My Love of Calendars

Hey guys! Calendars make me so happy. Ever since I was little I've gotten a wall calendar every year for Christmas. It kind of became a tradition for my mom to give me one every year. I still get excited about turning the page for the new month. Not just to see the new image/artwork but also because it's a new month! I love celebrating new months. 

Recently I've been having fun drawing out my own monthly calendar pages. I haven't been doing it every month but when I do it it's so much fun. It helps me to think about what's coming up for the month and what I want to accomplish too. It makes me think about birthdays which I'm terrible at remembering!

Do you like paper planning or digital planning? I could never get digital planning to work for me. Physically writing things down is the way to get things to stick for me. It makes it more fun too because then I can add doodles!

💗

Art Journal Play

Hey guys! As you know from my last post, self care is important to me. There are so many ways to take care of yourself and I find that just playing with my art supplies is one way I can do that. I have so much fun with it that I lose track of time. I find myself in a state of flow. 

Today I decided to use some of my artwork from my daily creative challenges. I'm always doing my own ICAD (index card a day) challenges so I have tons of decorated index cards everywhere. Why not use all of that art hanging around in your art journal spreads? Using magazines for collage is fun too but I think it makes the pages even more special when you can use your own artwork!

This page is from an art journal that I made myself. I had already painted and added some magazine collage and some wrapping paper on a different day. Today I wanted to try to add my own stuff.

I actually decided to make an envelop with two cards from 2 different ICAD challenges. I taped them shut on the top and bottom and at one end leaving one end open. I then adhered the envelop to my page from the bottom so that I could flip it up and down so that you could see both images.

Inside the envelop I put this little guy. Do you remember him from a few months ago on my Instagram account?

It's the jaguar I drew after visiting the zoo in May!

On the other side I decided to draw this silly little scene of a kitty trying to steal some treats from a tea party.

I hope that this inspired you to play in your art journal if you have one. Maybe it inspired you to start your own daily creative practice. Remember that everyone can draw. There's no wrong way to be creative. Do what makes you happy. Just have fun with it! 

Oh I shared a little video on my Instagram (@susannefyfe) account showing how my little envelop is stuck onto the page. Go check it out and feel free to follow me!

💖

My Happy List

Self care has been an important topic for me for quite some time. I think I really started thinking about it after I started my first job after college. Lately I've been thinking a lot about what makes me happy? What do I need everyday to make me feel good.

I decided to make a list of things that I need in order to stay sane, be happy, and to feel good. In fact I illustrated my list in my art journal.

So let me elaborate a bit on my list in no particular order.

1.  I know that I need to drink lots of water. If I don't drink enough then I feel terrible and I'll most likely get a headache. I always think it's funny when people say they don't like the taste of water. I love water. It's the best. I guess sometimes I want something with some flavor but when I'm super thirsty water hits the spot. I guess if you don't like the way water tastes you can always add some fruit tea too it or fruit juice ice cubes? Anyway, I'll worry about me and you worry about you. No judging any non water people. 

2. I know that I need to get outside. The sound of the birds and the breeze through the trees is so relaxing! I love to sit on the back porch with my hubby and watch the birds at the feeder and to water my plants and see what progress they've made growing. Taking a breath of fresh air is the best. Oh and it's best if I can go outside barefoot. Feeling the ground under my bare feet is just so therapeutic somehow. Nature is amazing and I love observing it. 

3. I need to be active! I feel so good after going on a walk or on occasion get a work out in. I'm good with getting the walks in but I feel like I should do workouts in the house when walking outside just isn't going to happen because of the weather. Do you guys after any fun youtube workout videos you like to watch and workout to? Blogilates is a really fun one if you're looking.

4. I need a really good hug from my hubby. I like the extra squeezy kind that feels like a massage. Hugs just make me so happy.

5. I need to journal or have a brain dump everyday. I feel so scattered and can't remember anything unless I write it down. I find that paper planning works better for me than digital planning with an app. Everyday it helps if I make a list of everything that I need to do. It also helps to just free write in my journal. Get everything out of my head without worrying about spelling or grammar. This is for me to get my thoughts straightened out. It also really helps if I sit down with my paper calendar at the beginning of every week and just review what's coming up. Otherwise I'll forget that we have a show coming up or a wedding or we're visiting family. Write everything down.

6. I also need to create something everyday. I might not be in the mood to draw or paint something everyday but I know that most days I really enjoy it and I just get lost in it. Time just disappears. I think that it's a better way to spend my time that being a couch potato. Creating something everyday whether I'm in the mood to or not helps me keep it a daily habit. If I don't do it, it feels weird!

So I invite you to make your own list of things that you need to do everyday to make you happy, keep you sane, and feel good. Illustrate it if you feel called to. I think it would be really fun to see your doodles! Do it on some really pretty stationary if you feel called to. I think that really spending time on this list and having fun with it is a form of self care because you're paying attention to your needs. 

Let me know what you think about self care. Is it overrated? Do you think it's important? Have you gave it any thought? I think it's a good thing to talk about.

💗

A look at some of my daily doodles

Hello! I just wanted to share some of my daily doodles. I believe that to keep the creative juices flowing you need to create everyday. When you just aren't feeling it you have to do it anyway. It doesn't need to be a masterpiece. Just grab some watercolors and put some color on paper. Just play for 5 minutes. 

Below I have some of my doodles from my index card a day challenge. I like to do this challenge from time to time. You should try it too. Index cards are nice and small so there's no need to feel overwhelmed. If an index card still feels too big to work with just cut it in half. There are no rules! You can do whatever you want on your cards or whatever you want to use. Just do something everyday.

I hope that these inspired you to try your own little challenge. If you want to see more you can check out my Instagram page. You can look up @susannefyfe and please follow me so I can see your creations too! Oh and I got more prints made from more of my artwork! I'm extra proud of these because this time I scanned them into my computer and I touched them up myself in Photoshop. I got a call today that they're ready to be picked up so I'll get those this week. So look for an upcoming post about those and I'll have them listed in my Etsy shop by the end of the week! 💗