Mellow Jello

I wanted to share my most recent project created for Lilla Rogers' Assignment Bootcamp course! The theme for March was Jello and we had to design a pattern for bolt fabric. The jello theme was definitely a challenge for me. I've been busy with like 5 other ongoing projects this month and it was hard to make myself sit down and focus on jello! haha

Well the week before the assignment was due, I finally sat down and got to work. Here is my final piece. I created a main pattern plus 2 coordinate patterns as well. I ended up having a lot of fun making these and love how they turned out.

Twin Baby Shower Invitations

My younger brother Dan and his girlfriend are pregnant with twin girls! And this very-excited-auntie (that's me) has been having a blast designing baby shower invitations. This is the first of two sets of invitations I've been working on (because when you have two babies, you need two showers!).

For this shower I chose a unicorn theme with the saying "Two Girls, Twice The Magic." I designed an invitation, diaper raffle card, matching favor tag and thank you card.

I have lots more things in the works I'll be sharing with you soon including custom shower games, favors, and decorations.

Going Cuckoo!

You may be quite familiar with me posting about Lilla Rogers' ecourses by now. Last year I took both her classes, Make Art That Sells (A & B). When she announced that she was going to offer another course, Make Art That Sells: Assignment Bootcamp, I quickly signed up. The format is similar to her other classes, but the difference being we get one assignment per month (instead of one per week) and none of the other instruction she provided in her other classes. Assignment Bootcamp is basically an opportunity to continue to make new art for my portfolio, practice working within a professional creative brief, and connecting with other artists around the world.

Our first assignment was to draw cuckoo clocks and then take that art to create a iPhone case design. Here are my initial sketches...

My Final Design:

I haven't had a chance to upload this to my Society6 shop yet, but I hope to soon! I'll let you know when this design will be available for purchase :)

My First Skillshare Class

Hi! I wanted to share my latest project. After Lilla Rogers' e-course ended I got to work on my first Skillshare class, The First Steps of Hand-Lettering by Mary Kate McDevitt. Our project was to choose a phrase to draw/letter. I chose, "Live By The Sun, Love By The Moon". I really enjoyed the process of the project and the class. I'm always dying to learn more about other artist's processes and how they develop and create their work. I loved watching Mary Kate draw and feel like I learned a whole lot from her class. Check out my entire project on Skillshare. Here are some snapshots of my project...

This is where I'm at with my phrase. I also signed up for Mary Kate's second class, The Final Steps of Hand Lettering, and hope to develop it further!

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 5

The final week of Lilla Rogers' ecourse, Make Art That Sells was a great one. We looked at the Party Paper market and had to design a paper plate and napkin in a Bavarian/ Ukranian folk style. It was so much fun to create!

I learned so much from this incredible class. I think it has forever changed how I feel about my art and my life. Lilla taught me to take my work seriously. To treat is as more than just a hobby and really nurture and develop it.

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 3

This week's assignment for Make Art That Sells was a lot of fun. Our category was Scrapbooking and we were asked to create scrapbooking art incorporating the theme of typewriters and cameras. It was exciting to sit down and draw a completely new subject matter and it felt good to fill my sketchbook with happy little doodles, then scan them in and create this sweet color story. The process overall felt easy and natural for me. I enjoyed choosing what to draw and creating a mood for the page, almost like telling a story....

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 2

Week 2 of Make Art That Sells was surprisingly exciting. We looked at the Baby Apparel market and our assignment was to create art with a camping theme! I don't know how I lucked out with 'camping', but I had a ton of fun creating these designs. Plus it was cool to apply them to some clothing templates to see how my art could really be used on clothing!

New Holiday Greeting Cards!

Before I share my assignment for Week 2 of Make Art That Sells, I thought I'd show you some more new holiday cards I designed this year! First up is this fun "Merry Christmas" card. I had fun drawing cute little holiday icons.

Merry Christmas - single blank card

This card I designed for my fellow Portlanders. It features Portland holiday landmarks like Peacock Lane, the 'Made In Oregon' sign and the downtown holiday tree.

Happy Holidays from Portland, Oregon - single blank card

All of my holiday cards are available for sale in my Etsy shop. 6-packs of these new designs will be added soon!

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 1

This past week was exciting because Part B of Lilla Rogers ecourse, Make Art That Sells started! The first week we focused on Paper and for our first assignment, we all designed a holiday greeting card. You may already know that designing greeting cards is sorta my thing, so I was excited to really dive into this one. We started out drawing Christmas candy and ornaments, then incorporating those elements into our final card design. I decided to experiment with some fun lettering for this "Holly Jolly Christmas" card...

I'm so thankful for this class! Every week is so inspiring and encouraging. Lilla is truly a positive force. She can make you believe that your dreams really are possible. After spending the past month struggling with health issues, this course is exactly what I need to help me get moving again.

This card is now available for purchase in my Etsy shop along with more new holiday goodies I plan to share here later this week :)

Halloween Cards & Prints Are Here!

Halloween is my all time favorite holiday so I couldn't resist coming up with some fun new halloween illustrations this year. Sending surprise mail to friends and family is something I like to do, especially around holidays and these cards are perfect for sending along with your favorite candy or halloween stickers or toys.

1. Sugar Skull Card  2. Trick or Treat Card  3. Fortune Teller Witch Card

All three designs are also available as 8x10 prints. Perfect for displaying at your annual Halloween party.

Fortune Teller Witch Print - 8x10

Trick or Treat Jack-O-Lantern & Cat Print - 8x10

Day of the Dead Sugar Skull Print - 8x10

Happy Autumn!

Today is the first day of Fall! While I've been sick as a dog all week I've been poking at this collection of autumn doodles and finally finished with this arrangement while sipping ginger ale and watching The Croods this afternoon. What are you up to this weekend?

Woodland Critters

This weekend I updated my Etsy shop with a bunch of new goodies. First I wanted to share this new 8x10 print, Woodland Critters with matching Woodland Scout Badges!

Woodland Critters 8x10 Print

Scout Badges - Woodland Collection

I also have a new iPhone Case (also available for the iPod touch and Samsung Galaxy S4) and Throw Pillow available in my Society6 shop! All Society6 pillows now come with the option of indoor or outdoor fabric! Plus get free shipping when you spend $50 or more.

Woodland Critters iPhone Case

Woodland Critters Throw Pillow

Feather Pattern

I worked on this new feather pattern over the weekend. Getting more practice using the new pattern tool in Illustrator CS6. I also celebrated my 29th birthday yesterday! And yes I spent my day watching True Blood and working on this. I love days that are both relaxing and productive. James took me out to an amazing dinner at Andina and we met up with friends for champagne after. Perfect.

Woodland Critters

Take a look at my latest project! I'm starting to plan some new autumn themed designs. I created this little scene of woodland critters with a few coordinated patterns. I started out working on a huge pattern that incorporated all of these elements (and more), but I wasn't too happy with the initial direction I chose so I completely changed gears and created this scene instead.

Sending You Good Vibes

I have a new card in my Etsy shop! Send this cheerful greeting to someone

in need of some good vibes.

Sending You Good Vibes - single blank card

My Latest Projects

Last week I finished my submission for Lilla Rogers' Global Talent Search! The assignment was to create a journal cover with a playground theme. I went with a whimsical animal scene complete with hopscotch and a mushroom swing...

Also, I forgot to post my final project for Lilla Rogers Studio School (which ended a few weeks ago). The final week was all about the gift market and we created art for a zipper pouch. I spent a lot of time creating mine, experimented with some new digital techniques, and had fun creating a colorful, complex design.

"Summer Fun" Pattern

I spent most of my weekend working on developing this fun pattern of summer icons. These started out as sketchbook doodles from a few weeks ago. I think this pattern could make a great summer journal cover or iPhone case. What other fun products do you see this being used for??

Daily Drawings

With only one week left of Lilla Roger's class, Make Art That Sells, the biggest thing I've learned is that in order to become a working artist, you have to be creating constantly. We've watched amazing interviews with artists like Mike Lowery, Mati Rose, and Suzy Ultman and they all keep sketchbooks and are drawing all the time, every day. My goal for July is to do just that, draw a little every day. I'll be sharing my drawings here every Sunday or you can also follow me on Instagram where I'll be posting them daily.

Here are some drawings I've worked on recently...

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 3

Last week our assignment was to illustrate the fairy tale, "The Snail and the Rose Tree." It was quite a challenge for me as I've never designer/illustrated a children's book and I only had 3 days to complete it.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I learned a lot from the process and now want to continue experimenting illustration layout, texture and watercolor techniques.

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 1

I just completed Week 1 of Lilla Rogers Studio School, Make Art That Sells. The class so far has been incredible and I feel so lucky to have this opportunity. I'm so excited to learn, stretch my creative bones and work hard to create new art. The topic for this week was bolt fabric. I'm really pleased with how my Retro Kitchen pattern turned out!