Well friends, I think we need to talk about making art, getting stuck, and giving ourselves permission to PLAY!
In Episode 106 of Joleen’s Happy Time Craftcast, I’m chatting with Minnesota illustrator and designer Emma Adams of Fox and Fables, and we have SO much to talk about—including finding your artistic style, experimenting with paint, collecting craft supplies, and figuring out what to do when your creative brain just refuses to cooperate.
Emma creates the most charming, whimsical artwork filled with nostalgic details, hand-painted elements, and adorable animals.
And naturally, I had about a million questions for her! 💕
🌟 Meet Emma Adams
Emma is the artist and designer behind Fox and Fables, a Minnesota-based creative business inspired by gardening, antique shops, road trips, and all those little things that make everyday life feel special.
Her artwork has a lovely, whimsical quality, and I loved hearing how she found her way back to making art consistently.
Back in 2018, Emma took on the Inktober challenge and committed to drawing every day for 31 days. After spending years not making art as regularly as she wanted, she started showing up for her creativity again.
And over time, something wonderful happened.
She began to recognize the things she loved, the subjects she was drawn to, and the elements that felt most like HER.
Which brings us to something I really believe: sometimes you don't find your artistic style by searching for it. You find it by making things.
You just have to start somewhere!
🎨 Let's Talk About Gouache!
One of the things we talked about was gouache, a paint that can be a really fun option if you enjoy watercolor but sometimes want something a little more opaque.
Emma explains the differences between traditional designer's gouache and acrylic gouache, along with some of the supplies she likes to use.
Traditional gouache can be reactivated with water, which means you can blend, adjust, and play with your paint as you work. Acrylic gouache, on the other hand, dries into a more permanent finish.
And friends, you do NOT have to spend a fortune to give it a try!
Emma shares some beginner-friendly supply ideas, including an affordable Royal & Langnickel paint set and brushes from Princeton.
I love learning about a new art material because it always gets my brain going. What could I make with this? How would it work with something else? What happens if I just try it?
You know how it goes. One new art supply and suddenly we have seventeen new project ideas.
🫙 The Three-Word Creativity Jar
Oh, I REALLY loved this idea!
When Emma feels stuck or has too many ideas floating around in her head, she sometimes uses a jar filled with random words and objects she likes.
Things like a teapot, a birdhouse, a snail, or even a color.
She pulls out three words and challenges herself to combine them into an illustration that tells a story.
Isn't that fun?!
Imagine pulling out mushroom, mailbox, and moon. What on earth would you make with those three things?
The beauty of this exercise is that you don't have to come up with the perfect idea. You just have to work with what you've got and see where it takes you.
And sometimes, having a few silly or unexpected limitations is exactly what we need to get our creative brains moving again.
I'm thinking we could all use a little jar of possibilities sitting on our craft tables.
🌱 Finding Your Way Out of a Creative Rut
We also talked about something that I think pretty much every creative person experiences at some point: getting stuck.
Emma is a self-described Type A person, and she knows how easy it can be to push herself too hard.
Sometimes the signs that she needs a break show up before she wants to admit it. She might wake up dreading her work, feel frustrated or short-tempered, or notice that work is taking over the rest of her life.
Sound familiar?
Sometimes we need to close the shop for a little while, take a walk, change our surroundings, or get away for a weekend.
And I shared one of my own favorite ways to get out of a creative rut: working on something that doesn't have any consequences attached to it.
If I'm working on a project for someone else, making kits, or trying to get something finished by a deadline, sometimes I just need to make something for ME.
No customer waiting. No instructions to write. No filming or editing. No pressure to make it perfect.
Just me, my supplies, and whatever happens.
Because making things is supposed to bring us joy, too!
🧶 Craft Supplies, Collections & All the Things We Love
Friends, you KNOW we had to talk about craft supplies.
Emma recently moved and took the opportunity to go through her stash. She loves fabric and has a background in fashion design and textile design, so you can imagine how easy it is for those beautiful materials to accumulate!
But she also discovered that having SO much stuff could become overwhelming.
She's been finding ways to pass supplies along to other people who can use them, including an art teacher friend.
I loved hearing this because I know how complicated our relationships with craft supplies can be.
We buy them because they're beautiful. We keep them because we might need them someday. We organize them because we want to be able to find them. And then sometimes we need to let a few things go so we can actually enjoy what we have.
As I like to say, I have three lanes of craft: buying supplies, organizing supplies, and using supplies.
And apparently, I can spend a LOT of time in the first two lanes. 😂
🚗 Crochet on the Go!
Emma has also recently started crocheting, so of course I welcomed her to the crochet club!
We talked about the differences between knitting and crochet, how forgiving crochet can be when you make a mistake, and the little projects we like to keep ready for car rides.
Both of us have portable project bags with things like crochet or embroidery that we can pull out when we're traveling.
Because trying to draw or collage in a moving car? Well, that's a whole different adventure.
I love having a little project ready to go. It means you can turn an ordinary wait or a long drive into a few happy minutes of making something.
And you never know when those little moments of creativity will be just what you need. 🧶
📚 A Few Happy Book Recommendations
We also got into some of our favorite art books!
I shared a book called Exploring Painting by Gerald F. Brommer and Nancy K. Kenny. It's a more textbook-style look at different painting materials, including oil, watercolor, pastel, acrylic, and gouache, along with ideas about subjects, styles, and developing your own approach to painting.
I love a book that gives me enough information to get started but also leaves room for experimentation.
And here's my favorite part: check your library!
You don't have to buy every book that catches your eye. Borrow it, explore it, see what inspires you, and then decide whether it's something you want to have on your own shelf.
We also talked about The Pop-Up Book and all the interesting structures and techniques you can explore when you start thinking about how paper moves through space.
Which, naturally, gets me thinking about more projects. Always more projects! 😂
💛 What Does It Mean to Be a Working Artist?
One of the things I really appreciated about Emma was how honestly she talked about being an artist.
For her, art is an extension of herself. It's closely connected to her mental health, her identity, and the way she experiences the world.
But she also recognizes the importance of not letting her work define every part of who she is.
One of the most meaningful things is hearing from people who connect with her artwork—people who tell her that something she's made has inspired them or brought them happiness.
And I think that's such a beautiful reminder of what art can do.
We make something from our own little corner of the world, and then someone else sees it and feels something, too.
That's connection. That's communication. And that's a pretty wonderful thing.
🌿 The Word That Makes Us Happy
When we got to our Happy 10 questions, I asked Emma about her favorite word.
Her answer was “roots.”
She loves the way the word looks, with those two O's, and all the different meanings it can carry.
Roots can be about where we come from. They can be about grounding ourselves, growing, spreading, and finding the things that help us feel connected.
I loved that answer!
And it got me thinking about how creativity can be a little like putting down roots. You keep showing up, you keep trying things, and little by little you build something that feels like your own.
You don't have to know exactly where it's all going.
You just have to keep growing. 🌱
💕 Making Time for What Makes You Happy
One of my favorite parts of our conversation was hearing Emma talk about the everyday life she's built with her husband and their two cats.
Working from home, sharing life together, and having the freedom to do creative work are things they dreamed about when they first started dating.
And now she gets to live that life.
I think it's easy to get so focused on the next project, the next goal, or the next thing we need to finish that we forget to notice the good things that are already here.
Sometimes happiness isn't a big, exciting event.
Sometimes it's working in your studio, spending time with the people you love, having your cats nearby, or making something simply because you want to.
And honestly, friends, that's what Happy Time is all about.
Making things. Trying things. Staying curious. Giving ourselves permission to take a break when we need one.
And remembering that we don't have to turn every single creative moment into something productive.
Sometimes it's enough to just enjoy it.
Until next time, friends, I hope you do all kinds of things that make you all kinds of happy!
Happy creating,
Joleen
PS: 🎥 Watch the full episode below:
Guest Bio
Emma Adams is the illustrator and designer behind Fox and Fables, a Minnesota-based creative business known for whimsical, nostalgic artwork featuring hand-painted elements and charming animals. Inspired by gardening, antique shops, road trips, and the little details of everyday life, Emma creates art that sparks happiness and brings people together. After rediscovering her creative practice through a daily drawing challenge, Emma gradually developed the artistic style that feels most like her. Today, her work spans illustration, packaging, and other creative collaborations. When she’s not making art in her home studio, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two cats, exploring new interests, and finding fresh inspiration in the world around her.
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Episode Chapters with Timestamps
00:00 – 07:29] — Welcome & Joleen’s Five Happy Things
07:30 – 08:59] — Meet Emma Adams of Fox and Fables
09:00 – 10:59] — Finding Your Artistic Style
11:00 – 14:29] — Emma’s Upcoming Projects & Holiday Markets
14:30 – 19:29] — Gouache Painting for Beginners
19:30 – 24:29] — Creative Prompts & Overcoming Creative Blocks
24:30 – 31:59] — Art Supply Organization, Collecting & Crochet
32:00 – 41:59] — Art Books, Pop-Up Projects & Creative Inspiration
42:00 – 52:59] — Emma’s Favorite Things: Words, Food & Dream Jobs
53:00 – 55:59] — Finding Happiness as a Full-Time Artist
56:00 – End] — Where to Find Emma & Closing Remarks
Quotes from the Episode
“I think you just have to sit down and make art every day.” — Emma Adams
“It’s really meaningful when people resonate with my art and reach out to tell me that it inspires them.” — Emma Adams
“Roots” is a beautiful word because it can mean so many different things.” — Emma Adams
“It is what it is” can feel like a way of closing the door on other possibilities.” — Emma Adams
“Sometimes it helps to work on something that doesn’t have a lot of consequences attached to it.” — Joleen Emery
Resources and Links
🖌️ Art Supplies
🎨 Royal & Langnickel 24-Color Gouache Set — An affordable starter set for experimenting with gouache.
🖌️ Princeton Brushes — Options for different budgets.
✨ Princeton Velvetouch Brushes — Emma’s preferred higher-end brushes.
🎨 Winsor & Newton Designer’s Gouache — Traditional gouache paint.
🎨 Holbein Acrylic Gouache — Opaque paint that behaves more like acrylic.
📚 Book Recommendations
🐾 Learn to Watercolor Adorable Animals by Lacy Walker
🎨 Exploring Painting by Gerald F. Brommer and Nancy K. Kenny
📖 The Pop-Up Book — A book Joleen recommends for exploring pop-up designs and paper engineering.
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