Is it just me, or uhhh, how many months are in January 👀 A lot happened. Let’s turn in and focus on our creativity for this moment though, yeah?

Firstly, I want to thank everyone who responded to last month’s Playground email with your word for 2025. I wanted to make these even more special, so I combined our 2025 words together 🥹

You can print it out if you’d like to hang it up in your creative space. I think this community is just so special, and this was a way we could come together in a new way, full of intention and connection.

More fun downloads are below, too. Hint: 🐍🏮

You know those projects that you start, sometimes finish, but most definitely got sidetracked with even more ideas and found oneself in a quagmire, doing anything and everything but finishing the initial project you started with? Hi 👋 you’re my type of people.

What started as a bunch of flat, simple illustrations of rabbit astronauts ended up opening a door creatively for me that I’m very excited about. The initial project was (still is) washi tape, so I knew I needed bold, flat illustrations for them to translate on a teensy tiny scale. But instead of designing the washi tape on a washi-strip-sized file, I drew them larger because I figured I may eventually want to use them for something else, too. Welllll I might have stumbled into a style I'm now obsessing over.

And so the late night drawing sessions began. Square canvases, flat color, animal faces, derpy mouths. The best part of it is that I did them for no reason at all.

But of course then my inner child was screaming “I need this to be a sticker!” so stickers they shall be. I may have gone a little overboard and just added 9 new stickers to the shop, and I can almost guarantee that I’ll have more coming. I just started typing the words “my favorite is” but bailed because as I was trying to decide which is my favorite, I actually couldn't because I love all of them.

The main takeaway from these art sessions, as fun as they are, is continuing to discover and identify my creative preferences aka my art style. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a texture girly for days (I’ll never be able to take myself seriously when I say “girly” …and am I supposed to spell it with an -ie? I need more Gen Zs in my life I think…), but something about these flat, bold colors stole my heart this month.

I love it when I find a good ware. From essentials to splurges, these are my picks for wares this month…

an even more opaque white paint pen than the ones we know and love?! You tell me what you think 🤤
these packing cubes that I’m shocked I didn’t design myself because they were MADE FOR ME, and I’m willing to be that a handful of you will love them too because they say: “silly little things” “sweet little things” “bits and bobs” and “bobs and things” (👈 I didn’t add commas because I was taught they go inside the quotation marks in school but now punctuation surrounding quotations is challenging everything I’ve ever known and I’m beginning to think it’s a Mandela effect)…

ANYWAY check them out because they’re adorbs and I snagged a set for Australia (we leave tomorrow 🥳)!
I’ve shared this one before, but I’m sharing it again because it’s one of my must haves for sitting for long periods: this extra dense memory foam seat cushion (it’s $16 off right now too). Bringing it back around because as I was searching for compact travel cushions for my badly bruised tailbone 🙄 I just kept thinking ughhh I wish they had a foldable thin version (yes, I know they have the thinner one for cars but it’s too bulky for a flight so you shhh now). And I need to share about it again because alllll of you who grabbed one after I shared it the first time have told me how much of a game changer it’s been. They also have like over 20 colors so that’s fun too. DON’T go for a knockoff, trust me. Just get THIS one.

I may or may not have also just snagged up their lumbar cushion and I can stand by that as recommendation too.
Ooo one more thing! These granola bars are delicious and have veggies in them! I found them in my niece & nephew's food stash and got excited when I was reading the ingredients. I probably shouldn't have read it out loud, though, because I don't think they liked hearing that spinach and shiitake mushrooms were in their chocolate chip bars. I meannnn, more for me then 🤷‍♀️

Did you know that a rigger brush is the same as a liner brush? which is the same as a script brush? Liner brushes have long, thin bristles, and are called “rigger brushes” because they're historically used for painting rigging lines on ships in maritime paintings.

This year's one-page printable calendar is ready! 2025 is the Year of the Snake, and I went all out with it because I made two colorways and a mobile wallpaper. Download to your heart's content!

Click here to download!

Keep your eyes out because registration for this year’s Procreate Bootcamp is opening VERY soon! We begin the weekend I return from my trip!

In a nutshell, Procreate Bootcamp is 6 weeks of:

✨ guided prompts and challenges to spark your creativity and push your thought boundaries

✨ weekly live workshops to help you develop new techniques and refine your skills

✨ a supportive community where you can share your progress, receive feedback, and stay motivated

I can't wait for you all to dive into the brand new prompts for 2025!

New tutorials & blogs:

Yes, a lot of Procreate this month - I'm clearly excited to dive in to Procreate Bootcamp in a few weeks!

So. Many. Granny. Squares. There's even more than this, but this is when I was having a moment of omg this is so much work for just a bunch of squares. It's assembled now, but I'm having the hardest time deciding on backing fabric 🤔
I drew so much this month. I know that sounds weird because it's what I do for work, but you'd be surprised how much art I don't do because it's my job. So getting to draw makes me very cheerful.
Stickers in action because I'm 5yo right now and it isn't taking much for me to get excited about something… Is it colorful? Excited. Is it chocolate? Excited. Glitter? Even more excited. Is it a sticker? Ahhh losing my mind excited.

Well, my friends, that's a wrap for January, and now I'm off to the land down under, where it's summertime and has animals I've never seen. Two for two--already starting strong!

Thank you for being part of this beautiful creative community.