My 100 day project!

Some of you may have noticed that over the past month I have been partaking in my own #100dayproject. I am a little behind as the official project actually finishes around the time I started, but I didn't feel like waiting a whole year and decided to just give it a go on my own.

I really wanted to create this project as I am enrolled on Victoria Johnson's floral design course, which starts in September. I have always been very keen on floral patterns, but I've never really had the time or skillset to focus on them. So I really wanted to get the most out of this course, push myself and explore florals fully in order to get the most out of this course!

This project has been a challenge! Making the time every day to sit down and create a whole sketchbook page can be difficult, and even more so in a subject matter that I am not that comfortable with, but I am so happy that so far (33 days in!) I have managed to stick with it.

In hindsight it may not have been so smart to have decided to start this at the beginning of the back to school season (I primarily make and sell pencil cases) as I am a little stressed and rushed off my feet, but so far I am embracing the chaos and have produced some images I really love!

If you would like to see my project in full you can find me on Facebook or Instagram below, or follow the hashtag: #100daysofwatercolourflorals 

https://www.instagram.com/elena_oneill/

https://www.facebook.com/ElenasArtDesign/

Flamingo love!

Flamingos are still very much the bird of the hour, and I myself am a huge fan! Last months pattern suggestion winner was a flamingo design, which I chose because I have had a lot of requests for this recently, and I just really wanted to paint them! 

I have recently been looking for beautiful flamingo home decor and accessories as I am now a bit obsessed with them, so I thought I would share my finds with you all!

Here is my list of gorgeous flamingo items:

1. This beautiful set from Vibrant Home by Sarah Miller!

Get it Here

2. I am totally in love with this mug from Not On The High Street by The Little Boys Room!

Get it Here

3. I am so inspired to re-decorate with this flamingo wall paper by Len Arte Wallpapers from Etsy!

Get it Here 

4. These are the cutest measuring cups in existence from World Market!

Get it Here

5. Flamingo wall decals! These are from the lovely Etsy shop: Colour The World Shop

Get it here

6. As an avid tea drinker, this would be a dream come true! By Little Affairs on Etsy!

Get it Here

7. Stunning flamingo artworks by Colour Watercolour on Etsy!

Get it Here

8. This is my flamingo pencil case, which creating sparked my interest in these beautiful animals!

Get it Here

If you want to see more beautiful flamingo products and patterns, feel free to visit my flamingo Pinterest board here

I am so excited about my new habit tracker! 

I am really into habit tracking EVERYTHING, and I mean everything! I love to keep track of things that I have achieved in my life and business, it gives me a great sense of achievement and happiness. 

And not only is it fun, its incredibly useful. 

Sometimes doing a small thing each and every day can build up to something huge, and I find that writing it down and keeping track, really motivates me to do it. And more importantly, keep doing it. 

So I love to keep track of things, but I also love to do it creatively, so it looks lovely. However I do not always have time to create something from scratch each week or month, as much as I would like to! (who else loves to look at bullet journal examples?)

Because of this, I was inspired to create this ready made habit tracker, especially for busy people, or even if you just feel overwhelmed by the amazingly creative bullet journals out there (I know I am!). 

Read below to see the full instructions of how to use it, and to see an example of a filled in one.

There will also soon be complimentary stickers available too!

Pattern suggestion competition: May!

Winner: Ginnie from Facebook with this toadstool idea!

This month I had some amazing suggestions to choose from (I am always amazed by the quality and quantity of suggestions), however this suggestion really stood out to me. 

I have painted a few mushrooms/toadstools in the past for other patterns, and really enjoyed it. I always thought there was more to explore there, but never had the time to go back to it... I am so glad that I chose this suggestion as they provided a wonderful, varied subject that I could let my imagination take over a bit with the colours and shape. Although not too much, the colours chosen are genuine fungi colours! 

I really enjoyed painting this pattern and I cannot wait to start creating products with it!

Down Load Link

Here is your free December
planner! 

(click the photo)

Organisation:

I love planning, lists and organisation! In this post I will share with you my favourite planning techniques and how I use planners, list pads and diarys to organise my day.

In this photo you can see the crazy amount of planners and lists I use daily. It really helps me stay on track if I have a clear plan for each day. I dont always stick to it (usually dont) but I always do so much more work when I have a plan.

The items that I use are:

My main planner is the 'Passion Planner' (with the llama sticker in the photo) and I use it to map out my weeks and months. It is the best planner I have ever used and I have loved it for almost 2 years now. I love the habit tracker which I use to keep track of my uploads to Society6, Redbubble, TeePublic and various other sites.

I also love the 'Day Designer' (white a4 paper in photo). I cant always fit all the things I need to do in my week planner, and I also like to write down my goals for that day. I try and do it the day before, but its usually in the morning. I also use this planner to keep track of Albie (our 7 month old puppy) and the progress he is (or isn't ahah) making in his training. It is also for Albie that I have such a strict schedule, as he takes up a lot of my time at the moment, so I have to be extra disciplined with getting work done.

I also have a general to do list. At the moment I am using my crafty list pad, which I use to write down all the things that I need to do, that might not be relevant to today or this week, but I still need to remember.

Finally I have my 'Dream.Plan.Do' from the Design Trust. It is my yearly business planner which is probably the best thing I have ever done for my business. I used it last year and loved it, and this year it has been improved even more (it now also has a paper back option this year, which I am so happy about!). I work on this each month and it walks you through all the things that you need to think about when running a creative business. I would definitely recommend if you have a small business!

I also have many different notebooks and sketchbooks on the go, but they are mainly full of random notes and projects, and I dont use them daily.

I really think that using all of these techniques has helped me so much, as the simple act of writing things down allows me to separate my business from my home life, which can be hard when you work from home! I think it does so much good to get it out of your head. Also by writing down ideas, it makes things happen in a way that thinking about it doesn't.

I would love to know how you organise your life or business!

Links:

http://www.passionplanner.com

https://daydesigner.com

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ElenaIllustration

https://www.dream-plan-do.com