you know it will suck. In fact, I hope you hate it. Because there are lessons to be learned from making something crappy. Make some crap today!

When I first gave hand lettering a shot it was with ink and a calligraphy pen. I never really got the hang of it though! The pen would either scratch along the paper or drop ink in huge blobs. My letters would be all shakey and I hated how you never got a second chance with ink. So when I tried again this past week I decided to just forget about the rules and do what works for me. That meant using a paint bush instead of a pen and faking the calligraphy part a bit.

By "faking" I mean I would just draw my letters, then go back over them and thicken up some of the lines instead of trying to get it all in one shot. Maybe I'll post a tutorial and call it The Messy Girl's Guide to Faking Calligraphy!

So I've been enjoying my hand lettering practice so far! I'm starting out with just single words, but hopefully I'll be able to move on to quotes and stuff soon. I'd still like to loosen up more and eventually get even more messy with my lettering. It would nice if I didn't have to do the faking thing. I guess that just takes practice!

I did a huge amount of gardening yesterday and planted some really pretty flowers that I'm just in love with. (Crossing my fingers I don't kill them!) I'm still in that phase of spring/summer where I love being out in the garden and I'm not sick of pulling weeds at all! By mid August I'll be ready for fall but for now I'm obessesed with plants and flowers and it's all I can draw.

The other day I posted a little tropical pattern on Instagram that I painted and I thought that it would make a really cute phone wallpaper. So here it is for a free download! I know my last post was ages ago and it was also a phone wallpaper but I really mean to start posting here with more regularity and if you've held on as a reader this long you deserve a treat! :)

So go ahead and download it below! It's big enough that it should work for most sizes of phone and also tablets.

Download it Here: Phone Wallpaper

I'm having a bad-with-words day here. So instead of writing a little paragraph explaining this new freebie, you get the point form version.

• it's peach and pink!
• get it now for your phone
• download this iPhone background and your phone will thank you
• not just for iPhones, we don't discriminate
• painty, colourful fun for everyone

I really hope you like this freebie. It was fun making it and I definitely want to do more in the future. Maybe I'll even be able to use my words to talk about the next one!

Download it Here: Phone Wallpaper

I was waaaay late to the Instagram party, but now that I'm into it I just can't stop! Let's be honest, some days I just scroll through Twitter for the photos anyways. But I love how you can share an image on Instagram with no words or write a huge explanation.

Also, you may have noticed that things look a little different around here. I've been slowly working on this redesign for a few weeks now and I'm really pleased with it. The new logo/header is so colourful and fun. I had a great time playing around with some paint and my scanner.

Check out what I've been up to on Instagram lately!

I got myself a brand new sketchbook recently! It's fun to start a new one, but I always end up leaving the first page blank. So this is actually the second page of my new book. It's a lot larger than my last one at 8.5" by 11" but it's been fun to work bigger. It's this brand in case you're curious. It says it's good for just about any medium including ink, acrylic and watercolour but in my experience it doesn't take watercolour very well. The paper soaks it up quickly and then start to pill if I work it too much. But it's still nice paper and has been working great for markers, ink and acrylic. For the first few days I just filled the pages with patterns, so I'll have a few more photos to show you soon.