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  • #34 - Dopamine Menu for Crafty People
    Jan 7 2026

    Hi! I’m Becky, a former shop owner & independent artist, currently trying to reclaim my creativity. I love sharing small businesses, chatting about crafts and rambling about books.

    Come hangout in this not-so-serious, cat-photo-filled, creative space!

    Dopamine Menu for Crafty People

    ***Apologies for the audio quality! I explain it in the beginning and I’m so sorry!***

    Today, I’m leaning into a very silly idea.

    My therapist suggested I make a “dopamine menu” for myself a while back. Just a list of little things that lift my spirits and bring me joy.

    So, I decided to adapt that idea into a restaurant-style menu of different types of crafts and projects I can pull from when I need something to make.

    Join me to learn what kinds of crafts I add to my menu. I’ve got appetizers, entrees, salads, specials and desserts! It’s very dorky and I’m into it.

    ♡ Becky

    Thanks for reading and listening to My Artist Friend with Becky Helms! This post is public so please feel free share it!



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beckyhelms.substack.com/subscribe
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    17 Min.
  • #33 - Advent Activities for a Fun & Easy Holiday
    Nov 25 2025

    This week, I’m excited to share how we do our Advent calendar each year. I painted this tree for Emmit’s first Christmas and we’ve used it every year since. I fill each box with a Christmas chocolate and small piece of paper with an activity on it.

    Sometimes the activities are things we’re planning to go out and do. Sometimes they’re small ways to celebrate the season without much fuss. Here are some ideas for things you can add to your Advent calendar!

    You can also watch on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts!

    My Artist Friend with Becky Helms is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

    Activities

    * Local Events - Anything date specific goes on the calendar and into the Advent tree

    * Cocoa Crawls

    * Tree Lightings

    * Musical productions

    * Parades

    * Trivia Nights

    * Trail of Lights

    * Craft Shows & Holiday Markets - Get them on the calendar

    * Blue Genie Art Bizarre in Austin (Running till Christmas Eve as always)

    * Christkindl Markt in Grand Rapids (November 19th - December 23rd)

    * Detroit Urban Craft Fair (December 6th and 7th at the Masonic Temple in Detroit)

    * Family, Friends or Workplace Parties - If they’re part of your holiday season, add them to the Advent!

    * Go Ice Skating - I prefer to watch from a distance with hot chocolate lol

    * Buy a Special Ornament - We like to pick out a new ornament for each year, though I usually end up getting a few 😬

    * Small Business Crawl - Visit your favorite small businesses all in one day! Maybe even eat at locally owned restaurants while you’re out. Bring some friends and support independent shops.

    Movies & TV Shows

    * The Muppet Christmas Carol

    * How the Grinch Stole Christmas

    * Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

    * Frosty the Snowman

    * Care Bears Nutcracker Suite

    * White Christmas

    * Home Alone

    * Elf

    * A Chipmunk Christmas (does anyone else remember this?)

    * Christmas episodes of your favorite TV Shows (Like The Office, listed below)

    * Season 2, Episode 10 - “Christmas Party”

    * Season 3, Episode 10 & 11 - “A Benihana Christmas: Part 1 & 2”

    * Season 5, Episode 11 - “Moroccan Christmas”

    * Season 6, Episode 13 - “Secret Santa”

    * Season 7, Episode 11 & 12 - “Classy Christmas: Part 1 & 2”

    * Season 8, Episode 10 - “Christmas Wishes”

    * Season 9, Episode 9 - “Dwight Christmas”

    Food

    * Make a hot chocolate bar (or just make hot chocolate together)

    * Make Chex Mix together

    * Cookie marathon day - sugar cookies with decorations, chocolate chip, etc

    * Host a cookie swap

    * Make a gingerbread house (or use graham crackers for an easier treat)

    * Bake a yule log and decorate it together

    * I always make my Great Aunt Becky’s toffee and send it to folks

    Traditions

    * Make paper snowflakes

    * Play Candy Cane Hide & Seek

    * Make a memory chain

    * Make ornaments together

    * Make your own Christmas cards

    * Jolabokoflod - gift books on Christmas Eve!

    When I’m putting my calendar together, I try to space things out and think about when we might need a break from the more involved things.

    It must be said that we don’t always make good on every single activity every single day. Sometimes life happens. Sometimes we’re just not in the mood. We hold it loosely, but I like to use it as a framework for our holidays so we’re sure to do all the fun things we love each year!

    ♡ Becky

    Thanks for reading and listening to My Artist Friend with Becky Helms! This post is public so please feel free share it!



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beckyhelms.substack.com/subscribe
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    17 Min.
  • #32 - Snart Theme for November!
    Nov 12 2025
    We’re celebrating a year of the podcast with a Snart episode! Snart is Snack+Art (the snack bit isn’t as important, but if you want to be a purest, grab some Christmas Tree Cakes) and I’m sharing some artists who have amazing holiday ideas, thoughts on books about Christmas crafts, activities to do with people you like, and fun projects to try as we get into the season.Enjoy!!And be sure to scroll down for all the links you could possibly want!My Artist Friend with Becky Helms is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Artists* Jennifer Perkins - If you love a kitschy, crafty Christmas like me, she is your one stop shop for inspiration! I love her! She’s my friend in real life and I still crawl her site during the holidays looking for inspiration. She does lots of events around Austin, so be sure to follow her on Instagram if you’re in the area and want to make cool crafts with a cool chick.* Substack: iamjenperkins.substack.com* Blog: https://jenniferperkins.com/category/holidays/christmas/* Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheHuntressGatherer* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferperkins* The Crafted Life - If you like super simple, super colorful crafts at Christmas time, this is your gal! Another actual friend (how lucky am I?! 😭), Rachel is full of ideas that bring color into your life and holidays. Also, her books are incredible!* Blog: https://thecraftedlife.com/category/holiday/* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecraftedlife/* Newsletter: https://thecraftedlife.com/newsletter/* Colorful Living Book: https://thecraftedlife.com/colorful-living-links/* Perkins on Parkway - I don’t actually know Krystle in real life, but her IG is full of fun home decor and DIYs. I recently saw, on Instagram, a felt Christmas chain DIY that I’m absolutely doing this year!* Blog: https://perkinsonparkway.com/category/christmas/* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perkinsonparkway/* Mollie Johanson - We’re back to real life friends here! Mollie is an incredible artist, embroiderer and crafter. We even collabed on a pin together many years ago! Her felt holiday projects and sew-a-longs are beyond cute (as you’ll see below).* Blog: https://wildolive.blogspot.com/search/label/christmas* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/molliejohanson/* YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildolive* Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/wildolive/BooksI’m not going to share a list of books this time because I put together a pretty thorough list for the Christmas in July post. But, I will say, my best advice for finding good holiday craft books is to go thrifting. Any vintage Christmas craft book is going to be golden!Activities* Cocoa Crawl - I’ve only just heard of this, but apparently, shops will provide hot chocolate samples and you can just walk around town drinking cocoa and eating treats?! Sign me up! There are bunch around me, too!* Neighborhood Lights drive - I know there are lots of places to see giant light displays (we loved Trail of Lights and Peppermint Parkway in Austin every year), but when I was little and we didn’t have a lot, we’d just take a night and drive around the fancy neighborhoods to see what their lights were like lol!* Holiday Craft Night - There are so many projects you can do with friends for the holidays! Make ornaments and trade them, have a cookie baking day, make paper chains. Have a host, pick the supplies, get the cheesy music on and make it a night!* Ceramic Painting Studio - I flipping love a paint-your-own ceramics place. There’s one near us that has a giant light up Christmas tree and I need to paint my own pink, ceramic tree! It’s a must.Projects* Christmas Heirloom Dollhouse - This can be huge and involved (like Perkins on Parkway) or use a simple IKEA house as a base and be moderately involved (like Blushing Embers). Either way, I’m obsessed. You could even make a big dollhouse like A Beautiful Mess did years ago and make holiday themed rooms or swap out and redecorate that mini house for Christmas, too!* https://perkinsonparkway.com/diy-christmas-dollhouse/* instagram.com/blushingembers/* https://abeautifulmess.com/how-to-build-a-diy-dollhouse/* Wreaths - There are so many ways to make cute wreaths! You could make them humongous using pool noodles. You could hot glue a ton of vintage ornaments to a tinsel wreath (omg I want to do this so bad!). You could make tiny ones from bitty wreaths and kitschy odds and ends (I share this one for Christmas in July, but I’m still obsessed). * https://abeautifulmess.com/easy-oversized-christmas-wreath-diy-with-pool-noodles/* https://inspiredbycharm.com/diy-vintage-christmas-ornament-wreath/* https://www.bhg.com/christmas/ornaments/easy-christmas-ornaments/* Ornaments - Duh. First, please try making some pushpin ornaments! I got a bunch of satin ornaments from At Home last year to use as a base for pushpin decorating and I love them. ...
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    32 Min.
  • #31 - Season 2 Podcast Premier!
    Sep 24 2025
    Season 2 is here!After a little transition time between the summer and the new school year, I’m back with another podcast episode! As you can imagine, things didn’t turn out quite as I expected over the long holiday and I wanted to recap my expectations vs my reality and how I square them for myself.If you’d rather watch YouTube, you can hop over here.What Worked* Adding events to the calendar* This is huge for me because I’m an “out of sight, out of mind” kind of gal, so making sure the big events we want to do are on the calendar, meant that they weren’t missed.* The biggest one was the Ann Arbor Art Fair, which continues to be one of my favorite things about living here. It was a perfect day.* Christmas in July* The Snart activity for July was my favorite so far! I cannot express the joy that it brought me* We visited Frankenmuth, made crafts, bought holiday fabric and I even did Christmas nails!* Morning Pages* I held space for this practice during the break and whenever I chose to let it go in favor of a lie-in, I felt the difference.* This small ritual in the morning is necessary to my well being now!* Small crafts* Making beaded earrings was my crafty lifeline throughout the break. * Being able to complete a project from start to finish is another necessity for my brain.* Vlogging!* I am so glad that I recorded videos each week during the summer! Having a record of our days helped me to see how much we actually did, even if it wasn’t what we’d planned.* Feeling productive and sharing our life was really fun, too.What Didn’t Work* Strict weekly schedule* I love planning a weekly schedule, but keeping to it is a totally different exercise. * When I don’t follow through with my carefully laid plans, there are definitely feelings of failure that pop up. I had to let those go this summer.* Regular day trips* I have a kid who loves being home. He’d much rather read and build LEGO sets than run around town.* And our days ended up being shorter than I expected. We’d sleep in longer than expected (a blessing and a curse), his limited screen time would blend in to lunch and then we just didn’t have enough time to go out before it was time to start dinner. Again…learning to let go.* Long-term projects* I just couldn’t rustle up the dopamine to get to all of my neglected, long-term projects.* Sometimes it’s ok to kick the can down the road a bit and let your future self figure it out.* Anything that required recurring plans* I think we’ve establish that the best laid plans of mice and men go awry. I love making them, but when you’re a parent, you have to hold everything very loosely.* This is something I’d like to work on in the future. When my schedule works, it makes things easier for me, but when it’s too much, everything goes out the window.My Artist Friend with Becky Helms is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Find me all over the place!* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeckyhelms/* Substack: https://substack.com/@beckyhelms* YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeckyHelms* Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thebeckyhelms/_saved/* Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/beckyhelms.bsky.socialThanks for reading and listening to My Artist Friend with Becky Helms! This post is public so please feel free share it! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beckyhelms.substack.com/subscribe
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    22 Min.
  • #30 - How to Plan a Creative Summer - Season 1 Finale!
    Jun 10 2025
    It’s time for the Season 1 Finale of My Artist Friend! Let’s chat about how to plan a creative summer and some of things I’m looking forward to while my kid is out of school. I’m chatting about project ideas, scheduling tips to limit decision making and just mindsets to help you survive the summer with your creativity intact.Thanks for hanging out with me for the last 30 weeks, omg! I’m taking a break after this episode until September, but I’ll still be hanging out on Instagram and Substack, so I hope to see you there!Keep scrolling down for the full outline and links.My Artist Friend with Becky Helms is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Scheduling Your Time* Events & Activities* Get out your calendar and add all the events that aren’t flexible, so you can plan around them.* Ann Arbor Art Fair: https://www.theannarborartfair.com/* Shakespeare in the Arb: https://www.annarbor.org/event/shakespeare-in-the-arb/19325/* Day Trips* Set a radius that’s reasonable for your travel in a day and explore!* Frankenmuth, MI: https://www.frankenmuth.org/* Detroit Institute of Arts: https://dia.org/* Toledo Zoo: https://www.toledozoo.org/* Summer-long Projects* Come up with one long-term project to work on during the summer.* Finish my stinkin’ holiday quilts.* Junk journal, scrap book, embroidery journal, pink eraser stamp collection, large paper mache sculpture, check past Snart Episodes!* Weekly Schedule* Naming days where you have recurring activities or meals will ease the burden of decision making. Don’t over plan or be in-flexible!* Library Mondays, Trip Tuesdays, Park Fridays, etc.* Brinner Mondays (that’s one of ours!), Taco Tuesdays (another winner), etc.* Daily Schedule* Having a couple of touch points during the day will help to keep things moving and keep the days from blending together.* Morning journal time (non-negotiable), one hour of Switch, one hour of vintage screens (Apple 2e games, NES, SNES, GameBoy, Game Gear, etc), Snart afternoon, reading time.Keeping up with Your Creativity* Schedule the time! Make it a priority!* It’s very easy to let your creativity go when you’re in the day-to-day of it all. Pick something small that you can do each day to fill your creative cup.* Journal time before everyone wakes up – this gets my brain going and puts me in a better headspace creatively and as a person.* have a project you can easily pick up and put down when you have a minute – be interruptible.* embroidery * quilting * simple jewelry making * drawing in a sketchbook * writing a short story, poem or song lyrics* Know that not every craft or activity will be a hit.* It’s ok if your kids, or you, aren’t into a craft that you’ve prepped for. Just let it go and try something else another day.* Reuse stores are great for experimental creativity, because their cheap and you can donate them right back.* Spend time outside and let your mind wander. * Get some solid, screen free time whenever you can. * Stolen Focus* Find flow - get super into a subject or project* Free play - let your mind wanderFind me all over the place!* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeckyhelms/* Substack: https://substack.com/@beckyhelms* YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeckyHelms* Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thebeckyhelms/_saved/* Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/beckyhelms.bsky.socialThanks for reading and listening to My Artist Friend with Becky Helms! This post is public so please feel free share it! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beckyhelms.substack.com/subscribe
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    29 Min.
  • #29 - Q&A: Balancing Personal & Professional Creativity + More!
    Jun 3 2025

    This episode is all about you! I put out a call to Instagram and got a few questions from some sweet friends (thank you!!) and we’re getting into some difficult questions about balance and owning a business, but also chatting about collecting and Animal Crossing. Literally, my favorite things to talk about!

    Keep scrolling down for the full list of questions, outlined answers and links.

    My Artist Friend with Becky Helms is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

    * Any advice for working on personal biz goals when you work full-time corporate?

    * Be very specific with your goals - Nothing vague or open-ended. We need clarity about what you really want.

    * Put a timeline around projects - Give yourself end dates for projects and business goals. I gave myself 6 months for the podcast and then reassessed.

    * Check-in with yourself regularly - Weekly, monthly, quarterly, whatever your schedule, make the time to review.

    * How do you balance crafting for a job vs crafting for yourself?

    * Overlap the two - Most things I craft for work are things that I’d want to make for myself.

    * Make it about someone else - Gift giving rules!

    * Figure out quick wins - If I’m making for myself, I need a balance between the long and short term projects.

    * When you were in your biz, how did you balance art for fun and art for work?

    * I didn’t lol

    * Creativity showed up in different ways

    * Art projects with my kid

    * Picking out decor for our home

    * Drawing silly things for my husband

    * Carve out the time or follow the energy - However the inspiration hits, take the time to nurture it.

    * Flip your mindset - it’s not wasted time if it’s time spent nurturing your creativity

    * What would you do for business now vs then? Advice for someone who wants to.

    * Start and email list immediately - Substack, Klaviyo, FloDesk

    * Post to social media, but not enough to make it another full-time job.

    * Add an About You page to your site for the love all that’s holy!

    * https://shop.thepeachfuzz.co/pages/about

    * https://chunks.shop/pages/about-chunks

    * https://pixelandinkcreative.com/pages/about

    * https://www.staceymartin.com/homeabout

    * https://www.adamceramic.com/about-me

    *

    * How do you decide what books, goodies to collect/ curate over others? (via SharkCitySlicker)

    * Aesthetics - Is it cute? Does it fit with my ecclectic kawaii, mid-century vibe?

    * Accessibility - Is it in the budget, available and authentic?

    * Swung vases are my kryptonite. So expensive, but I’m obsessed. I have to limit my purchasing at antique stores and on eBay, but I will always grab one if it’s at the thrift

    * Polly Pockets are getting up there in price and the accessories are hard to find. Is it extra effort to get a complete set?

    * I love a vintage coach bag, but there’s a thriving knock-off market. Does it require more education on how to find the real thing?

    * Nostalgia - Was it something in my childhood that want back or something I was never able to have?

    * My first American Girl doll - I cried.

    * I need the dolphin Sky Dancer back in my life.

    Find me all over the place!

    * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeckyhelms/

    * Substack: https://substack.com/@beckyhelms

    * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeckyHelms

    * Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thebeckyhelms/_saved/

    * Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/beckyhelms.bsky.social

    Thanks for reading and listening to My Artist Friend with Becky Helms! This post is public so please feel free share it!



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beckyhelms.substack.com/subscribe
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    35 Min.
  • #28 - Snart Theme for June with Becky
    May 27 2025
    June’s Snart theme is Embroidery and I couldn’t be more excited! I forgot to mention in the episode that I used to teach beginner embroidery classes in Austin. Seems like a big thing to leave out considering I even taught a class at one of the branches of the Austin Public Library, but I’m very grateful for photographic evidence of me teaching lol.Be sure to scroll down for all the links you could possibly want!My Artist Friend with Becky Helms is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Artists* Mollie Johanson - Super cute patterns for all abilities* Blog: https://wildolive.blogspot.com/* Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/wildolive* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/molliejohanson/?hl=en* Rachel of Poppy & Fern - Beautiful florals and jewelry* Shop: https://www.poppyandfern.com/* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poppyandfern/?hl=en* The Wondermakers Collective - A collaborative embroidery project between friends that involves a lot of sequins* Website: https://thewondermakerscollective.com/* Yumiko Higuchi - Gorgeous patterns and lots of books linked in the book section* Website: https://yumikohiguchi.com/art* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yumikohiguchi/?hl=en* Jenny Hart - Fine artist, teacher and pioneer. Truly an inspiration.* Website: https://sublimestitching.com/pages/jenny_hart* Tutorials: https://sublimestitching.com/pages/tutorials* Sashiko Lab - A small sashiko atelier in Kyoto* Website: https://sashikolab.com/* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sashiko.lab/?hl=enBooks* Embroidery in Everyday Life by Yumiko Higuchi* https://bookshop.org/a/112122/9781797221601* Embroidered Botanicals by Yumiko Higuchi* https://bookshop.org/a/112122/9781947322080* The Art of Embroidery Design: A Workshop for Developing Your Own Original Stitching by Christi Johnson* https://bookshop.org/a/112122/9781635867664* Paint with Thread by Emillie Ferris* https://bookshop.org/a/112122/9781446308486* https://www.instagram.com/emillieferris/?hl=en* Embroidery Stitch Bible by Betty Barnden* https://bookshop.org/a/112122/9784756242877* Simply Sashiko - Nihon Vogue* https://bookshop.org/a/112122/9784805316245Activities* Visit a Museum or checkout online exhibitions:* Detroit Institute of Art - Painted with Silk: The Art of Early American Embroidery - https://dia.org/about/media-room/news/detroit-institute-arts-presents-painted-silk-art-early-american-embroidery* Embroiders’ Guild of America has upcoming shows: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1153?](https://egausa.org/6-needlework-exhibits-sensational-embroidery/)* The Met: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1226?](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search?q=embroidery&material=Embroidery&showOnly=onDisplay)* Stitch-a-long with friends! * https://www.stitchnbitch.co/* Mending party! Get together with Sashiko templates or just regular patches to mend clothes in a decorative way.Projects* Visible mending* https://egausa.org/visible-mending-introduction/* https://www.instagram.com/visiblemend/?hl=en* https://www.instagram.com/lived_in_clothes/?hl=en* Stitch sampler* https://www.bethcolletti.com/blog/printed-sampler* Letters or names in a hoop* https://www.needlenthread.com/2009/10/hand-embroidery-lettering-and-text.html* Make decorative patches* Using felt: https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Hand-Embroidered-Medal-Patches/* Using fabric: https://crewelghoul.com/blog/how-to-make-a-hand-embroidered-patch/* Embroidery Journal* https://stircrazycrafter.com/embroidery-journal-creation/* Embroidered Quilt Blocks* From vintage finds: https://blog.thermoweb.com/vintage-quilt-blocks-using-modern-products-to-give-new-life-to-old-fabrics/* Original work on hexies: http://www.minkikim.com/hexie-quilt/* Quotes as decor* Great stitches for lettering: https://nelandjocrafts.com/best-embroidery-stitches-for-script-lettering/* Embroider Tea Towels* https://www.twelveonmain.com/easy-diy-embroidered-tea-towels/* https://www.gigisthimble.com/2024/04/tea-towels.html* Embroider a kid’s drawing* https://www.pamashdesigns.com/blog/2016/4/20/how-to-turn-a-childs-drawing-into-an-embroidered-keepsake* https://swoodsonsays.com/how-to-turn-kids-artwork-into-an-embroidered-ornament/* Embroider on canvas* https://www.5littlemonsters.com/2021/01/embroidered-canvas-paintings.html?m=1* https://craftychica.com/2023/02/how-to-embroider-on-a-canvas/Links* Newsletter: https://beckyhelms.substack.com/s/newsletter* Previous Snart Episodes:https://beckyhelms.substack.com/p/24-snart-theme-for-may-with-beckyhttps://beckyhelms.substack.com/p/10-becky-snart-snackart-afterschoolhttps://beckyhelms.substack.com/p/12-snart-theme-for-february-withhttps://beckyhelms.substack.com/p/16-snart-theme-for-march-with-beckyhttps://beckyhelms.substack.com/p/20-snart-theme-for-april-with-beckyFind me all over the place!* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeckyhelms/* Substack: https://substack.com/@beckyhelms*...
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    29 Min.
  • #27 - 10 Ways to Get Your Creative Practice Back on Track
    May 20 2025
    This week, we’re talking about ways to get the joy back in your creative practice. I’m the kind of person who leans towards burnout as soon as I start a new project and I need to consciously slow myself down to avoid the inevitable art block.If that sounds familiar, I have some ideas of quick things that can help break you out of that cycle and bust through art block like a champ! These are things that I need work on, or have worked for me in the past. I hope they’re helpful. Thanks for letting me chat at you!Mentioned:My Artist Friend with Becky Helms is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.* Journal* Journal podcast episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/beckyhelms/p/15-8-reasons-i-love-journaling-with* Some prompts: * When did I start to feel stuck? * What do I love about my creative job/practice? * What do I hate about it? * What’s a small change I can make today?* Try a new medium* Snart episodes: https://open.substack.com/pub/beckyhelms/p/24-snart-theme-for-may-with-becky* If you’re an illustrator, grab some clay. If you’re a ceramicist, carve a linoleum block. If you’re a print maker, crochet a granny square.* Get out of your comfort-zone and do something wildly different, but still creative.* Go for a walk* No music, podcast or audiobook.* Just be alone with your thoughts and clear out the cobwebs.* Bring a small sketchbook or notebook if you need them to remember epiphanies.* Go to a place* Visit a museum, arboretum, plant nursery/garden center, park with a sketch book or notebook.* Sit and sketch, or write. This is purely for inspiration* Take a class or watch a YouTube video* Do this with the express purpose of throwing it away.* You can keep it if you want, but it’s just for you.* Jennifer Perkins Junk Journal* 5 minute free form drawing every single day* No thoughts, just scribbles* Use creative prompts* Lindsay Jean Thomson’s 100 Day Project* Adam Ming’s Ten Minute Artist* Art journaling specific: https://joyfulartjournaling.com/57-art-journal-prompts/* More abstract and detailed: https://gelpress.com/blogs/art-and-inspiration/30-creative-drawing-prompts-for-artists?srsltid=AfmBOoqJjKdZbGV0Hs2g4VPqBZIqbsG6Si9xKpwy2mJ2bVRE-OkAb4-9* Buddy drawing/crafting* Get together with someone else and work together* Even if you’re just working quietly, or over zoom, not interacting at all, having that other person there for you in the moment is the key.* You can collab, or not. No pressure.* Recreate a favorite classic artwork* Pick something super old and try to mimic the techinique* Or go another direction and do it your style* Go eat something and take a nap* Sometimes we’re tired and hungry and need a break* The juxtaposition of your wellbeing and productivity can get out of whack very quickly in capitalist societyFind me all over the place!* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeckyhelms/* Substack: https://substack.com/@beckyhelms* YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeckyHelms* Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thebeckyhelms/_saved/* Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/beckyhelms.bsky.socialThanks for reading and listening to My Artist Friend with Becky Helms! This post is public so please feel free share it! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beckyhelms.substack.com/subscribe
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