Made by Maria

05/10/2022

05/03/2022

Me every Sunday night and Monday morning 💔

02/12/2021

Happy Chinese New Year 🧧✨

I finished this one like a week and a half ago but I’ve been debating whether to post my work as I finish it or wait until I have a line up of items scheduled (that way I’m not rushing anything). How do you manage your feed? 😅

08/25/2020

Aaand we’re back! I bought card stock over the weekend and got kind of curious about making postcards. Swipe to see my first attempt 👉

Turns out I can’t cut straight for 💩 and need a new cutting tool (I’ve got the pizza cutter and it’s a torturous experience) but we’re working on it. In the meantime, we’re saving up for a Cricut Air and an EasyPress because we can.

@ Ottawa, Ontario

07/29/2020

Trust your intuition 🌹

04/15/2020

These might look like oranges but I absolutely intended to draw Granadilla (passion fruit) — which is my favourite fruit, right after a little something called Chirimoya. I sometimes see them at my local Asian supermarket for $5/each. That's crazy when you think about how these delish treats are worth less than a dollar in the street markets of my native Perú. It's times like these, when I’m stuck at home drinking too much tea and watching too many episodes of Family Guy, that I like to reminiscence about my life there 15 years ago before I moved to Canada and how I feel right at home every time I visit, at least 4 weeks at a time. Every time. I dream about the good times — about family get-togethers and magical campfires by the beach.

I'll be the first to admit that for a little bit there, I felt like I wasn't doing enough for myself during this quarantine. And it felt BAD. It was a sick feeling of dissatisfaction that settled in my heart and never left.

Here are some of the things I wanted to do:
🌙 Write multiple blog posts (NOPE)
🌙Finish another Hubspot Academy course (HA! NO)
🌙 Start “The History of Latin America” by Marshall C Eakin that I bought over a year ago and still cannot get through (NEVER EVEN ATTEMPTED)

Instead, I’ve been:
🌙 Reading silly romance novels that feed my 16-year old heart
🌙 Avoiding the news like the plague (I was tuning in to Justin's morning briefings religiously)
🌙 Dreaming of a medium matcha latte at my nearest

A part of me says “You failed. You suck. You’ll never get anything done. You’re lazy and under-accomplished.” But I'd rather think about the other part of me that says "If reading romance novels and drinking a make-shift matcha latte that is kinda-sorta-not-at-all like a real latte make you feel better, then that’s exactly what you need to do.”

03/30/2020

Spent a lot of time working on an animation that is never gonna see the light of day. Lol but here’s the still, inspired by Peru’s rainbow mountains. 🌈 ⛰

I had a whole thing planned out for last week including posting a few pictures of myself but honestly I haven’t been doing a very good job at keeping up with my morning routine and haven’t put a lot of effort into looking presentable as a result — frankly, I’ve been living in pj pants since way before the Coronavirus outbreak, who am I kidding. 🙃

No positive message this time, just a recommendation to download to build and stay on track of your morning-noon-afternoon routines. ✨

03/02/2020

Hey! Poppin' in here to finally say: Happy 2020! Kinda late, huh? For those that haven’t known me for very long, I’m Maria. Nice to finally meet you. ✨💗⁠
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Since its inception, this account has officially been my art Instagram. But I think it's about time I finally start showing more of the personal areas of my life — it's one of my new year's resolutions, actually. I've always felt hesitant to let people into my life but near the end of 2019, a few months away from my 27th birthday; it dawned on me that it didn't have to be that way. ⁠
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It's a work in progress. I think I'm always going to be. Regardless, I'd like my "official" Instagram to be the first step. I'll be sharing more parts about my personal life (my hobbies and daily activities) but also my consulting and design work. ⁠
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I'm super looking forward to getting to know you all! Stay tuned. 🦄⁠

12/16/2019

🦄Sometimes I think we’ve become too critical of ourselves. When I look at some of my friends’ feeds, I think they might feel the same. It’s like a never ending pursuit of perfection: To have the perfect body, the perfect face, the perfect life. While I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, I consider it a negative influence in our lives when we start beating ourselves up about the possibility of failing or being a “unworthy” by those very specific standards.

🥑And I feel that a lot the times, we forget that those very specific things that make us “unworthy” are what makes us beautiful. It’s the nose that you think is too big, the mole on the side of your face that you consider unflattering, or the hip bones that you think are too wide — we all have insecurities. But in my highly unprofessional opinion, we’ll never know acceptance if we don’t start loving those very things that set us apart from what you might consider perfection.

🍓At the end of the day, when you get a look at others people’s lives (whether it is through social media or even though a text message), you’re only seeing what they want you to see. No one’s *actually* perfect so don’t be so hard on yourself. Remember that we're all only human, imperfection is what makes us who we are.

✨Not super happy with this one but it's gonna have to do! Wishing you all a great Monday. ✨

12/08/2019

Lately I started to wonder, what if I set too many boundaries? Each time the thought crosses my mind, I inch closer to the unspoken truth that I may be using boundaries as an excuse to avoid…well, people. 🙅🏽

Don’t get me wrong — boundaries are great. They are mental, emotional, or physical limits you put in place to help you manage your personal, work, and familial relationships. Boundaries help you make sure you’re able to exist in your relationships as a happy individual, basically.

But like everything else in life, finding balance helps maintain healthy limits. That makes a lot of sense. For example, having boundaries that are too restrictive or too permissive can lead to uncomfortable situations and, if you’re a loner like me, endless Friday nights re-watching Rick and Morty. Or worse, awkwardly oversharing on a first meeting. 😱

I'm not saying my experience should deter you from setting boundaries, if anything, it should serve as a lesson that while boundaries are amazing -- healthy boundaries are *even* better. Are you setting boundaries correctly? I share a worksheet that may be of help in my newest blog post (ohh, it's been a minute): "Let's Talk About Boundaries".

https://buff.ly/2s8R9DM

10/15/2019

Sunday's drawing is late, but better late than never. This week's reminder is to look back at your accomplishments. Do you see how far you've come? You are powerful. Our brains have an inclination to focus on the negative (it's called "Negativity Bias") so try to stay mindful of what is positive and right in your life. Challenge is yours to overcome. 🌻

10/07/2019

It's officially spooky season~! Wasn't feeling super inspired this week but I wanted to hop on anyways to wish you a positive week. Whatever is in your agenda this week, remember that your self-worth is not defined by the actions nor the opinions of others. You've got this week in the bag, take what you need from it. 🌻

09/30/2019

There's no magic way to find yourself. It's not out in the wilderness or in another country or city. Or in the deep depths of a book. Or waiting in solitude. It's right there, in you. And if you never find a way to appreciate yourself, you'll never see it. 🌻 (Anthony Allevato)

Thought that was a nice reminder to get our weeks started. I'm back to my regular posting schedule (after a month — definitely did not plan for that!). Thank you to everyone who stuck around, I appreciate you. ❤️

08/18/2019

It's not about *having* time, it's about making time for yourself (𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 your goals and passion projects). I like to use an agenda or habit tracker to keep myself accountable Mon-Fri. How do you keep track of your time? 💕

08/18/2019

08/18/2019

08/18/2019