It's hard to believe, but this is the TENTH year of the Positively Present Gratitude Challenge! I've been doing this for a decade (and I know many of you have too!), and I'm so excited to begin this year's challenge on November 1.  There's always something special about celebrating gratitude during the month of November each year, and this year it feels like we need the reminder more than ever. As always, I'll be sharing illustrations on Instagram daily (follow me on Instagram if you're not already!), but feel free to use these prompts for art, photos, collages, or whatever else f ..read more

  It's hard to believe it's been months since I've written a post! This year, for all of us, has been such a strange one. For some, it's been heartbreaking. For others, merely unusual. But, regardless of what's happened in your life, 2020 has been a year of change. Like it or not, 2020's smacked us all over the head with one of life's universal truths: things change and, as a result, we change.  Change isn't my favorite thing. I love a good routine, a safe space, the comfort of the known. It's that love of sameness that prompted me to write my soon-to-be-released book, Grow Through ..read more

  Another list featuring things to do during stay-at-home time? I don't blame you if you're rolling your eyes. But, after doing some research, I've found that a lot of these curated lists rely heavily on two things: having someone else in your home with you and having the money to purchase all kinds of stuff to keep you entertained. Having neither a companion nor discretionary funds, I thought I'd come up with my own list of things that (most) people can do if they're solo and unable to shell out money for online classes, gardening tools, or baking supplies.  I've tried my best to get creati ..read more

  Things are tough right now. With coronavirus circling the globe, impacting nearly every citizen on Earth, the world is a weird place right now. We're all facing uncertainties about what the future will hold. We don't know for sure what will happen with our health, the health of our loved ones, our jobs, our communities, and more. It's unnerving, to say the least.  During times like these, it's okay to be overwhelmed, scared, or anxious. In fact, it's normal. You're not alone in feeling how you feel. I, too, feel overwhelmed and unsure. So, of course, I did what I always do -- I created som ..read more

Much as I hate to admit it, I've never really been a try-er. If something comes easily to me or I only have to put in a moderate, not-totally-unenjoyable work, I'll do it. When I encounter anything I'm not immediately decent at doing (or something that is out of my control in some way, I find myself putting in a minimal amount of effort, doing what's needed to get things done (if I even do it at all). During a conversation with a friend a few months back, I was pondering why I do this. Why do I just not try at certain things? Or, when I do try, why do I not try particularly hard?  I could ..read more

  As winter arrives, I'm taken back in my mind to last year... Last winter, I was really down and out at the start of 2019. I spent so much time in bed, engaging in unhealthy coping methods, and generally just feeling rotten about myself and my life. While I don't know for sure if this was general depression or Season Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) -- I should have sought professional help, but I didn't -- I do know that it was pretty terrible to feel that way.  Though I feel very differently now than I did then (not gonna lie -- 2019 turned itself around and turned out to be one of the best yea ..read more

  HOORAY! The NINETH year of the Positively Present Gratitude Challenge is about to begin on November 1! Though I keep a daily gratitude journal, there's always something special about celebrating gratitude during the month of November each year. Having a specific topic to focus on each day really makes me pay even more attention to the things I'm thankful for, and I hope these annual prompts help you too!  As in previous years, I'll be sharing illustrations on Instagram daily (follow me on Instagram if you're not already!), but feel free to use these prompts for art, photos, collages, or wh ..read more

  Note: A lot of what I learned about Highly Sensitive People (aside from my own personal experience), came from Elaine N. Aron's book, The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You. If you want to learn more about the info that's not personal-experience-based, I highly recommend you check it out or visit her site here!    WHAT IS A HIGHLY SENSITIVE PERSON (HSP)?  Basically, Highly Sensitive People (HSP) is a term developed in the 1990s to describe people who pick up on subtleties that most others ignore. HSPs are more sensitive to external stimuli (sounds, colors ..read more

Today I turn 36! Age is just a number, they say, and the older I get, the more I realize the truth in that statement. With every year, I feel both changed and exactly the same. There are parts of me that will always be and there are parts that will shift over time. One thing I know for certain is that, the older I get, the less I know. I gain wisdom, yes, but I also gain the realization that so much of life is a mystery (and so much is uniquely experienced in ways that are difficult to put into words).  This time of year always puts me in a state of reflection, and this year I've compiled ..read more

Get this print in the shop here!  I'm in the midst of working on a very exciting project (can't wait to tell you about it soon!), and I've been listening to makeup videos while I work. I rarely even wear makeup, but there's something about these videos that just works so well as background noise! All that makeup talk in the background has had me dying to draw makeup things so I was thrilled when I thought of the mood makeup idea the other day.  Once I started thinking about it, I realized just how many things factor into a person's mood! It's incredible! Obviously, some of these impact some ..read more