Hey hey Reader!

Wanted to pop into your inbox quickly with a couple of reminders. I'm sorry if you have inbox PTSD, I know there's an insane amount of emails this time of year because of Black Friday.

The good thing is, you can totally skip this email if you're not interested in my Illustrator for Printables course, our latest challenge in the Creative Lab, or Mim Jenkinson's upcoming Sticker Summit.
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All wonderful things you should know about but no hard feelings if you're not interested.

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Still here? Great!

I promised you a Q&A of my Illustrator for Printables course and I'm delivering! Here are some of the questions I've received so far:
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​Q: Will we be creating all of our images within illustrator, drawing with our mouse? Or will we use image trace and bring in images from Procreate or from drawings we’ve done?

A: This is a fantastic question! My plan is to teach you to draw inside of Illustrator with simple shapes at first and then build on that with more complex shapes. However, the beauty of pre-selling this course is that you get to tell me what you want and I am MORE than happy to add bonus lessons that add to this course. So that means, I'm adding lessons on bringing in Illustrations from Fresco (the program I use) and a lesson on how to bring in drawings you've sketched by hand. I'm happy to show you how I do this to take advantage of the power of Illustrator.​
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Q: Do you think that the general concepts you teach can be extrapolated to users of Affinity’s suite of products in a similar way?

A: The short answer is yes. You might just have to figure out what Illustrator tools map to the tools Affinity offers, but having used Affinity without ever going into it, it's similar to Illustrator so I think you'll be able to find your way around. I would note, that there are a few things that I’ve noticed you can’t do in Affinity vs Illustrator but there are workarounds or compromises.
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Overall, the course is very much about illustrating and taking one a set of illustrations and turning it into different designs to create a set of patterns that we will then apply to different products and you can take that knowledge and do it in the program you prefer.

Q: Will you be providing some of your amazing artwork and text for us to manipulate and work with?

A: Of course. I actually can't help myself and I do love removing the barrier to creation. So with the course you will get artwork and templates to make creating your products easier. That said, you will learn to create art that you can use yourself for your own products and it's always SO nice to see your art in your products.

Q: I do not have a store or a business, though I’d like to get something going and am very interested in creating printables and digital products, but I’m a little overwhelmed on how to actually create them and list them.

A: Although this technically wasn't a question, I wanted to address this. It is completely understandable that you'd feel overwhelmed. There is SO much information out there and so many things to do when it comes to creating products, digital or physical. My plan for this course is to walk you through from beginning to end and get a set of products that you'll have ready to list in your shop. If you've been in the Making It Happen Event or in the Creative Lab, you know I overdeliver and I'm very present. I'm very invested in you taking action and actually getting things done.

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I hope the answers to these are helpful and get you thinking of anything you might be curious about. If you have any questions you'd like me to answer let me know. I'm more than happy to help in any way I can.

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And now on to some quick reminders...

The Valentine Challenge (sponsored by Stickerbeat)

We're at it again in the Creative Lab with another challenge and it starts today!

We’re going to be making sticker sheets for Valentines and, because we're not just stopping at digital products, we've got an amazing sponsor that is going to help us bring these sticker sheets to life!

I've had sticker sheets printed up with Stickerbeat and I can tell you the quality is great. Their stickers are a beautifully, smooth vinyl and my favorite part is they don't have restrictions on size or quantity. If it fits on the sheet, it gets printed and cut.

Here's an example of the ones I had printed with them. PLUS, Stickerbeat will be giving us a coupon code for 20% off site wide so when we're done with our designs, we can get them printed up!

Because this will be our last challenge for 2023 (we’re taking it easy for the holidays), we’re going to invite guests from outside the Lab one more time, but after this time, I can’t promise when we’ll open up a challenge again. So if you want in, make sure to visit the link below to join us.​
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Join the Valentine Challenge for $15

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This is the perfect way to work on your first product for 2024 and start your year off with momentum. As a matter of fact, here is our tentative schedule for all of 2024!​

Don't forget, if you want to join us at the Creative Lab, you can also use code NORULES for an added 27% off the annual plan which is 40% off of the monthly payments, bringing your payments to $17/mo! (Just a note, the current price of the Creative Lab is a steal and will likely go up next year.)
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Join the Creative Lab for $197 for all of 2024!

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Remember, if you join the Lab, DO NOT buy the Valentine Challenge, it's INCLUDED! 🎉🎉

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Speaking of Stickers...

Don't forget about the Sticker Maker Summit which starts next week!

For two days, December 6th - 7th, Mim Jenkinson from Paper Planner Club is bringing you presentations from industry experts (including me!) who have found ways to make sticker-making FUN & enjoyable. You’ll hear about everything from sticker-making for beginners to more advanced techniques to use, to making or selling stickers you’re proud of.

I'm going to be teaching you The Surprisingly Simple Way to Illustrate Floral Stickers in Fresco and it's a sort of peek class at what I'm doing for my Illustrator Course if you're curious!

Register for the Sticker Maker Summit

And of course, if you know you want to grab that pass so you can keep these awesome classes, you can grab the VIP pass right here.​

Alright friend, don't forget that my No Rules Black Friday Sale is still on till this Friday, so that gives you plenty of time to think calmly about whether any of these offers work for you and if they're not, you don't have to feel rushed about that decision! Phew!
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Hit me up if you have any questions about any of it and have a beautiful day! Maybe I'll see you later in our kick off call for the sticker sheet challenge! 😉

ps. Remember you don't have to feel rushed, my No Rules Black Friday Sale goes on till Friday! So take your time and make decisions that make you feel good!