Hi guys,

I've got some SPECIAL NEWS today: I'm doing my very first 👚GIVEAWAY👚 Woohoo!  I’m so excited to bring this to you today, and hopefully it will sweeten the rest of your work week ;)

I’m giving away one of my HAND-PAINTED T-SHIRTS to ONE LUCKY WINNER! I’ve been meaning to do a giveaway ever since reached the 1K followers milestone on Instagram, and it’s been a minute lol. So I want take a moment to say THANK YOU to every person who has been supporting me in my journey as a fashion illustrator, and that includes YOU! 🙏  A huge thanks for all your support and kindness!  I hope you like my gift, and when I reach 2K followers on IG, I will do another giveaway. And we're SO close, so the sooner we reach that goal, the sooner I'll send another thank you gift your way! 🤩

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY: head on over to my Instagram account @thecristinatudor and check out THIS IG POST with the SAME IMAGE AS ABOVE to find out all the giveaway rules.  

Giveaway CLOSES on Friday, May 17 at 10pm PST. One winner will be selected by random draw. T-shirt will be white, with the illustration you choose from my shop (no custom work), in the size of your choice.  You can see all the hand-painted T-shirt designs in my shop HERE so you know what T-shirt you'd like to win.  It takes me about 2 weeks to paint your Tee + extra shipping time. Shipping is free.  

🎨 Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY! 🎉  So if you live outside the U.S., this is the ONLY WAY to get one of my hand-painted T-shirts (unless you're doing a custom order).

Good luck, and I’ll see you on Instagram! 🤞
xo
Cristina

This Monday morning I'm starting off the week by reflecting on what it means to be courageous and strong, especially as a woman, the way my mom is ❤️ I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and did my best to distill my thoughts yesterday on Mother’s Day when I posted this about my mom, who is an incredible human being! 
 
And then the other day I saw a post from my sweet friend Meagan Morrison of @travelwritedraw about how when Martha Stewart got asked if she ever felt like an impostor she said no, when many of us would answer YES! I’d like to continue this conversation because I find it so important.
 
Why do so many of us doubt ourselves?
 
I remember a couple of years ago, right after I made the switch from architecture to illustrating full-time, the first time I told someone I’m a fashion illustrator I had a hard time getting the words out. I didn’t FEEL like an illustrator. So I quickly added, I’m also an architect! LOL. Like I needed to prove my *worth* somehow. I was trained as an architect, not as an illustrator, so I compare myself to others who have the *right* credentials, and sometimes I feel like I’m not the *real deal* because I don’t.
 
I think it’s because today it’s easier than ever to compare on social media and to feel like you're falling short. Like many of you, I’m afraid to admit I have self-doubt, but it’s important to talk about it because sweeping it under the rug would perpetuate the myth. The myth that I don’t struggle with this. I certainly do.

The hardest part is that people don’t acknowledge feeling this way, so I sometimes feel alone in it. I KNOW I am not alone in this tho! None of us are, thank goodness 😉 Which is why I think REAL change starts with acceptance because we can all relate.
 
It’s ok to be vulnerable, to acknowledge and to ACCEPT those feelings because they are human nature. We are not robots, people! 😂 All we can do is move forward DESPITE our fears and doubt. I mean, isn’t courage doing something IN SPITE of your fear?
 
So I say let’s all be courageous and put ourselves there, let’s not waste another SECOND letting our doubts stop us from doing what we dream about. Want to be an artist? Start painting TODAY! Want to get fit? Go for a walk this MINUTE! Want to write? Put words on paper NOW! Don’t let that nagging voice in the back of your head come up with excuses and reasons why not to do it and talk you out of it!

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned that I think is the MOST important of all is to just DO IT! Today. Now. And let me tell you, this is a lesson that I have to re-learn over and over again lol. Because I’m human, and I forget this lesson as life gets in the way and I get distracted, but it’s the one thing I keep coming back to.  Every time I remind myself to just go and do it, especially when I’m feeling that self-doubt start creeping in, magical things happen!
 
I would have never started hand painting my T-shirts if I hadn’t pushed through those doubts. And I would not have had the moving experience of witnessing how joyful they make my customers like Beatrice @whol_some_life and her daughter, Janell.  I painted this custom T-shirt for Bea as a Mother’s Day present to Janell, and they both loved it so much!  Bea said: ‘Your drawing is gorgeous. Thank you so much! I’m going to order more!!! They’re really special! Janell loved her T-shirt! Everyone wanted one too!’  Had I listened to that doubtful voice of fear in my head telling me all the reasons why I shouldn’t paint and put my work out there, all the reasons why I might fail at it, Bea and Janell would have never shared this special mother-daughter moment on Mother's Day!

So my advice (to you and to myself lol): just tell that voice to shove it! ;) Don’t rob yourself and others of the happiness you can bring with your creativity, in whatever way you choose to express your creative spirit! And let’s GO for it, because this is the ONLY way we grow! If we stop ourselves from fear, we will never get through to the other side where our dreams await! ✨
 
What have you been stopping yourself from doing because you have doubts? And what steps will you take TODAY to push through that fear and go after your dreams? I’m rooting for you, I know you can do it, so let’s do this together! 😘❤

You with me?

xo,
Cristina

Watch what I loved most about painting this custom T-shirt:

Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy! @ariclia 🌸 I love you SO MUCH! ❤️

You are the BEST mom in the world, the strongest and most courageous person I know, and you have ALWAYS been my biggest supporter and given me the MOST unconditional love anyone could give!!! 💖 Thank you for everything you always do for me, for being there for me from day one 😉 and for always making me your top priority even when that meant sacrificing your own happiness 🙏

Thank you for raising me as a single mom, through countless hardships, without any support from my dad, with little money, and for making my childhood a happy one despite a hard life in communist Romania.

Thank you for getting me through those first years of living in such a rough country and times, and most of all for having the courage to leave all that behind and jump into the unknown, without a shred of hesitation, without a doubt that you would give me a much better life. You certainly have! We have an amazing life here in the States, and I could not be happier 🇺🇸

I am so proud to be an American, to live such an amazing life in this beautiful place, and I count my blessings every day! I thank God for everything He has given us, and I thank YOU for making it happen, for being a STRONG and FEARLESS momma and for having the courage to GO for it!! For all these reasons, and SO MUCH MORE, you are the BEST mom in the world and I am the LUCKIEST person in the world to be your daughter!I love you always and forever!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you amazing moms out there! 😘❤️🌸

Super excited to share my new T-shirt design with you guys: the XOXO T-shirt is now live in my shop at cristina-tudor-art.myshopify.com as part of my HAND PAINTED fashion illustration T-shirts collection.  Check it out here and grab one (or two!) for all the moms in your life this Mother's Day, they deserve all of the treats!
 
Visit my shop at Cristina Tudor Shop to see the full collection of HAND PAINTED T-shirts!

And while you're at it: get 15% off all my ART PRINTS for Mother's Day when you enter code MOTHER15 at checkout - offer is valid until Tuesday, May 7, which is the deadline to order art prints if you want to make sure you get them before Mother's Day.   I have an XOXO print, too, as well as the XOXO T-shirt!

Did I mention: FREE SHIPPING in the US (includes all T-shirts and art prints in my shop).

Share this offer and my shop cristina-tudor-art.myshopify.com with your bff, so she can spoil Mom, too!

XOXO,
Cristina

p.s. If you're wondering where I got that snazzy wall macrame and gold hoop wall hanging in the photos, it's an awesome (and super simple!) DYI pattern courtesy of debrosse, (Teresa aka T of @debrosse_nyc) the genius behind soooo many cool knit, crochet and all-yarn patterns at debrosse.com The wood hanging rack is my own DYI - email me for details at hello@cristinatudor.com

April showers bring May flowers!  It’s May, and I’m all about spring and flowers this month.  I was inspired to paint the May calendar by the flowers in the recent SoCal superbloom, the upcoming Mother’s Day, and by Molly Bee, aka @beautsoup on Instagram, who creates fantastic makeup looks and always looks incredible! So I’m going to call this one Flower Girl! ;)

And if you want to make Mom happy this Mother’s Day, you can use code MOTHER15 on all my art prints in my shop at cristina-tudor-art.myshopify.com until Tuesday, May 7 at 11:59pm, which is also the last day to order your prints if you want to make sure you get them before Mother’s Day (May 12).  As always, all US shipping is FREE! :)

Didn't get my April calendar?  Sign up at cristinatudor.com today, and it'll pop right in your inbox!

Here's a few behind the scenes peeks at my illustration process for this month's calendar: