Announcing Motivation Monthly
A brand new meet-up!
edit: Read this if you want to learn more about what Motivation Monthly. It is the very first post I wrote introducing it!
Hello everyone! I have returned from an incredible two-week holiday in Trieste and then Croatia! It was our first holiday in two years, and our first time abroad in who knows how long, so we were soaking up every minute of it. I’ve got that fabulous post-holiday energy and am feeling refreshed, motivated and creatively boosted!
I want to write another post about my takeaways from the holiday, as I feel really full of ideas and good intentions, and I don’t want to forget them, but for now, I wanted to let you know about a brand-new monthly meet-up for my Substack and Patreon.
Some of you may remember I used to do a weekly meet-up I called Motivation Monday. It was a weekly meet-up (every Monday) and the idea was to set the week up with some good intentions and good feelings. I kept it really simple; the premise was to write a ta-da list of everything you had done in the last week, and then read out your lists to the other Motivation Mondayers (if you wanted - not compulsory!). I really enjoyed Motivation Monday, it was always fascinating hearing what everyone had been up to, in different parts of the world, and it was a lovely regular meet-up.
You may also remember I used to run a monthly membership called Projects Gang helping people plan and manage creative projects, as well as providing feedback on their work. Again, I really loved this and I know I got a ton out of it, as much as (I hope) the gang did.
Sadly, I had to pause both of them as my illustration work increased, but I do miss both of them. Soooo…..
I have decided that I would like to start a new hybrid meet-up I am calling Motivation Monthly (see what I did there!?). I don’t know about you, but I love a chance to set goals and dream up new ideas and exciting plans. Although I am a creative, messy, often chaotic artist, in a slightly out-of-character way, I also love writing a list and checking things off. So as well as missing all the people from the groups (I hope some of you are reading this and will come!) I also miss having something in the diary for this side of my brain. I’m really excited to get back to this sort of thing. We will set intentions, brainstorm ideas, set goals, and also give ourselves a good old pat on the back with a ta-da list too!
So, I hope you will join me for the very first one, this Monday!
If I say so myself, it is really good value for money. My Projects Gang was £40 per month, and although this won’t be as in-depth or regular as that, it will hopefully have the flavour of it, with a Motivation Monday aftertaste, if you will! (Plus, if you join this, you get access to all of my other Substack content and backlist videos).
I am attaching a worksheet to use on the night (for subscribers) for those who fancy it, but if you want you could go rogue and do your own thing, or just come along and paint, while we write lists…
I wanted to strike while the idea is hot (as it were) so I am putting the first one in this Monday, at 8pm. It’s short notice, but I hope you can come, and tell a friend and invite them too!
And here is a reminder of what is happening the rest of this month:
Art Play Date - Weds Aug 16th at 8pm BST
I haven’t decided on the theme yet, I’ll write a separate post about that soon
Picture Book Club - Weds Aug 23rd at 8pm BST
The book will be….drumroll please… The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen. I’m really excited to discuss this one. You might be interested to read this article before we meet, which discusses the book and lots of interesting ideas about who childrens books are for. I will write another post with questions for you to think about before-hand, so look out for that soon.
Goodbye for now, and see you on Monday I hope!
Ella xx
The worksheet and Zoom link are below for paid subscribers
You can join for £4.50 per month - that’s like a fancy coffee these days. As soon as you join you get access to my back catalogue of paid posts, regular updates and behind-the-scenes videos from my studio. You also get exclusive access to my monthly lives: Art Play Dates and Picture Book Club and Motivation Monthly. Plus, access to my private community, chats and loads more. You also help support me in making not only this content on Substack, but you help support my transition into becoming a fully-fledged illustrator.
If you are already a paid subscriber - thanks SO MUCH - your support means so much! If it’s beyond your budget at the moment, no worries, you still get access to my free posts and updates, which will pop up here on the regular...