What does a typical day look like for you?

As a busy mum with a creative business and a young family, my days are pretty full! I often find myself fitting work into any pocket of time I can. My boys, aged 2 and 6, wake up early, around 5am, and honestly, I’m not always sure where that first few hours of the day go—between breakfast, playtime, and preparing for the school run, the mornings fly by. My youngest only goes to daycare two days a week, so I have about two 4.5-hour blocks of uninterrupted work time each week. Of course, family commitments and appointments sometimes shift my schedule, so I have to stay flexible.

On the other days, I rely on my toddler’s naps to catch up on smaller tasks, like packing orders or pottering away on new designs. Once the kids are in bed, the house is (mostly) in order, and the lunchboxes are packed for the next day, I often clock back onto work from around 8 pm to 11pm. Those late-night hours are my quiet creative time, and I truly love it. Despite the whirlwind of motherhood, my creative business is my passion, and I’m always excited to make the most of those little windows of time to bring my art to life.

Tell us a bit about your design process, from concept to creation:

My design process varies depending on the day. Sometimes I start with a blank canvas and no clear vision in mind—creating is like a form of meditation for me. I love letting the creative process unfold organically, drawing whatever comes to mind and seeing where it takes me. Other times, I begin with a concept, a rough sketch, and a clearer idea of what I want to create. I then let the design evolve as I work, responding to the piece and refining it in the moment.

I’ve absolutely loved working on the Creator’s Friends series. For this collection, I wanted to celebrate Australia's unique flora and fauna with a distinctly Australiana theme. I’ve always had a deep love for our native plants and animals, so I thought they'd make the perfect subject for notebook covers.

The first design I created was a wildflower illustration. I’ve always loved drawing flowers, and I’ve painted countless original artworks filled with wattles, banksias, and other native blooms. For this series, I decided to give my wildflower artwork a digital spin, and I think it translates so beautifully onto a notebook cover.

The second cover features a Kookaburra. After my grandmother passed away a few years ago, my family began spotting kookaburras everywhere we went. It became a special symbol for us, a reminder that she was still with us. I painted my first kookaburra shortly after her passing as part of my Fauna Bloom collection, naming it "Hazel Kookaburra" in her honour. It fast became one of my most popular designs, so it was only fitting to include it in the notebook series. It’s a meaningful way to keep her memory alive in my work.

Of course, with an Australiana theme, I couldn’t leave out the koala! I added a soft sage green to this cover to balance out the pink tones from the other notebooks, giving it a more earthy, bush feel. If you look closely at the back cover, you’ll spot a stylised spider. Growing up, I was always checking my shoes and looking under seats for redback spiders, so I couldn’t resist adding this little nod to my childhood memories. I love weaving personal elements into my work, and it’s these small details that make the designs feel more intimate and special to me.