I’ve created a new calendar for 2018, and I’m excited to share with you my creative process!

Last year, I created a calendar with positive and uplifting messages and it was very popular.

And to understand better what my fans would want, I’d also sent out a survey and asked  what they liked about my work earlier this year. The overwhelming response was that they liked my sense of colors, handwriting, and positive messages.

I had many (many!) directions to take my calendar but eventually decided to go with floral motifs.

A part of me was afraid I would be seen as a one trick pony because I draw and paint flowers all. the. time.

But then realized it’s OK to make something purely because I love it. I don’t need to “one up” myself or push myself to be different all the time. After all, my joy needs to be behind everything I create, and I’m pretty sure other people enjoy pretty flowers as much as I do 🙂

I’d already created several flower paintings in my daily painting practice earlier this year, so I created several more new images to make it 12.

These paintings are done in watercolor and gouache (an opaque watercolor) which are my favorite medium. I tend to work small, and this one is no exception. But since my calendar is pretty small (about 5″x8″) it works out just fine.

For the texts, I first did a couple of rounds of brainstorming and jotted down phrases that made me happy and grounded.

I then picked 12 phrases that fit with each other that were short enough so it wouldn’t take up too much space on the page.

After deciding on which image works best for which month, I designed the calendar pages in Photoshop.

After many tweaks and edits, it went to print and turned out so beautiful ❤

My 2018 Happy Beautiful Day calendar is going to be available to my newsletter subscribers on Thursday, September 7th at a special early bird price.

(If you’re not on the list yet, you can sign up here.)

For everyone else, the calendar will be available at full price in my Etsy shop on Wednesday, September 20th.

Well, friend, I hope you enjoyed the sneak preview!

xo