Welcome

I love mixing playful art-making with powerful mindset ideas. After 25 years of making art and 13 years of teaching kids, this combination of part play and part inner shift is the secret sauce in everything I do.

And it’s a framework that surprisingly resembles what a personal trainer might use as workout steps for her client. There is a direct link between showing up for yourself to be creative and showing up for yourself to exercise. Who knew, right? 

So, get ready, in less than an hour, I’ll guide your through my own method for getting my butt unstuck. Yay!

Think of me as your personal trainer for getting your creative mojo back on track.

Each step has a quick audio, and Steps 3 and 4 have a video because that’s when you get to play alongside me. Take note, once you’ve practiced this framework, you will go through these steps in a matter of minutes to jumpstart your momentum, and to reset yourself for the next day, so that you can be consistent. 

STEP 1: Get Centered & Breathe
STEP 2: Easy Peasy Prep
STEP 3: Start Low, Start Slow
STEP 4: Do Your Tiny Reps
STEP 5: End With A Reset
STEP 6: Prep For More Play

Are ya ready?

Welcome to Permission To Play! Everything you need for this training is on this page.

What you'll be doing: 
• Scribbling and doodling
• Making marks
• Coloring

What you’ll learn:
A simple 6-step framework you can use anytime you need to jumpstart your momentum.

What you’ll take away:
• The satisfaction of giving yourself the gift of spending time on yourself
• The joy of having fun with your creative side
• Resources for creative play

Okay, let’s do this already!

Let's make stuff, learn stuff, and get our butts unstuck!

STEP 1:

• PRO TIP: Get Centered & Breathe      
Okay, as any personal trainer worth their matching leggings and sports bra will tell you, the first pro tip is to embrace the idea that where you’re starting from doesn’t really matter. What matters is where you’re going, not where you’ve been. 

• WHY THIS WORKS:        
This first step is a lot like when you begin a workout by focusing on your breathing. You’re doing this to get yourself centered and present in the moment.

Your only goal with this whole training is to show up for yourself. This is not about output, it’s about aliveness.

You have my permission to never get it right, never figure it out, never feel all put together. And honestly? That's the whole point.

So, before we move on, here are three mindset tips for you to embrace:

Tip 1. You’re simply trying stuff out
Be open and willing to try all kinds of things before narrowing down. What sparks you now might evolve later. And that’s the fun part! Let yourself explore just for the joy of discovering what you love.

Tip 2. You’re allowed to be bad
When you’re learning something new, you’re supposed to be bad at it. That’s what play is for, don’t ya know. Let yourself be messy, awkward, curious, and delightfully human. It’s how your creativity grows stronger.

Tip 3. You’re investing in yourself
Every time you carve out space to play, you’re investing in your optimism and enthusiasm for life. You’re not wasting time, you’re reclaiming it.

• DO THIS:
1. Center yourself by putting your hand on your heart and taking a few nice, long, deep, relaxing breaths.
2. Name your intention for today. Say it out loud. What do you wanna learn by taking this training?

STEP 2:

• PRO TIP: Easy Peasy Prep
As any personal trainer worth their fashionable hoodie will tell you, motivation comes from action. Tiny steps will get you big results. Something is always better than nothing.  

• WHY THIS WORKS:    
This second step is a lot like when you grab any old sweats and sneakers and go for a walk. If you get caught up in putting together the perfect walking outfit, chances are you’ll never actually go for that walk. Eeeek!

Tip 1. Make it easy
Keep your supplies close at hand.


Tip 2. Make it fancy
Fill it with what delights you. Maybe that’s a candle, fresh flowers, fragrance, soft textures, music, or a cup of tea.


Tip 3. Make it inspiring
Add art, photos, or anything that reminds you of why you love to make things.

• DO THIS:
1. Gather your supplies, see materials list below.
2. Brainstorm on how you can create the right play space for yourself, see tips above.

Materials needed:
• Your favorite doodling tools - markers, highlighters, color pencils, crayons, whatever you've got
• A few sheets of paper (scraps are fine!) 

STEP 3:

• PRO TIP: Start Low, Start Slow
As any personal trainer worth their fitness tracker wristband will tell you, showing up is the hardest part. You’re inevitably gonna feel stuck from time to time. But the important thing is to keep showing up and to keep trying new things. It’s your time to play. You’ve got this!            

• WHY THIS WORKS:        
This third step is a lot like when you start your workout by stretching and warming up your muscles. You're not trying to run a marathon right out the gate, ya know?

You might start to feel tired, awkward, uncomfortable, hungry, distracted, you name it. But your only job for right now is to get familiar with your supplies. No pressure whatsoever. Just let yourself play and jumpstart your momentum.

• DO THIS:
1. Get familiar with your doodling tools. Set them out in front of you and grab a few sheets of paper.
2. Watch the video and follow along.

Doodle prompt:
Position your hand on a sheet of paper. Use a marker (or your favorite doodling tool) to trace around your hand. Do lots of tracings with a different color every time. And switch the position of your hand so you get lots of overlapping lines - turn your paper as you go. 

Optional: Try coloring your doodle. The random overlapping lines create outlines for sections you can color in.
Optional: Try using your non-dominant hand to trace around your other hand. 
Optional: Try using just one color.

Materials needed:
• Your favorite doodling tools - markers, highlighters, color pencils, crayons, etc.
• A few sheets of paper

Allow for 15 minutes of play time.

• COME BACK & TRY THIS:
Here are 4 more play breaks for you to try.

• Calming Color Circles
https://youtu.be/QSL28E8cqQs

• Calming Color Scribbles
https://youtu.be/DtLk1HBjjYA

• Calming Color Loops
https://youtu.be/rj3EaNIiQ2k

• Calming Waves
https://youtu.be/mwvl85LQ_Iw

Feel free to go to my YouTube Channel and choose for yourself. Take a peek at the video description for each video because it lists the prompt instructions and materials needed.
• PLAYLIST: Creativity Time-Outs with Artist Alex Mitchell
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwcczeh8vxwVGwR1xqB80FSBhc619RVda

STEP 4:

• PRO TIP: Do Your Tiny Reps
As any personal trainer worth their spandex will tell you, consistency is key when forming habits. Consistent short (but fun) workouts trump occasional long (but grueling) workouts every time. More does not equal better. 

• WHY THIS WORKS:    
This fourth step is a lot like when you figure out the perfect balance for your workouts. You want it fun and a little challenging. Not so tough that you want to throw in the towel, but not so easy that you're bored out of your mind.

So let yourself enjoy the process. And remember this is not about output, it’s about aliveness. When it comes to your creativity, it’s never about what you make, it’s about how you feel while making it.

• DO THIS:
1. Grab your favorite doodling tools and a few sheets of paper.
2. Watch the video and follow along.

Doodle prompt:
Draw a large shape on a page. Try a heart, a circle, or a word with hollow letters. Then add lines inside of your shapes. Now doodle in the spaces between the lines with zigzags, waves, dots, circles, loops, scallops, etc. You can use a different color for every space you fill in.

(If you’re going to be coloring everything in, try using a pencil to draw your shapes first. Then do your coloring. And as a final step, you could add any black lines define your design.)

Materials needed:
• Your favorite doodling tools - markers, highlighters, color pencils, crayons, etc.
• A few sheets of paper (or a sketchbook if you have one)

Allow for 20 minutes of play time.

• COME BACK & TRY THIS:
Here are 8 more play breaks for you to try.

• Doodling Hands
https://youtu.be/RlVNeSlTjgs

• Doodling Flowers
https://youtu.be/jH15zhSbBJo

• Doodling Tiles Trick
https://youtu.be/7DyDDgQ_KXM

• Doodling Triangles Pattern
https://youtu.be/ja6cBkYzHyY

• Doodling Octagons Pattern
https://youtu.be/mVE-ryUPKwQ

• Doodling Faces
https://youtu.be/0eDDznhQxv0

• Full Color Words On A Page
https://youtu.be/bLM3OgwuDrI

• Full Color Funny Faces
https://youtu.be/c_OuplsltDY

Feel free to go to my YouTube Channel and choose for yourself. Take a peek at the video description for each video because it lists the prompt instructions and materials needed.
• PLAYLIST: Creativity Time-Outs with Artist Alex Mitchell
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwcczeh8vxwVGwR1xqB80FSBhc619RVda     

STEP 5:

• PRO TIP: End With A Reset
As any personal trainer worth their gym-issued name tag will tell you, simplicity is the key to consistency. There’s no point in creating an exercise routine that you can’t remember or execute properly. Fancy sports gadgets and flashy apps are just unnecessary clutter. Remember how Rocky would sprint up those steps? Exactly. Dream big, but keep it simple. 

• WHY THIS WORKS:    
This fifth step is a lot like when your dream is to run a marathon, but your first goal is to jog around the park for 5 minutes without passing out. You’ve gotta start somewhere, so keep making progress at a sustainable pace.    

Here’s a tip to help you with letting go of idealistic expectations:

Approach your creations with gentle curiosity. Don’t get stuck in trying to finish in any pre-conceived way. Practice focusing on the joy of simply creating something. And not on how it turned out. Maybe it turned out great or maybe it turned out awful. It doesn’t matter one bit. Not one little bit. Because it's about what you learned through the making, not what you made. 

And on that note, celebrate the fact that you’re trying and learning and figuring stuff out as you go. Yay!

• DO THIS:
1. Do something to celebrate your wins today, no matter how tiny. 
2. Keep letting yourself explore just for the joy of discovering what you love. Let clarity be your intention, not perfection. Get into the habit of being curious about what you made today. And if you want, you can always re-purpose your favorite bits and recycle what you don’t like.

STEP 6:

• PRO TIP: Prep For More Play
As any personal trainer worth their cross-training sneakers will tell you, nobody is watching you. People are totally focused on their own gym-induced existential suffering. And most importantly, you can’t control what others think anyway. Nobody cares. Go ahead anyway.

• WHY THIS WORKS:
This last step is a lot like when you lay your workout clothes on the chair next to your bed, so when the alarm goes off you don’t need to think. You can just throw your clothes on and walk right out the door.

You’ve gotta anticipate your habits of self-sabotage. So be kind to yourself and get rid of as much decision-making as possible. Your goal is to make it easy for yourself to come back and play again.

This means prepping your supplies and putting them somewhere at the ready for the next time.

• DO THIS:
1. Schedule your next play break into your planner or calendar. Set an alarm if you must.
2. Choose your next video. See the list in Step 4. Each video has a listing of the materials needed in the description text. This will help you gather your supplies. Put them somewhere at the ready.
3. Write down what you’ll do on your next play break or bookmark the video on your device. You could also take a screenshot as a reminder. 

Ready for more fun? Here’s the surprise offer I promised.

So, how did it go? I hope you experienced for yourself how energizing it is to give yourself a little play break! 

What a difference only 15-20 minutes a day could make in your life! Imagine you're finally working on your favorite projects consistently by fitting tiny creative play breaks into your day. And it's so much fun to use your art supplies that it makes you feel like a little kid again. Whoopee! 

Remember, there’s always a way to bring more creative play into your life. And as long as you can play, as long as you can try new things, you’re never ever stuck.

If you’d love some structure, encouragement, and fresh inspiration to keep playing, join me in my online workshops. Learn to make space for a little creative play and build a practice that feels joyful. Smile.