Valentine's Free Printables + Anti-consumer, Inclusive Love.

I had a conversation with my seniors yesterday about Valentine's day. The conversation veered into the topic of consumerism, of exclusive love, and how sad it can be to be the kid in the class who gets no Valentine's cards or candy grams.

While one gentleman argued that love is inherently preferential, he also suggested some ideas for how to love one another, and spread that love beyond just yourselves as a couple. We added to our list of money-free Valentine's celebration ideas: "involve others in co-giving".

My fella and I were coincidentally in line with that this year. We make something for Valentine's day celebrations each year instead of buying anything or going for fancy dinners. This year specifically, we started making a quilt out of my stash of fabric which we will donate to a shelter or other organization once it is finished! I really wanted to continue our tradition of making things, but I really didn't want to accumulate more stuff for myself either. Plus, spreading the love and "co-giving" is a great Valentine's initiative!

So, this year's free printable Valentines include one more "preferential", and one that could be given out to people we love not-romantically, too! I enjoyed testing out some new photoshop brushes for these - what do you think?

Happy Valentines to singles, couples, and all others in between! I send my love to you all!

On Being Serious...

... or not.

When I say the words "instagram aesthetic", can you picture exactly what I mean?
Probably.

Whether you're an artist sharing your work, a fashionista sharing your styling, a traveler sharing your adventures, a chef sharing your edible creations, or anything else, there's a particular "cool", "collected", and dare I say blasé, thing about instagram.

Lots of wistful stares at cameras and half-open mouths, pursed a little. Maybe looking away from the camera and posing half-candidly in front of a cool wall.

I'm never happy with photos of myself or my surroundings trying to recreate that instagram aesthetic. I love things to look beautiful and nice but I've placed expectations on myself based on other peoples' style and amount of effort they're willing to put into social media posts.

I love social media and I don't want to ditch it - it connects me with people, connects my artwork with people, and can be such a wonderful community. I do however want to start being more myself, stop worrying about being professional (I try to keep my instagram somewhat profesh, so potential clients can engage with it). But it just isn't me!

I am maybe the farthest thing from blasé. Ever.

One of the first things I can remember my now-fella noticing about me, during a night out with friends, was "You are maybe the most animated person I've ever met." (I can still remember skipping down Spadina street at night, around the corner from the Horseshoe Tavern and a night of nice music) This was also maybe the first time someone had said something like that to me and meant it as a positive. I skip and dance and sometimes sing my sentences. I greet my seniors at work by throwing up my arms and exclaiming HELLO with so much gusto that they stop and do the same!

So here's to being me, and fighting against that instagram social hierarchy algorithm blasé cool-girl BS! Who's with me?

</rant>