Today, I was researching best sketchbooks for watercolor journaling. I wanted the pages to lay flat and be thick/good quality. Bonus for blank hardcover. After searching for a bit, I thought about making my own. I took a bookbinding class in college. Then I found this! youtu.be/8zoc0CNaq-M?...

It’s boule time! 🍞

🗓️ 😍 🤩 ✍️ For 2026, I've tweaked the design - and it's spectacular! The size is A5, and the orientation is landscape. Still the same unique grid layout (all days get the same space!) with the month overview ribbon. Pre-order leadershiptarot.com

Wishing you had someone to walk you through what's needed in your visual brand identity? Wondering what logo file types you actually need? My eBook, "Logo To Go!" will help! Written for small business owners, who are not designers, to arm you w/insight for your DIY journey. www.nicolablack.com/ebook

This week at WIP! 🥳 www.joinwip.com

Random Morning Grumble: I loathe the entire concept of "cringe". Self-policing yourself because of what other people might think is a fool's game. Love what you love, be who you are, if other people are embarrassed by it, that's their problem, not yours.

Happy Earth, Wind and Fire day! L

If I were in Philly today, THIS is where I’d be! I want so much of the art you see in this video. Go get you some! 🙌

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

Love Notes from Nature calendars turned out SO good. There are lots of reasons they're great 1) Each month has facts about the animal of the month 2) Each month has information about how we can help these animals 3) Your order funds our 2026 Philly Native plant project! www.etsy.com/listing/4366...

Early spring, while Dad was in his final stages of cancer, I went back to my block bird art & gave my mind the task to reduce the birds more, using circles this time. I ended up doing 36 warblers, making these WORBS as a result. Realized I never shared them here, so short thread. IDs in alt. 1/3

If you want to dress well this fall, imagine yourself as Big Jim Collie, a Scottish crofter in the 1970s who lived alone in a bothy and rode a rickety old bicycle through the Lairig Ghru, the highest mountain pass in the highest mountain range in Britain, while sustaining himself on a bit of dram.

Beautiful 1860s Victorian butterfly, which was used to store small packets of sewing needles on the underside of the wings. This was a collaboration between a London-based drapers company and a sewing needle manufacturer. On exhibit at Tatter Blue, a Brooklyn textile museum. IG tatterbluelibrary

If you enjoy home interior design, house history, and cozy vibes, episodes of “Diary of an Old Home” are worth a watch. It’s also super relaxing. Something I’m very grateful for in this moment. 😮‍💨 www.hbomax.com/shows/diary-...

Me when I have a new comic out about radio telescopes on the moon.

Getting my mood back on track to face the day. ❤️🤘 www.youtube.com/watch?v=njE3...

On a lighter note, here are some photos I took this morning of the flowers in our garden. Getting up early to enjoy the mornings has been a game changer for me. It helps to start my day slowly and notice more. 🌹🌸🌼

Required reading for those who wonder why I'm so angry about what's been done to mine & my husband's industries (design & illustration). Personally, I'm being pulled to go 100% analog. Anything unrelated to digital spaces after what's been done to all of us. www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/artists-ar...

Cool space news: one of the biggest black holes in the universe is doing something WEIRD! You probably remember this picture, the first ever image of a black hole, in the galaxy M87. What you’re really seeing here is the disk of gas around the black hole. (1/n) 📸: EHT Collab.🧪🔭

This little guy was very happy for a mid-day walk and a visit to one of his favorite places. The park. 🥳

New Comic! Our planet is very noisy, and we've only made it noisier. Astronomers are now looking at the far side of the moon as a quieter place to put new telescopes. Written by @bowlerhatscience.org www.snexplores.org/article/tele...

Firstly, I LOVE that there is a stone skimming championship in Scotland and I might have to go one day! The cheating part is whoa... 😆 What the?

Whaddya doing Saturday? Come hang with me, @hvon.bsky.social, @dennidraws.bsky.social, & 17 other Philly artists at the Artpocalypse Now! Art market! The venue (Star|Bolt) is gorgeous, & it's a solid excuse to support local artists & get cool stuff. Got ADHD? Get a reminder: luma.com/9wiciy1a

A lot going on this week at Work in Progress (community for freelancers & creative solopreneurs). 🥳 The list doesn't include today's Accountability Group meeting which I'm looking forward to. I'm just about done with what I committed to. Just a little to do this AM to check it off. ✔️ www.joinwip.com

Been reading more of this today. I can’t recommend it enough. An illuminating look into illustrators’/designers’ experiences in the prime of their careers in 2000. 25 years later, as a designer in my 40s, it’s a treasure to reread (and more relatable vs when I picked it up in my 20s).

Say hi to @makinaro.com at SPX, today, and check out his awesome wares! 📚🖼️

It’s a beautiful boule! 🍞

So sweet. He did this himself. Jumped up on the chair and covered up with the blanket. This adorable old man. ❤️

It’s fun to look at books that helped guide my career. This excerpt is from, “The Education of an Illustrator” by Steven Heller & Marshall Arisman. Pub: 2000 “The ideal size of an image for the Internet is 50K… …lengthy downloads have earned the World Wide Web the nickname, "the World Wide Wait."

Well, that’s a first! I didn’t realize that art anatomy sketches would be marked as “sexually suggestive!” 🤔 But okay? Oh well.

Found one of my college anatomy sketchbooks. When I look back at this stuff, I feel something in my chest. I want to draw… yet, I hold back. 😔 I’ve felt like this for years. Two decades later, I’m think I know why. The way society (de)values art has impacted me in a major way.

Made some sweet and spicy pickles. 🥒🌶️

Gonna get wild this Friday night and binge Monstrum episodes on PBS.

This was the story I needed today www.bbc.com/news/article...

Attention, Exhibitors! We want to invite you to apply for our MICE Mini-Grants! Each year MICE supports self-published comics by awarding mini-grants to our exhibitors to helping print their work, provide marketing, and distribution through Radiator Comics.

"...if we cared more about preserving human creativity and connection, we wouldn't be automating away the very things that make life meaningful... Perhaps what we have is a crisis of care." www.gchicco.com/aliveness-wh...

Been thinking a lot about automation obsession. As if it will make all aspects of work & life easier or better. In my experience, even the most mundane task's processes bring some joy or benefit (better understanding) to the human experience. Skipping to make a buck usually produces worse outcomes.

Heat Wave. #heathermahlerart #journalcomic

“everyone has covid right now, boy i hope i don’t get it!” what if you did more than hope? what if you wore something that prevented you from inhaling an infectious dose of virus? in fact, if you know you *can* do that, why wouldn’t you?

We have a little strawberry patch planted in our garden. The bunnies and squirrels usually get to them before we pick them which is fine by me. But just now, I found these tiny, ripe ones that weren’t immediately visible as they were covered by big leaves. They’re tasty! 🍓

Go see @makinaro.com this weekend at @smallpressexpo.bsky.social and say hello! He has so many cool, fun books (and other awesome extras) you'll want to pick up. 🥳🙌

My sleep/wake schedule crept later and later over the past few months. After Ollie's AM meds, I'd just go back to bed. I was missing my quiet mornings. Been working on readjusting that schedule. Today's the first day I'm feeling back on track and super rested. It makes all the difference. 🥳

Spent the past couple hours with a human rep about downgrading a service. Which isn’t a problem except NOW that updated version forces AI integration. Their legacy version didn’t. The rep was understanding which I appreciated and after I mentioned the legacy option, they allowed it instead.

this would be an incredible gift for any occasion and a beautiful memorial to any pet that has passed on

Every product with their AI customer service agents. 😑 I always respond with "I'd like a human to handle my request. Please confirm I am speaking to an actual person in next email." It's FINE if it takes 24-48 hours for a human to handle a request to ensure it's done correctly. Ugh. I hate it all.

This week at Work in Progress! I'm looking forward to a new 4-week round of our Accountability Buddy Groups. I need it! 😅 Here are the other events happening throughout this coming week. Learn more about WIP and apply to join us here: www.joinwip.com

A natural, mossy, mushroom scene that caught my eye on our hike today.

First apple cider pair of the season! 😋

New favorite piece just dropped.

It’s a boule! 🍞