Lunch Note Sketch
A small illustration project that grew into a worldwide platform of kindness and creativity.
The Challenge
Find a meaningful way to encourage creativity and emotional resilience in my young daughter after the tragic loss of her beloved elementary school teacher.
The Outcome
Lunch Note Sketch, an award-winning illustration project followed by—and engaged with—people from around the world that included PR from Huffington Post and the Post-it® Brand among others.
My Role
What started as simple sketches on sticky notes turned into something bigger. As the creator of Lunch Note Sketch, my responsibilities include small business operations, marketing, advertising, social media strategy, community building, illustration, photography, copywriting, product creation, eCommerce management, shipping and billing, community outreach, and speaking engagements.
Always.
Be kind.
The Story
A Loss No Child Should Face
In 2014, my daughter started preschool and immediately formed a deep bond with her teacher. This teacher was a warm, encouraging presence who nurtured her love of art.
A few months later, we received a shocking phone call that her teacher had been killed.
As parents, we were devastated. But the harder task was helping a four-year-old process a loss she couldn’t fully understand. My fear was that grief would overshadow her joy, her creativity, and her excitement for learning.
I wanted to give her something constant to help her feel safe, loved, and seen.
A Note a Day
When she returned to school, I began drawing simple illustrated notes and placing them in her lunchbox each morning. Since she couldn’t yet read, I paired short messages with expressive characters and drawings to help her connect emotionally with the meaning.
My hope was that the picture would make her smile, the words would spark conversation with her new teacher, and the surprise would be the reinforcement that creativity was still a bright and comforting part of her world.
Sticky note sketches that make it home after school go into one of many jars we have in the house.
A Community Forms
After just a couple of months sharing the drawings on social media, something unexpected happened.
Parents from around the world began following, commenting, and sharing their own stories.
Teachers reached out to say they were using the notes to encourage their students. Parents messaged saying the illustrations helped them connect with their kids during difficult moments.
The project quickly grew into a global community rooted in kindness and creativity.
Soon, I was interviewed by local news outlets. HuffPost Parents reached out for an interview. Even the Post-it Brand, whose product I was using for every sketch, wanted to feature the project and helped amplify it further on their website.
What I originally intended to run for a single year became a commitment of 1,004 consecutive days—a creative ritual I did every night without missing a day.
Growing Into Something Bigger
As interest expanded, I created products so families and educators could share these messages with their own children. I worked with teachers to distribute printed classroom packs so students could start their day with positive, uplifting notes about kindness, curiosity, creativity, and courage.
During this time, I was honored to receive the inaugural DaddiLife Hero award, a parenting organization based in the UK, for creating a lunch note every day for over a year and inspiring parents and children across the globe. The recognition opened doors for me to participate in parenting conferences, where I shared the emotional story behind the project and discussed how small creative rituals can help children navigate grief and build confidence.
Lunch Note Sketch evolved from a personal coping mechanism into a platform for emotional connection that helped spread encouragement far beyond my daughter’s lunchbox.
After being invited to parenting conferences and making connections with fans, I created business cards that matched the Lunch Note Sketch brand perfectly.
Post cards and note cards were created to share.
Lunch Note Sketch Takeaways
Creativity with Purpose
Illustration used not as decoration, but as emotional communication.
Human-Centered Design
A real problem, a thoughtful intervention, and a ripple effect that touched thousands of families and children.
Community Building & Brand Storytelling
A heartfelt narrative authentically scaled across platforms.
Executional Discipline
1,004 consecutive days of creation is a testament to craft, commitment, and consistency.
Entrepreneurship & Leadership
Transforming a personal project into a global platform through product creation, partnerships, outreach, and small business management.
Conclusion
Lunch Note Sketch began as a way to help one child navigate grief. It grew into a worldwide reminder that small acts of creativity and kindness can heal, inspire, and connect us.
The project remains one of my most meaningful achievements. It is proof that design can be deeply human, profoundly simple, and unexpectedly far-reaching.
An illustration to encourage teachers navigating a pandemic-induced virtual school experience.