Shake Up Your Self-Care and Recommit to What Truly Brings You Joy

Back in November I vowed to fall in love with winter. And I did, for a while.

Looking Back and Connecting the Dots of our Journeys

Back in December Abby Glassenberg interviewed me for the Craft Industry Alliance Podcast. Our conversation aired this week.

art, creativity, lifeAnne ButeraJanuary 22, 2021about me, podcasts, Abby Glassenberg, Craft Industry Alliance, creative journeys, looking back, looking forward, creativity, childhood Comments

Simplifying: Goals, Intentions and Planning My Year

I sit at my table with a steaming mug of earl grey beside me. The table is strewn with notebooks and lists and calendars. My pen is poised to write, but I’m having trouble adding anything to the page.

creativity, lifeAnne ButeraJanuary 15, 2021planning, planning for the year, tips for goal setting, setting intentions, January, January 2021 Comments

Finishing My 10 Year Painting Celebration with Gratitude

Bright sunshine and warm breezes. Clear blue skies and crisp snow. Cold, dark, wet days. This month I’ve tried to be present for it all.

November has been a gift. A strange month, but a gift, too.

10 Lessons from 10 Years of Learning How to Paint

You’ve quieted your mind and listened to the whispers. Your heart longs to learn something new, to be creative, to craft a different life.

Now what?

art, creativity, inspirationAnne ButeraNovember 13, 2020advice for artists, creative advice, 10 years of learning to paint, 10 years of watercolor painting, 10 years of learning watercolor, creativity, creative doubts, creative inspiration, Creativebug, skillshare, developing a creative habit, Elizabeth Gilbert, Georgia O'Keeffe, Vincent van Gogh, joy, enjoy the process, being a beginner, give yourself time to be a beginner, advice for creatives, Let creativity take over your life, have fun, enjoy yourself, enjoy creativity, enjoy creating, creative challenges, creative classes, creative community, focus, Lilla Rogers, development as an artist, developing as an artist, creative dreams, creative development, 10 Year Painting Celebration, 10 Years of Learning How to Paint, How to take your art to the next level, 10 year painting celebration, popular posts Comments

10 Year Painting Celebration: Nudging You Toward Your Dreams

My heart raced and I held my breath. I felt a flutter in my stomach as I sat down with a set of watercolors, some paper and a brush to paint for the first time.

Summer Adventures in Your Botanical Sketchbook: a New Online Class

Last Friday I mentioned I was working on a new online class.

It was my focus for most of July, never far from my thoughts even when I wasn’t working on it.

Sips of Inspiration: an Interview with Ruby Josephine Smith

It’s been a month since I shared my chat with Melanie April. What a month it’s been. In some ways it feels like that time has flown by and in others it feels like much more than a month has passed since then.

Regardless of the strangeness of time, I’m delighted to be sharing another Sips of Inspiration interview today. This month’s conversation is with Ruby Josephine Smith, a dancer, choreographer, podcast host…

creativity, inspiration, Sips of InspirationAnne ButeraMay 15, 2020Sips of Inspiration, podcasts, dancing, dancers, inspiration, inspiring women, Ruby Josephine Smith Comments

Sips of Inspiration: an Interview with Melanie April

I’m back with another interview, the second in my monthly Sips of Inspiration series.

Today I’m chatting with Melanie April Houten.

Sips of Inspiration, creativity, inspirationAnne ButeraApril 17, 2020Sips of Inspiration, inspiring people, inspiring women, interviews, what you can do to support artists, Melanie April, inspiration Comments

Finding Joy in Difficult Times

Hello, my friend. How are you doing? Are you hanging in there? Are you riding the rollercoaster of ups and downs that it seems so many of us are feeling?

This is a difficult time and it’s ok if you’re struggling. Let’s all resolve to go a bit easy on ourselves. To allow our feelings. To do what we need to do in this moment.

Sips of Inspiration: An Interview with Jenny Blair

A couple weeks ago I announced I would be interviewing artists in a new monthly series. And today I’ve released the first installment!

Sips of Inspiration, creativity, inspirationAnne ButeraMarch 20, 2020Sips of Inspiration, Jenny Blair, inspiring women, inspiring people, inspiration, Inspiration, embroidery, embroidery patterns, embroidery kits, Jenny Blair Kits, artist interviews, interviews, creative business, creativity Comments

Sips of Inspiration

I am so excited to finally be sharing a project I’ve been working on for a while. First in the dreaming stage, more recently in the DOing stage.

And today with an official announcement.

creativity, inspiration, gratitude, Sips of InspirationAnne ButeraMarch 6, 2020interviews, Sips of Inspiration, A new interview series, Youtube, artist interviews, inspiring women, inspiring people, inspiration, creativity Comments

Around Here Lately: Living a Holistically Creative Life

Back in January I wrote a list of intentions for the year. First in my journal. Then in my sketchbook. And again on a separate piece of paper that I hung in my studio. The very first intention on the list: “Live a holistically creative life”.

creativity, fabric, blogging, joy, life, seasons, houseplantsAnne ButeraFebruary 14, 2020blogging, blogging is not dead, creating community, creative projects, carving out time for creativity, creativity, affirming your creativity, valentine's day, intentions, holistic creativity, sewing, sewing projects, handmade clothing, inspiration, Butterick 6024, crochet, crochet garments, crochet shawl, Kathryn Dawn, 3 Button Textured Cardigan, South Bay Shawlette, Ravelry, Pinterest, crochet projects, seeds, seed starting, garden planning, ordering seeds, winter, skillshare, Skillshare classes, sketchbook class on Skillshare, winter sketchbook, Explore Winter in Your Botanical Sketchbook, bald eagles, nature, beauty, beauty in nature, Spoonflower, spoonflower, Spoonflower contest, spoonflower fabric, Spoonflower Design Challenge, spoonflower fabric designer, spoonflower wallpaper, watercolor, watercolor painting, poinsettia, watercolor poinsettia, botanical art, botanical watercolor, houseplants, houseplant portraits, what's happening in my studio, joy, do, word of the year, creative energy Comments

I Deleted Instagram from My Phone for 6 Weeks -- My Thoughts Coming Back

Back in November I deleted Instagram from my phone.

It was a snap decision. To take a break from social media and blogging until the new year. I’d been getting more and more uncomfortable on Instagram. Frustrated with it. The idea of taking time and space for me sounded pretty good.

inspiration, blogging, creativityAnne ButeraFebruary 7, 2020Instagram, Social Media, Deleting Instagram, Social Media break, inspiration, community, creative community, expert advice, following your own path, blogging, blogging advice, is blogging dead, Dana Barbieri, Carolyn Zick, greyhounds, retired racing greyhounds, rescued greyhounds, photography, photos, roses, art, art business, Jaime Haney, Meda Halmaciu, Tamara Sharkey, Moongirl Art, Little Butterfly Studio, invitatiicouture, Alisa Burke, Hipstamatic, being authentic, being yourself, following your own rules, creating your own rules, i deleted instagram from my phone for 6 weeks, my thoughts coming back after a 6 week Instagram break, creative business, authenticity, using social media, rules for using social media, what to share on Instagram, growing your instagram following, negative effects of social media, negative effects of instagram, using instagram for creative communities, creating community on social media, creating community, sharing inspiration, social media break, social media rules, making your own social media rules, following your own social media rules, popular posts Comments

Loving Healing Creating -- An Invitation

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I’m one of the presenters at the Loving Healing Creating Summit. And now the summit is about to begin!

The “live” summit runs for 13 days, from February 2 through February 14.

creativity, inspirationAnne ButeraJanuary 31, 2020Loving Healing Creating Summit, Free online event, Free online summit, free gifts, healing through creativity, getting started with watercolor a free guide, Color Meditation, presenter at the Loving Healing Creating Summit, free online sessions Comments

What is Skillshare and How Does it Work? (And Introducing a New Class)

I just released a new class on Skillshare. My 20th class on the platform. It’s a little mind-boggling to think I’ve created that many classes.

I first started teaching on Skillshare three and a half years ago. I was already a member and had taken some classes on the platform, but had never thought of teaching there. Then they contacted me and invited me to teach.

Planning Your Year, a Resource Round-Up (and Some Honest Thoughts)

We’re already more than half-way into January. How have things been going for you so far?

My Word for 2020: DO

I’d been slowly accumulating a list of possible words for this year. Beautiful, poetic words. Any of them would have been a good guide for my year. I thought I’d decided on one until a couple weeks ago another popped int my head while I was in the shower.

2019 Year in Review (& Thoughts About a Decade)

Another year has drawn to a close. Another decade, too. On January 1, 2009 I wrote in my journal: “2010. Wow. Seems so futuristic.” And here we are in 2020, even more futuristic-sounding.

But I don’t want to jump into 2020 without spending some time considering 2019 first.

life, creativity, studio, sewing, paintings, gratitude, joy, artAnne ButeraJanuary 3, 2020word of the year, year in review, 2019, 2020 Calendars, 2020 desk calendars, art, painting, goals, intentions, 2020, welcoming the new year, growth, Grow, GROW, greyhounds, retired racing greyhounds, challenges, life, life challenges, watercolor paintings, a year of paintings, a year of watercolor paintings, joy, handmade joy exchange, failure, being unafraid to fail, learning from our failures, art dreams, art by Anne Butera, artist, art exhibit, Viroqua Wisconsin, Viva Gallery in Viroqua Wisconsin, Rooted Spoon, Rooted Spoon Kitchen Table, Rooted Spoon Culinary Viroqua Wisconsin, Viroqua Healing Arts Center, McIntosh Memorial Library, embroidery, sewing, spoonflower garment sewing, fabric design, Spoonflower, studio, art studio, sketchbooks, sketchbook practice, Sketchbooks, Dana Barbieri, collaboration, collaborative sketchbook, artist collaboration, yoga, yoga mats, Youtube, skillshare, Skillshare, sketchbook class on Skillshare, Skillshare classes, Skillshare teacher, teaching on Skillshare, Anne Butera's Skillshare classes, gouache, creative journey, creative journeys, garden, gardening, garden joy, looking back, looking forward, dreams, don't give up on your dreams, dreaming big, creative dreams, big dreams, moving from dreaming to doing, living your dream, making our creative dreams real, making your creative dreams real, going for your creative dreams, grow, intention, inner critic, Sonya Philip, Yoga With Adriene Comments

Being courageous

With only two months (and a bit) of the year left, I find myself looking forward to next year while also looking back over 2019.

My word for 2019 has been GROW. In some ways I feel that I’ve fallen short with my intentions. I don’t know about you, but for me I can look at all I still want to do and forget about all I already have done. Last week I was looking back at my seven years of calendar making and remembering how far I’ve come in that time. In some ways I’d almost forgotten.

notes from the studio