Trying my hand at digital collage!

I came across these beautiful collage sheets on Etsy and thought I would have a go at doing them myself, as I've always love digital art and have a variety of software at my disposal.

I created this owl/rose/butterfly collage one weekend afternoon and thought I would share it here. Feel free to use for personal projects but please don't distribute commercially :)

It was so much fun creating it I designed a few others and I've been thinking about starting another eBay/Etsy shop selling these. In the past I've not had much luck with Etsy selling my wall stickers, but who knows these digital graphics might sell better!

I'm just really into doing what I love at the moment, and trying to make a living from it. I used to be cynical, thinking you had to be realistic but with the (very small!) success of the wall sticker shop I've realised that it IS possible to do what you love and make money from it. I just hope to grow these creative venues and hopefully one day it may become a full time thing.

Shedding the mask

In my meeting today at work I had a panic attack again. I usually take beta blockers but I thought this would be a short informal meeting, and also I don't like to take meds so frequently, so I didn't take a pill. When it was my turn to speak I felt nervous and soon the waves of panic came over me and I struggled to speak.

I pretended I had something in my throat (my usual excuse!) and I hoped no one realised I was nervous. But after the meeting I couldn't help feeling unsettled.. I wanted to shed the mask of confidence I usually try to put on and let people know the real me. I shouldn't be ashamed because I have done nothing wrong, and this is a medical condition which I have no control over. 

Later today I decided to have a quick word with my manager and just let him know my issue. I thought it was going to be a really embarrassing chat but actually it was fine, he was understanding which helped. 

So today was a good and bad day overall. I had a painful experience that I have not had to go through for a while thanks to the meds, but I was also able to let someone else get a bit closer to the real me, and that felt great.