a finished commission + yay for friday!

goodness, is anyone else really glad that it's friday? this has been quite the week! it's felt extra long, i think, since i was at ICE all last weekend, so i didn't have a chance to relax much. needless to say, there'll be some relaxing happening this weekend!

this is a shot of a commissioned painting i just finished-- it's going in the room of these two sweet little boys, who are obsessed with cars! i've never really painted a boyish painting before, soit was a fun challenge.

just so you know, if you are interested in a commissioned piece, i am always open to discuss possibilities. i love creating special pieces for people! just send me an email anytime.

*have a great weekend- i'll see you on monday!*

umbrella jellyfish

for some reason i was thinking about jellyfish this morning, and i remembered a friend's halloween costume from when we were kids (she made a jellyfish out of an umbrella,) so i thought i'd do a good ol' google search to see what i could find. and look at these gorgeous photographs by shadowplay on flickr that popped up! i love these. it makes me want to incorporate jellyfish umbrellas into my wedding somehow..... but that might be too much. i think we're going to have a photobooth type set-up for fun photographs in addition to our lovely roaming photographer, somaybe a jellyfish umbrella would fit into that scenario? what do you think? cheesy? awesome?

{more of shadowplay's photographs can be found here.}

drawstring bags by three by sea

i really love these drawstring bags by three by sea (especially the top one.) i think i'm longing for the beach these days, and everything in the shop is so beachy and summery that i just can't get enough! i'd love to stick a bikini one of these bags, toss it in my luggage, and be off to the ocean for a long weekend.

i am only a 4 or 5 hours from the ocean.... what am i waiting for? perhaps over 4th of july weekend i'll kidnap the ole fiancé, throw him in the car, and drive to the beach. sounds like fun, yes?

check out more from three by sea right here!

lydia meiying

it was instant infatuation when i discovered lydia meiying's work yesterday. not to mention that the name lydia is pretty much my favorite name ever.

these colors are just perfection!

lydia has a lovely portfolio over on flickr, as well as on her website-- i'd love to see her patterns all over the place... notebooks, pillows, fabric, you name it!

zeixs: the most gorgeous design books

i think you all know that i'm pretty obsessed with pattern design, so imagine my excitement when i received an email about this new book that's being published by zeixs, a publishing company based in germany. they publish the most gorgeous design books, and this pattern design book is their next project.

here's the premise of the book, as stated on zeixs' website:

patterns are everywhere-- on paper or cloth, as a wallpaper or on wrapping material. patterns can be strictly abstract and geometrical or concrete, multicoloured or monochrome. sometimes they serve as a background, sometimes as a coating. regardless if they're stark and restrained, or flowery and colourful-- we're looking for patterns of all kinds and dimensions.

the deadline for submitting work passed a couple of days ago (i should've posted this last week, darn!)-- i'll be anxious to see all the designs in the book when it's published.

a few of zeixs' other books that look especially fabulous, in my opinion:





check out the rest of their publications on their website-- they're very tempting indeed!

my t-shirt for sale on shirt.woot!

you guys! i have a t-shirt for sale today at shirt.woot! i designed this several months ago, and was excited when they emailed me a couple days ago to say my shirt would be up for sale today. yay!

if you've never been over to shirt.woot before, it's a very cool site- each shirt they sell is up and featured on the site for just 24 hours, and they are just $10!

after midnight tonight, the shirt will be available right here (still on the site, just not the front page feature.)

go on over and check it out, and leave a comment if you'd like! (make sure you check out all the comments... there are some *mean* ones! sheesh, people, there's a difference between constructive criticism and being just plain mean!)

i just ordered one, so pretty soon i'll be rocking my own design. yeah!

daren newman (aka: me & my pen)

daren newman's work is nothing short of amazing. if i could do the things he does with a pen, i don't think i'd ever leave my studio. seriously. just look at the hand-drawn typography! WOW.

you can find more of daren's work on his website, me & my pen.

photography: stephanie thomas

i think i'm on a photography kick so far this week- aren't these ones AMAZING? they're by stephanie thomas, who uses so many different types of cameras and film that it makes me jealous to look at this list! it imakes me want to break out my holga camera and start snapping some pics.

i don't even know what else to say... i'm in awe. go have a look around stephanie's flickr page-- her images are truly beautiful and intriguing!

my wedding invitations

now that my wedding invitations are *finally* finished and mailed out, i thought i would post some pics here for you to see! our wedding is 2 months from today, and i'm sort-of in shock about it. we've been engaged for a year and a half, so the wedding has felt really far away for a long time. but all of a sudden it's really SOON!

anyway, here are our invitations. i designed and printed it all, and ryan helped me put them all together. he was also a huge help in getting the wedding animation i made onto DVDs to include with the invitations-- i love how the front of the DVD looks so pretty that it will be a surprise when they pop it in to watch! (i put the animation on youtube yesterday, too, if you're interested...)

i loved designing these so much-- it'd be so fun to have a side business design wedding invitations, or even wedding animations for couples! wouldn't that be crazy?

erick hoffmann (aka: _pumpernickel)

these photographs are most incredible, don't you think? erick hoffmann uses all different sorts of cameras in his photography (holga, diana, polaroid, disposable...), and i think his work is just beautiful. i'd love to have a series of these hung on a wall somewhere in my house.

if you are having a lazy monday morning like i am, i'd suggest browsing through his flickr stream-- such beauty.

kup kup

goodness, how amazing are these pieces by kup kup?

all that detail and texture and pattern is giving me goosebumps! what amazing work.

be sure to visit kup kup's etsy shop, as well as the blog and flickr page. it's all so inspiring and color-filled!

Indie Craft Experience this weekend!

good morning, my friends!

first off, THANK YOU for all of your unbelievable comments about my animation yesterday-- you truly made my day!! i'm so glad you enjoyed it. our invitations are being sent out today, so hopefully everyone who gets the silly little movie in the mail will like it, too. :)

secondly, if you are in the atlanta area this weekend, you will not want to miss ICE (the indie craft experience)! i have a booth and will be selling all my goodies, and this is seriously just a fantastic show that should be checked out of at all possible. be prepared to spend some money, though--- it's impossible not to with all the amazing things people make and sell there! it's like the renegade of the south. YES!

i hope you have a marvelous weekend, and i'll see you here on monday!

my wedding animation, finally!

oh.my.GOODNESS. this project was almost the death of me. i'm not even kidding. there were nights i would go to sleep as stressed as can be, because when i can't figure out how to do something, i obsess over it and stress over it until i figure it out. i had no idea getting into it that i'd be wanting to pull my hair out and scream as much as i did..... the good news is that i learned A LOT about flash through the process of creating this animation, and it's always good to learn new things. :)

so, after all that drama, here is my wedding animation. FINALLY. this will be going out to my friends and family as part of ryan's and my wedding invitations, and i couldn't get it to play the right size on a TV (because i made a rookie move and created it in the wrong size, i guess), but it looks decent on a computer.

i do hope you like it! i'm celebrating it's completion today, and i'm not sure i'll ever make another animation again! whew. it's hard.
(and yes, before you ask, it's supposed to be wiggly and choppy.)

*the song is "blank slate" by the national.

new painting: make your own luck

i have a new painting to show you today, which sort-of came out of nowhere yesterday. i love when that happens.

it's called " make your own luck" and is 10x10", acrylic, oil, india ink, and hand-carved rubber stamping on wood.

again, that yellow color... i can't get enough!

téo jasmin interior design

i recently received an email from paris-based interior design company téo jasmin, who specializes in digital printings on canvas, cushions and furniture, and i thought their products were quite fun!

these two (above and below) are prints on canvas-- they'd be such a fun addition to a room!
and i love the beatles, so i'm particularly fond of their beatles-related products.

and althought the union jack is not part of my personal style, i can picture this looking perfect in someone's home. wouldn't it be funky? i love the juxtaposition of the flag with the more traditional couch. so cute.

check out téo jasmin's website to see more of their products!

tagged!

(image by sesame letterpress)

I was tagged twice yesterday (by shelley and stephanie), and since i usually let these things go for waaay too long, i'm going to answer the questions today for a change! here we go.

What is your current obsession?
figuring out how to use Adobe Flash correctly.

What is your weirdest obsession?
reading go fug yourself each and every morning. i'm really not interested in celebrity lives, but I am in love with this blog for some reason!

What are you wearing today?
yoga pants and an ugly brown t-shirt. it's morning and i'm still in my pjs. :)

What's for dinner?
oh gosh, i have no idea! probably salad and roasted potatoes or something like that.

What would you eat for your last meal?
thai food. something with thick, fresh rice noodles, lots of chili sauce, broccoli, tofu, carrots, and cabbage. YUM. then i would have a big piece of apple pie with vanilla ice cream fro dessert.

What's the last thing you bought?
75 blank DVDs.

What are you listening to right now?
Hard Ball with Chris Matthews

What is your favorite ice-cream flavour?
vanilla

What do you think of the person(s) who tagged you?
both shelley and stephanie are unbelievable talented, and so so friendly! i would love ot meet each of them in person one day.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
AMSTERDAM. without a doubt.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Iceland.

Which language do you want to learn?
Spanish.

What's your favorite quote (for now)?
"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music-- the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself." -Henry Miller

What is your favorite colour?
orange

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
black dresses that make me look skinny

What is your dream job?
a well-known designer (think Lotta Jansdotter or Orla Kiely) that has surface pattern designs all over the world, with a flagship store, lots of money, and lots of traveling!

What is your favorite tree?
magnolia

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?
a Flip video camera

Do you admire any one's style?
i really admire my sister's style. it's so effortless, and she always looks so glamorous. i don't know how she does it!

Describe your personal style?
quirky, colorful, comfortable

What are you going to do after this?
write some more blog posts

What are your favourite movies?
lost in translation, the royal tenenbaums, dirty dancing (FOREVER!), little miss sunshine

What is your favorite fruit?
grapes

What inspires you?
walks in my neighborhood, traveling, design books, nature, unexpected color combinations

Your favorite book ?
eat pray love by elizabeth gilbert. or hotel new hampshire by john irving

Do you collect something ?
not really. nothing in particular, unless you just count stuff in general. i have lots of that. :)
***
and here are the rules:

1. respond and rework; answer the question on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add more one question of your own.

2. tag eight other people.

so, the 8 people i'm tagging are:

lesley
jan
sarah
sarah
xander
michelle
jennifer
cameron

(or just join in if you want to!)

bhats on flickr

i'm really digging these drawings by bhats today. i wish i knew more about him... all i can find out is that he is 17 years old and lives in brisbane, australia. you can check his flickr page and tumblr site to see more. i love those flags in the bottom image!