This week's free designs are a little like five doors. Most people scroll past them thinking, "That's a horse."Or "That's a beach."Or "That's a duck wearing sunglasses, and frankly I have questions." But artists see something different. They see possibility. 🐴 One person sees a horse and a dog. Another sees loyalty, friendship, and a piece called The Ones Who Stay. 🏖️ One person sees beach chairs. Another sees the vacation they keep promising themselves they'll take someday. 🐱 One person sees a girl holding a cat. Another sees mystery, elegance, and a story waiting to be told. 🦆 One person sees a goose in a towel. Another sees their spirit animal. 🧳 One person sees a suitcase. Another sees freedom, reinvention, and the courage to leave the familiar behind. So here's your Creative AF challenge: Pick ONE of these free designs and tell us... 👉 What do you see that everyone else might miss? No right answers. No wrong answers. Just imagination doing what imagination does best. Because sometimes the difference between "it's just a picture" and "I have to create something with this" is a single thought. Let's see where your brain wanders. 👀✨

So... yesterday and today were supposed to be productive. Instead, I got an unexpected lesson in what I'm now calling the Mercury Scary. ☠️ I hopped on a zoom call, ready to focus on my business, when Craig suddenly came barreling into the house in full panic mode... and immediately started stripping off his clothes and putting them in a trash bag while on the phone with someone. Naturally, this seemed concerning. (Thank God I didn't have the camera or audio turned on! 🤣) Turns out the storage unit he had purchased and cleaned out contained beakers, vials, and Mercury. Before the day was over, the police, fire department, and multiple government agencies were involved. The storage unit got roped off like a crime scene. The police asked if he was making meth. His response: "I called YOU guys." Meanwhile, the fire department cleared him to come home, but then another agency called to explain they would be visiting today to test the mercury levels on everything he brought home, his truck, his clothing, and basically anything that may have crossed paths with him. Then came instructions on how to dispose of the clothing and shoes he had been wearing. How to clean the floors. Checking the dog's paws. Then checking the cat's paws. Then, walking through the house with a flashlight to see if microscopic mercury particles had somehow hitchhiked their way into the house. And somewhere in the middle of all this... My business call was still happening, and our dinner was now burning. Whatever I was supposed to be doing completely left the building. The moral of the story? Some days you're crushing your goals. Some days you're helping inspect pet paws for toxic metals while trying not to burn the house down while in the middle of a hot flash. Both count as surviving the day. Creative entrepreneurs tend to beat themselves up for the things they didn't get done. But life happens. Businesses are built in the middle of chaos, interruptions, unexpected detours, and occasionally hazardous materials.

So it's Wednesday again! Hope you all had a good Memorial weekend. Who's been crushing their creative goals? This week I... - Created some moody florals and out-of-the-box critters for you to use. - Did a 5-day Shopify Challenge for my website - Got 1 week closer to launching my newest creative venture and am ridiculously excited about it. Some days it feels like I’m juggling paintbrushes, websites, designs, content, ideas, snacks I forgot to eat, and about 47 browser tabs, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 😂 So tell me... how many plates are you twirling right now, and did you move the needle this week?

Just popping in for a quick Creative AF check-in. This week I’ve been knee-deep in a Shopify Challenge here on SKOOL, learning ways to make my website work smarter instead of just looking pretty. Which also meant I had to pre-plan a ton of business stuff last week like some kind of organized creative unicorn. 🫠 I honestly thought I’d still have time to get more creating done… but reality said, “Cute idea.” So I only managed to finish two pieces this week. Completely different styles just like mood swings. 😳 I uploaded the high-res files here instead of putting them in the Freebie Vault classroom because… well...time. LOL. Sometimes “done” wins over “perfectly planned and organized.” Now I want to hear from you…How’s your week been going? And do you have any fun plans for Memorial Day weekend? If you are grilling can I just suggest you grab some of Big Poppa's seasonings. They are amazing!!! We'll just be hanging out and hopefully the pop up rain shows will have stopped by then.

I’ve been so locked into a project that’s lived in my head for about six years now that most days I honestly have no clue what day it is anymore. 😅 I have alarms set for things like: “Hey…you have your coaching call.” “Go make dinner.” “Please eat food like a functioning human.” Because once I get focused, I disappear into creative cave mode and the outside world gets real blurry. Anywho… I know @Shannon Manning asked if I was going to release more digital downloads, so I thought I’d share a few styles I’ve been playing with this week: • Oil painting style rose • Watercolor-style father & son • Collage-style cockatoo • Canvas painting-style cottage • Part painted / part illustrative florals • Colored block-printing Toad Prince One of my favorite things about creating is exploring styles. First, I refine them… then eventually my brain goes: “Cool. But what happens if we smash two completely different styles together and see what chaos blooms?” 🎨 ps. You can download them from here to use if you click on them.