Glow by Lady E

  I found this little box of Mont Marte watercolor paints for around $4 at KKV. Twelve tubes. That comes out to about 30 cents per color, which made me wonder how good they could possibly be. Turns out, pretty good. 😆 I believe these are student-grade paints, and they don’t bloom quite as beautifully as my Koi watercolors, but they bloom enough for the way I paint. The colors are pleasant to work with, they’re easy to control, and I’ve genuinely enjoyed having them in my collection. I especially like the tubes. I can squeeze just a tiny amount onto my palette when I need it instead of disturbing an entire pan of color. It’s convenient, surprisingly neat, and somehow makes sitting down to paint feel even easier. And maybe that’s why I like finding inexpensive art materials like this. Not everything in my atelier has to be precious. Sometimes I just want paint I can squeeze onto a palette without thinking too much about it and start making something. For around $4? I’m ver...

  For the past week, I’ve been tucked away in the atelier. Designing. Printing. Cutting. Packaging. One little notepad at a time. It’s the kind of work that doesn’t make much noise. Hours pass in quiet concentration, surrounded by paper trimmings, watercolor fruits and flowers, and little stacks that slowly grow until they’re finally ready to be wrapped. Yesterday, I finished every single one. And then something unexpected happened. The client who originally ordered one of each design came back and asked for two of each instead. I smiled. Not because the order became bigger (I am thankful), but because it felt like a quiet reminder that beautiful things, made with care, really do find their people. The atelier is a little quieter today because I will be painting for another custom order.  The worktable is finally clear. For now. Issue 03 will be a little special. I’ll be introducing each collection one by one because every design has its own little story to tell. Until then… T...

  Nineteen days have passed since our last issue, and almost a week since I quietly waved from this little corner of the internet. I’m still here. Issue 03 is taking shape, just not all at once. Some pages are written in long stretches of focus. Others arrive between packing orders, refilling tape, answering messages, and waiting for the Cricut to finish another cut. The work behind Glow has never looked particularly glamorous. After nine days of staying in, cabin fever finally won, so I slipped out for a few hours. I wandered through shops, admired beautiful things, came home with a little inspiration, and remembered that stepping outside sometimes feeds the pages just as much as sitting in front of them. Yes, that’s a My Melody paper plate 😊 with Mochi Donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts and Cobbs Popcorn Back at my desk, writing continued with a pink doughnut, bright yellow popcorn, and whatever little treat happened to be nearby. Not because it was perfectly styled, but because creativ...