Warm Winter Wishes

Hi there. How are you? 

This past weekend, I had my first craft fair of the holiday season, and I wanted to add another holiday card to my lineup.  

My newest holiday greeting card is now available! Click to purchase.

A fir tree pattern drawn in my sketchbook was the basis for this card design.

My Process

When I'm making a new greeting card, I often have a message in mind before I even come up with the imagery.  (Read more about that HERE and HERE.) That was not the case with this one! I knew I wanted to use the fir tree that I drew in my sketchbook,  but had no idea what I wanted it to say.

New card in process. I started with a more minty green and white trees.

Crowd-sourcing

I actually posted this image up on Facebook and Instagram and asked for suggestions. I got some really great and humorous suggestions:

"A Holiday Greeting Especially Fir You!"

"Frolic around the Festivas Pole (tree)"

"Tree-son's Greetings!"

"Wishing you a Woody Little Christmas"

"This season...see the forest for the trees!"

"Wishing Happy Holidays "Fir" You!"

Someone even suggested to keep the greeting as is! (I considered that.) In the end I went more traditional, employed my signature alliteration, and went with "Warm Winter Wishes."

Tweaking the Color

On the advice of Matt (my artist husband), I also switched up the color scheme. He didn't think the minty green I had chosen was :holiday" enough. Though I protested at first, I took his advice and reduced the amount of blue in the green. Good call Matt!  I also switched up the white trees and made them gold. I think this might be the first time I've ever used gold in my work!  I'm pretty much a silver girl, but gold has been calling me lately. (I even got a rose gold iPhone 6s!)

Warm Winter Wishes Now for Sale

You can purchase my newest greeting card as a single or in a set of 6. They are blank on the inside for your own holiday message. "Warm Winter Wishes" is an elegant way to send holiday cheer.

Go and buy me out today!! Ciao friends.

P.S. Would you like to carry my cards in your shop? All of my paper goods are available for wholesale. Do get in touch!

How Charlie Brown Inspired Me to Draw Beer

Hi there. How are you?

If you've been following me on Facebook or Instagram lately, you have probably seen that I've been drawing beer. Beer bottles, cans and mugs all made an appearance in my sketchbook.

View fullsize

Beer drawings from my sketchbook, that I scanned and turned into vectors.

Why Beer?

I'm not much of a beer drinker myself. It's just way too filing for me. I do enjoy a good pint from one of our fine local breweries now and again, but that's about it. My beer drawings all came about for an irreverent holiday card idea I've had floating around in my head.

It all stems around this song:

I still don't get it???

The first line of this sweet little song is "Christmas time is here. Happiness and cheer." In our family, that line is sung like this, " Christmas time is here. Time for lots of beer." I know I'm terrible, but it's tradition, and I can't sing it any other way!

Irreverent Christmas card is now available in my shop. Click to purchase!

An Irreverent Christmas Card is Born

I know this card won't appeal to everyone, but I know it's a sentiment that many can relate to.  With all of the holiday parties and events than happen between Thanksgiving and New Year's, the holidays can be such a time of excess!

A beer themed birthday or congratulations card. Click to purchase!

Beer Birthday

It was my husband's birthday last week, so I decided to make him a beer themed card featuring the same drawings. It's amazing what a little color change can do! This card isn't birthday specific; it could be given for a variety of purposes. Send it to celebrate a new job, a college graduation, or any time you want to send a lighthearted note of congratulations.

One of the things I'm really liking about the way I'm working currently is that I can get a lot of mileage out of one drawing! (I'm working on yet another iteration of this designfor a totally new product. Stay tuned friends!)

Both of these cards are for sale in my online shop and will be available at my upcoming holiday craft sales. (More on my holiday schedule coming soon.) You can also pick these up at Dayshift in Carbondale and at Bricolage in Paducah.

Just one more thing!

Is there any specific type of card you'd like me to design? I'm always open to suggestions. Heck, I love suggestions! I would have never made my coloring book if it wasn't suggested by several of my patrons. Thanks you friends.

More next week. Ciao!

Be My Valentine - A Valentine's Day Card Roundup

Hi there. How are you?

Valentine's Day is no big deal at our house. No cards, no presents. It really just another day for us. We even used to host an Anti-Valentine's Day party when we lived in Rockford.

I don't do Valentine's day, but I must admit that I love paper valentines and always have. I have fond memories of decorating the shoe box to bring to school and exchanging goofy E.T., Care Bear and Rainbow Brite themed cards with all the kids in my class. As an adult, I'd send out homemade Valentines to friends and family instead of sending Christmas cards.

I've designed a new valentine this year featuring my sweet little fairy wrens. I've always thought they looked like they were talking to each other, and this is what I imagine they'd say.

Do you send/give valentines? There are so many artful, irreverent, and quirky Valentines available these days. I've pulled together a selection of my personal faves I've found on Etsy.  Enjoy!

1. You Make Me Happy by Meg Gleason/Moglea

2. You're Doing it Wrong by JulieAnnArt

3. Foxy Valentine by Michele Maule

4. There is Nobody Else by Emily McDowell

5. Capture my Heart by Jenipher Lyn/Nightly Doodles

6. You're Cute by Me!

If you'd like to see more of my Valentine finds, check out this Pinterest board.

That's all for now friends. Ta-Ta!