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This season has felt like a quiet homecoming.
Over the past six months, I’ve been soaking up every course I could get my hands on - drawing, painting, color theory, composition, surface design. I said yes to the long nights and the slow mornings, watching tutorials while folding laundry or sketching quietly during nap time. I dove deep because I wanted to get better, not just for myself, but because I knew that something inside me was shifting.
After years of digital work, I could feel my hands missing the brush, the texture, the unpredictability of real paint and paper. I took a trip to the art store - not the online kind with one-click shipping, but the creaky-wooden-floors kind. The kind that smells like memory. That visit reminded me who I was before the algorithm and the deadlines. Just an artist with a dream and a pack of watercolor paper.
That moment sparked something. I started painting again. Slowly. Quietly. On weekends camping, I’d sit at the picnic table with a brush in hand while the kids ran around, soaking up the summertime fun. It wasn’t always perfect, but it felt right.
I’ve made mistakes. So many! There were colors that didn’t work, brushes that didn’t behave, files that didn’t export right. But with every little failure came a breakthrough, and so much of that came from the encouragement of this community. Your kind words on my Reels. Your shared love of florals. Your belief in what I’m creating, even when I wasn't sure yet myself.
And now, it’s here: The Heirloom Bloom Collection. The first fully hand-painted pattern release I’ve done in this new season. It’s sweet and soft and filled with that spring feeling I always chase - not just the season, but the metaphor. Rebirth. Starting again. Growing back stronger.
It’s fitting that I’d come full circle with this. I started Sweet As April after my first baby’s autism diagnosis - it was my way of staying home, of holding onto something steady while the ground shifted underneath us. And now, years later, I get to add this layer of love back into my work. The painting. The quiet part. The part that feels like mine.
You can shop the new collection now - it’s available on bonnets, shirts, journals, wallpaper, fabric, phone cases, and more. But that’s not all…
Next month I’ll be announcing my Creative Market shop front - and I cannot wait to share the digital side of this release. I have numerous beautiful assets ready to go, including clip art, seamless patterns, and templates, and I’m working on a comprehensive blog post with all the details. This truly feels like another dream come true.
Thank you for being here. For cheering me on. For letting me bloom a little more each season. 🌸
With love,
Carrie
