Let go of perfectionism & embrace the messy sketchbook life!

Let’s be honest – Have you ever avoided your sketchbook because you were afraid of messing it up?
Do you have a stack of never-been-cracked-open sketchbooks just sitting on a shelf?
Do you feel intimidated by all the perfect sketchbooks you see on Instagram?

Well, you don’t have to feel like that anymore!

At Messy Sketchbook Club, we ditch the perfectionist pressure, embrace the messy art, and rediscover the fun of making art.

Make it messy!

Why Join the Messy Sketchbook Club?

As someone who spent years stuck in Sketchbook Avoider mode, I know how easy it is to avoid sketchbooks because you’re scared to make a mistake. But I also know how freeing it feels to finally let go and just play.

If you want to get better (and more confident) at making art, you’ve got to get comfortable with making messes, with making bad art, and with making space to explore and discover who you are as an artist.

Messy Sketchbook Club encourages you to:

🌻 Let Go of Perfectionism — It’s not about creating masterpiece pages—it’s about exploring your creativity, enjoying the flow of making art, and learning more about your artist self.

🌻 Explore and Experiment — Try new techniques, tools, and ideas without fear of judgment or failure. Your sketchbook is where you get to be you, messes and all!

🌻 Build Confidence in Your Art — Every sketchbook page filled is a way to know yourself as an artist, grow your art skills, and cultivate your creative confidence.

🌻 Find Joy in the Process — Because making art should feel good—for your heart, your head, and your dreams of being a better artist.

What’s Included in Messy Sketchbook Club

A Year of Guidance and Inspiration in Your Inbox: Every month you’ll get a Messy Sketchbook Club PDF delivered to your inbox.

Each PDF includes: a messy sketchbook challenge, prompt list, visual scavenger hunt, color palettes, moodboards, essays on creative practice, inspiration from my sketchbooks, and ideas for exploring messy art in your sketchbook.

 A Year of Weekly Creative Nudges: Need some accountability? Reminders that it’s ok if you missed a day of sketchbook practice? Help celebrating all the small wins? Every week for an entire year, you get just that via short email check-ins and gentle reminders to visit your sketchbook.

Who is Messy Sketchbook Club For?

  • Artists who feel stuck in perfectionism.

  • Sketchbook avoiders who want to begin a low-stress sketchbook practice.

  • Beginners as well as experienced creatives who want to reconnect with the joy of making art.

  • Anyone who’s tired of letting self-doubt keep them from their sketchbooks.

Why Messy Sketchbook Practice Matters

Making art is good for you— reduces stress and anxiety, helps you process emotions, activates the rewards center in your brain, and can even help you imagine a more hopeful future. And guess what? Your skill level doesn’t matter. You can make good art, bad art, and everything in between and you’ll still get the mental health and overall health benefits of making art!

How Messy Sketchbook Club Works:

  • Once you place your order, you’ll get your first Messy Sketchbook Club email in just a few minutes. That email includes the Month 1 PDF along with a Sketchbook Starter Guide PDF. (If it happens to land in your junk/spam folder, be sure to make it as NOT spam so you don’t miss future emails)

  • Every four weeks, you’ll get another Messy Sketchbook Club PDF delivered right to your inbox. For an entire year! And yeah, it really does just cost $67.

  • You’ll also get weekly email nudges for the entire year. Those are small pieces of motivation and advice to help you get started, keep going, and be kind to yourself along the way.

Hey there! I’m Steph!

I’m a nature artist, sketchbook explorer, and creative process ponderer.

Over the past 16 years, I’ve illustrated over 60 children’s books, built a successful Etsy shop, licensed my art for a wide range of products, and taught thousands of students how to make art and run a creative business.

But the most important work I’ve done has been picking up a sketchbook again.

Choosing process over outcome. Embracing the messiness. Following the “what ifs.” More than anything else those things, all found within the pages of my sketchbooks, helped me become a happier, more confident, and more creative artist.

You can’t grow if you’re always playing it safe, so here’s your invitation to join me in a delightfully messy sketchbook practice!

At the Messy Sketchbook Club, we’re all about ditching the rules and finding freedom in creativity. If you’re ready to loosen up, make more art, and have more fun, this is your invitation.

Stop worrying about perfect pages and start exploring.

Join us today—let’s make some messes together!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Messy Sketchbook Club a class?

Nope! Messy Sketchbook Club is sketchbook inspiration and guidance delivered to your inbox once a month. You’ll get 12 monthly PDFs emailed to you along with weekly email nudges to keep you accountable to your messy sketchbook practice.

What’s included in each PDF?  

You get 12 monthly PDFs with Messy Sketchbook Club. Each PDF is emailed to you and includes a messy sketchbook challenge, prompt list, visual scavenger hunt, color palettes, moodboards, essays on creative practice, inspiration from my sketchbooks, and ideas for exploring messy art in your sketchbook.

How much does it cost?

Messy Sketchbook Club is a one time fee of $67. Pay once, get sketchbook inspiration and guidance delivered to your inbox every month for an entire year.

What supplies do I need?

Just a sketchbook and whatever supplies you already have. Messy Sketchbook Club is about helping you learn more about who you are as an artist and we think it’s helpful to experiment with the supplies you already have before in investing in anything new.

The first month of Messy Sketchbook Club includes a Sketchbook Starter Guide that explains our philosophy of use-what-you-have AND it’s also got a list of our favorite sketchbook supplies.

What if I’ve never used a sketchbook before?

You’ll find the encouragement and inspiration that you need in our monthly Messy Sketchbook Club PDFs. You get an entire year of email deliveries that will get you thinking about your creative practice, give you exercises to experiment with, provide a list of prompts and color inspiration, and even provide reference photos you can draw or paint from.

What if I’m a professional artist already?

Messy Sketchbook Club will help you loosen up and explore beyond your current style and techniques.