I’ve been on social media for years now and have had a true love/hate relationship with it. I’m not on Facebook at all anymore, but do have an instagram and Pinterest account.

However, rather than being caught up on trying to build a huge following, I mainly use instagram to follow other creatives who inspire me – it helps me to feel part of a community of like-minded peeps. And as for Pinterest, I basically use it to keep moodboards, handy notes/links and dream lists – they are all secret boards though. So I’m not here to tell you how to up your social media game.

I do have this very website you’re on now though, that I call ‘home’ and I keep it nurtured and updated regularly, as it’s the space that holds my creative heart and my ever-developing portfolio. I also store my private pattern library here for my art licensing clients to refer to.

It’s here on my website that I see how much I have achieved in my creative business over the years and when those negative thoughts try to gate crash my positivity party, I can visit and just hang for a while. It’s a happy place that I hope others find inspiring and joyful too.

Whenever I feel like things aren’t going to plan, as per my lofty dreams, something good seems to happen to keep my creativity going. This month a couple of things happened actually:

1. I got a fabric licensing gig with Material Difference (head over there to purchase 3 of my designs in their online shop)
2. I got published in Uppercase Magazine again (see below – I designed a Hydrangea seed packet for this month’s garden-inspired issue)

But the other exciting bit about this beautiful creative life I live is that I get to earn an income teaching others the skills they need to follow their own creative dreams.

Teaching design and illustration is a career dream come true for me – not only do I get to encourage other creatives, but it also means I hopefully won’t ever have to worry about being a starving artist again!

My favourite mantra is ‘never stop dreaming’, so here’s a reminder for all of us, especially when the world sometimes feels like it’s falling apart all around us – it truly is the little things that can bring some hope and joy into our days, if only we take a moment to notice.

Jennifer xo

‘Never Stop Dreaming!’