Blog
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Give Up Too Soon – Allowed to Push Through Hard Things
I have been blessed with a fair bit of stick-at-em (pure stubbornness), to the point of hanging on a little too long. But I still face with the temptation to give up. I do give up on some things sometimes. With creativity and doing something you love, the temptation to give up can become more than a simple frustration. It has a tendency to eat away at your resolve and dissolve your stick-at-em. When you put in the time and give the energy but the results are still slim … and the journey lasts much longer than you anticipated ... you may face a very real desire to toss it…
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Watercolor Background for Lettering
Watercolor backgrounds add depth and character to your lettering projects. Personally, I have a thing for black ink on white paper, and the majority of the time that satisfies my lettering craving. But when I add a little bit of color, the feel of the project changes completely, and I fall in love with the result all over again. Today, I’ll show you how I like to use the wet on wet watercolor technique to create a watercolor background for your lettering.
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Too Busy – Allowed to be Intentional with Your Time
Creativity Killer #5 – Too Busy In creative business, some days come easier than others. Sometimes, we’re focused and on task and cranking things out. Then other times, it feels like slogging through mud while walking uphill in a snowstorm. What makes the difference? Why are ideas exciting and energizing one day but overwhelming and unappealing the next day? What gets in the way of motivation and kills creativity? In this post, we’ll talk about the fifth of seven creativity killers and give ourselves permission to move beyond them. Too Busy Doing All the Things Being too busy can take on many forms in creative business. Too busy can mean…
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How to Paint Letters on Wood
You’ve seen those hand lettered signs all over the place, but none of them seemed quite right. The letters are too fancy or too hard to read. The signs are too big or too small or the wrong color completely. And the quote just isn’t you. Still, you love the idea. If you’re like me, this is the moment you start dreaming of how you can paint your own letters on wood. But where do you start? How do you paint letters on wood? This post will give you a good start, after that, it’s up to you.
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Too Many Ideas – Allowed to do One Thing at a Time
When I decide I want to do something, I dig into it, trying to think about it from many different angles. I listen to podcasts, read blogs and articles, and flip through books looking for answers to unending questions. I brainstorm possibilities, trying to find the ones that work. As I do, golden, sparkly ideas spring up everywhere, inspiration flows like a massive waterfall. One idea leads to another and another and another, drenching me with options. But sometimes … many times the very things that inspire and spark ideas in me create Creativity Killer #4, Too Many Ideas, leading me to become frazzled and unfocused.
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Faux Calligraphy
Faux calligraphy is the art of drawing calligraphy letters in a way that shows thick and thin variations without using a dip pen, paint brush, brush pen or other lettering tool. In fact, faux calligraphy can be done with almost any tool, even a regular pencil. It might sound complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. And it’s not just for calligraphy or hand lettering beginners. I use faux calligraphy when I design letters. You can do calligraphy with a pencil ...
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Striving and Stressed Out – Allowed to Slow Down
The word hustle shows up a lot in the online world. Everyone seems to glorify this sense of striving for goals. But what is it really and do we really want it? Dictionary.com says striving is to exert oneself vigorously; try hard; to make strenuous efforts toward any goal; to contend in opposition, battle, or any conflict; compete; to struggle vigorously, as in opposition or resistance; to rival; vie. For me, striving is when I’m trying to be ahead of where I actually am. (read allowed to be a beginner) It feels like a race against time. A race I can never win.
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Tulip Drawing with a Loose Watercolor Blend Technique
Tulip drawing. Who can resist tulips? Or flowers in general? When the weather turns warm, I throw the windows open, cut whatever flowers bloom and let the outside in. When I stop to paint, the same thing happens, the outside comes inside in the form of flowers. I gravitate to painting them just like the weather gravitates to warmth. Today, I want to share with you another way to use one of those Watercolor Techniques we learned about several posts ago. I called it the multi-colored splot technique. It’s very wet, allows for blooming (some people avoid blooming, but I love it), and it can add a lovely looseness to…
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Fear of Failure – Allowed to Make Mistakes and Keep Trying
What is fear of failure? Dictionary.com defines failure as an act or instance of proving unsuccessful or a lack of success. So, a fear of failure occurs when the thought of being unsuccessful threatens to incapacitate our efforts and desire to make progress toward a goal. We simply no longer attempt to succeed. We don’t push through procrastination, and we stop trying things that we find challenging. (Here’s an interesting article from Psychology Today, 10 Signs You Might Have Fear of Failure.) Fear of failure can feel like perfectionism (Creativity Killer #1), and they can be linked (if you want to read about Perfectionism as a Creativity Killer, read Perfectionism…
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How to Paint Watercolor Flowers
This week, we have a lovely watercolor tutorial from FTD. It shows you how to paint roses flowers in a style a little different than you usually see here. I hope you enjoy trying this technique. As the days start getting warmer, we can emerge from our cozy winter homes and embrace the new blooms in our yards. The garden is an endless source of inspiration for artists with its unique colors, shapes and shadows. One way to embrace this nature is by watercoloring flowers. Once you’ve mastered the basic watercolor techniques, you can apply them to painting a garden setting. To help you get started, FTD has a tutorial…
