Welcome: Everyone (including me) Has a Newsletter Now
It seems like 2026 is the year that everyone is kickstarting a newsletter, so I thought why not jump on the bandwagon. As a part of an effort to spend more time intentionally engaging with the internet and less time on my phone, I’ve started off the new year by bricking my social media apps, and compiling this personal creative blog to document what I’m working on throughout the year.
As 2025 came to a close, I realized that what I thought was a creative rut was maybe more a restructuring of how I think of myself as an artist and designer. While, *graphic design is my passion* (and my day job), I’m trying to expand the limits of what I usually include as part of my creative practice; a birthday card I made for a friend, a homemade costume I put together, a soup I made without a recipe, or a sewing project I made without a pattern; all things that fall under my creative umbrella, and that ultimately push me to be a better designer.
Here is some of what you can look forward to seeing in your inbox from me this year:
What I’m currently working on
Where I’m finding inspiration
Art and design resources
Shop Updates
What I’m currently working on:
Valentine’s Day Photo Booth; My partner is a photographer, and together we hatched a plan for a Valentine’s Day photo booth pop-up near a local dog park! I’ve been making these massive photo booth props out of insulation foam, and we’re using this as a sort of test-run for some additional events we having coming up with local businesses throughout the spring. If you’re in Philly, swing by Columbus Square Park on February 14th!
Reorganizing my office and setting up my massive new wall calendar; I ended 2025 with my home office/studio in an absolute wreck and getting it back into a usable state has is helping me feel much more refreshed and productive. I also like having a physical calendar so I can visualize my entire year, and am loving this new perpetual wall calendar I purchased. It’s reusable from year-to-year, and added a huge bright wall of color to my mostly white office.
Where I’m finding inspiration:
Two art exhibits I saw recently; Amy Sherald, American Sublime at the Baltimore Museum of Art (on view through April 6) and Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (on view through Feb 16).
Niche design aesthetics from the Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute; tag yourself, I’m Festival Marketplace. This is a great site to waste an afternoon scrolling if you’re looking for a nice hit of nostalgia.
Self-enclosed letter folding techniques; I’ve seen a lot of Victorian Pocket Puzzles and other similar letter folding techniques popping up on social media recently. I made a few experimental ones as gifts last year, but would love to create a larger scale, printed version of one soon.
My personal favorite, “Festival Marketplace”, aesthetic as categorized by CARI
An example of a Victorian Puzzle Purse (Pulled straight from Pinterest, I wish I had credits for the creator!)
Other random things that are bringing me joy:
Bricking my social media apps; a friend recently taught me how to DIY a phone “brick” instead of spending $60 on one! An easy tutorial is here, and all you need is a random barcode (I cut mine off a box of butter), and the Foqus App. My phone brick lives on my fridge on a Magic the Gathering card I rescued off the sidewalk, and so far I’m loving the extra physical barrier between me and my social media apps. My screen time is down 70% and I’ve already read 3 books this month.
Covering my e-reader in glow in the dark stars; I love adding a little *whimsy* to the objects in my day-to-day life, and bonus, now I don’t have to look at a big brand name every time I read.
Listening to old school mix CDs in my car; I drive a 16-year-old Hyundai Sonata and what she lacks in reliable bluetooth connection, she makes up for in a 5-disc CD player. If anyone is looking for a gift for me this year, the key to my heart is a personalized mix CD. Bonus points if you decorate it.
Shop Updates:
I recently migrated my online shop over to Squarespace! I’ve been wanting to get off of Etsy for a while, and something about the new year finally pushed me to do it. Lord of the Rings Valentines are still available to purchase through my old Etsy shop, and I’ll be moving those over as well after February. There’s still time to purchase a set in time for the holiday this year, and $5 from each physical purchase will be donated to the Transgender Law Center.
That’s all for now friends, thanks for joining and see you next time!