From My Sick Bed

Well, not quite but from my sick sofa. This past week has been non-stop in the McDaid house! First the dog was projecting blood from his behind (he had no idea there was anything wrong, happy as larry and is better now, thank god!) then the boy got an ear infection (at this point it feels like we spend every Saturday night in Urgent Care) and now I have tonsillitis. There were other developments during the week that I'm not sure the parties involved would want me to divulge (feel free to speculate wildly) and so as I write this at 10am I'm very much ready for a nap.Illnesses aside, I did take a week offline deliberately. As you can probably tell from my previous posts I was unravelling a little and needed to focus on something else for a bit.. and as is usually the way with me, I found something that occupied a lot of my time. I've spoken in the past about being incapable of relaxing and this is a hilariously perfect example. I could have spent the time playing video games (which reminds me, there's a new Sims game pack out today!!) or watching Netflix (which I did do, in fairness.. I just don't know how to only do that) and initially I thought I was being super chill but it soon became clear that subconsciously, I was still working.Last year I bought myself an iPad Pro, I was obsessed with the pencil and drawing features and after months of deliberation (it's crazy money for an iPad) I spent a few weeks playing before it was relegated to another Netflix viewing device. I decided (since I was taking some time off) that I'd pull out the pencil and see what I could do with it (oo-er) and I spent days drawing. It's a hobby I left behind in my teens that I really miss but these days if it's not productive I just feel guilty the whole time, which is just no fun.. and so, I made it productive.I started drawing up planners, little weekly organisers to keep me motivated after my break. Then (already feeling motivated) I pulled out my Erin Condren planner and started listing ideas for the coming months. This led me down the planner sticker path, using the 'illustrations' I'd been doodling to decorate, creating 'quote' prints.. it's been a journey. It's not unlike how I started my YouTube channel, really. My hands can't be idle for long and this time they created an etsy shop!I don't imagine for a moment that it will provide much in the way of income but I have really enjoyed the creative outlet it's given me and it's allowed me to re-immerse myself in the planner community. I was super in to printable stickers a couple of years ago but again, I felt like I was wasting time that should be being spent elsewhere, now I can plan to my hearts content because I'm sharing what I'm making. I've also really enjoyed some of the 'momtrepreneur' content I've found on my travels. If you're a woman, trying to build any kind of business it's inspiring to hear from others who are making it work.Overall I'm feeling much more positive today, can't wait to bust out my camera and get outs-Oh, it's freezing. It's snowing? Ok, maybe I'll stay in.*the shop will launch officially on Thursday (I haven't posted all of my listing yet) but if you want a sneak peek, its already live HERE. I also have a new instagram (so I'm not spamming my regular feed) - PlanToPrint