The Art of Digital Gifting: Creating Stickers That Bring Joy

Why I Started Making Stickers

Remember when the internet felt like a massive art exchange? Before every platform wanted you to “monetize your passion”? Yeah, I miss those days too. Or maybe you are too young to remember. That is ok!!! 😌

I started creating my monthly sticker collections because I was nostalgic for that feeling of stumbling across someone’s personal website and finding little digital treasures you could take with you. Those “right-click and save” moments that made the early web feel like a giant collaborative art project.

Each sticker begins as a doodle in my sketchbook—usually while I’m half-watching a show or listening to a podcast. The wonky characters with big eyes that populate my January collection started as stress-relief drawings during a particularly chaotic week. I wasn’t trying to make something “marketable” or “on trend”—just expressing whatever weird little creatures lived in my head that day.

Behind the Process

1. I start with pencil sketches—messy, imperfect, and sometimes on the backs of receipts or whatever paper is nearby
2. I scan these into my ancient tablet (seriously, this thing is from 2015 and makes concerning noises sometimes)
3. I refine the lines, experimenting with colors until something feels right
4. I add those gradient backgrounds that give everything that dreamy Y2K vibe
5. I export as PNG with transparent backgrounds so they work anywhere

The entire process is gloriously imperfect. I don’t use templates, I rarely plan color schemes in advance, and sometimes I completely change direction halfway through. That’s the beauty of creating without the pressure of making something that has to sell.

Digital Gifting in a Commercialized Internet

Here’s the thing—I believe we’ve lost something as the internet has become more and more commercialized. When every creative pursuit needs to be a “side hustle” or have a “monetization strategy,” we lose the pure joy of making things just to make them and sharing them just to share them.

My stickers are free because I want to be part of rebuilding that culture of digital generosity. I want to contribute to an internet where not everything is behind a paywall or designed to extract value from you.

Don’t get me wrong—I have bills to pay like everyone else. But I’ve decided that these stickers are my gift to the internet, my small act of rebellion against the idea that every creative pursuit needs to be commodified.

The Joy It Brings

The most meaningful part of this project has been the emails I get from people who’ve used my stickers on their personal sites or in their digital journals. A teacher who used my bunny stickers in her virtual classroom. A teen who decorated their first coding project with my February bear sticker. A grandma who learned how to make digital scrapbooks and used my heart rabbit PNG in a valentine for her grandkids.

These connections—these small moments of joy—mean more to me than any amount of money these stickers could generate.

Your Turn to Create and Gift

I encourage you to find your own way to contribute to this digital gift economy. Maybe it’s stickers like mine, or wallpapers, or fonts, or blog templates, or whatever creative thing brings you joy.

The internet is what we make it. And I’m trying to make mine a playground again, not just another shopping mall.

What will you create and share freely? Drop me a comment below—I’d love to see what you’re making and giving away in your corner of the internet!s

Check out the latest stickers to decorate your space <3 Click here <3

Until next time, Lyssa 💖✨

P.S. March stickers coming next week! Think spring themes and lots of pastels…