Hello, my friends! Hard as it is to believe, it’s that time of year when Christmas is just around the corner. For this year’s free printable holiday tags, I decided to use some illustrations from my latest book, SHIBUI: THE JAPANESE ART OF FINDING BEAUTY IN AGING. Most of the illustrations didn’t make it into the book, but I enjoyed painting them so much that it seemed a shame not to use them for something. I also doodled a few somewhat more holiday-esque illustrations and made them into tags ... Read more
2024 Free Printable Holiday Tags
Hello, my friends! Just stopping by to let you know that I designed a few simple and cute (and free!) printable tags for you. I am, at the moment, feeling pretty rough and under the weather. All I know is that it's not COVID, but it's tenacious. I wasn't sure if I'd get these tags done this year, and as always I had such ambitions. Ohhhhh....my perennial ambitions. But as Buddha says (or at least I think it was Buddha), "Enough is a feast," and I'm going to call these sweet ones good ... Read more
Free Floral Printable Cards + Envelope
Hello! ‘Tis the end of the month, and it occurred to me that Mother’s Day is less than two weeks away. As per usual, I like to offer up a free printable whenever my schedule is flexible enough. You can download the file by clicking here or on the image: I painted the florals using Procreate and making this little stationery set is actually quite easy. My Creativebug Digital Painting Daily Practice launches tomorrow (May 1st!!) and I show you exactly how. We start with the very ... Read more
Foxtasia + Squirrelly Thoughts
It's the end of September and here I am, pondering life as usual. I found this watercolor doodle in my sketchbook, and it reminded me of how M used to jokingly call me "Foxtasia." He has all sorts of nicknames for me, and the cutest is probably "Honeybunny." He has a thing for animal references, as you can tell. I just read an alarming article about how easy it is to create picture books with AI. I am overwhelmed by how it’s not just picture books that AI can seamlessly generate, but anything ... Read more
Queen Anne Book Company: A bibliophile’s haven
Hello, my friends! If you've been around here for any length of time, you know that Queen Anne Book Company has a very special nook in my heart. In March, the store will be celebrating its 10th year since becoming QABC under the purview of the current owners (the bookstore itself has been around for about two decades in the same location). My very first book deal (Little Kunoichi!) came about because of this wonderful store -- I wrote about it here (I go on and on about my thoughts on criticisms ... Read more