I think it's very important, especially in a year like 2020 has been, that we actually reflect on what we have in our lives that we can be grateful for. We are approaching the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. No doubt it will be different this year like so many things. However, that doesn't mean that there isn't a lot for us to reflect back on and to be grateful for.

Welcome to this week's blog. I want to share something that I’ve discovered during this challenging year which is that what you focus on is how you feel. I have three tips that I want to share with you today around how to get around this or how to shift your focus in order to feel joy or excitement instead of fear or anxiety. These tips work for me and I hope they will work for you too, especially when it comes to your creativity and helping you when you feel creatively stuck.

Did you know that I’ve been broadcasting live every Wednesday at noon pacific standard time for the past two years? This happens on my Facebook page, Anne LaFollette Art, and I thought you might like to know how to find it. Ready for a quick demo so you can bookmark it and find me with ease?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. We're in week 3 of my 8-week Pattern Design Academy program and I've discovered over the years of teaching that students who embrace working at their own pace do better. Why is that, you might ask? Well, read on and pop over to Anne TV for full details.

Well, it’s really happened. I have a space of my own and a new beautiful creative studio steps from my backdoor. Throughout my journey of reinvention, and you all know that story by now, I’ve been dreaming of turning our small one car garage into a creative space where I can run my online business.

Do you often find yourself comparing yourself to others? When you’re looking at Instagram for example. Or when you’re in an online course and you’re looking at what everyone else is posting. It happens a lot. It’s natural. But it can also be destructive. This week I want to revisit 3 tips for how to work through and past the comparison game. I shared these thoughts back in May but they are worth revisiting again now.

I’m so excited to offer my 8-week signature program, The Pattern Design Academy, one last time in 2020. Lean into your creativity before the end of this year and hit the ground running with your own creative business in 2021. Make 2020 count. And guess what? Illustrator is coming to the iPad next week! You’ll get exclusive training on how to use it when you enroll in The Pattern Design Academy.

Pauline Reilly is a salon owner who was told in senior school that she wasn’t talented enough to continue to pursue art. What a shame that just one teacher can have so much influence over us, especially when we are young. But it happens. And it happens to a lot of us! Listen to Pauline’s story of transformation that began when she joined my creative community.

Ready for another inspiring Student Spotlight? I’m so excited to continue this series and introduce you to artist and surface designer Kathleen Lambert. Kathleen and I go way back - two years back in fact - when I was just getting started as an online entrepreneur.

As we prepare for my free mini-course, From Doodles to Dollars, which starts on Oct 5, I have the great pleasure of interviewing past students and sharing their stories and their progress as artists and surface designers. Last week, Sher Hudson joined us and I want to share her Student Spotlight with you.

I thought I’d change things up a bit this week and focus on my From Doodles to Dollars free mini-course. And specifically:

· How to sign up for it

· How to join the private Facebook group, and

· Where to find everything

Let’s start with how to sign up. It’s pretty straightforward but let’s take it step by step. This mini-course is free but you have to sign up for it because some of the content comes to you via email.

Well hello again! It’s great to see you this week because we are getting ready for my free mini-course, From Doodles to Dollars. What’s is all about, you ask?

This fun, super valuable (and free) mini-course starts on October 5. In the mini-course, you’ll discover the step by step process for turning a sketch or doodle into a repeating pattern using the magic of Adobe Illustrator. From there, the possibilities are endless.

I can’t believe it’s September 1st. But it is and that’s extremely exciting. Why, you ask? Because September is all about preparing for my free mini-course: From Doodles to Dollars. If you’ve always dreamed of putting your own designs on fabric, or designing your own wall paper, or creating beautiful stationary and wrapping paper, keep reading. You’re not going to want to miss this.

I thought I’d switch things up a bit this week and share three of my favorite books right now. Normally, in the summer, I indulge in page turners like the latest “alphabet” mystery by Sue Grafton. I like her heroine, Kinsey Milhone, who is a scrappy, hard-boiled, private detective.

This week, let’s dive into my favorite mindset hacks about surface design. What is surface design, you ask? A surface design is any artwork (pattern, illustration, hand lettering, spot graphics), made by someone like you, that is applied to a surface to enhance its beauty and functionality.

Welcome back to this mini-series, From Vision to Execution. We have arrived at Step 5: The Daily Execution. This brings the entire process full circle and connects the actions and activities you take every day with your vision. Are you ready to dive in? For this step in the process, I use Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner because it’s beautifully organized and keeps everything I need in one place.

I’m very excited to see you back again for Step 4 in From Vision to Execution. This is probably my favorite step because it involves a year-at-a-glance wall calendar and a whole bunch of post-it notes. I love office supplies and in this part of the process, we get to use them in a fun and effective way.

Welcome back. In this week’s installment of the mini-series, From Vision to Execution, we’re diving into Step 3: Your Key Assumptions. This part of the process makes the goals you set in step 2 (The Parts & Pieces) come to life and become real. At this stage, we need to add assumptions around time - how long it will take to get things done - and resources - are additional resources needed.