Do you have a task or two (or five) that you’ve been putting off? You just can’t get motivated to get started for whatever reasons. Maybe it’s too overwhelming, or maybe it’s a boring and time consuming task that you hate.
For me, updating my art and illustration portfolio is one of those things. Which is terrible considering that’s very important to my work!!!
I created my online portfolio 2 years ago in my Graphic Design certificate program at a local college. It was a requirement to put one together to graduate from the program.
I got a domain name “yukomiki.com” (glad it was still available!) and used the same WordPress template I use for my blog (Twenty Thirteen theme) to create one.
At that time, I was still thinking I wanted to be a designer rather than an artist/illustrator because I didn’t think being the latter was a viable option for me. I believed being a working artist was something reserved for only super talented and special people. I didn’t think I was that person.
But then in my very last class after my portfolio presentation, my instructor saw that art and illustration was my true passion and encouraged me to follow my passion rather than settling to pursue design, which I sort of liked but not really. And just like that, I decided I’d pursue art and illustration more seriously!
So anyway, my portfolio had a bunch of work that were more focused on design projects from school. I’d worked very hard to put it together and was kind of over it when it was done. And left it alone for the past 2 years!! Yikes.
Needless to say, my work has changed since then. But my portfolio still had a bunch of old logo designs and wedding invitation designs which I didn’t really want to do any more.
Because I was feeling kind of embarrassed about my outdated portfolio, I hid it deep inside my website and didn’t really promote it for a long time.
I was making more work but did’t bother to update my portfolio for so long. I would post my new work on my social media so I figured, people can just find my work there, right? Or go to my Etsy store to see my new products, yes?
I also didn’t like the fact that my website and portfolio (and my blog for that matter) all lived at a different place – my website is self-hosted vs. my portfolio and blog are hosted on WordPress.com. I do my own design for the website (html and css all the way!) but use the template for WordPress for blog and portfolio because my coding skills are pretty limited.
I’ve been wanting to do an overhaul and get everything on one platform and thought that would be a good time for me to update the portfolio all together. But that’s a huge task and I haven’t gotten around to it. And when I realized I didn’t have a clear timeline for it, I just didn’t want to wait any longer.
So the other day, I went into my portfolio site and spent a couple hours getting rid of old categories and pages and just made one simple page where you can see a bunch of my new work.
I kept the same WordPress theme (Twenty Thirteen, same as this blog) to keep a somewhat consistent look. And I used their portfolio feature with square grid to organize the page to keep it clean and simple.
I chose pieces that show my current style and focused on work that I’d like to do more of. It’s a place for people to find more curated work of mine rather than seeing different bits and pieces on social media.
It’s still work in progress but at least my work is fresh and I don’t feel so embarrassed about it any more 😀 Since I got rid of a bunch of pages and categories, adding new work will be a lot easier, too, and that should make it easier for me to keep it updated!
You can visit my updated illustration portfolio here if you’re interested! I hope you enjoy what you see.
I started using them after seeing my favorite artist Lisa Congdon use them. Many of her drawings are so colorful and lovely and made me want to try them, too!
Here are 6 reasons why I love drawing with Sakura Koi Brush Pens!
1. Beautiful Colors
Koi Pens come in 48 brilliant colors! I first started with their 12 color set and gradually added more colors I wanted to try. My local art stores carry the sets but not individual pens, so I just bought additional individual colors online on Sakura’s website, which was sort of a pain, but not terrible.
And then when Sakura approached me to be their guest Instagrammer last year, they sent me a very nice care package of awesome art supplies, which expanded my collection.
They’ve sent me the 48 color set recently (Merry Christmas to me!!) and I love trying them all.
48 color set comes in a fancy container, too.
When you get their 48 color set, it comes with the card stock insert you can see in the picture above. The back of the insert doubles as a handy color chart!
One morning, I had a lot of fun filling in the chart with all their pretty colors 🙂 You can also create your own color chart pretty easily.
Color chart is nice to have especially when you have so many different colors to play with! Some colors are not exactly the same as the color of the cap, so the color chart can help you see what it actually looks like on paper.
Some of the colors I use A LOT in my drawings are: Light Cool Gray, Ice Green, Peacock Green, Light Sky Blue, Fresh Green, Pale Orange, and Naples Yellow.
These are all pretty subtle colors and I use them often to blend and layer with other colors.
2. They blend and layer nicely.
Speaking of blending and layering, they’re transparent and you can easily create your own colors much like watercolor.
I often layer 2 or 3 colors to create different colors and add depth to my drawings. To do so, I often draw with the lighter colors first and layer darker colors on top. You can see the example from a drawing tutorial I created last year.
I don’t typically do this, but you can also blend the colors together by using watercolor brush and water or their colorless blender pens.
3. They’re odorless.
I didn’t even think about this until I reviewed their product information more in depth to write this post, but Koi Pens are water-based and odorless. Which is a good thing because I’m pretty sensitive to smell and some art supplies with odor give me a headache.
I definitely have a better drawing experience when the materials don’t make me sick! 🙂
4. Flexible tip
Though this is not exactly like using a brush, it does allow some flexibility and you can change the thickness of your brush strokes somewhat by adjusting the pressure you add to the tip.
When you first start using it, it’ll be a little stiffer so it’ll be easier to draw fine lines. As you use it more, you’ll break them in and the tips will be more flexible.
The tips do become a little flared with more use, and making fine details may become difficult. If you want to keep it fine, you might just want to get two of the same color and try to designate one for fine tip and the other for medium/bold.
5. Portable
One of the reasons why I love the Koi Pens so much is because it’s so portable. When you’re drawing with these, there is no need to set up – you just grab what you need and the way we go!
I have a little zip pouch I carry my favorite micron pens and koi pens in when I’m out and about so if I have some extra time, I can draw and sketch anywhere. I’ve never had any issues with leakage either while I’m carrying them around.
6. No Clean-UpNecessary
Unlike using paints and brush, there is no need for clean-up afterwards!
As a busy artist, this is a great news. I know often people want to have a consistent art practice but are discouraged by the hassles of set-up and clean-up. With these Koi pens, set-up is as easy as grabbing your pens and there is no mess to clean up afterwards!
Even if you make a mess or get some on your hands, it’s easy to clean up with water/soap because they’re water-based.
I store them in two groups – warm and cool colors.
I didn’t think markers would be my go-to medium before, but these Koi Pens had totally changed my view on markers and broadened my artistic horizon!
If you’re looking for new and fun drawing tools, definitely give them a try!
One of the things I’d like to share more in my blog is to share the tools and apps I love!
I want to start out by sharing the drawing tool I use the most in my work and play: Pigma Micron Pen by Sakura a.k.a. “Microns.”
You might have seen many of my sketchbook photos I share have Microns, and I was recently asked why I like drawing with them, so let me tell you why!
I started using Micron pens for drawing only a couple of years ago. I chose them simply because some of the artists I admire, like the handlettering artist Sean McCabe and artist Lisa Congdon, use and recommended them.
My favorite thing about it is how smoothly and evenly it writes/draws. Its pigment based ink is waterproof and fade proof as well, so I feel confident that my artwork will maintain its quality for a long time.
I like and use size 01 (0.25mm) for most of my work. It’s pretty fine, but since the ink flows out so evenly and the line is so consistent, I can trust it to handle some small detail work nicely.
It works well with my simple and clean illustration style as well. I also like to add my handwriting/handlettering to the piece and this size is my personal favorite to do so.
I use size 08 (0.50mm) sometimes when I want a little bit more boldness. This drawing was done in size 08 Micron.
No matter which size I use, I typically stick to using just one size within the same piece. I like the consistency of the look.
As far as colors go, I like drawing in black ink the best. I do like other colors and do draw with them occasionally to switch things up.
Floral line drawing in blue/blackOld buildings in Paris in purpleMushrooms in blueBerries in Jars in rose
I pretty much use my favorite Micron for all my writing and journaling too.
When I make my drawings, I typically just draw with the pen and no pencil sketch first. I used to sketch with pencil first and trace over it with pen, but when I did my 365 Day Happiness Is drawing project in 2014, I quickly realized that I simply didn’t have the time to be sketching first and making a perfect drawing every day!
When I draw with pen, my drawings have more spontaneous and organic look. It’s the key factor that makes my drawings wonky 🙂 Of course, I don’t always get it the first time when I draw with pen. So I start out sketching or practice drawing with pen or pencil a lot before I work on the actual piece. It’s a bit scary but I like the drawings I make this way better than any other! Plus you can use Photoshop later to touch up small mistakes 😀
If you want to see how I make my line drawings with a Micron pen, I share my steps in my upcoming tutorial here. And I’m guest Instagramming on Sakura’s feed this week in case you’re looking for more inspirations!
I’ve used other pens to draw before, but this is the one I keep coming back to. If you’re in a market for good quality drawing pens, give them a try 🙂
Are you on Instagram? If so, check out Sakura of America‘s feed this coming week! I’ll be their guest Instagrammer 🙂 Woo hoo!
I’ve loved using their products for several years, especially the micron pen (I often use black micron size 01) and Koi Coloring Brush Pens. So I was super excited when they reached out to me and invited me to be their guest Instagrammer.
Looks like I’m not going to run out anytime soon…
They first contacted me last summer after I competed my 365 Day Happiness Is drawing project from April 2014 to April 2015. When I say put your work out there consistently and the opportunities will come, I’m not kidding!
I’ll be posting new drawings on their feed every day this coming week 🙂 Hope you will follow along for daily inspirations!
I offered a free 4-week Creative Coaching email challenge during the month of January. I had about 40 creatives join me and sent out one prompt/challenge every Monday. I had a great time coming up with the challenges and enjoyed helping other artists explore their creative passions and make plans to achieve their goals.
First week’s challenge was to create an artist manifesto. What the heck is an artist manifesto, you might ask? Well, you can think of your manifesto as your personal or professional values statement. It’s a set of guiding principles to live your creative life by.
No matter what your creative pursuit is or where you are in your journey, it’s absolutely critical for you to understand why it’s important to you. Following your creative passion is a very rewarding but often lonely and scary journey. When the road gets rough and you start wondering if it’s all worth it, I want you to remember that you’re choosing this path for yourself. You’re saying yes to your creative passion because you want to, not because someone is forcing you to!
Your artist manifesto is like your compass. When you feel lost in your creative endeavor, you can always come back to it, and it’ll help you make a decision that is best for you.
I thought this was a perfect way to kick off our challenge for the month, and a lot of participating artists thought so too!
I asked if I could share their beautiful work and the process with you, my lovely blog readers, and I’ve got an enthusiastic YES from a handful of the artists!
I hope you enjoy meeting these artists and get inspired by their work as much as I did 🙂
Lisa Kaye
I am a painter/mixed media artist. I am truly my best self when I am immersed in the creative process. I was struggling with self-promotion, balance and finding a direction that was authentic to who I am as an artist. I was growing in many different directions at once without any real focus.
Working with Yuko I was able to create a plan and even narrowed down a direction (for now) that will support my continued growth as an artist (just even being ok with referring to myself as artist was a big deal).
I liked creating my personal manifesta because instead of just writing about my creative process or who I wanted to be as a painter; I was able to shift my focus to the bare bones of who I am and how I move through life as artist.
Lisa’s Artist Manifesto, or as she likes to call it her manifesta 🙂
Beth Colletti
I’m a mixed media and embroidery artist living in New Jersey and am always on the lookout for moments of wonder that I can capture in my work. I love to combine paint and thread to highlight beauty in places that are easily overlooked. My desire is to invite my audience to find reasons to delight in life’s ordinary, yet magical moments. Currently I’m working on expanding my product line beyond wall art to include other home decor items.
I actually had a lot of fun working on my manifesto – it came at just the right time when I was floundering a bit with my work and feeling a little lost. This project helped me really drill down to why I’m doing what I’m doing and gave me the momentum I needed to keep pushing forward. I find without reminders like this, I can get lost in the weeds of busyness and start comparing myself to other artists too much. My artist manifesto reminds me I’m on a unique journey filling a role that only I can fill.
You can find out more about me and my art at www.bethcolletti.com or follow me on:
Tania Denyer, 46 years old, have been an artist since ever I can remember. I sew, crochet, draw, paper craft, cook, bake… if it requires my hands and my heart, I am there. In 2014 (after an unexpected and traumatic job loss) I decided to start my business, Ginger Quilts.
I make custom quilts, teach quilt classes and do longarming for hobbyist quilters. Just before I lost my regular job, I was reading The Artists Way by Julia Cameron on the train and her introduction had me in tears. It was the start of realizing that my creativity was not something crazy I had to hide but a gift that I could celebrate and share 🙂
Creating my artist manifesto was at first a bit daunting, then as the thoughts came and I worried less over what I should and should not say (silencing the critic) it was fun! I felt empowered. I decided to write it out and doodle a bit (I have a doodling heart) and tape it somewhere I would see it instead of hiding it away. I felt it needed to be somewhere I could see it, read it and remember it… putting it on my sketchbook (I try to sketch everyday) was exactly where it needed to be.
My name is Emily Vanderlinden and I’m a volunteer, artist, and self-guided learner. This means I have decent say in how I spend my time so I try to balance it between being in community with those around me, researching topics related to my Open Masters (find out more at www.openmasters.org), and block-printing on fabric.
Most days I manage the social media accounts and website for Innisfree Village, a lifesharing community with adults with disabilities, and participate in art making with those adults. Whenever I can squeeze in some time, I read books about the optimal human experience, how to find flow and happiness in our work, art therapy, and printmaking.
I also go on walks and hikes to get inspiration from nature and create block-printed patterns according to those findings. I have a degree in Graphic Design, so I also do some freelance work for friends when I can!
I do a lot of my work on the computer so most of my brainstorming for this manifesto happened in rapid typing and stream-of-consciousness sentences! I’ve thought a lot about this in the past so it wasn’t particularly difficult, though finding a format that made sense was a challenge!
I chose to do my artist manifesto in a circular form to remind me that this is continuous and I can always add to it. After completing the writing, however, the paper felt boring and I wanted to leave the text clean so I chose to attach with a brad it to a colorful backing by one of the artists I work with. This way it spins for easier reading and reminds me what colorful people I have in my life to draw from!
By the time my manifesto was finished I realized that content AND function are a huge part of why I do what I do.
Isn’t it so cool to see how different artists come up with their artist manifesto? Every time I received an email from the participating artists and read/saw what they were working on, I got the chills. It was such a humbling experience to be the witness to their struggles, joy, and growth.
I was so honored to have them and others join me and learn with me in January! Make sure to check out their work and follow them on various social media platforms 🙂 BIG thanks to everyone who participated!!
I’m pretty sure I’ll be hosting a challenge like this again in the future – if you want to be kept in a loop, you can sign up for my e-newsletter here.
The other day, I was at a craft show with my booth selling my paper and hand block printed goodies.
It was going pretty slow for me. But I always enjoy getting to know my fellow vendors and chatting with the people who stopped by my booth.
In the afternoon towards the end of the day, this mother and daughter stopped by to look at my products. They were saying to each other how cute they thought my stuff was, so I thanked them and let them know they can pick up/touch anything and ask me any questions.
The mom started chatting with me about what I do and asked me how I became an artist. So I gave her a short version of my background and told her how I started making art for fun as an adult and gradually became serious about pursuing it as a career and eventually quit my day job at a non-profit social service organization last summer.
She seemed delighted to hear my story and proceeded to tell me her daughter is an aspiring artist. Her daughter was standing next to her looking a little uncomfortable now the focus was on her. She was about 13-year-old and wasn’t saying very much at this point.
Her mom started showing me the pictures of her drawings on her phone and was so proud of all of her daughter’s work.
I told them I liked her drawings – they were Manga drawings she’d made on her mom’s phone, and it reminded me of my Manga-drawing days of my pre-teen years, too. She smiled a little shy smile. She started scrolling the photos and showed me more work and told me a little bit about each – about the outfit her character was wearing, what the scene was about etc.
Her mom then asked me if I had any advice for her daughter for becoming a working artist some day. I thought for a second and shared my thoughts with them.
You’ve gotta work hard.
Practice drawing every day. Don’t try to make your work look like someone else’s. Your skills are important, and having your own style is even more important. Find something that’s uniquely you and let it shine through all of your drawings. Enjoy the process. And put your work out there! Let people find your gift.
I get pretty fired up about people pursuing their passion, so I may have been a little intense. But that’s the best advice I’ve gotten and wanted to pass on to anyone who is wanting to choose a creative path.
She nodded as she listened to what I had to say. After our little chat, they thanked me for my time and advice and left my booth to get on with their afternoon.
As they walked away, I felt a huge sense of fulfillment and truly wished her dream would come true some day. And I was once again reminded of how privileged I was to be able to pursue my creative passion so wholeheartedly in my current life.
And also, how cool is it that her mom is super supportive of her daughter’s creative passion? It’s so important for creative people, especially young people her age, to know that what they create is valuable and internalize that message.Having a parent who is so excited and encouraging of her creative path would help her future endeavors tremendously!
Try to encourage young people in your life to stay creative. And you can be a role model by staying creative yourself 🙂
As I’m redirecting my art biz goals this year and subsequently expanding the scope of this blog a bit to bring you more inspirations for creative and happy living, I thought it would be fun to share some of my other creative projects I’m working on from time to time. I always enjoy it when other artists share their non-work-related creative projects, so I hope you’ll enjoy mine, too 🙂
I’m sure many of you creatives can relate, but I like doing/making stuff from scratch (or as “from scratch” as possible). I find it so satisfying and empowering to learn to make something and do it myself. I know it’s not always practical to do things myself, but at least I learn how to do it, and I appreciate having the knowledge.
I’m particularly excited about DIY-ing when it comes to eating healthy. I’m passionate about eating organic, fresh, whole foods as much as I can. Maybe it’s because I’m becoming middle-aged, but I’ve been noticing more and more the effects foods have on my physical and mental well-being. I’m learning to listen to my body more and becoming more proactive about taking care of myself.
I can’t create inspiring and joyful art if I’m not well mentally, physically, or emotionally, you know?
A fun Northwest themed book cover I worked on a few years ago.
I’ve been learning more about food and nutrition and trying different ways to incorporate more healthy eating habits in my everyday life.
So today, I wanted to share with you how to soak nuts for healthy eating. Enjoy!
First of all, let me confess: I’m nuts about nuts. I’m especially nuts about almonds. It’s kind of an addiction… They’re great snack packed full of beneficial nutrients and taste SO good! Mmmmm.
As much as I love them and want to keep eating them all the time, sadly, my body doesn’t digest them very well, and I’ve noticed weird taste in my mouth if I eat a lot of them. Yuck.
I’ve been reading about nuts and learned that there are some toxins that are present in nuts, seeds, and grains to protect themselves, and soaking them will help remove the toxins and will help make it more digestible in human body. (Just a disclaimer: I’m no nutritionist and haven’t done any extensive study or anything. I got a ton of information about how to soak nuts, seeds, and grains and nutritional benefits of it on this website in case you want to learn more!)
We usually buy our nuts in bulk at our grocery store, but they don’t carry organic soaked almonds there. So I decided to soak almonds myself and see how they turn out!
Here is an illustrated recipe of how to soak and dehydrate almonds!
Information from healthyblenderrecipes.com. Note: you don’t need to dehydrate them if you’re using your almonds for soups or dips right away.
Here are some actual photos from the process.
These almonds had been soaked for a few hours already, and you can see the gunk in the soaking water already.You want to soak them in filtered water (about 2x volume of nuts) with a tea spoon of celtic salt dissolved in it.Cover the bowl with a thin flour sack cloth or other breathable cloth. My 100% cotton block printed artichoke tea towel did a perfect job!After soaking them for about 24 hours, I drained and rinsed them throughly. Then I put them in the dehydrator to dry.They were dried in the dehydrator for about 24 hours. Then I turned them off and let them cool/dry for another 12 hours or so.
This is an extra step, but I love roasting nuts! I think they taste so much better when roasted. So crunchy and extra nutty.
After the nuts were completely dehydrated, I roasted these in a baking sheet at 350°F for 10-15 minutes. You need to check/stir occasionally to make sure they’re not burned. When they burn, they burn very quickly and will continue to burn even after you take them out of the oven! I had an unfortunate accident a couple of times before 🙂 I listen for the crackling sound and the aroma of almonds and pull them out when I start hearing/smelling them.
Ta da!
I must say, it was kind of a lot of work just to eat some nuts, but I’d imagine it’ll become less of a hassle if I do it more often and it becomes a routine. I hope it makes a positive difference for my system!
My short answer: it comes from my deep desire to make my art business successful. I daydreamed about becoming a full-time artist for so long, and once I had the opportunity I wanted it to work out so badly. I hate letting myself down. And since I’m just a one-woman show right now, if I don’t hustle, it won’t happen. And I’d be a very sad person if I failed!
Even though I had a great job, it’s no surprise my heart wasn’t in it 100%. I was sad that I wasn’t following my creative passion all the time. I was frustrated that I couldn’t devote more time and energy into my art business. I had this yearning to have my life centered around creativity, and my reality wasn’t matching my vision.
When I quit my day job last summer, my reality finally matched my vision. And the scary thing was, I didn’t have any more excuse for how slow my business was growing. There was no “oh, well I have a day job and don’t have time to do my art and make my business happen!” It was time to hustle. It was time to do what I said I wanted to do for a long time. People around me seemed to think I could do it, and I had to prove to myself I could do it, too.
It’ll have been 6 months since I quit my day job when this post comes out, and the best thing about running my own show is actually not the fact I have more time to make art (because actually, I do a lot of other stuff to run the business than making art…), but it’s the fact I get to make decisions about my work and do what I love on my own terms. It also means if I slack off, it’ll take me longer to achieve my goals or not at all.
Sure it can be hard and stressful, and there are many annoying things about being your own boss. But it’s also extremely fulfilling. I just love it and want to protect it as much as I can!
With that said, I have other tools to keep me motivated and disciplined for the long run. Hope you’ll find them helpful!
1. Find your “why”
When I work for a goal, like working out regularly and sticking to a healthy eating habit, I need to have a very clear purpose. If I don’t understand why I’m doing something, I tend to be less engaged with the process, and it usually won’t last.
So when I quit my day job last summer, I spent half a day creating my artist manifesto. I went through a whole process to clarify why it’s important for me to have art and creativity as a center piece of my life. It’s a declaration of how I want to be in the world. You can peek into my process here.
My artist manifesto is put up on the wall by my desk, and every time I look at it, I feel encouraged and centered.
My artist manifesto
2. Seanwes podcast
I get SO much motivation about creativity and business from a handlettering artist/entrepreneur, Sean McCabe’s contents (especially his podcasts and YouTube channel). When I feel like slacking off, I listen to his podcast and get fired up immediately. You must check out his work if you’re a creative entrepreneur!
This 2-minute video always gives me the motivation boost! Show up every day for two years.
3. Public Commitment
When I’m working on something big or new, I like to let the public (i.e. social media & blog) know that I’m doing it and when. It worked really well when I worked on my 365 Day Happiness Project from 2014-2015. Even though my audience probably isn’t tracking what I’m doing as closely as I am, it gives me the extra motivation to say it out loud to the people who support my work.
4. Track your progress
I like to write down what I’ve accomplished every day. For most days, it’s small things like, writing a blog, sketching ideas for new work, or shipping my Etsy orders etc. But I’m no longer saying “What did I do today?” and actually see how productive I’ve been. And if I hadn’t been productive, I could review the day to see where I got stuck.
What’s great about tracking your progress, ideally every day, is that you can see how your everyday small accomplishments are helping you achieve your big goals. What you do every day, though it might seem unimportant, counts.
I hate doing finances. I just find no joy in the bookkeeping activity! But I make myself do my finances at the beginning of each month. I usually have a pretty good idea about how much revenue I had the previous month, but it’s nice to see the actual numbers especially if it’s more than what you thought! And it makes the year-end tax preparation a lot easier…
I also started tracking my social media following monthly a few months ago. I don’t want to put too much weight on how many people follow me on social media, but it’s good to know that my audience is growing 🙂
5. Accountability Partner
I have a few accountability partners I meet on a monthly basis. Having a one-on-one accountability and a dedicated time and space to talk about your goals and challenges is very helpful. It’s like when I know we have a visitor, we do a better job of cleaning our house. When I know I’m going to have my accountability meetings, I’ll be extra motivated to get stuff done. I wrote my experience with my accountability partners here and here if you’re interested!
6. Set a deadline for a project (even if it’s fake!)
I’m not gonna lie – If I don’t have a deadline for a project, it will NOT get done. It’s a fact. When someone (usually a personal friend) wants me to do something for them and tell me “whenever you have time, no rush!” It just won’t happen. I need a hard deadline to get motivated!!
So when I don’t have an external deadline assigned to me, I usually set one for myself and pretend it’s the hard and fast timeline to get something done by. I often combine this with the public commitment piece for extra motivation!
For example, when I had offered to teach my block printing class and group coaching sessions this spring at a local art school, I set the dates and time for the classes first and started promoting them before I had the contents. This way I have to make it happen, and it helps me backwards plan all the steps to execute it.
7. Develop habits that set you up for a long-term success
Of course, I’m human, and if I’m on all the time, I’ll eventually burn out. I believe firmly that avoiding burn-out is one of my top priorities for my long-term success and well-being. If I lose joy in what I do or get sick because I neglect to take care of myself, all bets are off, right?
Some of the habits I’ve developed for self-care are: getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night, getting up early and do something productive first thing in the morning, workout regularly, eating a healthy diet, no social media during meals, making sure I have plenty of alone/quiet time, and taking every 7th week off to recharge.
As you can imagine, maintaining these habits are not always easy! It means you have to say no to many things you enjoy doing. But that’s the thing about habits – once you get used to doing something over and over, you’ll start to feel off-balance if you don’t do it! And even if you slip every once in a while, it’ll be a lot easier to get back into it. If you’re trying to replace some of your unhelpful habits with more helpful ones, I say go slow, focus on one thing at a time! Be patient and kind to yourself if it doesn’t happen as quickly as you want. Developing new habits takes time.
Finding your motivation isn’t easy – especially if you’ve been trying hard for a long time and haven’t seen any significant results. These tools have helped me find a motivation when I felt like crawling into a hole and forget about everything. I hope it’ll inspire you to come up with strategies that work for you!
Take care, my friend 🙂
xoxo Yuko
p.s. My Creative Coaching service is officially open! Let me know if you’re a creative person needing help getting stuff done. Learn more here.
Today, I wanted to introduce you to a new line of products I made just in time for Valentine’s Day! ❤
When I create art for products, I imagine who’s going to use them. I imagine that it’s going to be loved by someone who is creative and wants to live her life full of joy and happiness. Someone who values simple things that are made with love and care. I imagine someone who likes to make things themselves, perhaps a gardener, who believes in taking care of themselves, people around them, and the earth. And I imagine that the person smiles a lot 🙂 I imagine their cozy home with lots of light, art, and books.
I wonder, “What would make them smile? How can my art products inspire even more creativity and happiness in their life?”
And, those are the essences that make all of my products so sweet and joyful. And these new Valentine’s Day goodies are no exceptions!
OK, but before I tell you the story behind the new gift collection, let me back up a little to the winter holiday season last year. You may remember I created this 2016 wall calendar with my sumi drawings.
This calendar became the best seller during the holiday season. Anyway, the Style & Design editor of Seattle Magazine saw them at one of the pop-up holiday shops and emailed me to ask if I had a Valentine’s Card they could feature in their publication!
They wanted something unique – something that’s done in my sumi drawing style and different from the traditional red & pink design.
At that time, I didn’t have any – BUT when a magazine wants to feature your product, you make it work (of course channeling Mr. Tim Gunn here!)
The turnaround time was pretty short, and I knew I didn’t have time to create something from scratch. So, I took a couple of images from the calendar and added some floral/heart motifs and created two brand-new Valentine’s/Love cards!
This sweet sumi drawing Tea for Two Love Card is a perfect alternative to a traditional red & pink Valentine’s Card. You can invite someone for a lovely afternoon tea date ❤
I also created this design using one of the images from the calendar. I imagined this kitty sending a music of love to his love ❤ This sumi drawing Cat Violinist Love Card will be sure to make any cat lover in your life smile 🙂
I also turned them into art prints! Gift of art will remind your special person how much you care throughout the year 🙂 The 8×10 giclee print of Tea for Two sumi drawing would look very nice framed.
The simplicity of these sumi drawings is timeless. Give a gift that fits right into your loved one’s everyday life. Cat Violinist sumi drawing is also available as 8×10 giclee print!
“Sea Otters hold hands while sleeping so they don’t drift away from each other.” Now, this is ADORABLE. This pen and ink drawing of sea otters holding hands was a happy accident I created for a fun personal project in January. But when I posted it on Instagram, people loved it and asked if I would sell prints. So I did! I didn’t create this specifically for Valentine’s Day, but this Sea Otter art print (8×10) will also make a lovely gift that will add extra sweetness to any home.
OK, I think that’s enough adorableness for today! (or can you ever get enough???) I’ll be back tomorrow with more inspirations for your Valentine’s Day gift ideas! Be ready for another dose of cuteness 🙂
Honeyberry Diary 