As I've mentioned quite a few times, my birthday was this month. One special gift from my husband was an Apple Pencil.  I've had an iPad Pro for awhile now but had never used it to draw.  Since I have a Pencil to use now, I can!

I downloaded the Procreate app, which is supposed to be the app for creating on the iPad.  With some birthday cash, I signed up for a year subscription to Skillshare so I could learn to use Procreate and other fun things, art related and not 

Now I'm in the midst of a Learn to use Procreate class. I had to draw something, so I looked around the room and was inspired by a Russian stacking doll (a.k.a. a Matryoshka) my mom brought me back from Russia many years ago. So here's a digital sketch . . .

And now I'm in the process of adding color to my shapes.  So here's a few more screenshots of that ...

I'm excited about this.  In the past I've mainly been a pen and paper gal, and would just use the computer to sometimes add color or clean up a drawing.  I'm interested to see where this new medium will take me.

Now if only there were more hours in the day.

After finishing the 100 Day Project, I was understandably happy to have a little more freedom in my daily drawing.  I didn't have to draw an animal every day anymore.  

I still had the habit of drawing daily, though.  So I was free, but also felt a bit purposeless.  I have bigger projects I am working on, like the bug coloring book and a children's book written by a friend, but I found myself wanting a smaller series to help focus my daily drawing.

So I decided to focus on flowers, birth flowers actually. Most people know about birth stones, but not everyone knows that every month also has a flower.

I figured this project was appropriate to start in my birthday month, August.  So I started with that.

Then I jumped to November, as requested by my husband who will be turning 33 on November 16th

And then today I started in on October, since my little dude will be turning 2 on October 18th.

One thing I remembered about myself as I've been drawing these flowers is that ... I don't really enjoy drawing flowers.  I get bored with all the petals and leaves and such.

Which is interesting, because I generally enjoy drawing repetitive patterns.  Such as ...

But petals are different.  They are repetitive, but also each petal is individual and it's own unique challenge.  As opposed to a flat, geometric pattern which is more predictable.

Oh well, I've already committed, I'm seeing this through.  And I think they will make lovely little prints and cards.

Which month should I do after October?

I had been neglecting my Etsy shop for a long time.  By that I mean I hadn't been adding any new listings or putting forth any time or effort to increase sales over there. Part of the reason I always put off creating new listings is that I had to have the time/energy/space/correct light to photograph my work at home. 

And even then I wasn't super excited about the results. 

I'm not a photographer, ok?  I draw.

But then I learned about the beauty of mock-ups, over on this blog post.

A mock-up is an image that gives a customer an idea of what a product will look like in the real world.   For instance, I bought this mockup from another Etsy seller.

And now I'm able to plug my own card image in and use it in my shop.

This is so much easier than photographing each individual card and print that I sell.  I feel like my world has opened up!  I'm excited to dig back into my Etsy shop and give it some more TLC.

To that end, I've actually got a sale going on right now.  In honor of my birthday being  this Saturday, you can get 15% off from now through Monday, August 13th. Happy birthday to me!

Since my last post, I've definitely felt an uptick in motivation. 

First, from all the kind and encouraging words people have said in response. Thanks.  It sincerely means a lot.  Verbal (and written) encouragement does wonders for my motivation, for better and for worse.

Second, I just got back from a super sweet, relaxing, and fun beach trip.  I got to spend quality time with some of my favorite people at a lovely place--how could I not come back refreshed? (Well, traveling home with delayed flights and a toddler was not particularly refreshing, but we've recovered from that part of the trip now and are enjoying the memories of the good parts.)

Here are some snapshots.

I think the reality is that even if I get super successful and start making gobs of money with my art, there will always be an ebb and flow with how I feel about it.  That's just the nature of creating.  Putting pieces of myself out there. 

Here's a piece, for instance.

I just added that Bison to my Redbubbble shop.

I've also been neglecting my Etsy shop lately and have some plans to revamp it a bit. 

Stay tuned!

Also, it is now my birthday month! I will be celebrating all month, thank you.

I changed my little blurb to the right.  Over there under "LAURA".  If you're on a smart phone you have to scroll to the end of the page to see it, so I'll copy and paste the blurb here for you folks.

The reason I'm thinking this today is I've been struggling lately. Sometimes I'm hesitant to share this stuff on my blog because I want to appear "professional" and put-together. I worry a potential customer/licensor will read this and not want to work with me.  

But that's not what this particular space is about.

 I've been pretty discouraged regarding my art, and how I'd hoped to be further along by now.  I'd really like to be contributing more to my family's income with this, but I'm just not. A lot of times in the past few weeks I've wanted to just quit spending my precious free time on this art thing and do something else.

And the social media thing can be tricky, because I get super inspired by other artists, but on the other hand I can also get super jealous at their success.

So I've been feeling discouraged.  I could talk about it for awhile but I'll leave it at that.

One thing that encourages me is scrolling through my own profile.  I really like what I've been drawing. I think I'm good at it.  I want to grow, but I think what I have done is good and fun.

So I've decided for now to keep showing up.  Keep showing up to make art and look for ways to grow it as a business.  To-do lists and schedules help.  Even when I'm feeling unmotivated, I can stick to a schedule (like writing a blog post on Wednesdays, or spending at least 10 minutes drawing everyday).

And really, I have a fantastic life.  Even though I wish I had more time to learn and create and work,  I love getting to spend my days with this guy and wouldn't trade it for anything.

It's astounding how much I love him.  You always hear that will happen when you have kids, but you never really know until you know first hand.

This post is a celebration!  Today is day 100 of the 100 Day Project! 

Here's a look back onto Day One

And with this tangly snake, I am done!

As I've already said on Instagram, I am pretty dang proud of myself.  This is a momma-win.  This isn't the first time for me to complete the 100 Day Project, but it's my first time to do so as a momma.

The first year of Ransom's life I attempted it, but threw in the towel after 20 days.  I think that was a good idea on my part.  I read in a book recently that when you are a new momma, there are only two things on your to do list everyday -- keep baby alive, keep mommy alive.  On those two points I was successful.

Now, in Ransom's second year, I feel more capable to take on a tiny bit more than those two things.  Just a tiny bit.

There he is just earlier today, helping momma return some window shades to Home Depot. He's such a great sidekick.  And by that I mean he makes every errand harder but more cute.

So for 100 Days I've cultivated this habit of opening my sketchbook every day--usually right when I put him down for a nap.  Sometimes I had to wait til post-bedtime, and on a few rare occasions I completed a drawing while he was awake and being independent. 

I'm going to try to continue to ride this wave.  No longer will I complete a full drawing everyday, but I will strive to draw daily.  Now I can focus on bigger pieces, other projects (like the coloring book and children's book I'm slowly plugging away on) and add more to some of my animal drawings.

I'm also excited to do another 100 Day Project next year!  I'm thinking I'll do 100 Days of Hand-Lettering, because that is something I've been wanting to grow in.  But we'll see. 

It's interesting how taking a week off from blogging (last week was just busy) now makes me feel like I have nothing to say. The more I blog, the more I have to blog about, and the opposite is true.

The same goes for drawing, or any creative endeavor. I've been drawing every day for almost 100 days, and it just makes me want to draw more and more.  In six days, when this challenge is over, I still want to draw everyday.  But it can be what I want.  And it doesn't have to be a brand new drawing everyday.  I'm looking forward to that.

But it's not over yet.  There are still six more days!

Since I still don't know what else to say today.  Here is my least favorite drawing of the past 10 days.

And here is my favorite.

In a month Ryan, Ransom and I will be joining my family in Florida for a lovely week on the beach -- a beach we can actually swim in!  The Oregon coast is beautiful, truly my favorite place to escape to on a weekend, but it's often chilly and overcast and the water is freezing. Spending some time on a warm and beautiful beach with some of my favorite people sounds so lovely.

In honor of that, I've drawn a stingray for day  79 of the 100 Day Challenge. 

Here are my toes back in 2015, which was the last time I was in Florida.

Ransom also got his art on today.  I love watching this little dude explore. I hope to set up a little art exploration area for him at home soon.

This 100 Day Challenge is flying by!  It's been so great to commit to a daily rhythm of drawing.

Some days I know what animal I want to draw right away.  I've been inspired by one of Ransom's books, or an animal we saw at the zoo, or a friend mentioned their favorite animal to me. 

Today was not one of those days.  I put Ransom down for a nap and then plopped down with my iPad and started scrolling through animal pictures on Pinterest.  I decided to narrow it down to farm animals... then I thought how I haven't ever done a cow ... then I saw a picture of a Highland Cow...  Yep, that's the one.  The cutest kind of cow there is.

Ryan and I saw some a few years back when we were on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

(Do you think they even appreciate the view?)

Man, that was one of my favorite trips.

Anywho, here's mine.

At first I regretted adding any color and was afraid it got lost behind all the brown, but now I think it turned out alright. Maybe sometime I'll go back and beef up the background (ha, did you catch that unintentional pun?).

And here we are in Scotland again, so fashionable in our mosquito nets. (Because of all the midges)

It's been awhile since I've added anything new to my Print on Demand shops (i.e. Society6, TeePublic, Redbubble ), because I've been so focused on other projects. This week though I decided it was about time and so I scanned and edited this lovely little design.

It is inspired by John 15:5. "“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  --> The whole idea of practicing the presence of God, of living out of his strength and not my own.

I don't really talk about my faith much on this blog, and it really doesn't show up much in my art either. But it's such a core part of who I am.  I often wonder if/how to express that here and in my art.

There is just so much cheesy Christian art in the world.  That makes me hesitant. Also, I don't want to just try and get sales by creating something Jesus-y -- using God's name in vain i.e. for my own benefit.

I'll at least say it on this post.

I follow Jesus.  I put my hope in him.  My identity as a daughter of God is above all my other identities -- as a wife, mother, artist, etc.  It's the one thing about me that will never change.

So I strive to abide in him everyday, and to create habits in my life that cause me to turn my thoughts and actions towards him and his way of life -- which I believe to be the best way to live. (I'm reading a good book about that -- The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard )

So yeah, that why "abide." 

And then cherry blossoms are pretty.

And if you just like the cherry blossoms but don't care much about the word, I used my fancy computer skills for you.