treasuring

new painting: Red Wing

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:45:00 GMT

Here it is! The finished painting that I showed you a piece of a couple days ago...

I whisked it off to Gregg Irby Fine Art yesterday, so it's ready to be scooped up and put on a wall that's begging for some bright color. This one is seriously bright.

I dropped off the painting yesterday after having lunch with my second cousin (my dad's cousin), who I didn't even know lived in Atlanta until about a month ago. He was googling someone else in our family and my name came up, so he ended up on my website and then saw that I lived in Atlanta. Shock of all shocks! He emailed me to see if he was crazy or if we actually might be related, and when we determined that we're in fact second cousins, we decided to meet up for coffee last week. And he's AWESOME! I'm so sad that no one told either of us that we both live here until now, just weeks before Ryan and I are moving away to Portland. So we had lunch yesterday, and Ryan and I are going to meet he and his wife for dinner next weekend. I'm so excited.

Don't you love random little surprises like that in life??

GIVEAWAY: 'everything is going to be ok' notecards

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:27:00 GMT

A box full of these sweet little boxed cards arrived the other day, and I want to give one to YOU!

Based on the huge success of the book Everything Is Going To Bo OK published by Chronicle Books last year (which had 6 of my illustrations in it, yay!), they decided to turn it into a set of 20 notecards as well-- and they included 4 of my images in the set!

And I'm in great company-- Gemma Correll, Jen Renninger, Danna Ray, and more. The cards are all about positivity and encouragement-- right up my alley!

So I'm giving away one set of cards -- all you have to do to enter is leave me a comment and tell me who you'd send one of these cards to and why.

You can get one extra entry, too, by liking my page on facebook! (Just let me know in the comments that you did so...)

Comments will close on SUNDAY MAY 20th at 11:59pm, and I'll randomly choose and announce the winner on Monday morning!

Here are my 4 cards that are in the set:

Hope you like them, and good luck in the giveaway!!

UPDATE 05/16/12 11:30 am: For those asking, I justed listed some of the cards right here; there are only 7 sets, so scoop them up quick if you want them!!

polka dotted bird feathers

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:44:00 GMT

I'm working on getting a couple of new paintings done for Gregg Irby Fine Art before I move away to Portland in a couple of weeks, and I painted this little birdie last night.... the eye i s a little scary so far and needs work, but I'm kinda digging it so far! Not sure what's going to happen with the rest of the painting, but I'll be working on it today, so we'll see!

I also wanted to let you know that the online moving sale yesterday was a massive success! I sold almost everything. If you missed out, I'll likely be adding some new stuff to the sale section over the next week or so (as we start packing and I find more stuff that needs to go), so keep checking back!

ONLINE MOVING SALE!

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:28:00 GMT

Happy Monday! I'm kicking off the brand new week with an online moving sale. Fun, right?

Ryan and I are moving to Portland, OR in 17 days (eek!!), and I have lots of stuff accumulated in my studio that's got to go. I want to set up my new studio without all the clutter that's in my current studio!

Which means: I have lots of art to sell on the super cheap! I'm talking original paintings for $25.00 cheap. Seriously.

Head on over to check it out! You can find the sale RIGHT HERE. There's only ONE of most items, so if you see something you like, scoop it up quick!

Here are a few things you'll find:

UPDATE 05/14/12 10:30 am: Things are going fast!! About 40% of the stuff is gone already after just an hour and a half. Scoop it up quick!

i love a good pile of new fabric

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:40:00 GMT

I think I get my love of fabric from my mom. She always had piles and piles around when I was growing up (she was a doll-maker!), and I loved looking at all the different prints and bright colors. So it's pretty cool now that I get to CREATE those prints and bright colors!

This is my brand new Molokai fabric line. I picked it up at Blend last week, and I need to make something out of it! It's seriously bright.

What would you make?

I'll have some fat quarters available in my shop soon, too, as soon as I can get around to photographing it and setting it all up.... let me know if you want some now, though, and we can work it out!

Have a good weekend!

paper wreaths for decorating

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:13:00 GMT

I stumbled upon these adorable little paper wreaths this morning on pinterest (originally from A Subtle Revelry-- great blog!) and can't wait to make some! I have a gift to wrap up soon for my husband-- who is graduating from med school next weekend!! -- looks like i'll have an excuse to make some of these. Yay!

I think I'll also need to make some fun decorations to have around the house. I want it to feel festive and fun when his family gets here!! It'll be a weekend full of celebrating!

I think these little wreaths might become my go-to embellishment for gift-wrapping now. Quick, easy, and so charming!

a special collaboration with le animalé!

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:28:00 GMT

I am soooo excited to announce something very fun and special this morning: my collaboration with le animalé to create out Tribal Adventure Totems!

Laura emailed me a few months ago to ask me if I wanted to collaborate on some special one-of-a-kind totems, and she got an immediate YES from me. I am completely in love with le animalé-- Laura's totems are insanely adorable, and I even had her create 2 custom totems of my cats for my husband for Christmas! (He loved them, by the way.) The likeness that Laura can capture of an animal's personality is amazingly spot-on. Such talent!

Anyway, we create 10 totems together -- 5 totems and 5 necklace totems -- Laura sculpted them and I painted them. I'm completely in love with how they turned out. I never realized how hard painting tiny things is! I had so much fun working on this with Laura, and I hope you'll love these sweet little critters, too!

The Tribal Adventure Totems are all about inspiring summer fun and adventure. And they're obviously about living color to the max (you know that's my motto!)

I have 5 of the totems available for sale here on my website, and the other 5 are available over at le animale. There's only one of each, so if you see a favorite, scoop it up!! Because once it's gone, it's gone for good.

Maybe a happy little bird to celebrate summer sunshine?

Each totem will arrive with a card describing its particular stats-- you see, each totem has it's own little personality and character traits. Infuse your life with your animal's special powers!

You can find the totems RIGHT HERE. (And find the other 5 on le animalé's website!)

I'd love to hear which one is your favorite! Mine's the fox, I think..... or the squirrel necklace!

+plus modern skin care

Tue, 08 May 2012 13:36:00 GMT

I had to share this with you because I just think it's so wonderful-- my old family friends, Ann and Nic, are creating a brand new non-toxic skin care line called +plus modern skincare (inspired by Ann's successful battle with breast cancer), and they're raising funds on indiegogo right now to make it a reality!

Ann is my mom's great friend, and I used to baby-sit Nic when I was a teenager-- isn't that adorable? And now he's all grown up and starting a business! I love it.

And the best part: they asked me to create their first-ever limited edition packaging - how fun is that??

So, if you pre-order the products through their indiegogo campaign, you’ll get their first three products (from the .0 line) complete with custom labels created by moi! And you’ll also get a special print of mine that I'm creating just for the line. I'm so honored that they asked me-- I think it's so cool to collaborate with people that I've known for such a long time. :)

Go check out their campaign!! Their products are going to be amazing, and you can get in on the ground-floor and be the first to use 'em.

back from NYC (did I even tell you I was going?)

Mon, 07 May 2012 13:48:00 GMT

I'm back!

I don't actually even think I told you I left. Haha, oops! I went to Brooklyn, NY for 4 days to work on a project with my dear friend and Declaration of You cohort, Michelle Ward, and it was sooooo good to see her. She's been going through boob cancer and the ensuing treatment for the last 5 months, and I'm constantly amazed at what a champ and an inspiration she is in dealing with it. I was so happy to finally be able to give her a big huge in-person hug-- living apart from your friends sucks. Not being able to be there when your friends are going through something tough and painful sucks. But I'm grateful that we got to spend 4 days together, and I'm happy to report that she looks fantastic and is doing great! She wasn't just faking me out every time I talked to her on skype. :) We had a blast (and we actually got some work done, too!).

But now I'm back and it's time to play big-time catch up today. Want to see a couple of paintings I finished last weekend in the meantime? These are now available at Gregg Irby Fine Art in Atlanta....

These are big ones -- 36x36" -- much larger than I normally paint, and I'm loving it! I'm going to have a bigger studio space in our new house in Portland (where we're moving in 3 weeks! Eek!), so I'm looking forward to working bigger on a regular basis now.

And these babies are bright bright bright, as usual. Why do I love fluorescent color so much??!

mother's day rain boot sale

Tue, 01 May 2012 12:51:00 GMT

Between now and Mother's Day, when you buy a pair of rain boots (for your mom!) you can get a pair half off (for yourself!)

Just use code MOMSAREAWESOME when checking out.

Or if you are a mom and you want to sneakily suggest to your family that they buy them for you so you get to keep both pairs, that totally works, too.

Look cute adorable Michelle and her mom are in their matching rain boots:

Awww.

Also! I made this rain boot lookbook and forgot to show it to you:

So you can get some ideas about how to look your cutest wearing your boots. :)

When you pop over to buy the boots, don't forget to use code MOMSAREAWESOME when checking out-- you'll get $40 off the price of the second pair of rain boots you buy, but only until Mother's Day on May 15th!

Want $1000 of biz-building products for $100? Oh yes.

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:17:00 GMT

I started reading my advance copy of Chris Guillebeau's new book, The $100 Startup, over the weekend, and I couldn't put it down. I stayed up until almost 1am reading last night and the night before-- I never stay up that late! Needless to say, it's a really great book, full of practical tips on building a business you love in a creative way and on a low budget (and upping your game if you already have a business).

And since I'm enjoying this book so much, I'm psyched to tell you about a big sale at 72only.com that's starting today at noon EST; and it runs for 72 hours only!

Basically, this is the gist: you get $1000 worth of digital products and e-books along with a copy of The $100 Startup for just $100. For 3 days only.

And there are some gooooood-looking products in this sale. Here's what you'll get:

A copy of The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau (hardcover w/ shipping included)

Better Blogging ($137 in value)

Corbett Barr - Creating, Marketing, and Designing A Blog That Matters
Susannah Conway - Blogging From The Heart (e-book version)

Passion-based Business ($137)

Jonathan Mead -- Identifying Your Passion Module + Workbook
Scott Dinsmore -- Live Off Your Passion (e-book version)

Freelancing ($111)

Ashley Ambirge -- You Don't Need A Job, You Need Guts
Men With Pens -- Freelancer Package: Write for Web, Guest Posting Guide, Beyond Brick & Mortar

Confidence & Courage ($129)

Johnny B. Truant -- Tao of Awesome
Marianne Elliot -- 30 Days of Courage (w/ Yoga Module)

Selling & Advertising ($144)

Pam Slim -- Ethical Selling That Works
David Risley -- Double Your Ad Income

Technology & Systems ($171)

Joshua Kaufman -- The Personal MBA Guide to Small Business Infrastructure
Free The Apps -- How to Make iPhone Apps
Brett Kelly -- Evernote Essentials

Artists & Writes ($130)

Alyson Stanfield -- Turning Your Hobby into a Career (download & audio program)
Chris Guillebeau -- Unconventional Guide to Publishing

All for $100.

This sounds pretty dang sweet to me.

The sale ends at noon on Thursday May 3rd. Don't miss it! You could literally transform your business through the use of all these amazing products. Now I'm getting all excited!

falling in love with Portland

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:17:00 GMT

I'm back from Portland! Oh my goodness, what a fun trip. And we found the PERFECT house to live in!! That's it right above. I'm in love with that massive tree. Our upcoming move feels so much more real now that we've found a house!! Just a month to go, and then we'll be living in it. Wow.

I'm definitely excited to live in Portland-- we saw a LOT of the city during the house-hunting, and I can see why people love it so much. I can't wait to find my favorite spots!

I also can't wait to learn more about this amazing place, Crater Lake:

Can you go there? Is it visit-able? It sure looked incredible from the plane.

We rode the tram up to OHSU one day, so I could see where Ryan will be working:

OHSU was amazing and so impressive! Isn't it cool that he'll get to ride that tram up to work every day?

It was a little bit scary to be swinging above the interstate, but really cool nonetheless, with amazing views of the city:

And of Mt. St. Helen's!! Look:

We even saw a bald eagle soaring above the tram on our ride back down. It was incredible. I'd never seen a bald eagle before; what an honor. It might've been my favorite part of the whole trip! I took it as a clear sign that Ryan and I are on the right path-- what a powerful animal to cross paths with in our brand new city!

We wandered around downtown the last day we were there, and I loved this sign:

I think every city should have something like this! Kangaroos are 8,003 miles away from Portland. Who knew?!

All in all, it was an awesome trip and a successful house-hunting mission. Our new life in Portland awaits! So strange....

my husband is done with med school!

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:19:00 GMT

You guys! Med school is over! Ryan got home just after 9pm last night, and we opened some (fake) bubbly to celebrate finishing his last day EVER of med school!

I can hardly believe it's done. Now just a school-free month to go until graduation, and then he'll officially be a doctor. Wow. I remember when he made the decision to try to go to med school all those years ago, when we still lived in Boulder. It meant going to back to college for a year and a half to take some pre-req classes that he didn't take while doing his undergrad degree. Then it meant a year of grad school, studying for and taking the MCAT, and then 4 years of medical school. It's been almost 7 years since he decided he wanted to go for his dream of being a doctor, and here he is, done with his last day on that path, a short month away from earning that title. I'm so proud of him.

We're going to Portland on Sunday, where Ryan will be doing his medical residency, to try to find a house for us to live in. I think this whole adventure and beginning of a new phase is about to feel very real! Right now it seems sort-of like a dream. We know we're moving to Portland, but everything here in Georgia feels resoundingly the same right now as it always has. I can't imagine packing up our house and driving away. But, that's what's going to happen, and I'm ready to embrace our new life in Oregon!

But tonight I'll take Ryan on a celebratory date here in Atlanta! We gotta do some real celebrating in addition to the fake bubbly in our kitchen. :)

endless inspiration from India

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:21:00 GMT

I love all things India. I've never been there before, but I know I'll travel there one day. (Currently I'm fantasizing about doing a month-long yoga teacher training in India!)

I found this Air India Poster Art pinboard on pinterest this morning, by Airline ArtLover and I'm totally enthralled.

Isn't that Switzerland one a riot? I love it! There's something about vintage illustrations that's just so charming. I think it's that it's so clear it was done by a human hand rather than a computer-- they have a lot of soul and charisma.

I wonder who the artists were who created these? I'd love to check out what else they did. Perhaps I'll do some googling....

cross-country movin'

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:42:00 GMT

Ryan and I are heading out to Portland this coming Sunday to try to find a house for our big move... we'll be there for 3 1/2 days and have to sign a lease before we leave! No pressure or anything.

I'm feeling pretty excited for our move-- I'm thinking a lot about what a 4-day-straight cross-country drive will be like. The longest I've ever done is two days. I drove back and forth from Colorado to upstate New York a lot during college, and I drove from Colorado to Georgia when we moved here. I've driven from Colorado to San Francisco and then up the west coast to Seattle, but there were lots of stops along the way, so it wasn't days and days of non-stop driving.

I'm nervous about this upcoming drive because we'll have our cats with us. As you can imagine, they don't love the car. So while I feel like this could be a really fun and adventurous road trip from Atlanta to Portland, I'm feeling kinda stressed about it already. I don't want to upset my poor kitties! Plus, we might end up driving both of our cars rather than just one, which would mean 4 long days of solo driving with the kitties in tow. Eek.

I can't wait to get to Portland, though-- I'm ready to get this new phase started! Ryan has 3 more days of medical school left and then a month to go before graduation. I can't believe it's finally almost finished-- what a long road it's been. I'm so proud of him!

Have you ever moved long-distance with cats? If so, do you have any tips on what worked for you? I'd love to hear them!

{image by Jules on tumbler via Shelley Mark Fichtner on pinterest}

new Case-Mate cases now available

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:06:00 GMT

My new spring collection of cell phone cases just launched with Case-Mate! There are 19 new designs (only 8 are pictured here!) in a variety of quirky colors and styles-- I can't decide which is my favorite! I think it might be this brown, feathery one below, called Sparre:

All 19 new cases are now available for sale right here on my website. Why not spruce up your iPhone for springtime? Head on over and choose your fave!

The cases are for sale on the Case-Mate website, too, and they revamped all my pages to make them super colorful-- it looks so gorgeous! Definitely worth checking out.

I'd love to hear what your favorite new case is, too, if you'd like to share in the comments-- I always love seeing what people are drawn to the most!

a cute little dress made out of my fabric

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:16:00 GMT

I got such a kick out of seeing this little dress that Shannon, who is editor of a brand new magazine called Stitch, Craft, Create, emailed to me a few days ago, made out of my Preeti fabric! She made the dress for her little girl, and she used 2 different prints from my Preeti fabric line with Blend Fabrics-- isn't it so adorable? It makes me want to learn how to sew more than just easy things that don't require patterns!

Shannon said the pattern is from Oliver + S, and you can get the Preeti fabric at Hawthorne Threads online. Or, your local fabric shop may carry it-- and if they don't, why not ask them to order it?!

Or, if you want to grab some smaller pieces of fabric, I have some fat quarters available right here in my shop.

Big thanks to Shannon for sending this photo over-- I'm totally impressed and in love with this sweet little dress! ANd I can't wait to check out the mag when it launches. :)

amy friend: Daré alla Lucé

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:12:00 GMT

In my pinterest trolling this morning, I saw these images by Amy Friend that Rowena Murillo had pinned, and I had to get a closer look.

Aren't they amazing? Amy Friend is an artist and photographer in Canada, and she says of this series of work, called Daré alla Lucé:

Through small deliberate interventions, I altered these vintage images, allowing light to pass through them. (After all, photographs are made possible with light.) In a literal and somewhat playful manner, I aimed to give the photographs back to the light, hence the title of the series, Daré alla Lucé, an Italian phrase used to describe the moment of birth.

They feel so other-worldly, don't they? Like they're mysterious dreams or memories or something.

Amy has a blog, too, where you can get a peek into her world. And her website is full of a variety of really cool work.

more snaps from my rain boot photo shoot

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:54:00 GMT

Deana sent over all of the photos from our rain boot photo shoot a few weeks ago, and I just finished looking through all of them. So fun! These are some of my faves from the 2 days....

And now I get to put together some sort of look-book with all the images-- it'll be such a fun project!

Also, don't forget: through April you can get a pair of rain boots along with 2 8.5x11" prints for just $99.00-- a good time to brighten your feet, brighten your mood, and brighten your walls! :) Check out the details right here.

on making mistakes

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:57:00 GMT

Mistakes are no fun. Sometimes they're embarrassing. But there's always a lesson to learn if you're willing to see it, right?

And I do know that I'd much rather make a mistake and learn something than get to the end of my life and realize I didn't do the things I wanted to do because I was too afraid to make mistakes or to fail.

I'm trying to remember this in a big way today as I flounder around with the rain boot portion of my business after an unfortunate mistake. There are just so many dang lessons to learn that I never expected when I took on this manufacturing project last year! A big big learning curve for sure. But, I know that the only way to learn this stuff and move forward to new and exciting places is just to jump in, so I suppose I can try to embrace mistakes, because it means that I'm getting somewhere new.

Right? Please tell me I'm right! :)

{image via floris koot on pinterest via raw with love}

rain boots + prints = happy spring days

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:21:00 GMT

Morning!

I wanted to let you know that for the rest of the month you can get a pair of rain boots along with 2 prints of your choice for just $99.00! (That's like getting one of the prints absolutely FREE.)

Bundled up goodies for extra spring time happiness!

If you've been eyeballing the boots for a while now, it's a good time to get 'em, because you'll get some art along with 'em and save some cash in the process.

Check it out!

pretty painted stairs

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:59:00 GMT

Don't you think color just makes everything better?

German artist Horst Gläsker painted these stairs-- I'd love to take a walk all the way up... I wonder what's up there when you reach the top?

{via poppytalk on pinterest}

thursday: links of YES

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:55:00 GMT

Linky linky linky goodness today. Are you ready?

I bought this uber-affordable PDF cookbook called Eat Awesome by Paul Jarvis the other day, after I saw a gorgeous photo of some deviled potatoes on facebook. I couldn't resist. I will be making them this weekend for sure! The book costs a cool 5 bucks and is all about a veggie-based diet for regular people. Get it get it get it!! Veggies are the awesomest.

I'm in love with these gorgeous hand-made arrows by Brittany Bass. The brightly colored paper mixed with the feathers is so fun!! I totally want to make some paper feathers now. I think I might buy some of these feathers to frame up for our new house! Check out her etsy shop-- it's one of my new faves.

Brigitte Lyons introduced me to padmapper last week, and it's seriously going to make my house-hunting in Portland SO much easier. You type in your parameters for what you're looking for, and then it pulls listings from places like Craigslist, puts them on the map so you can see where they're located, and they're all clickable. SO USEFUL!

Ummmm, how insane are these boots? Insane in a good way, of course. The line is called The Cobra Society, and I think they're just the coolest. As someone with a line of boots myself, I'm totally inspired by these. The price tag is a bit out of my range (those yellow ones are $1,195!), but they're lovely to look at. The fabrics used in the boots are made by Moroccan female rug artisans-- how cool is that?!

i'm writing an e-book (and I need your help!)

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:39:00 GMT

This is something that's been brewing inside me for a long time. I get so many questions from students and aspiring artists about how to create a career as a full-time artist, and I do my best to answer each and every email that I get from people. I stress in each email I write that my path has been just that-- MY path, and that there's not a magic formula to follow that will lead you down the road of success. I try to encourage people to find their own voice, to make lots of art, and to just jump in rather than waiting for circumstances to be perfect, or their packaging to be perfect, or until they have a certain amount of money saved up.... now is always the best time to start, no matter what.

So, I'm writing an e-book about my story. I hope that in sharing my story, it'll inspire the people who read it to move forward toward their own dream careers, in their own unique way.

I'm also planning to have a Q & A type component to the book, where I'll answer in detail all of the most common questions that I get from people who email me.

So here is how you can help:

What questions would you want me to answer about making a living as an artist and building a creative career? What could I answer that would help you in your own career?

Please leave them in the comments or email me directly-- I'd love to know what burning questions you have or what pieces of my story you'd like to know about!

Thank you!! I want this e-book to be super helpful, so give me all you've got!

sneak peeks from my rain boot photo shoot

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:49:00 GMT

I'm so excited to share these photos with you from my rain boot photo shoot a couple weeks ago! My little sister, Bizzy, came to town to be one of my models (can you guess which one she is??), and Melissa, my very first ever intern last year, was my other model.

The photo shoot was SO FUN. I'd never done one before, so I was a bit nervous (and so were the girls!), but Deana Levine, the photographer made it so easy and fun-- we just had the best time for 2 days!

I love this shot:

And this is one of my absolute faves:

Bizzy Poppins! She looks like she's flying. I love that Deana was able to capture that moment!

And this. THIS! Best moment of the whole first day. We were sneaking around the motorcycle, being careful not to actually touch it, and no cops were in site-- and then all of a sudden I turned around to find a cop sauntering toward us eating some take-out. I jokingly said "don't arrest us!" and told him we were trying to be quick and sneaky, and he was so funny-- he said he'd been watching us the whole time, and asked if we wanted him to turn the lights on? He said the girls could get on so we could take some photos, and afterwards he asked Deana to email them to him. Ha!

And how cute did this photo turn out after all that?! Love it:

I'll show you more photos when I have them!

If you're in the Atlanta area and need a photographer, Deana is your woman. She is AMAZING, and so fun to work with. Oh, and you can see more sneak peeks on her facebook page, here and here!

Oh, and the girls got their hair done on the first day at Salon Red in Decatur, which was totally fun. Check out this braid:

Amazing, right??

Summer Collection: brand new today!

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:10:00 GMT

The beginning of April brings my second seasonal collection of 2012-- bye bye Spring, hello Summer! This collection of lovely patterned things will be available until August. And these patterns have NEVER been seen before today. They're brand new!

There are some inspirational prints, like this one:

Some print-it-yourself DIY goodies, like these little printable place cards, perfect for garden parties or brunches (they're blank when you buy 'em-- I just wrote in some names as an example):

And these printable gift tags, great for all those summer birthdays:

Not to mention printable greeting cards and mini flags, too! (Totally affordable, too, might I add...)

And twitter backgrounds! Check it:

There are some pretty new pocket mirrors like this one:

And secret message necklaces!

Lots and lots of summery goodies to get you excited for warmer weather. :)

Do you like? I hope so! Hope on over to check out the full range of stuff in this brand new Summer collection-- and remember, my seasonal collections are available for just a few months, so once August rolls around these babies will be gone for good.

Oh, and please feel free to use the 'pin it' button on each product's page to pin your favorites from the collection, too! You know, if you're a pinterest user, as I imagine you probably are, because pinterest is the awesomest...

Hope you enjoy all the bright new goodies! They're ripe for the pickin'. :)

christina bothwell

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:11:00 GMT

Wow, aren't these pieces by Christina Bothwell so weird and wonderful? The above is titled "When You Sleep" and below is "When the Body Sleeps, the Spirit Travels".

Christina works with glass and clay-- man, I'd love to be a fly on the wall in her studio to watch the way she works. Aren't these incredible?

You can see lots more of Christina's work on her website. I wish she had a shop with smaller pieces in it-- I would totally buy something!

thursday: links of YES

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:13:00 GMT

So, I said a couple weeks ago that I was starting something new, and then I promptly forgot about it after the first week! Sigh. My brain.

But links of YES is BACK for round 2!

This singing duo, Jonathan and Charlotte, stunned me. STUNNED. Please watch this-- it will make your day. For real. (Except Simon Cowell is a bit of an ass hole at the end-- just ignore that part!)

This book looks seriously amazing! As someone who is getting ready to move and set up a new house in a new city, I think this book could come in handy in a big way-- I want my new home to be marvelous!! And since I'm not a naturally marvelous home-maker, I need some assistance. Enter: Living in a Nutshell by Janet Lee. (found via design*sponge)

I WANT TO BE THIS GIRL. How amazing is that hair? This photo inspired the hair-dos for my recent rain boot photo shoot-- I can't wait to show you the photos!! The girls' hair was kick-ass.

Maddie the coon hound is making serious internet rounds right now, soyou may have already seen this-- but if not, check out this awesome dog who loves to balance on things. Seriously, it's a blog full of photos of this dog balancing on crazy things. I love this dog!

Carly's book club

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:44:00 GMT

Nerd alert: I want to talk about books and pretend I have a book club just for the day.

I wish I read more, but I will say that when I do it's an absolutely fabulous bestseller and a keeper for life. I also really love shopping for books, so I'm sad our bookstores are becoming extinct and there are less of my favorite stores to spend endless hours in. At any rate, books are so important for us as artists. They get our creative juices flowing and activate that area of our brain that needs to 'imagine' again. I'm going to take this opportunity to share with you some of my favorite books - the old and dusty to the bright and shiny new ones. Here you go:

Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie

What an inspiration! If you're thinking of starting out your own business (like me, and like Blake did with TOM's) then this book is something you need to read.

Studios by the Sea: Artists of Long Island's East End by Bob Colacello

Everyone loves a good photographic book, and this is a beautiful coffee table book that will really inspire you with some of the artists' studios. I bought this book for my mom, being a talented artist and Long-Islander herself, and I really just want to steal it. :)

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Ok, I'm a sucker for animal books and this has nothing to do with art or business but you absolutely must read this. It is told from the point of view of the dog, Enzo. Need I convince you further?

I'd love to hear what books have helped you in business or creatively or that you've held near and dear to you. Please, continue on in my book club just for today in the comments below!

a great reminder

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:47:00 GMT

Do you ever feel like you want ALL your dreams to happen right this very second? Like things aren't happening fast enough and like everyone is ahead of you?

I do.

But I love this reminder-- it helps me remember to enjoy the day, enjoy the process, enjoy life.....

What tips do you have for remembering that it's ok to go slow and be happy exactly where you are?

{image via Colleen Pugh on pinterest, via The Say Something Poster Project}

a photoshoot, a hairless cat, and a waterfall!

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:03:00 GMT

I'm off to a sloooowww start this morning, after 5 days of fun with my little sister. We spent the first 2 days she was here doing a rain boot photo shoot-- man, I had NO idea how exhausting photo shoots are! It was so fun, but we were TIRED at the end. I can't wait to see how the photos turned out, though-- Deana Levine (my photographer, based in Decatur, GA) was amazing!

Bizzy and I spend some time the night before the first day of shooting putting together some outfits that we might want to use, and the photo above was one of our favorites. Isn't she so cute??

The girls got their hair done the morning of the first shoot at Salon Red in Decatur, GA-- Melissa (my second adorable model) got her hair done by Jessica (the owner of the salon) and Bizzy's was done by Crystal.

I love these shots of the hair in progress:

We had dinner with my friend June, her husband Gene, and Ryan (my hubby) later that night, and we learned how to salsa dance! Bizzy and I were wearing sandals and not heels, so we felt sort-of dumb, but it was fun. And then June insisted on posing as a ghost in the background of one of the photos after dinner?

The next day we met Melissa's hairless cat!

On Saturday we drove to Tennessee to visit Ruby Falls, an underground waterfall deep within Lookout Mountain. We were stuck in a cheesy tour to get to the waterfall, but it was totally worth it-- we walked half a mile through incredible caves to get to the waterfall, and it was amazing!

There were cheesy lights and cheesy music and everything.

And now it's back to real life. Lots of catching up to do today! And hopefully I'll get some sneak peeks of the photos from Deana in the next few days-- I'll share them with you asap! I can't wait to see them myself....

getting ready for a photo shoot

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:16:00 GMT

My little sister, Bizzy, arrived in Atlanta yesterday to be one of my models for a rain boot photo shoot that we're doing today and tomorrow.... we had fun last night trying on outfits and figuring out what might work for the shoot! We came up with some really cute options, and I can't wait to show you guys the photos when we're all done! I've never done a photo shoot before (and neither has Bizzy), so we're both feeling a little nervous. But we're in capable hands with our photographer, Deana Levine, so I'm super-psyched! The other model is my very first ever intern, Melissa, who is adorable. Both girls are adorable! It's going to be so great.

I'll show you the pics as soon as I can!

anne-laure djaballah

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 12:31:00 GMT

I just saw this image on flickr-- it's a wall in Montreal-based Anne-Laure Djaballah's studio. She says she likes to clean her brushes on her walls-- this is the result of that. Don't you love how it turned into this incredible painting?? Wow.

Check out her flickr page-- her work is SO COOL!

introducing: Carly!!

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

So, Jess mentioned I would be blogging and here I am! I'm Jess' assistant, Carly. "Hello, nice to meet all of you"..."Nice to meet you too, Carly". OK, so, like many of you reading this, you probably have a story as to how you discovered surface pattern design. Here is my story:

Once upon a time I was in Target (you will hear me talk about my love for Target a lot if Jess allows me to keep writing on her blog after this one) and I was marveling at the wrapping papers thinking, "I want to design these awesome papers! Who the heck gets to make these because I should be drawing matryoshka doll patterns for a living?!" I took that thought home and literally started researching who these lucky cats were. Through this research, I learned about art licensing, trade shows, buyers and also came across the uber-talented, Jessica Swift! I started following her blog and she totally inspired me so I decided I would one day be a pattern designer and have my own booth at Printsource or Surtex. Some time passed, and one day I went on Jess' blog and....she had posted that she needed an assistant part time!! Woohoo! Lucky for me, I started working with Jess last July and since then she has taught me about repeat patterns, introduced me to a Printsource show and has been undyingly generous in sharing her knowledge of the pattern design industry (I can't say 'thank you' enough, Jess). So, here I am months later trying to gear up for my own collection of patterns. At a later point, I will share some of them with you all!

This intrigues me to ask you though, how were you born into the world of surface pattern design? I love hearing other people's stories and how they came to be into the wonderful world of patterns! Please, do tell.

big news! i'm moving to......

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:36:00 GMT

PORTLAND, OREGON!

At the beginning of June, Ryan and I will be packing up our house and our kitties and driving allllll the way across the country from Atlanta to Portland. I can hardly believe it! We found out on Friday afternoon that Ryan matched at OHSU for his residency-- and we're thrilled! IN a bit of shock, but really thrilled. I'm so proud of my husband. This whole medical school thing has been such a long road, and it's amazing to be coming to the end of it, knowing that a job as a doctor is waiting in Oregon for him. It's really amazing.

This is where we were when we found out about the match:

Haha. We drove down to the Florida panhandle on Friday to go to the beach, and we were in southern Alabama when 1pm rolled around (match time!!) So we pulled off the highway and parked ourselves next to a gas station and this shut-down BBQ joint. It was the funniest place ever to find out the big news.

Once we'd recovered a bit, we continued on our way, and we finally got to to gulf coast! It was beautiful. We walked on the beach on Saturday morning in the fog:

And then it got bright and sunny! We spent the day lounging on the beach, and I even bought a new bikini! It was a fantastic way to celebrate.

We saw this fantastic bird on a walk on Sunday morning:

It was about 3 1/2 feet tall! It was standing on the shore amongst a bunch of people walking around, and then it heaved up on those spindly legs and flew away. So cool. We saw a bunch of dolphins, too. Wildlife adventure!!

We even found a cat:

It lived at the hotel. I wanted to bring it home, but Ryan said no. Boo hoo.

We had lovely dinners on the beached and asked a southern Spring Break-er to take our picture (it was full-on Spring Break down there on Saturday, man oh man! Complete with a college dude in a bright red speedo and a cowboy hat strutting around and a keg buried in the sand. Awesome.):

And we saw this, too:

Gotta love the South.

And I spied this lovely joint from the car on the drive home (still in Alabama):

Too bad I won't get to take any more photos of places like this once we live in Oregon. Oh well. :)

All in all it was a fabulous and celebratory weekend, and I'm excited that we know where the next phase will take us now!!

it's true, I was never in the corporate world.

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 02:18:00 GMT

One night last week, I got an itch to start writing down my story. The story of how my biz started, how it's grown, and how I've gotten to the place where I am now. I get a lot of questions from aspiring artists/entrepreneurs who wonder how I've made a successful career for myself, and part of me always wants to answer "who, me? But I'm not nearly as successful as I want to be! What could I possibly have to tell you that would be at all useful, when I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing half the time??" But another part of me is starting to realize that I actually have some valuable things to offer to people who aren't as far down this path as I am. We need to help each other out, right? If there's one thing that I want to make sure I do in this life, it's that I want to help people awaken to the idea that their wildest dreams are possible. Their dream careers are available to them.

My good pal Michelle Ward, the When I Grow Up Coach, is celebrating her 2nd entrepreneuriversary today (woohoo!), and she asked some of her people (including moi!) to write blog posts about leaving your day job, getting out of corporate America, starting your own thing.... and she said she specifically wanted me to write something, because my perspective is important! (Thanks, Michelle!) Having never been part of corporate America, I have no idea what I'm missing. I can't say that I'm sad about that-- I love my self-made job! I have had a few part-time jobs over the years, though, so I can tell you about how it felt to leave those, I suppose.

And I can also show you some images of my work from the very beginning of my career! Exciting! (All the images in this blog post are my early work, dating back to 2003-2005. I painted places that I traveled a lot...)

But mostly I want to talk about intuition. Michelle talks about how important it is to have a plan and a safety net when you're leaving your day job and starting your own biz, and I will tell you right now: this is exactly the opposite of what I did. I've discovered that every big decision I make in my life is not planned out or analyzed or what-have-you-- I tend to jump, and then I figure things out as I go. Which is funny, because I'm also a big-time worrier. So I jump, I figure things out, and I worry. It's insane, really, now that I think about it. Ha!

Anyway, the first big leap I took in my art career was applying to a juried outdoor festival when I was 23 that my mom had randomly given me a flyer for. I was hardly making any art at the time, and I had about 5 mediocre paintings to my name. But I decided for some reason to apply to the show, even though I was sorely unprepared, and I ended up getting in. I have no idea how this happened. I worked in a restaurant at the time, and I didn't love it. In fact, it sucked. A lot. When I got into the show, I decided to quit my sucky job and paint for 3 months to get ready. I had some money saved up (I've always been good at saving money-- I'm a worrier, so I like to hoard my money!), and it was enough to get me by until the show was over. I figured I could always get another job somewhere if I needed to.

The show ended up being a giant, stunning success-- I made $5,000 in a weekend, which was not even in my realm of thinking at that point. That was a giant sum of money to me, and it was the first time in my life that I realized PEOPLE MAKE A LIVING AS ARTISTS. Like, for real. I was surrounded by them, and I realized that I could do it, too! In fact, I had already started!

So that's how my career as a full-time artist began. I continued exhibiting at outdoor art fairs, using a little half-room in the back of my house as my studio. I picked up a little job here and there-- I did art installations once a quarter at the local museum of contemporary art, I was a part-time Gymboree teacher for a little while (Ha! Wow, that seems like a life-time ago...), but I was making my career as an artist happen the whole time. I eventually got a studio in town and sold paintings out of my studio as well.

When we moved to Georgia from Colorado in 2007 (which was another big leap that was not planned out at all! That's a story for another day...), I got a job as a part-time nanny, because I didn't know any of the local art shows, and I had no idea how I was going to make any money. I was just getting into the online world, so I spent the time that I wasn't nannying working on my art and building my online business. I got my art out there in every way that I possibly could-- etsy, flickr, my blog, other people's blogs, you name it. Erin at Design For Mankind wrote about my work one day, and everything changed. I started selling more. I was making money. I felt like I could make a go of this online thing! And so what did I do? I quit my job. Yep. Again. It was scary, but I figured that it was going to work out somehow, and I could always get another job if I had to. Thankfully, that was the last job that I ever had to get. I've been 100% working for myself since that fateful day.

It's scary to leave a job, I know that for sure. There were plenty of reasons to stay on as a nanny-- even though the paycheck was tiny, it was steady, and leaving it meant I was diving into the complete unknown. But I felt like the life was being sucked out of me when I had to go work for someone else, and working for myself was exhilarating and fun! It was especially scary because Ryan didn't have a job either-- he was in medical school-- so we were not living a very rich life, that's for sure! But we made it work. And I worked and worked and worked to make my business grow, and lo and behold: my business is getting better every year.

So that's it! I've trusted my gut the whole way, even when it was terrifying, and I've created a career that I love and that supports me, both financially and mentally/emotionally. My intuition is one of the most important tools in my business to this day, and I learn to listen to it more and more all the time. I trust that I'm being guided to the right place.

I'd love to know what gut-trusting decisions you've made in your life-- do you let your intuition guide you? Do you have a hard time hearing it? What is your gut telling you about your current job/life, if you get really quiet and listen?

ps-- Ryan and I found out where we're moving this past Friday... I'll be posting again this morning with photos from our beachy weekend and to tell you where I'll be living come June. It's exciting!! (You might already know from Facebook or twitter...)

going to the beach, and a big day tomorrow

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:31:00 GMT

Ryan and I are off to the beach tomorrow! We're driving down to Florida to get some sun and to celebrate.

Tomorrow is a VERY big day at Casa Swift-- it's Match Day! That means that tomorrow is the day that Ryan finds out where he matches for his residency. Which means tomorrow is the day we find out where Ryan's first job as a real doctor will be and where we will be moving in June. It's a big deal. We're kind-of freaking out over here.

The Match Day process is completely torturous-- we found out on Monday that Ryan did indeed match somewhere, which is awesome! Some people don't match, though, and then they have to do what's called The Scramble-- they have 3 days to figure out what the heck they're going to do, to find programs with open spots, and get themselves into a residency program in a (likely undesirable) location. Scrambling would suck. Scrambling is the reason that we found out on Monday that Ryan did match but didn't find out where. They have to wait to tell people where they matched until The Scramble is over -- then on Friday all the students can log in to the system at 1pm sharp to find out where they matched. Ryan told me he hasn't been so excited for a day to come since he was a little kid waiting for Christmas. (How cute is that?)

We are also counting down-- Ryan just announced to me that we only have 28 more hours to wait.

So we are headed down to the beach tomorrow to celebrate this HUGE MILESTONE in Ryan's life and career and in our relationship-- and we'll be celebrating finally knowing where the universe is sending us in June! I will definitely be posting the outcome on facebook and twitter, so keep your eyes peeled around 1pm EST if you follow me in those places. Otherwise, I'll let you know on Monday where the winds will be taking us come June-- I'm excited for this next phase. Georgia has been so good to us, and hopefully our new city will be even better.

See you on Monday (when I'm all tan and stuff!)

{creative commons image via Seriously Photographic (Jim) on flickr}

a colorful celebration, indian style

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:38:00 GMT

I want to get married all over again just so I can make it look like this! Oh my god, the COLOR! I love it.

Don't you think this must have been the funnest bridal shower to go to?

{image via T Biswas on pinterest via celebrations at home blog}

polar bears and paintings

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:53:00 GMT

I'm not sure I'm loving where this painting is going yet, but we'll see what happens..... I think I'm starting to take some of the new techniques I learned in Flora Bowley's e-course and mix them in with my own style.

I'm trying not to be too hard on myself and to let myself just have fun with these paintings-- I've felt a range of emotions as I've worked on them. I've loved them at times, despised them at others, laughed at them, been afraid to touch them, joyfully covered ugly layers with new layers of bright paint....

This is the third canvas I've been working on. (You can see the current state of the first two here if you're interested, and the progression on my flickr page.) The colors are off in the top photo-- it's much brighter in person. There are things I like about it and things that I don't. But we'll see where it goes!

Also:

I am often asked whether or not I will ever teach a painting e-course, and I have to admit, it's something I'm really thinking about doing. Is this something you'd be interested in? If so, what would you like to learn from me? I'd love to know!

operation puddle stomp

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:05:00 GMT

{jen saunders}

Want to be a part of rain boot history? I'm creating the largest gallery of rain boots images in the world-- it's called Operation Puddle Stomp!

And YOU can be part of the fun! Send me pics of you in your Jessica Swift Rain Boots, along with any links you'd like included with your image (you know, your website, your blog, your etsy shop, etc...), and a testimonial about how much you LOVE your boots (and why!)-- I'll put them in the gallery, and you'll be famous!

{kate daniel}

Don't have a pair of my rain boots yet? You can get some right here.

And as of last week, I'm donating $5 of every online purchase to charity : water, an extraordinary organization that brings fresh, safe, clean drinking water to developing countries. You know, so young girls don't have to walk 3 miles a day each way to get dirty, bacteria-filled water to drink. No one should have to do that, no matter where they live.

{karen meyers}

So here are the steps:

1. Get some boots if you don't already have them! ($5 of your purchase will go to charity : water!)

2. Take some fun pics of yourself in the boots!

3. Send 'em over to me at jess [at] jessicaswift [dot] com, along with any links and words you'd like included with your awesome pic(s).

4. I'll upload your pics to the gallery, and you will be famous!

5. Spread the word! Here's a tweet that you can copy and paste if you're so inclined:

There's a rain boot revolution happening! Join me, @jessicagswift + @charitywater for Operation Puddle Stomp! http://ht.ly/9xgdI

Fun, right? So the boots will not only make you feel good (remember, there are secret messages inside!), they'll make the world feel good, too. AND you'll get to promote yourself in the process! Win, win, and win. :)

carly waito

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:30:00 GMT

THESE ARE OIL PAINTINGS.
How insane is that? Carly Waito is one talented (and patient!) artist!

I just can't even imagine painting like this. Aren't they beautiful?

Carly has a lot of pretty images on her blog, too-- check it out!

thursday: links of YES

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:45:00 GMT

I'm starting something new! On Thursdays I'm going to post links to things. What things? All sorts of things! I'm calling it links of YES-- all the links are things I'm currently saying YES to. Fun, right? Let's begin!

Millie Rossman's scratch-off stationery Kickstarter project. With 4 days to go, Millie is getting closer to her goal! Her idea is so fun: interactive, scratch-off stationery that makes card-giving even more fun than it already is. Who doesn't love a good, thoughtful surprise??

(Did I mention she's licensing some of my patterns to use on the cards? So they'll be fun AND pretty!) Supporting Millie means you're supporting me, too, and you KNOW I'd love you for it!

Today I'll be teaching myself how to create repeat patterns using Photoshop using a tutorial in this book by Kim Kight: A Field Guide to Fabric Design. (Kim writes the fab blog True Up as well!)

I'll share my experiments with you tomorrow-- this is something I've been wanting to learn for a LONG time!

Last night for dinner I made something called "Pea-Naughty Veggies" out of this wonderful cookbook by Natalia KW, called Pure Pleasures-- she's a raw vegan chef, and her food is gooooorgeous and delicious. It makes me feel so good and healthy and energetic to eat this way-- and even Ryan liked it! That says a lot.

Alexandra Franzen introduced me to Sarah Von and her website Yes and Yes the other day, and I'm newly obsessed with her blog. She is awesome! If you sign up for her newsletter you'll get a free copy of her 'How to Charm Anyone' e-book, and let me tell you: it is CHARMING. Also: read the nudist colony interview post. It's so good.

painting progress

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:06:00 GMT

It's the last week of Flora Bowley's e-course that I'm taking right now, and I'm amazed to see how my paintings have transformed over the past few weeks. They're not finished yet, and I'm worried that they look too much in the style of Flora's paintings, but I'm just going with it for the time being. I suppose that's how we learn, right? I'm learning how she paints so I can incorporate pieces of her techniques into the way that I already paint, to move my own style forward.

I worked on the top painting last night-- and just so you can see how much each new layer transforms the paintings, here's what the above painting looked like before I started painting a new layer on top last night:

Crazy, right?? Completely different!

And here's my other canvas that I've been working on:

And here's what it looked like before I started painting the new layer, the bird layer, on it:

I'm so excited to see what happens with my paintings because of this course. I need to load up on canvases now-- I always paint on wood panels, but I'm really enjoying painting on canvas right now. Who says I can't do both??!

sofia silva

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:32:00 GMT

There is something about this painting by Sofia Silva that makes me want to keep staring and staring at it. I remember a painting teacher in college told my class to always paint on an interesting-colored ground and to let some of that color peek through, because it will make your paintings more interesting. I think she would be pleased with this painting-- that rust color poking through around the edges of the pillows and the people is just perfect. This same teacher also told us never to use straight-out-of-the-tube black paint, but to instead mix our own-- the best blacks I made were from mixing prussian blue, yellow ochre, and burnt sienna. I think Sofia here is a master of making her own blacks, too-- look how rich and gorgeous they are! The colors in this painting are to die for, in my opinion. Muted and bright, all at the same time.

What do you love about this painting?

{image via Roberta Donato on pinterest}

new prints in the shop

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:15:00 GMT

Morning. :) I added some new prints to the wall art section of my website this weekend (well, Carly did most of it... you'll meet Carly soon! She's going to start writing some blog posts here!) and these are 3 of my new faves.

I love making art that's meant to make you feel good. If you don't mind me asking, what's your favorite thing about my artwork? What keeps you coming back here? I'd love to know! :)

somerset apprentice magazine (i'm in it!)

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:36:00 GMT

I got a fun surprise yesterday when I opened my mailbox-- I was asked to participate in an interview a number of months ago in Stampington's new magazine, Somerset Apprentice, and they sent me the spring issue (in which my interview is included)! Check it out:

The magazine is full of tutorials and step-by-step instructions on specific projects, as well as interviews with people in the biz (aka: moi!) I'm thrilled thrilled thrilled to be included in this fantastic publication. Thank you, Stampington!!

And I'm in good company: Mati Rose also has an interview in the mag, and so do Marisa Haedike and Mindy Lacefield. There are also many new-to-me mixed media artists whose websites I now need to go check out!

This is a fantastic resource for creative projects, tips, and techniques and inside peeks into the worlds of working artists. If you are creatively inclined, I know you will love it!

quiet calm: a new print

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:02:00 GMT

I added this print, called Quiet Calm, to the shop yesterday. I'm liking the pink, blue, and lavender (which are quite girly all together) paired with the burnt orange color. It's interesting, no? Not a color combo I've ever used before.

What are your favorite unexpected colors together? Send me images! I love new color inspiration!

I get inspiration for the colors I use from many places... here is one of my very favorite photos that continues to inspire me color-wise:

And look at this one:

Isn't it incredible?? There is so much that I love about this photo. The color, the mustaches, the fact that it makes me want to travel all around the world, those hats (turbans?)....

Photographers really have the coolest jobs in the world, I think. Can you even imagine getting the chance to capture this image and be in that place? SO cool.

OK, this turned into a REALLY random post. To bring it back to the beginning: check out my new print! I like the colors! And feel free to send me your favorite color inspiration! :)

weekend snuggle time

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:08:00 GMT

I just had to share this photo from my weekend with you.... this was pretty much my dream come true. I *love* snuggle time with the kitties, but it doesn't usually happen with both of them at the same time-- Anika and Juneau have never snuggled up this close with me together before. Anika was laying directly on top of Juneau! It was the coziest Saturday night ever. I made Ryan takes a photo because it was so freaking adorable. I look sort-of weird, but look at those sweet kitty faces!

If you've ever wondered what I do when I'm not working, this pretty much sums it up. This is one of my favorite things in the world to do.

We watched the movie 50/50 while this snuggle action was going on-- have you seen it? I really liked it! Though I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, and the guy in the movie got a rare form of cancer in his back... so now I have that worry to add to my list of things that could potentially one day be wrong with me. Oy. Do you have fears and worries like that? I've been like that since I was a kid.

Anyway, that's all for today! Are you ready to have an awesome week? I know I am! :)

jennifer sanchez

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:32:00 GMT

I'm feeling a little under the weather today, and I've literally been staring at my computer screen at these paintings by Jennifer Sanchez for the last 5 minutes, just admiring the color. I'm in this weird color-haze-fog right now. I feel like I could stare at these for hours. Aren't they so cool and different?

You can find more of Jennifer's work (and links to where to buy her stuff) on her website.

Have a great weekend, and please send healing vibes to my poor sore throat! :)

{via Nicole Balch via Kate Spade on pinterest}

be happy

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:19:00 GMT

Such a good reminder, no?

{via Clara Wood on pinterest, via peaceloveviv's tumblr}

cool Kickstarter project: scratch-off stationery

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:19:00 GMT

Millie Rossman and I have worked together in the past, so when she contacted me to ask if she could license some of my patterns for her new line of scratch-off stationery, I said a big YES!

Here's how Millie describes the cards: Imagine if telegrams and fortune cookies got married and had babies. What would you get? Colorful little goldengrams of goodness delivered right to your door. Scratch off the gold, reveal the message. How's that for instant win?

How great is that?

Millie is licensing a bunch of my designs to use on the backs of the cards, and as you can see above, they're going to be adorable!

She needs your help raising the funds to produce the cards through Kickstarter-- as you know, I raised a bunch of money to fund the manufacturing of my first line of rain boots through Kickstarter, so I'm a huge fan of what it can do to help creative people make their dreams a reality!

Check out Millie's project right here-- she's 25% of the way to her goal after just one day, so now's the time to jump in on funding this brilliant idea. :) I just love the idea of giving these fun little cards to brighten someone's day.

Also, just in the spirit of full disclosure, I'll get paid a licensing fee if the project gets fully funded-- so in helping Millie you'll be helping me, too!

my dream backyard studio

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:02:00 GMT

I dream about having a backyard studio sometimes-- a little building that's separate from my house, so I can feel like I'm going to work every day but without the inconvenience of actually having to go somewhere else to work every day.

I dream of having tons of space and light to work in..... and then I found these images while browsing pinterest this morning. This is my DREAM. Look at that green roof!

This is a weaver's studio in Washington, and THIS IS WHAT I WANT. This is what I aspire to create for myself one day. Isn't it amazing?

And the fact that it's in Washington is a whole other aside... there are weird Washington coincidences happening in my life all the time lately. My husband will find out where he matches for his medical residency in just over 3 weeks, and the University of Washington is at the top of his list. We're getting strange Washington signs all the time lately-- like, we'll be walking in the neighborhood and start talking about where we'll be moving for his residency, and a car with a Washington license plate drives by. Or we're out to dinner and start talking about where we think he'll match for his residency, and someone at the next table happens to start talking about Seattle. I find a photo of my dream studio, and where is it? Washington.

Do you pay attention to signs like this in your life? Strange little synchronicities that seem to be trying to tell you something?

I'm VERY curious to find out if this is where we're going to end up! March 16th is the big day that we'll find out.... I'm trying to be patient, but it's SO HARD!

Anyway, what do you think about this studio? Isn't it incredible?

{via Gwen Armbrust on pinterest, via inhabitat.com}

you are wild and free (and new iPhone cases!)

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:16:00 GMT

Happy Monday! The weekends go by so quickly, don't they? Mine was filled with fun things like buying new art supplies, practicing yoga, going to the ballet, making soup, watching a movie and being cozy on a rainy Sunday, painting.... what about you? What did you do this weekend?

This painting came to life on Friday-- I'm feeling so inspired by Flora Bowley's e-course that I'm taking right now, and I'm having fun discovering how it's going to mesh with my current painting style. I think it's going to make my work a bit looser and more spontaneous. Fun fun. I'm loving playing with color in new ways-- this painting uses a color combination that has never been my favorite -- red, blue, and yellow... the primary colors -- it's just never been a combo that's very pleasing to my eye. But I love how this one turned out! Who knew? Sometimes I surprise myself with color.

Also! Case-Mate is having a fab.com sale right now, and 6 of my cases are available! 3 of them have never been seen before-- they're Russian-inspired. Here are two:

Now's the time to grab 'em if you like them, because I don't think they're going to be available for sale anywhere else-- and we're refreshing the cases that I have available on the Case-Mate website for spring, so the other cases that are in the fab.com sale will be gone soon, too! You know I love color and think it's such an important part of being happy, and these cases will definitely add a splash of color to your life!

And one more thing:

Some of my Case-Mate cases are available at Nordstrom now, too! Dream come true, right? My partnership with Case-Mate gets better and better every day. I'm so grateful! The 4 cases that are available at Nordstrom are completely different than the others, too-- they have my paintings on them!

Here are 2 of them:

Fun, right? You can get them on the Nordstrom website. :)

Anne Harper

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:36:00 GMT

There are not many things that make me happier than beautiful color. So I'm absolutely loving these paintings by Anne Harper-- aren't they so pretty?

Are you doing anything fun this weekend? I'm going to the ballet with my friend June tomorrow night! So excited. We're seeing Twyla Tharp's The Princess and the Goblin-- I can't wait!

I haven't been to the ballet very many times in my life... I've gone to see The Nutcracker a couple of times since living in Atlanta (I *love* the Nutcracker), and my most memorable ballet-going experience was going to a performance by the Dutch Ballet in Amsterdam. Incredible. I was staying on a friend of my mom's house boat, and it was such a magical night. We walked across the canal to the theater, and I was mesmerized, moved, and captivated. I hope the ballet tomorrow night feels like that!

{images via Stephanie on pinterest, via Saatchi Online}

a peek into my studio

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:59:00 GMT

This is what I was doing last night at 10pm, after eating lots of thai food (and a yummy coconut cupcake that they gifted us at the end of our meal for Valentine's Day!)

more experimental painting

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:51:00 GMT

Remember the beginnings of 2 experimental paintings that I posted last week? Well, this is the second layer, and I am totally and completely digging them so far. Flora told us in in her e-course to not worry about creating something beautiful at this point, and I tried hard to remember that while working on this second layer and just let go and have fun. I just dripped and dabbed the paint and had a grand old time, loose and flowing. I'm telling you, I haven't had this much fun painting in a while. I feel a new freedom, and it's totally addictive.

While I know these aren't beautiful yet, I'm in love with them nonetheless. I feel like they're totally new and different for me but that there's also a thread of something that ties them to my typical style of work. I suspect it's the color.

Can you see the piles and piles of wood panels in the bottom right corner of the top image? Those are for a whole bunch of gloss prints that I need to make that sold during my fab.com sale-- I find myself once again wishing for more space..... if I visualize my dream studio hard enough, do you think I can make it appear when I move to a new city in a few months? (Please say yes! Tell me your stories of visualizing things into existence!) I'll find out in just a month where we're moving, when Ryan finds out where he'll be doing his residency!! Have I told you how weird it is that my husband is going to be a doctor in 5 months? Totally weird. And also totally awesome. He's worked so hard, and I know he's ready for this next phase. (I am, too!)

Anyway, back to the paintings. I feel so happy to be doing something a bit different creatively right now-- I get so caught up in everything that I have to do (my to do list is never-ending it seems) that I often forget to have FUN and PLAY. And that's a huge part of why I do what I do! It seems crazy that I'd forget to have fun when I get to create things all day and make art that goes out into the world. (I'm so lucky to get to this every day. I don't know if I've mentioned how grateful I am for that lately. I am SO grateful!) So I'm glad for the reminder through this class.

Do you forget to have fun sometimes, too? What do you do to re-inspire yourself to have fun and play and be kid-like again?

my second fab.com sale starts today!

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:33:00 GMT

Yep, I'm doing another fab.com sale, and it starts today at 11am! The first one (back in December) was fun and exhilarating and really successful, so I was excited at the chance to do it again. Yes, I might be crazy-- it was a lot of work-- but I'm interested to see how sale #2 goes. Was the success of the first one a fluke? (I hope not!) Will this one be better than the last? (I hope so!) I'm sure I'll be obsessively checking the numbers for the next 3 days, just like I did last time.

Anyway, head on over at 11am to check it out-- I'll have 30 different items available, all bright and colorful of course, and some have never been offered before. Excitement!

you're taken care of.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:13:00 GMT

I'm reminding myself of this today, and I thought you might need some reminding, too.

Give yourself a break. You are doing everything right. You are on your own path. Your life is magnificent. LIVE IT UP A LITTLE! (Yes, these are all the other things I'm telling myself today, too!)

Do you trust that you are right where you're supposed to be? Do you feel that little sigh of relief and the weight lifting when you sink into that knowing? Ahhhh......

beginnings of two experimental paintings

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:24:00 GMT

I'm currently taking Flora Bowley's painting e-course, Bloom True, which began on Monday, and yesterday was the first day of painting. (I was also lucky to work her her and Beth Nicholls to design Flora's new logo and the entire look of the website-- all the graphics and everything! What a fun project it was.) Here's how my first two canvases have started out....

I'm so so excited to learn from Flora and infuse my paintings with some new energy. The canvases I'm painting on are way bigger than I normally use-- they're 30x30"-- and I don't actually usually paint on canvas at all. I paint on wood panels. So this is different and liberating so far for me!

Lately one of the things I'm wishing for the most is more space to work-- my studio is feeling more and more cramped every day. So I'm putting it out into the universe... when Ryan and I move in a few months, I want to find a house with a giant work space, lots of natural light, and lots of storage!

change your focus, find new possibilities

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:51:00 GMT

I love this quote. It reminds me that there are always possibilities available to me, even when it feels like there aren't. The trick is to get creative, step outside of the box you've created for yourself, maybe get yourself into some new surroundings, open your mind, and trust that new ideas will come.

This happens to me all the time. I get into self-defeated mode, and all I can see is what isn't working, but when I change my attitude and look at things from a different angle, all of a sudden I can see things that I didn't before. Change your focus, focus on the positive, get creative, and your wildest dreams are available to you.

What experiences have you had with changing your focus and discovering new possibilities? I'd love to hear in the comments!

{found via Annette Scheib on pinterest, originally via handletteringcite.wordpress.com}

a rain boot photoshoot (and two cute cats!)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:33:00 GMT

The fabulous Niki Malek came over last week for a rain boot photo shoot, and man oh man, that girl can take some PHOTOS! I absolutely love how these turned out.

Drawing on that big piece of black foam core was scaaaaary. I was afraid I was going to screw it up! But I like how my little ladies turned out. That's Ennika above and Carmindy below.

I cut out the rain drops from paint chips!

My cats got in on the action, too, of course:

And this lady kept wanting to be bendy:

So we had to nail her to the wall (that's me with the hammer!) I love behind-the-scenes shots.

The boots are available for purchase right here, and I promise you'll look even cuter than Carmindy and Ennika here! You are a real person, after all, and they are drawn with chalk. :)

trust your instincts

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:46:00 GMT

I learn this lesson more and more every single day.

Have you had any experiences where you knew you should have listened to your gut, but you didn't, and it turned out that your instincts were right all along?

Share in the comments!

{image by Ashley G and available in her etsy shop}

pre-spring. a brand new offering.

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:10:00 GMT

The reason I do what I do is because I believe that color and art make a difference in this world and can have a powerful effect on your level of happiness. I want to create things that make you feel good. Supported. Full of possibilities.

I've tried muting down my color palette in the past, with no success. I continually lean toward bright, vibrant, happy color. I am a worrier, and while I think I'm mostly optimistic in my life, I have a deep existential streak as well, and I like to spend a lot of time alone. This can be both good and bad, because while being alone gives me a lot of space to create and think and learn and grow, it also gives me a lot of time to go down the rabbit hole of "what-ifs" and intense worrying/pressure on myself.

I've discovered that color and art are powerful healers in my life. One click over to my own website, and I feel my mood start to lift. Not that I think it's the perfect website or anything or that I'm the most incredible artist ever (it's not, and I don't), but I just mean that I love the feeling of happiness that infuses the site and my work. I create art to lift myself up, and my aim is to make art that lifts others up as well. I use bright color because it energizes my brain, enhances my mood, and speaks to my heart. It balances out the darker aspects of myself and allows me to feel balanced and whole.

So. All that said, I have something new that I want to share with you.

Beginning TODAY, I offer you a brand new seasonal collection of art and pretty things for yourself and your home, distinct from the other things I create. The collection is based around a set of patterns and colors, evokes the feeling and mood of the current season, and will only be available for a few months. The collection will change with the rotating seasons, so when the collection changes, the previous one will be gone, and everything will be fresh and new once again.

Today we begin with Pre-Spring 2012. The dark, blue-purple days of winter are starting to lengthen, and signs of spring, green buds and sprigs, will soon peek through the darkness. Welcome it.

I invite you to hop over and see what's there-- let color pull you through the remainder of these winter months. Fill your home, fill your office, fill your life... or let it surprise you in tiny ways. Put a teeny, colorful pocket mirror in your purse and feel a mini surge of happiness in the afternoon when you use it to reapply your lipstick. Pop a pocket notebook in your purse and feel the sensation of a brilliant idea waiting to come into your reality when you pull it out to write a note to yourself. Send someone a card for no reason other than to tell them how great you think they are. (I guarantee that will brighten anyone's day!)

I hope you enjoy checking out this new part of my website-- I am excited to see how these seasonal collections will evolve over time, and I'm happy to begin right here, right now, today!

jess

a big stack of fabric

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:19:00 GMT

Yesterday I drove over to Anna Griffin's offices, where Blend (my fabric company) is located. I went to pick up a big stack of fabric, so I can start selling it on my website!

I love seeing it all stacked up together-- very satisfying. Today I need to cut it up and package it into fat quarters, photograph them, and list them all in my shop. So they'll be coming soon!

Kate at Blend told me while I was there yesterday that the beige polka dot fabric in the center of the photo is the fabric of mine that's selling the best. The fine folks at Blend created the beige/ivory colorway, because they thought it would work well with the other two-- who knew it would be the best seller of all 3 of my colorways? People sure do love beige, don't they? My mission to infuse the world with bright color needs some amping up, I think! Ditch the beige, people, and go for hot pink! :)

fab.com sale #2 coming soon

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:24:00 GMT

Did I tell you I'm doing another fab.com sale? Yes, I think I'm officially crazy. The first one was so much work! But I'm excited to do it again nonetheless. Here's a peek at some of the pieces I'll be offering... It's on February 10th! Mark your calendars. :)

There are currently some people wandering around my house with a real estate agent, looking to see if they want to buy our house-- we rent our house, and our landlord is trying to sell it. We'll be moving away in a few months when my husband graduates from med school and starts his residency, and we're hoping the timing is perfect if someone buys the house. It would really suck to have to move out of our house to a new place in Atlanta for a really short time before we move away for good. I'm trying to think positively and not worry about it too much. But it's difficult when there are people actively peeking into every corner of our home!

Lots of changes soon to be afoot..... it's exciting, for sure, but a bit scary, too, especially since we don't know where we'll be moving yet. I think I'm going to feel like I'm in limbo for the next few months, which is not my favorite place to be (I'm not very good at waiting patiently), but I'm going to make the best of it!

recipe for press: a new book by amy flurry

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:15:00 GMT

I wanted to tell you about this book I just bought-- Recipe for Press by Amy Flurry.

Amy, who is a freelance writer, editor, and stylist, and a former Lucky magazine editor, contacted me a couple of days ago to tell me about her book because she thought it might help me take my brand to the next level. Heck yeah! So I scooped it up this morning.

I thought you might like to know about it, too, because I know many of you who read my blog are artists and designers yourselves and are trying to launch your careers to new heights. Amy tells me this book will help immensely, and I believe her! I can't wait for it to arrive so I can dig in.

The book has Q&A’s featuring successful entrepreneurs who keep their marketing in-house, including designer Amy Butler (I can't WAIT to read this one!), chef Hugh Acheson, potter and blogger Rebecca Wood, and UNIQUE LA founder, Sonja Rasula.

Also check out Amy's Recipe for Press blog, her facebook page, and follow her on twitter-- lots of good tips to be had in all these places!

people wearing my rain boots

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:03:00 GMT

I've gotten several photos of people wearing my rain bots in the past few weeks, and I wanted to share a few today-- I love seeing them on other people's feet!

The above photo is Nadja Haldimann-- isn't she adorable?

And this is Mayi Carles-- she is ALSO adorable, and I'm so digging her outfit! (And I'm also wishing it were that warm outside where I am...)

This is Ev'Yan Nasman. I love this photo beyond words.

Do you have a pair of my boots? Send me a pic, and I'll write about you here on the blog! And I'm putting all the rain boot photos on their own page, so I'll add it there, too. :)

who doesn't love a good clubhouse?

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:21:00 GMT

You all probably know that I love me some Michelle Ward. Our friendship began when I started coaching with her a few years ago, and then we created an e-course and workbook together in 2010, and now writing a book together (The Declaration of You is going to be a real live book!)

Michelle has created something so brilliant that I just have to tell you about it-- it's The When I Grow Up Clubhouse!

Michelle consistently has a waiting list of people who want to coach with her, and her rates are steadily climbing, which she knows out-prices some of the people who would to to (and greatly benefit from) working with her.

So what did she do? She create a virtual space that gives anyone and everyone who wants to work with her the chance to do so, starting at just $27/month!

The Clubhouse is full of all sorts of goodies, including a monthly 2-hour live coaching call, a private facebook group where you can connect with all the other Clubhouse members, printable exercises galore, opportunities to win free coaching calls with Michelle, and more.

::::

Michelle says the Clubhouse is for you if you're looking for:

- a pressure-free, creative community

- juicy, helpful, on-point, no-time-to-waste exercises that help ya with the exact challenge/goal ya have when ya have it

- clarity (on what you as to what ya wanna do, how to get there, and other not-so-small stuff)

- personal coaching with a creative career coach who’s logged over 700 hours helping creative types devise the career they can’t have – or discovering it to begin with! – but ya don’t have $197+/month to spend.

::::

Go check it out in much more detail if it sounds like something that might be up your alley!

I can personally vouch for Michelle's awesomeness-- I'm not telling you about the Clubhouse because I'm an affiliate and will make some cash if you sign up (I'm not, and I won't), but because Michelle is my dear friend and I want her Clubhouse to fill up and thrive and help creative folks live their dreams. And tell her I sent ya-- she'd love to know how you arrived in the Clubhouse!

new pattern : shashi

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:08:00 GMT

I went on an excursion to my favorite art supply store this weekend (leaving having spent MUCH more money than I intended to, as per usual! Art supply stores are like candy stores to me....), and I picked up some new drawings markers-- I was playing around with them and decided to draw some little motifs to turn into some new patterns. One of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon!

This is my favorite new one-- I'm calling it 'Shashi'. Isn't it fun? I'm digging that rust color right now.

OH! And I have huge news! Duh, I almost forgot. My friend Michelle Ward and I got a BOOK DEAL! Our e-course that we created together, The Declaration of You, is going to be turned into a real live book! Published by Northlight Books (the same folks who published Kelly Rae Roberts' best seller!), it'll come out in June 2013, and we are beyond thrilled. We're already planning writing getaway-excursions together in the coming months. :) And a book tour and fun crafty workshops.... it's going to be awesome.

new paintings

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:19:00 GMT

A painted elephant! I'm not sure where the above painting is going yet, but I'm having fun with the elephant so far. We'll see!

And here's the finished version of the painting I wrote about a few days ago:

I found these little letter stamps that I had hidden away in a drawer, and I pulled them out and used them, and now I'm obsessed.

albiedesigns: city prints

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:18:00 GMT

Aren't these prints by albiedesigns so fun? I wish she had Atlanta and Boulder ones-- I'd scoop them up in a heart beat!

Tara Mohr wants to help you play a bigger game

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:17:00 GMT

The upcoming round of Tara Mohr's popular e-program, Playing Big, is beginning on January 24th, and she wants to help YOU play a bigger game in life!

I really like this idea of playing bigger. While I think I'm pretty good at setting big goals and following through on them, I still let a lot of doubt and fear into my thoughts and my work, and I compare myself to other people often and can't always see why my perspective on the world is valuable and unique and worth shouting from the rooftops. Can you relate? I could use some help in the self-confidence department. :)

What does playing big mean for you?

For me, lately, it means standing up for myself, in my business and in my personal life. I'm not inherently good at confrontation or conflict-- I'll shy away from it, not say anything, and internalize my feelings in order to not have to confront a situation. I would rather be upset myself than know someone else is upset at me.

But I know how important it is to be able to confidently, calmly, and compassionately speak my mind-- it shows respect for both myself and the other person. But it's so scary!

So presently, playing big for me means learning to own my feelings, express them compassionately and honestly, and to respect myself and grow my self-confidence around confrontations.

Wow, I feel funny writing this, but whenever I write something that feels a little scary, I get the most comments from other people telling me how much they can relate to it. So I'll just go with it.

Anyway. Tara's Playing Big program will give you the inner foundation and the practical skills that you'll need to play bigger in your life.

To get a taste of Tara's skill and style, check out her 10 Rules for Brilliant Women. (It was featured on The Today Show!) and the accompanying workbook.

And if you'd like to learn more about the Playing Big program, hop on over to the website. Registration is happening now, and the 6-month long program begins next week, so now's the time to join up if you think it's for you!

(*ps- yes, I'm an affiliate for this course, which means that I'll make a bit of cash if you sign up through my site, but I wouldn't tell you about anything that I don't think could make a difference for you in your life-- so not to worry! I 100% believe in what Tara's doing and know she's a rockstar. Did I mention that she has an MBA from Stanford?? Oh yeah. She's big time!)

beginning of a new painting

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:30:00 GMT

I painted for a little while last night. For some reason I really wanted to paint a polar bear. We'll see where it goes from here!

Demdaco and Kelly Rae Roberts and AmericasMart!

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:17:00 GMT

Remember when I mentioned last week that I was going to meet up with Kelly Rae Roberts in the Demdaco showroom? Well, we had a grand old time! I love that photo above-- the cool lady in the middle is Michelle Allen, who I met that might for the first time. She seemed so fun! And Kelly Rae, obviously, is just the best.

I also got to meet a lot of the other Demdaco artists, and I got excited about the little business family I'm about to be a part of:

It was a fun evening! And to top it all off, I had a meeting about my future Demdaco line right before the little soiree in the showroom, and I'm SO EXCITED about what we'll be creating together!! My line of goodies will be coming out this time next year. How am I going to stand all the waiting??!

I spent a good chunk of time wandering around the mart over the weekend, too, and had another meeting with the rug company that I'm going to be creating a line for-- ALSO so exciting. Can you imagine my designs on rugs? It's gonna be SICK! I came home with brain-overwhelm both days and am now wondering how I can get all my designs onto every object imaginable as quickly as possible. I got so many ideas for things that I want to create while I was there!!

What did you do this weekend? Anything fun?

everything will be ok (teeny reminders in boxes)

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:57:00 GMT

I'm feeling a bit down about some business stuff this morning, so I thought a google search for 'everything will be ok illustration' might yield something that would cheer me up.

And I was right!

These adorable creations are by Kim Welling (found via The Curious Brain). I want to carry one of these around with me for all the times I'm feeling unsure or doubtful or alone (like today!)

Aren't they so fun? Check out more from Kim on her website-- I'm adding her to my list of favorite illustrators today! Oh, and here's her etsy shop! You can get the comfort boxes there!

::::

ps- HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my awesome husband today!! Friday the 13th, baby!

want a sneak peek at my spring iPhone cases?

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:31:00 GMT

It's kind-of hard to see, but that little sign in the middle there has my name on it-- Case-Mate is at CES right now, and they prominently displayed my cases for the electronics world to see!

You're getting a sneak peek at what's coming for Spring right now... coming soon to Case-Mate and my website!

And see the painted ones on the right? I got word a couple days ago that some of those ones (there are a few more not pictured) got picked up by Nordstrom for immediate sale in their stores. Yeah!

In other news, guess who I get to hang out with tonight? Kelly Rae Roberts!

I designed her new logo recently-- isn't it pretty? She's in town for the mart this weekend, and we're meeting up in the Demdaco showroom this evening (have I mentioned here that I'm working on a gift line with Demdaco? I don't think I have.... it'll be coming out in January 2013!) So it should be a fun evening. :)

the cutest ever use for paint chips...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:34:00 GMT

This is my favorite thing that I've seen in a long time!! I am a huge (HUGE!) fan of paint chips-- I love to look at stacks of them all together. I love to wonder about who has the job of naming all of the colors (I think that would be such a fun job! I love naming things.) I love to mix and match them to look at how colors work together.

And I LOVE this creative use for paint chips-- could it be any cuter? It makes me want to have a summer garden party and have these at each place setting! (With real silverware and a cloth napkin, though, of course, because I'm an eco-nut and do not like plastic silverware or paper napkins one bit.)

I think some sort of paint chip project may be in my future.....

{ image via Sew Many Ways, via Rowena Murillo on pinterest}

stina persson

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:24:00 GMT

I'm very much inspired by Stina Persson's work. I feel like there might not be any more beautiful artwork in the world.

Aren't her illustrations magical? They suck me into a different world. Such ridiculous and amazing talent in this lady!

{via Rebecca Keller on pinterest}

brand new teNeues notecards for spring

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:09:00 GMT

I got a big box of samples from teNeues last week, full of my brand new set of cards called 'Bloom Free, Bloom Wild'-- it's always like Christmas getting samples in the mail!

I love how they turned out-- the cards, envelopes, and packaging are all recycled, and they're printed with soy-based inks. So they're nice for the earth!

I've got some for sale right here if you'd like to scoop up a set-- they're perfect for thank you cards, birthday cards, and just about any occasion that calls for something pretty.

it's fab.com all up in here

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:22:00 GMT

Here is a peek at what's been happening in my studio for the past week...

My fab.com sale just before Christmas was a wild success, and I had 80 gloss prints to make, not to mention hundreds of prints to print and package. Thankfully my assistant (I really don't like that word... can you help me think of a better one?), Carly, has spent many hours helping me, and my hubby Ryan even pitched in! It's been a team effort for sure.

And, because I'm crazy, I think, I have another fab.com sale coming up on February 5th! I'm going to start preparing early this time!

hello soul, hello business: a new business e-course

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:55:00 GMT

I've been lucky and honored to work with Kelly Rae Roberts and Beth Nicholls for the past few months to help them design the look of their brand new venture, Hello Soul Hello Business, and I'm excited to tell you that they have a fantastic new e-course starting soon!

I can't say enough wonderful things about these 2 ladies-- they're just the kindest, smartest, most easy-going people to work with, and this e-course is going to kick some serious ass.

Their course, The Business Soul Sessions, begins on January 16th, and now's the time to register! If you have visions of growing your business to unimaginable heights, I know that this course will help you get there.

The course will run for 9 weeks, with new content going up 6 days a week. They have a FANTASTIC contributor line-up, full of seasoned veterans in a variety of creative fields (they even asked little ol' me to contribute!)

There's no way I could write about everything this course will help you learn-- it'll be comprised of live webinars, mini master-classes, challenges, blog posts, discussions about money, mistakes, business lessons learned, and more. You can head over to the Hello Soul Hello Business website to read all about the details of the course!

If you're looking for a way to grow your business in this brand new year, I can't recommend Beth and Kelly Rae highly enough. They are real movers and shakers in this creative world we're in, and the things they'll be able to teach you will be well worth the cost of the course.

{FIND OUT MORE + REGISTER!}

it's a new year, let's set some goals

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:32:00 GMT

It's a new year! I always try to spend some time at the beginning of a new year looking back at all that happened during the past year and organizing myself for the coming year. That's how I spend much of the day on January 1st this year, and I outlined some goals that I think are both bold and totally attainable if I work hard and have a lot of faith.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I have 2 printable PDF e-kits available that are geared toward helping you get yourself organized in this new year and helping you align with what you truly want in your life.

You know how it's so easy to make lists and goals and have grand plans in January, and then by March (or maybe even February!) you realize that you've forgotten all about it and are already off track? Uh-huh. I absolutely do that, too.

These kits will help you stay on track. And you'll have FUN the whole time, because they're colorful and illustrated!

AND, if you want to get both, you can get a nice little discount:

The Goal & Intention Kit is normally $19, and the Question & Experiment Kit is $27.00. Together you can get them for $39.00 and really start your year off on an organized and focused foot.

You'll be able to download them automatically when you complete your purchase.

So. You know what to do if you want 'em.

welcome, 2012!

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:46:00 GMT

Welcome, 2012! What amazingness do you hold for me?

I can't wait to find out!

{incredible pinata image from Confetti System, via The Knotty Bride}

last day of the year calendar sale

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:35:00 GMT

Happy almost New Year! It's hard to believe it's almost 2012, isn't it?

For one day only, on this very last day ever of 2011, when you buy a small calendar you can get a free print!

Just let me know in the shipping details when checking out which print you'd like. Check 'em out here!

That's it! Hop to it! 2012 starts tomorrow, and you want to be organized, don't you? (Calendars = organization, you know...)

Happy New Year, and I'll see you on the flip side!

{ps- this sale is valid in my etsy shop, too, as well as here on my website.}

happiest holidays to you

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:28:00 GMT

Just wanted to wish you all the happiest of holidays-- I'm headed to Colorado tomorrow morning to spend Christmas with my family. This will be the first time I've been home for Christmas in 4 years! Very exciting.

I hope your holiday is filled with lots of rest, lots of fun, delicious food, and great company and conversation.

I'm going to do my best to do NO work while I'm away-- I might not even travel with my laptop, which would be the weirdest thing ever!

jess

my rain boots are finally here

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:54:00 GMT

After many delays in customs over the last 3 weeks, my rain boots FINALLY arrived in the warehouse yesterday, and they'll start shipping today!

This is a photo of how they arrived in their boxes-- so many boxes!

If you are waiting for your boots, they will be on their way today or tomorrow!

If you want to order a pair, now is a great time-- you'll be among the first in the world to wear them-- pretty cool, huh? Click here to check 'em out!

It's a rainy day here in Atlanta today, so I'll be wearing mine out and about while I run around town. I can't wait to start seeing other people wearing them out and about, too!

my fab.com sale begins TODAY!

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:16:00 GMT

Have you heard of fab.com? If not, you're gonna want to get on the bandwagon, because it's the AWESOMEST site ever. They have fabulous sales (get it-- fab.com? They're not joking) every day, and they're running a sale with little ol' me beginning today!

You can see the teaser page for my sale above-- it's starting this morning at 11am EST, so I'd go sign up for fab.com right now so you'll be ready to check it out when the clock strikes!

There'll be some sweet deals on my artwork, and the quantities are limited, so I don't know how long they'll last. It's gonna be exciting, that's for sure!

CLICK HERE to go sign up. Really. You won't regret it.

an Indian feast!

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:58:00 GMT

My friend Shannon and I spent the entire day yesterday cooking Indian food for our Bollywood Christmas dinner, and with great success-- we didn't mess up even one dish! (The rice pudding was iffy, but we didn't really know what we were doing on that one...)

The fruits of our labor are above-- doesn't it look so pretty?! I love that buddha's hand that we bought-- it smells like lemons!

Above is the dessert/drink table, and below is another view of all the food...

And we bought these crazy pistachio dessert roll things that looked like little logs and had silver leaf on the outside-- so we put some elves and silver trees on them and made a festive little dessert display!

And this is how it all began:

Somehow we turned that chaos into a meal, and it was great fun. I wake up hungry for breakfast every day, but I ate so much food last night that I've been up for a few hours already today, and I haven't been the slightest bit hungry. It filled me right up! And my fridge is full of leftovers, so I know what I'll b eating for the next week. :)

****Oh, and the winner of the Lead Without Followers book giveaway from last week is: JEN! Jen, email me your address, and I'll send the book out this week! Thanks to all who entered!

lead without followers (a book giveaway!)

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:18:00 GMT

My pal Dave Ursillo wrote a book! About redefining what it means to b a leader in our world!

Intrigued? Good. :) Because Dave very generously sent me 2 copies of the book, and I want to give one of them to one of my blog readers!

In the introduction, Dave says: "Lead Without Followers is less about convincing you to believe something, and is far more about awakening what is already within you: a long-forgotten mindset, an innate yearning, a deeply-rooted drive that you were born to set free. You are a leader, already, and right now -- although you've been quietly conditioned to forget it, and in some cases, taught outright to think otherwise.... Lead Without Followers will teach you how to become a luminous and purpose-filled powerhouse for good whose very existence will positively influence the lives of everyone who you encounter in an undeniably pure and radiant manner."

Ummmm, I want to be that way!

Now for the giveaway details. Because you know you'd love a free copy of this book, right?

All you need to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment on this post letting me know why you'd like to read this book and/or how you'd like to be a leader in your life.

**Comments will close on Sunday at 11:59 pm EST, and I'll announce the winner here on Monday morning.**

free printable holiday gift tags for you!

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:08:00 GMT

Need some cute holiday gift tags? Let me help!

If you'd like to print these festive tags that I made, just click on the image above. It'll take you to a high-res, printable 8.5x11" version of the tags. Then you can print to your heart's content and make all your gifts look a little cuter.

I recommend printing on card stock for a nice, sturdy tag.

I hope you enjoy them!

Have you finished your shopping yet? I haven't. I need to get on it. Only 11 days to go until Christmas!

Oh, and did you see this tutorial over on Creature Comforts? LOVE. I can't resist glitter and teeny animals, so this is right up my alley. I'm going to the craft store to get supplies asap.

brave intuitive you (a painting e-course with Flora Bowley)

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:30:00 GMT

I've been busy working on some graphic design projects for clients lately, and one of my favorites has been this logo and website for Flora Bowley. She and Beth Nicholls (of Do What You Love) are running a painting e-course beginning on February 6, 2012, and I'm quite sure it's going to be amazing!

I love how the site turned out (because I *LOVE* Flora's work), and these two ladies were a dream to work with!

And, fun fun fun, I'll be taking the e-course in February! I'm excited to evolve my paintings with some new inspiration and instruction-- and from what I hear, Flora is a fantastic teacher, so I'm really looking forward to it.

You can sign up, too! Just head over to the Brave Intuitive You website for details. I think it'll be such a super way to start the new year!

ekaterina koroleva

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:43:00 GMT

This work by Ekaterina Koroleva is so so pretty. The color, the smudginess, the awesome line work.... I love it. I can't figure out why she doesn't have a shop, because I would buy something right now.

You can find her on facebook, though-- there are some cool behind-the-scenes shots of her paintings and things. Wow, they're just so gorgeous, don't you think?

{via Jessica Durrant on pinterest}

a weekday trip to the museum

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:52:00 GMT

Khristian, Niki, and I took a little jaunt to the High Museum here in Atlanta yesterday to see the Picasso to Warhol exhibit that's up right now. I realized just how long it's been since I've been to an art museum!

Some of my favorite pieces that we saw:

A blue and white sculpture by Louise Bourgeouis,

Brass wire sculptures by Alexander Calder,

Sculptures by Constantin Brancusi:

Iconic Campbell's Soup can paintings by Andy Warhol:

And this sculpture and its shadows by Alexander Calder:

We also saw an AMAZZZZZING exhibit by an artist named Grainger McKoy, who makes these incredible carved birds from wood, metal, and oil paint, and they look REAL. We weren't allowed to take photos, unfortunately, but check out this photo of his studio that I found on his website:

Whoa. I would LOVE to go into that room and look around at all the treasures. Amazing.

Have a good weekend! Do you have any fun plans?

my new favorite color combination

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:57:00 GMT

I've been working on some new prints the last couple of days, and I've discovered my new favorite color combination!

Aren't these colors just divine together? I love it.

What are your favorite colors together?

BRAND NEW: Printable Question & Experiment Kit

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:40:00 GMT

I've been hard at work this past week on a brand new printable e-kit (along the lines of my Goal & Intention Kit), and I'm psyched to say that I finished it yesterday and it's now available!

It's called the Question & Experiment Kit.

What's it about? Well, to put it simply: it's about your LIFE! And making it more awesome! It's about living a life that's more more truly you; one that 's so fantastic you can hardly stand it.

If you are anything like me, you get stuck in ruts in your life. It's so easy to look at situations one-sidedly (because c'mon, we live in our minds and our minds only!), but the practice of looking at something from a slightly different perspective can cause radical shifts in your life. And what better time to cause these shifts than the beginning of a fresh, new year?

The questions in this printable PDF Question & Experiment Kit are meant to engage you in looking at and thinking about your life a bit differently. In my experience, the best way to start transforming anything in your life is to first reframe the way you’re thinking about it.

That's what this Question & Experiment Kit is all about: REFRAMING. Questioning. Digging. Laughing. Exploring. Resting. Giving yourself permission.

WHAT'S INCLUDED:

- 19 pages of thought-provoking questions (38 questions!)

- a 'how this kit works' introduction

- 3 printable Experiment/Result sheets to print over and over as you address each question

- 1 sheet of printable reminders to cut out and stick on the surfaces of your home (bathroom mirror, computer, fridge...) so you'll remember what your experiments are!

- plenty of color and pattern to keep you inspired and playful during the journey :)

Here are a few sample pages:

I timed the creation of this kit specifically because you're probably getting ready to spend some time with your family (which can often be challenging), and I don't know about you, but for me, the new year usually brings hope of a fresh start and a clean slate-- this kit will help you start off 2012 on a positive and self-actualizing foot! And that's always a good thing.

LEARN MORE!

artist charity auction: begins today! bid now!

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:02:00 GMT

Like I mentioned last week, my good friend Khristian Howell organized an amazing artist auction this holiday season, all of the proceeds of which will be donated to charity. (Because it's good to give back, yo!)

Well, the auction begins TODAY! In fact, you can head over and bid on the first set of artsy items right now. I've got some coasters in the mix today:

There will be a new batch of wonderful items to bid on each day starting this morning, and the auction will run for one week. 100% of the proceeds will be donated via Charity Choice to the American Humane Society, Toys for Tots, and the American Red Cross.

Please help us to spread the word via Twitter and Facebook! You can even use the promo flyer above to use on blog posts about the event if you'd like.

The highest bidder for each day's auction will get a fantastic new treasure (and can also feel great for helping contribute to these amazing organizations who act in the spirit of giving each and every day.)

Here's to a happy and healthy holiday season full of generosity and good cheer. :)

a little art wall vignette

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:37:00 GMT

When I walk around my house, I tend to focus on the things I don't like about it -- we need a new couch in a bad way, that fireplace is hideous, we need a chair in that one spot -- every once in a while something strikes me that I do actually like! This was one of those moments-- I love this little gathering of prints on our bedroom wall.

The two unframed pieces are by Kate Thomas (aka Little Thing Studio), the two framed on the right are by Laura George, and the white framed one in the middle is by Christina Romeo. They all make me happy.

That's all. Just sharing some art!

charity auction full of gorgeous art!

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:50:00 GMT

I wanted to let you know about a very lovely charity auction that I'm part of (organized by me good friend Khristian Howell) beginning on Monday December 5th.

Each day next week, a selection of items will be up for auction-- the highest bidder will win the goodies, and ALL the proceeds are going to charity!

We're donating all the proceeds of the auction via Charity Choice to the American Humane Society, Toys for Tots, and the American Red Cross.

We all thought it was a nice idea to give something back this holiday season, because we're so blessed to be able to do what we do.

I'll let you know on Monday when the auction is LIVE so you can see what sorts of goodies are up for bidding!

Have a happy weekend. :)

guest post: Christine Mason Miller on her new book!

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:26:00 GMT

Christine Mason Miller’s latest book - Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World – is a collection of stories, exercises, images, quotes, and anecdotes from twenty extraordinary contributors, all sharing insights and experiences of how they create a meaningful life and, in turn, make a positive impact on the world. Each chapter discusses a different aspect of living a passion-fueled life, and this month Christine is offering a 60-Second Snapshot of each chapter as part of her Desire to Inspire Virtual Book Tour. Click here for all her online book tour dates!

Today Christine is discussing Chapter 2 ~ The Foundation

“Creating a meaningful life isn’t about following a one-size-fits-all magic formula or compartmentalizing our lives and selves into separate categories of worthiness, but about finding and developing daily habits that work with the details of your life.” ~Desire to Inspire

If I’m clear on my priorities, then everything I do throughout every single day will be in service to that – whether it is grocery shopping, writing a blog post, or creating a new series of artwork. Nothing takes away from anything else; it is all part of my life, a life centered around my most cherished values.

Christine Mason Miller is a Santa Monica-based artist, writer, and explorer. Her next book – Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World – begins shipping later this month! Follow her adventures on www.christinemasonmiller.com.

hanuman, devotion, and the pursuit of pleasure

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:16:00 GMT

This is an old painting of mine from years ago that hangs on the wall above my desk and computer. It's Hanuman, the Hindu Monkey God, who represents devotion and teaches of us the unlimited power that we each hold within ourselves.

His tireless devotion to Lord Rama is so big and strong that he's able to lift an entire mountain to bring to his master.

I love this idea. What are you so devoted to that you'd move a mountain for it? I wonder about this for myself-- what lengths would I go to for my family? My business? My friends? My health? What do I love so much that it trumps all fatigue in my life?

I just got a new raw food cookbook by a fabulous woman that my mother-in-law introduced me to named Natalia KW, and I was reading the introduction this evening-- she talks about her life being the pursuit of pleasure, and that treating her body like a temple is always what makes her feel the best.

I realized that my primary goal every day is not the pursuit of pleasure, and I wonder how things would change if it was? I allow myself to sink into overwhelm mode many days, and I wonder what it would be like to just stop that and worry less? (Danielle LaPorte tells me I should strike the word overwhelm from my vocabulary, and I suspect she's right about that...)

This is a rambling little post here, but I'm just trying to notice more about my life these days, and this is what I'm noticing at the moment. I figure the more I notice, the more good choices I can make for how I want to live and feel.

I've been sinking back into a more regular yoga practice lately, too, and I'm noticing (remembering) how good it makes me feel. Body and mind.

What about you? What are you noticing right now, in this very special and once-in-a-lifetime moment?