I participated in the Artomatic Marketplace this past weekend on 4/6 and it was amazing! Thanks to all the organizers for putting this together and making it run so smoothly and to my market neighbors I met, it was great vibe all day. I’ve participated in markets on and off in between teaching for over 15 years and it’s always an adventure because you’ve got to constantly adapt to your set up to the space and the environment. I’m partial these days to indoor markets for the ease of set up and this year I polished up my presentation with some new displays which I’m so please with. It was great chatting with people about how they will use their purchases like my canvas patches on their jackets and pants! If you’re one of them and you’re willing to share how you’ve used them DM me on Instagram and I can share it! I’ll be posting new stickers, notecards, patches and mini prints on my site soon!
As I was getting ready for this show I had a few major epiphanies about my work habits. I’m so used to cramming in my art in between school that I am still working in fits and bursts which inevitably wears me out. This past year has been an exercise in resetting my nervous system to calm and part of that is to pace myself when it comes to getting prepared for shows, etc. I know now little chunks of work every day is better than procrastinating and blasting through. Some tools that help me with that include my planner journal that I pretty much carry everywhere. It is my receptacle for thoughts, ideas in addition to being a hardcopy calendar. This practice has helped me so much over the years and I treasure all the journals that have piled up.
Amy Bruce Studios 2024 Journal Cover design & January Inspiration Spread
Apps I’m using! TeuxDeux
Another tool that I’ve started to use is the TEUXDEUX It’s a super streamlined digital todo list format that takes cues from the bullet journal format by allowing you to see your week and lists and move them from one day to another, cross them out or delete them. It also has lists at the bottom of your week that you can hide or view along with your week which for my ADD brain works well! I’m such a big picture thinker seeing all the things at once is helpful but to be able to drill down is ideal.
RECIPE ALERT! :)
Two Huge Cookies
These are my version of the amazing recipe by PINCH OF YUM! I made these twice over the past week so I ran out of chocolate chips so I used cut up caramels which where, as you can imagine, equally outstanding!!! :)
My best tool for managing life right now is really managing my health by both moving my body and cooking good food. I just “Graduated” from 4 months of physical therapy which was really hard and really worth it! So now I have to keep going and keep increasing my strength. Protein helps but so do cookies! And having some sneaky recipes in my back pocket make me happy. It’s cool to know after working out and after my day of high protein snacks and hydration, I can not only have a treat, I can make more! We all need a treat these days. Thanks so much for being here.