Favorite Things 2026 Calendar by Joanna Baker

The Inspiration Behind the 2026 Favorite Things Calendar…

Favorite Things 2026 Calendar by Joanna Baker

This will be my 11th year creating sketches for my illustrated Favorite Things Calendar and it’s become a fun challenge to envision an overarching theme for all the months! For the 2025 calendar, each month is inspired by a different print or pattern. And the year before that featured a different grandmillennial pastime on each page. It’s a bit tricky to look well ahead into the future and imagine what will feel fresh and inspiring months in advance. But as I was brainstorming ideas for the next calendar, a quote kept coming back to me from one of my favorite movies, Under the Tuscan Sun. “Never lose your childish enthusiasm.”

Continue reading →

Peel & Stick Wallpaper Bookshelf

I recently added this bookcase to my studio space for extra storage and to create an additional working surface for my Cricut machine. But as I was putting the bookcases together, I knew that I’d eventually add one of my wallpaper designs to the back of the shelves for extra charm. I placed an order for my Rose Trellis pattern in the Peel & Stick wallpaper option from Spoonflower this is the pistachio and blue combo in the larger scale and got to work.

Continue reading →
DIY Painted Paper Heart Garland by Joanna Baker

DIY Painted Paper Heart Garland

Lately I’ve been feeling the pull to create just for the sake of creating. Usually after the holiday season, it takes awhile for my creative spark to return but this year I’ve felt a desire to make lots of things. Perhaps it’s my mind’s way of regulating my nervous system in these especially volatile times. Or maybe it’s in an effort to ward off the winter blues and make our home more cheerful. Either way, this extra dose of inspiration is a welcome change and I’m hoping it continues. If you’re in a crafty mood too and are looking for something delightful to make, might I suggest these lovely, painted paper hearts turned into festive Valentine’s Day garland…

Continue reading →
My 10 Year Business Anniversary

Celebrating My 10 Year Illustration Business Anniversary!

My 10 Year Illustration Business Anniversary

Today marks ten (10!) whole years since I made my big leap into the unknown, quit my full-time fashion design job and embarked on a journey of creative entrepreneurship. It feels only right to mark this momentous occasion with a blog post – the very thing that started it all. There have been many evolutions of my business over the past decade and while I haven’t been the greatest recently at keeping up with everything here on the blog, it really is still a record of all the phases this creative journey has taken me through. I just went back and read this post where I made the initial announcement that I’d quit my job and this one I made just two days into self-employment, LOL. In many ways I feel exactly the same as I did when I wrote those posts – uneasy about the future, hopeful for possibilities I can’t yet wrap my head around, but excited to be able to create for a living.

I’ve been thinking a lot about all the firsts…

Continue reading →