I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately when writing this blog. I’m the kind of person who spell checks and proof reads before I’ve even finished my first draft. It would probably be much more efficient for me to jot down my general ideas and write out a first draft. And then do all the massaging, editing and proofing. But I can’t seem to work that way.

Are you feeling frustrated, stuck, or generally lacking in creativity right how? It happens. You may be hard at work inside my 8-week Academy program and need a breakthrough. Or you may still be dreaming about surface pattern design and putting your own beautiful designs on real products but you don’t know where to start. Or maybe you’re just not feeling well due to allergies or June gloom, that Southern California weather pattern with cloudy, overcast skies.

I think I mentioned that I’m leading a 100 Day Challenge right now with a group of 50 creatives in my community. We are on Day 78 of 100 which feels amazing. The reason I’d like to talk about this is because I entered this year’s challenge with the goal of using my iPad Pro, Apple pencil and an app called Procreate every day for 20 minutes for 100 days in a row. What I discovered is that my love of the overall process is what has kept me going when I wanted to quit, switch gears or felt unmotivated or lacking in creative ideas.

I just published my tenth class on Skillshare and have been talking about it a lot this week. The class is called: What I Learned From My 1st Year Teaching on Skillshare. I want current and former students to know about it, watch it and give it a thumbs up. I also want to attract new students to my creative community by sharing everything I’ve learned. If you aren’t currently a member of Skillshare, you can get 2 months completely free if you sign up through my personal teacher link.

Welcome to this week’s blog post. I’m thrilled to introduce you to Kathleen Lambert, one of the students in my Surface Pattern Design Academy program. She completed the course back in March but once you are in the program, you are in my community forever! I can’t wait for you to meet her. She is such a great example of a strong woman who has always put others first and finally decided to invest in herself. Read on to learn all about what she is creating!

Do you struggle with the feeling that you may run out of creative ideas? I’ve just finished the second launch of my signature course, The Pattern Design Academy, and students are diving into the first module of the course this week. Several comments have popped up in our private Facebook group about creativity, originality, and how to stay current, relevant and yet unique in your design work. Let’s talk about it.

I just wrapped up my most recent free LIVE Workshop: How To Get Started in Surface Pattern Design. It was incredible with amazing engagement by the 847 creatives who participated. I taught them how to make their very first successfully repeating pattern in Adobe Illustrator. In 10 days. With many of them using Illustrator for the very first time. It was magnificent. We have been celebrating their WINS together.

I’m incredibly excited to talk to you today about the revolution that’s happening in online education. Online education isn’t new. It’s been around for more than 20 years but it’s absolutely exploding right now. Tony Robbins and his partner Dean Graziosi have just launched a program called The Knowledge Business Blueprint that’s all about the power of learning and implementing quickly through online education. They call it the “roadmap to the next level of life”.

The 100 Day Project started as a workshop led by Michael Beirut, a professor at the Yale School of Art. I learned about this last year and essentially, the exercise is to pick a design task that you can repeat every day for 100 days in a row.  The only “rule” is that you do the same action, in some form, every day and keep track so you can present or look back over all 100 versions at the end of the project.

It’s funny but until I learned about Surface Pattern Design a few years ago, I had no idea that this entire industry existed. Maybe you’ve never heard of it either. Once you know about it and dive into making your own designs, your whole perspective shifts. You notice patterns EVERYWHERE you look and I want to make sure you realize the vast opportunities that await you in the industry.

Do you see patterns everywhere you look? Have you always wanted to create your own and put your designs on fabric or other products? Well, I’m excited to share my top 3 secrets to surface pattern design success.

Read the blog and then join my FREE live workshop. Enrollment is OPEN. You’ll learn the key steps to making a successfully repeating pattern in Adobe Illustrator. Don’t wait. Grab your spot. Seats are limited. Class starts on May 9.

Watching the inferno rage inside the Notre-Dame cathedral yesterday was heart breaking. After getting the CNN alert on my phone, I rushed to turn on the TV. But after several minutes, I couldn’t watch anymore. The images of the burning inferno erupting from within her were too much. I couldn’t handle the feeling of helplessness combined with sadness at the impending disaster.

I attended the Kajabi Impact Summit this past weekend and an incredible line up of speakers shared their wisdom with us. Online business leaders including Amy Porterfield, James Wedmore, Jasmine Star, Chalene Johnson and Brendon Burchard imparted their knowledge and advice from years of growing their online businesses and personal brands.

I was incredibly blessed to be invited to participate on a panel during the event. More about my panel later but that’s me in the orange sweater. My first time on stage!

I was just looking up the saying: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Who said this originally and what does it really mean? According to knowyourphrase.com, this idiom dates back to the 1500s. What’s interesting to me about this phrase is that the original meaning focused on how hard it is to learn how to do something in a new way after you’ve done it the same way for a very long time. However, that’s totally different from being able to learn NEW things.

I have kind of a big thing coming up in ten days and I’m terrified. I’ve been asked to participate on a panel at the Kajabi Impact Summit in Southern California. The good news is that since it’s a panel discussion, it’s not all about me, which is a huge relief. The bad news is that it’s in front of about a thousand people!

Here’s how I plan to get through it. I hope these five tips serve you.

I came across this fabulous quote by Paulo Coelho earlier this week: “One Day or Day One. You Decide.” It’s absolutely perfect for my blog this week. Are you still struggling to start pursuing your creative dreams? If so, let’s talk about it. Because it’s really about: “One Day or Day One. You Decide.”

Here are the three ingredients that I believe you need to gain the confidence to pursue your creative dreams. Are you ready?

Since I launched my business a little over a year ago, the one constant that fuels me and keeps me going is the incredible students I meet through my monthly membership, The Pattern Design Club, and through my 7-week online training & coaching program, The Pattern Design Academy.

One student in particular, Shari Goodall, gave me permission to share her story. Like many personal stories, it’s both heart-breaking and uplifting. She shows us the power of creativity, commitment and community. Here’s her story.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. I’ll be opening The Pattern Design Club, my monthly surface design membership, in a few weeks. I only open it up a few times a year to welcome students who have completed my Academy program. One of the questions I get most often is: “Isn’t the industry over saturated?” “Is there really room for me?”

My answer is a resounding YES, there is room for you! But of course, there is work involved. Nothing truly worthwhile ever happens without effort. Here are my top five recommendations for you.