How Procreate Stickers Boosted My Confidence as a Creative Mom

Ever feel like you’ve forgotten how to be creative — like that part of you got buried under laundry piles, snack wrappers, and back-to-back school pickups?

Yeah. Me too.

I’ve been drawing on and off my whole life. I even went to art school for a hot second before life got lifey and I dropped out.

Creativity has always been part of who I am, it’s all I’ve ever wanted in a career.

But between exhaustion, motherhood, working, and a million half-finished ideas, it just never quite clicked.

I bought my iPad to take my art seriously again… and then barely touched it.

Not because I was scared. But because I was tired.
Like bone-deep, always-last-on-my-own-list tired.

Eventually, I started doodling, nothing fancy, just playing with lines and color in Procreate during those tiny chaos pockets. No goal. No pressure. Just… something for me.

And that? That was the crack in the burnout wall.

👉 If you’re curious how I got started with digital drawing, this Procreate beginner tutorial is a great place to start.

Stickers came later. They were never the plan, just the thing that stuck (pun very much intended).

Because when I started designing stickers, I realized I wasn’t just creating art… I was rebuilding belief in myself.

Speaking of believing in yoursel,f check out this sticker tutorial, Making Stickers in Procreate for Beginners: Watch Me Mess Up So You Don’t Have To

In this post, I’m sharing how Procreate stickers boosted my confidence, not as some polished influencer or perfect artist, but as someone who’s just a few steps ahead.

Someone who’s still figuring it out, but finally making time for herself again.

If this sounds like you at all, come join me for this wild adventure!

If you want a super quick win, I made some motivational self-care stickers so you can get started boosting your confidence right away! Just pop in your email below.

If you’re feeling lost, creatively numb, or like the dream version of you is gathering dust, I've got you, sis.

Let’s talk about how something as small as a digital (or printable!) sticker can help you feel like you again.

Before Stickers: Feeling Creatively Empty

There was a time when even thinking about creating felt like too much.

I had the tools. I had the history. I even had the Pinterest boards full of inspiration.

But between dishes, diaper changes, and decision fatigue, art kept sliding to the bottom of the priority list.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be creative; it’s that I couldn’t find the energy to show up for it.

And honestly? That crushed me.
Because creativity wasn’t just a hobby for me. It was part of who I am.

But when you’re constantly pouring into everyone else, there’s not always enough left to pour into yourself.

And somewhere along the line, I started to believe the lie that if I wasn’t making “real” art — the kind that looked perfect or led to something big, it didn’t count.

Spoiler alert: that’s trash. All creative expression counts.

But I didn’t know that yet.

So I kept waiting for the “right time” to start again. The uninterrupted afternoon. The clean desk. The perfect idea.

That time never came.

Until I stopped waiting.

The Day I Tried Procreate Anyway

There wasn’t some magical “right time” when I opened Procreate.
I wasn’t waiting for a creative epiphany or the stars to align.

I was just… tired. The kind of tired where you’re phone-scrolling from the same chair for two hours and calling it rest.

And something in me snapped. Or maybe softened.

I thought, “What if, just for today, I did something for me instead?”

So I opened Procreate. No plan. No tutorial. No masterpiece in mind. Just lines and shapes and whatever my hand felt like doing.

It didn’t fix everything, but it did something.
I felt a flicker of energy. A little spark that said, “Oh hey. There you are.”

And that was enough to do it again the next day. And the next.

It didn’t matter that the doodles were wobbly or simple. What mattered was that I’d stopped scrolling and started showing up for myself.

That’s where it all began, not with a finished product, but with permission to try.

Why Stickers Were the Perfect Confidence Builder

I didn’t set out to make stickers; it just kind of happened.

One day, I went from doodling lines… to thinking, “Wait, this could actually be something cute.” So I turned it into a sticker.

👉 Want to make your own stickers? I made this beginner sticker design tutorial just for sticker-curious chaos queens.

No launch plan. No Etsy shop dreams. Just a small creative win that made me smile.

And that? That’s when the confidence started sneaking back in.

Stickers were the perfect project because:

• 💡 They were small — low commitment, low pressure
  
• 🎨 They let me play with color, style, and ideas without overthinking
  
• ✅ They didn’t have to be “good,” just mine
  

Designing a sticker was like saying, “I made this. It exists because I showed up.”

And in a season where I felt invisible half the time, that was huge.

Plus, it wasn’t just art for art’s sake. These stickers had a purpose.

Some were for journaling. Some for planning. Some just made me laugh.

👉Check out this article on ways to use stickers in your journal— ideas, tips, and inspo to help you make them yours.

And can we talk about word stickers for a sec?

Those became my favorite, because they’re not just cute.
They’re tiny acts of self-expression.

Of honesty. Of reclaiming your voice.

Don't forget to grab your free Motivational Self-Care Word Stickers to get mini pep talks whenever you need them!

Whether it’s a “You got this” pep talk, a “Nope” boundary, or a “Hot Mess, High Hopes” mood check… word stickers say what you’re feeling when you don’t have the energy to explain.

Designing those? It felt like bottling up my thoughts and turning them into something tangible.

They let me show my personality, my stances, my vibe, in a way that felt bold and safe.

So yeah. These weren’t “just stickers.”
They were tiny confidence boosts, one design at a time.

Creative Confidence Looks Like…

It didn’t happen overnight, no dramatic makeover montage, no sudden burst of productivity.

Just tiny creative choices, stacked on top of each other.

And over time? Things started to feel… different.

I wasn’t hiding from blank pages anymore.
I wasn’t judging every doodle before it even existed.
I was creating with curiosity again, not pressure.

Creative confidence didn’t mean I thought everything I made was amazing.
It meant I stopped needing it to be.

Sometimes, it looked like finishing a sticker and loving it.

Other times? It looked like deleting the whole thing and starting fresh, without spiraling.

Because I finally trusted that creativity isn’t a one-shot deal.

I can make more. I will make more. That’s kind of the whole point.

Now, it looks like:

• Opening Procreate instead of phone-scrolling, if you’re just beginning your creative reboot, Easy Procreate Sticker Ideas might help spark your next doodle.
  
• Slapping a “chaos coordinator” sticker on my planner and actually laughing
  
• Sharing what I made, even if it’s imperfect
  
• Trusting that playing is productive, too
  

It looks like making things for the joy of making them, not for a grade, not for a gallery, not for a big goal… just because it feels good to see something come to life.

📺 PS: If you're more of a visual learner (or just want to vibe while watching someone else figure it out), I share beginner-friendly tutorials over on my YouTube channel. It’s chill, cozy, and judgment-free, just how we like it.

Want to Try It Too? Start Small.

If this post made you feel even a tiny spark of “I miss being creative,” that’s not an accident.

That’s your brain whispering, “More of this, please.”

But don’t worry, you don’t have to dive into Procreate today or start designing stickers from scratch.

Start with something gentle. Something yours.

I made a free journaling sticker pack for moms like us, printable or digital, so you can use them however feels doable.

They’re designed for chaos pockets and cold coffee mornings, no perfection required.

💬 Stickers that help you say what you’re feeling.
🖍️ A little color, a little fun, a lot of “hey, I’m still here.”

👇 Grab your free journaling stickers below
and give yourself 5 minutes of creative space today. Just because you can.

You don’t have to be ready. You just have to start.

Then when you are ready to get started, I have a whole list of Procreate posts to check out below!

Make sure you bookmark this post for future reference.

Love and messy buns,
❤️ Cynthia McDonald
Helping women find creativity in the chaos—with stickers, stationery, and a little bit of fun