How AI quietly changed the way I work

A Calm Workflow for Creatives

For a long time, I didn't struggle with creativity.

I struggled with clarity.

My days often started the same way: scrolling through Instagram looking for inspiration, challenges or prompts, anything that would tell me where to start. I saw what everyone else was doing because, honestly, I didn't always have a clear plan myself.

That led to lots of ideas, but very little structure.

Drawing challenges are great in theory. They can spark ideas and help you connect with other creatives. But I rarely finished them. Some prompts didn't fit my style, so I stopped halfway through.

Over time I ended up with many single patterns and illustrations, while what really matters for pattern designers is working in collections.

On top of that, constant scrolling stole my "time to play". I spent more energy looking left and right than actually doing my own work.

I love working. When I'm in the flow, I lose track of time. And if my family allows it (they always come first), I don't mind working long hours. But still, I often lacked a clear plan.

Not motivation. Not ideas. Just direction.

The turning point

AI wasn't new to me.

I first encountered it during my business informatics studies at Technical University Vienna between 2001 and 2008 (yes, long ago). Back then, it felt like science fiction. Interesting, but far removed from real life.

Years later, when AI suddenly entered the creative world, my reaction wasn't excitement. It was fear.

I knew how powerful self-learning systems could be. And then I started seeing AI-generated patterns appear in print-on-demand shops. And people were actually buying them. Some didn't notice, dome didn't care.

Out of fear of being replaced, I ignored AI completely for a while.

But curiosity won. I do love technology and progress after all, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen that field of study in the first place.

So I tested. A lot. Tools, platforms, image generation. And yes, I saw beautiful outputs, but something was missing: storytelling, personal handwriting, soul and love.

AI-generated art felt like an industrial meal from a large kitchen. Efficient, but nothing compared to my mom's lunch.

That's when I stopped worrying about AI taking my job. There will always be people who value human-made art.

A calm alternative to the AI hype

Text-based tools like ChatGPT felt more promising. But at first, the results frustrated me. Then came the flood of "magic prompts" sold everywhere. Hundreds of prompts, all needing the right context again and again. That didn't really save time or mental energy.

So I kept digging, testing and learning.

And that's when I discovered custom GPTs.

An assistant that already understands my context before I ask a question?

That was a game changer.

It felt like having a digital assistant who actually thinks the way I do.

AI didn't replace my creativity,

it removed the noise.

Color Palette Muse: making decisions lighter

The first tool that came out of this phase was Color Palette Muse.

When a pattern doesn't feel right, it's often not the drawing, it's the colors. Color Palette Muse gives me a thoughtful starting point for a specific mood or theme. I get into action faster. Ideas move forward instead of staying stuck.

I still adjust colors at the end. But the hardest part, deciding where to begin, is already done.

Less hesitation. More flow.

Cozy Pattern Muse: creating space, not art

After seeing how well this worked for colors, I thought: why stop there?

That's how Cozy Pattern Muse was born. She's my studio assistant.

She doesn't create for me. She creates space for me.

She helps me:

structure and plan projects
think through social media content
develop pattern collections (elements, naming, coherence)
and cheer me on (maybe most importantly)

Many solo creatives know this feeling: you work alone. No team, no one to quickly bounce ideas off.

That can feel lonely, even if you enjoy working independently.

In those moments, it helps to have someone who understands creative businesses and their daily challenges.

My Cozy Pattern Muse is like a friendly, all-knowing junk drawer for my thoughts.

Why I created the course

I see creatives struggling with AI every single day on social media.

And I realized something surprising: teaching connects me more deeply with other creatives than posting on Instagram ever did. It's also far less exhausting.

With my background in business informatics, I naturally focus on:

how systems work
how they're structured
and how actions create reactions

I love analyzing systems and finding where things break. And over time, I noticed that I'm good at explaining technical concepts in simple, human language.

(I've taught every senior in my family how the internet works and that they don't need to go to the bank for every payment anymore.)

That moment when something clicks for someone else? I love that.

So I created the course to explain how custom GPTs work. Calm, clear and without hype.

What my everyday life looks like now

Since understanding custom GPTs, my work has changed noticeably.

I move from idea to execution faster. I'm less afraid of new projects like founding Museflow, building a brand or setting up an entirely new course platform.

And yes, my family now has GPTs too.

My kids use one that summarizes books and asks reflection questions (only after they've read the book 😉)
My son has a nutrition assistant to support him through growth and sports
My husband has a GPT for his beekeeping (mostly so he remembers the names of all his "employees"🐝 and doesn't neglect anyone 😄)

AI didn't take over our lives. It simply supports the parts that don't need to be heavy.