Ummmmm already the 9th volume of my monthly overshare digest?! I'm going to have to stop counting and just say “here I am with a new playground sesh” because my perfect consistency is out of control 🤣
Spare Time Creations
I haven't had a tonnn of time for personal projects over the last month because I've had a lotttt of deadlines, but I have done a handful of “personal work” projects. Does that count?
Both of these gems are live on the site and ready to go, but I haven't announced either of them yet because I haven't actually written any marketing copy for them, so I'll casually share with you all here…
Thing #1
I recently realized this and COULD NOT belieeeeve that I didn't have a botanical line drawing class since 2017. Like, WHAT?!
I've taught this topic so much all over the world, I've got several books drawing and painting florals, and yet a very, very outdated class 😳
This was unacceptable and it was due time I created an updated, easy to follow class on all things botanicals. This led me to create Blooming Lines.
(As I'm writing this I'm realizing THIS might be the promo copy hahaha 😂)
Anywayyy if you want to easily draw botanicals, you can learn all about the class right here.
Thing #2
Blooming Lines actually came after I created a Procreate brush pack. 👆 That one.
I decided it would be helpful to have a brush pack that has different shape silhouettes of allllll the flowers that color and texture could be added to (I'm talking flowers from the top, from the side, stems, leaves, compound leaves, the centers of flowers… etc), which also prompted me to create even more brand new drawing and texture brushes! So this massive brush pack was born, and not quickly, either 😅
So these, if you can count them as such, were my “personal” projects over the last month.
Favorite Finds
I love it when I find a good ware. From essentials to splurges, these are my picks for wares this month…
- I've been really leaning into both audiobooks and my kindle using Libby. (Side note: I never knew I'd like a Kindle but Laura got me this one for the Christmas before last - and I never ever read, but now I'm almost to 20 books this year!!)
If you haven't heard of Libby, it links to your local library and you can use your library card to read and/or listen to books for freeee! A lovely member in my community told me about it last year and it's a game changer.
- I didn't realize these water bottles were a trend. I just know that my sister-in-law came over and I liked the look of them. Then when I used it, I was like, wow… now that's a good mouth feel. You know what I'm talking about? It's like your favorite type of mug. You KNOWWW you like some more than others. Take that feeling and apply it to a water bottle. Not to mention its features: sip through a built-in straw OR tilt to chug, plus a leakproof seal! I'll unnecessarily take one in each color, pls.
- It has come to my attention that not everyone knows about Jellycat. You can thank me later. (They're also known to retire them after a while so be sure you snag the one you fall in love with!)
Random Fact
While chatting with Elina during a very important weekly work meeting, our discussion led to the name of ladybugs. Yes, I just told you it was very important 🤪 But c'mon, if you can't spend the first 30 minutes of your weekly meeting having fun… right?!
Anyway, ladybugs. That's what they're called in the US. A few years ago I had an art commission for a card company in the UK and the brief mentioned a ladybird. So I went to look up what bird I'd be drawing, come to find out it was a ladybug. It's random, it's not that interesting, but I'm glad we chatted about it because I found this out:
Elina's from the beautiful country of Estonia and she speaks 5 languages. That's not a typo. As we were chatting about the ladybugbirds, she said, “you know what I just realized? The translation of ladybug (божья коровка) from Russian is literally ‘God’s little cow' ” and I can't tell you the glee I felt in that instant.
Moving forward, the ladybug will be God's little cow.
Random fact for the win, eh? This month's recap and personal musings now!
Personal Musings
- Quick trip to New York with Laura's mom and sister, which was so very fun! We made it a Broadway trip and checked off ✔️ Hadestown (for a second time because it's that good), ✔️ Chicago, and ✔️ Illinoise. And what a vibe shift each and every time! Hadestown still wins the gold for me. However, this leads me to #2…
- …which was my first-ever ambulance ride. The scariest moment of my entire life occurred in the middle of Hadestown. I'll set this scene in its mildest form: I started feeling off about halfway through the show and ended up half-conscious, very sweaty, on the floor of a busy public restroom. Nobody, not even the paramedics, could figure out what was wrong. I couldn't speak, walk, or stay alert, and I kept getting sick. I don't even drink, so this was bizarre.
After a lottt of brainstorming, my hypothesis is a combination of food poisoning and vasovagal syncope - it turns out it can be triggered from all sorts of stuff (not just getting my blood drawn haha 😅) like heat, any body straining like food poisoning… cool cool cool NOT. Anyway, I'm totally fine. And I'm waiting for the bill in the mail.
Aside, WOW to how incredible the staff at the Walter Kerr Theater is. I couldn't have felt safer or more taken care of in such a hectic part of such a big city.
- Not related to either of those two, I had a squirrel moment at home while perusing who-knows-what on my phone and saw a beaded cat bracelet. Which meant that I obvs needed to make one. I tried with the beads I had but it turns out the project called for different beads. A $50 Etsy order and 6 days later, I made a beaded cat head 😂 because why buy it for $5 when you can make it for $50?!
Weee that's it for this month's Playground. Thanks for letting me overshare. I can't tell you how much this community means to me, how much you mean to me! ❤️
Don’t miss the next monthly digest overshare!
Who knows what’ll be in these emails, but I can promise you that they’ll be entertaining (to say the least). You can make sure you get the next one here!
