Check out my FREE Modern Calligraphy Challenge to help you get started using a dip pen and ink with some video instruction as well as free printable worksheets.

In this tutorial, I'll show you my favourite pointed pen nibs for modern calligraphy and demonstrate them as I talk about the characteristics and what I like about them.

In this video, I gave you a few options for painting white flowers with watercolor but wanted to share that you can lighten the paint color using more water.

These are seriously my top 5 watercolors to paint with! I can mix every color I need to paint leaves, stems, florals and more! If you are just starting out and are looking for a few tubes of colors that you can get started with, have a look at the ones that I show you in this tutorial!

Check out the video below and if you’re a fan of YouTube, don’t forget to subscribe here!

These tutorials are meant to give you a taste of what is possible with the right tools and techniques! If your goal is to great painting rituals that make you feel excited to sit down to paint, then I invite you to come paint with me and experience first hand how gratifying the ritual of the process really is!

Modern Watercolors for beginners is open for a few more days then it’s gone until the fall!

A self paced, video based class that you have lifetime access to as I updated and add to the course!

Over the last few months I’ve had some great conversations with fellow watercolor enthusiasts about how intimidating watercolor painting can be especially if you’ve never picked up watercolors before and if you don’t consider yourself to be artistic!

Watercolor painting tutorials designed with the beginner in mind. Learn how to mix the perfect watercolor puddle, wet-on-wet techniques, how to paint flowers, leaves and more.

Watercolor Leaves: how to easily paint multiple styles & learn to layer leaves creating depth for an interesting piece of art that you can frame, digitize to use in your design work and enjoy painting over and over again! This online watercolor for beginners class will show you how to mix paint, use my favorite brush and create depth, movement and flow to your painted piece.

What an interesting few weeks. Our daily lives have been turned upside down with this virus and I can’t imagine a single person who hasn’t been impacted by what’s happening right now. I’m navigating what’s happening as best as I can and am happy that I have a business that is online based and that I already run from my home office. It’s a little more challenging for my husband and kids who are not as accustomed to being home 24/7.

These last few days especially, I feel very fortunate to have my creative practice where I get a reprieve from the news, social media posts and tv reports. The time I spend at my desk in the studio portion of my office, is a welcomed distraction, but it also fills me up with hope and joy and creative energy that spills into other parts of my life.

Fun, and creative ways to pass the time during our quarantine at home using free practice calligraphy sheets, YouTube videos, and 50% off sale on all online classes! Read the post for more information!

If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll know that I’m a big believer of learning and growing. Courage is what helped me start life i design all those years ago. Courage is what pushes me to try something new and allows me to make mistakes so I can grow. Courage is something that I push myself to have more of and is what I encourage my kids to find within themselves.

’ve been sharing them on my IGTV over here and on my Instagram account here. I’ll try my best to upload them to this post daily, but in case I can get them up quick enough, make sure to follow me on Instagram so you don’t miss out!

Registration for this classes closes on February 16th! This class will launch again in the spring but at a higher price. The best part about getting into the class now is not only do you get in for a lower price, but you automatically get access to all updates as I improve the class and add more content to it!!

If you have any questions about this class, email me anytime at nicki@lifeidesign.com!

A fun time lapse showing how I practice and play warming up my watercolor and lettering skills. Join me for a 6 plus hour watercolor for beginners class!

Introduction to Modern Watercolors for Beginners is a class that I developed and teach in a way that helps you learn easily, through simple projects, how to become familiar with watercolor paints but practice, observation and fun!

Each day, for five days, you will get access to a video where I teach and demonstrate the stroke and technique for the day. You will also have access to a free printable practice worksheet, which you will be able to trace, and practice from. I have also added a bonus alphabet video demonstration for you to use to help give you a taste of what you can expect when you start learning more techniques and build your muscle memory to write in modern calligraphy style lettering!

In five days you will have a good starting foundation for dip pen and ink modern calligraphy and a taste for whether this new creative skill is a good fit for you!

If you've taken one of my many calligraphy and lettering classes with me, you'll already have the courage to pick up a new tool and try your hand at watercolor painting with me!

Watercolor is a natural progression for those of us who use a dip pen, a brush pen, or a paint brush to letter! I've created this class with you in mind, to teach you how easy it is to pick up a simple watercolor palette and a brush, to paint a winter wreath and even add a festive word or two!

Painting is something that I’ve done along side of my business for the last 5 years. For years I painted, exhibited and sold original art, quietly, in the background. It’s taken 5 years of painting and developing my style in order for me feel ready. To feel ready to pursue my goal of creating and selling my art more actively.

I share this with you because I know it’s hard when you are just starting out. You are witnessing most people’s work when they too have been practicing quietly for years and years. It’s tough some days to be comparing your work to others when our social media feeds are filled with edited, staged and styled photographs of what seems to be effortless displays of creativity and artistic expression. Some thing that I struggle with on days when I’m filled with self doubt and worry. We’ve all been there right?!

Years ago I was busy lettering, digitizing, designing, printing, selling & shipping, greeting cards as part of my online shop! It was a very busy few years in my business that required a lot of time and effort from me but I did enjoy creating some fun and sassy greeting cards that quickly became popular in my shop!

Greeting cards are a great way to share a personal message with a friend, say thank you to a client or if you are a calligraphy or letterer, to create a gratifying income stream or two in your business!

It’s also when I am most inspired to paint as many leaves and use as much color as possible. I use what I gather as reference and loosely paint what I see as I interpret colors, shapes and lines. If you haven’t played around with watercolor yet, it’s a very simple practice to help you learn how watercolor behaves and how you can easily, in a few minutes, add some interest to your sketchbook or journal pages!

I recorded this quick time lapse video for you to see how to sketch out a rough shape, loosely interpret what you see and play with color and water flow.

Not having enough time in the day seems like a common problem all around. I’m not sure if it’s because we are glued to social media, watching endless cute animal videos or perhaps it’s all the binge watching on Netflix, to which I am guilty of myself!

These time sucking activities are all inactive, non-participatory, and time wasting activities that we are all guilty of! This fall I set a few goals for myself and one of them being; to make more time actually make art!I have set in place a few tips and strategies that I want to share with you, to help you find more time to make art too!