Back issues are just $10 through Monday.

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Look at all the work I've done over the years! How time flies when you keep yourself passionately busy. 

All of my babies are available to enjoy while inventory lasts (issue 10 and 11 are running low at this point). On sale for just $10 apiece until end of day Monday, I'd suggest getting one of each. Subscribe starting with #23, the current issue, and you'll be all set for an inspired year ahead.

p.s. Use the code "thankyou" for another $15 off orders over $80.

Get a free notebook set with a 2-year subscription or renewal.

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Whether you love cool colours or warm colours, the UPPERCASE everyday notebooks are the perfect companion for jotting down inspiration (as it inevitably arises while you read UPPERCASE!). When you subscribe or renew your subscription (starting with #22) for two years, you can select your favourite notebook set at checkout. I'll send you the notebooks and #22 now, and the fall issue will be mailed at the end of the month.

With issue #23 on press next week, subscriptions starting with the colourful summer issue #22 are only available for a limited time.

This offer is valid until midnight MST September 21. The notebook is only available with subscriptions or renewals starting with 22 and cannot be retroactive applied to past orders. Thank you.

See you at Stash!

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I'm looking forward to Inglewood's Night Market tonight! First on my list is going to my favourite yarn store, Stash. From 6 to 9pm, there will be additional fun such as vintage wares, the jewellery of Jennea Frischke and sewn goods by Leave it to Cleaver.

Stash will be offering a 10% discount off of your total purchase all evening long. Store owner Veronica says, "We will also be releasing some of our newest fall and winter products for you to fondle. And there will be giveaways and door prizes. Be there or be square!"

Shabd Simon-Alexander: Dye it, Wear it, Share it.

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Booth sketch for Shabd by Caroline Zucchero Hurley.

Booth sketch for Shabd by Caroline Zucchero Hurley.

Shabd's booth at NYNow, a home and lifestyle event on until Wednesday.

Shabd's booth at NYNow, a home and lifestyle event on until Wednesday.

Instagram photo by @carozucchero of @shabdshabd space.

Instagram photo by @carozucchero of @shabdshabd space.

Shabd's colour testing for a secret project.

Shabd's colour testing for a secret project.

Shabd Simon-Alexander is a tie-dye expert (she wrote the book on it! We feature an excerpt from it in the current issue). She is showing her new products at NYNow, and an email about the show prompted me to head over to her Instagram to see more. Click on the images above to view in Instagram and you'll find some colourful and creative accounts to follow!

Shelley takes her illustration for a walk

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Shelley Davies (the talented and generous illustrator of the current cover) took her collage for a walk in her beautiful garden. And then she took it to the beach!

Shelley is a joy to work with and is so generous to me with her creativity... these photographs just showed up in my inbox as a surprise!

In addition to collage, Shelley also explores painting, photography and dreams of illustrating a children's book. If any of my enterprising and publishing readers are looking for an illustrator, get in touch with Shelley. And if you're looking to follow a blog full of excellent discoveries on creativity and art, her blog is a great resource.

Take your illustrations and sketchbooks for a walk in the great outdoors this weekend. Share your images on Twitter and Instagram #illustrationoutside #uppercasereader @uppercasemag. Have a good weekend!

"It is almost impossible for me to create without colour."

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Columbian artist Ximena Escobar has taken the concept of paint by numbers into a completely different medium. By cutting up coloured felt, she assembles portraits of beautiful women with florals. "This medium is very special to me because the colours also have texture and that makes my work richer and more interesting," she explains. "It is a medium where I can't mix the colours, every one of them is a solid block, so I need to use them in a way I can blend the colours without mixing them. That challenges my work and takes me to some interesting and exciting results."

"Colour is a very important element in my work. It defines the mood of what I am creating, it is also the way I communicate my aesthetic no matter which medium I'm using. Colour inspires and challenges me all the time."

"Colour is part of what I am as an artist. I was born in Colombia which is a very tropical and colourful country. It is almost impossible for me to create something without colour, it is how I communicate what I want to say."

"Colour is the first thing my eyes see and comprehend."

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Many of the colour submissions that I've shared in the magazine or in my newsletters are definitely in the realm of the tactile such as paint, paper and fibre. But most of us are also creative with our digital media. UPPERCASE reader Paloma Diaz-Dickson shares her digital palettes with us.

"With the flood of art and design images available to browse on the internet, I find myself liking or disliking pieces usually based on the colour choices. Colour is the first thing my eyes see and comprehend before I look closer to distinguish shape and content. I started collecting colour palettes that draw me in, and in turn, that Photoshop file is the first place I look before starting a project. Sometimes I'll choose an existing palette, sometimes I'll modify it or combine two or more together to get the effect I want. Colour is the source of all my inspiration."

#uppercaselove: Stephanie Brockway

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I'm really enjoying the colourful photos of issue 22 coming through over Instagram! (Remember to post the photo with @uppercasemag #uppercaselove so that I can find it easily.) The image above, by Stephanie Brockway, caught my eye. I chuckled that her third most recent photo was of chickens (chickens are three degrees of separation from UPPERCASE?), so I put her latest three images here to show the sequence.

Ripe bananas and other outtakes from issue 22

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Cover artist Shelley Davies was wonderful to work with. And she is always so generous with her creativity! Above's an "outtake" called Ripe Banana.

I asked Shelley to make the collage for the cover because of her affinity for working with paint swatches, her love of incorporating type into her work and her overall exuberance for bright colour. Here are some more colourful compositions from Shelley. 

Here are some roughs that Shelley made when working on the cover. We decided that the radiating colour wheel was more dynamic, but these studies are nice on their own!

Reader pics: Tiffany Pratt

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“Colour is life energy and one of the most powerful pure forces. It is the air that I breathe. How and why I choose certain colours is deeply personal for me, and I do it with a lot of purpose. I associate people with colours, I see experiences and moments through colours and I always dream of colours. This is why I need to create, make and design. Colour acts as the road map through my life and sets me apart, making who I am and how I see the world special.”

Read all about Tiffany Pratt in the current issue and follow her colourful Instagram here.

featured stockist: Bird on a Wire, Vancouver

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If you're in Vancouver and looking for a wonderful place to inspire your creative side this weekend, please visit Bird on a Wire Creations on 2535 Main Street. More than a store, it is a community and learning space that supports artists and the buy local movement. Says owner Kate Nagel, "We strive to create a supportive environment where new and established artists and artisans can learn from each other and bring their wares to market without investing in nasty overhead. We provide the staff, space and traffic to help create sustainable incomes."

Bird on a Wire Creations is open this weekend: Saturday from 10–6 and from noon to 5 on Sunday. For more details—and to shop from their online selection—please visit their website.

Colours and Emotions with Maria Carluccio

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In response to my weekly newsletter that I sent on Tuesday, Maria Carluccio shares this composition with us, made of chopped up old watercolour paintings. "It was so liberating!" she exclaims.

"Out with the old, in with the new—reusing old art to make new art."

"I highly recommend it as a fun way to explore colour connection," advises Maria. "After I pieced these together I started thinking about how colours remind me of emotions and feelings so I wrote in pencil the first thing that came to me when I thought of that swatch."

Maria is one of the 100 artists profiled in the UPPERCASE Surface Pattern Design Guide included in the spring issue (#21). The Guide is also available as a free download when you sign up for my newsletter—I'll send inspiring content directly to your inbox once a week!