How does your garden grow?

Spring is here! I'm so excited! Finally, things can start growing again, and I can wear shorts and flip flops, and the sun doesn't go to bed before I even get home from work!

Dave and I celebrated the coming of Spring by taking a walk up to the nursery to get some stuff for planting, and came home with a strawberry plant, some assorted seeds, some soil, and a new window box for our teeny balcony all the way up here on the third floor. I spent a very happy (and sunny) evening planting all my new seeds and turning our little space into a potted garden.

Since I have so many things growing from seeds (and because you know I can never resist a new art project!), I just HAD to make some markers for each pot. I love the ones being sold on Etsy, by shops like MonkeysAlwaysLook, but I just can't afford that right now. I mean, the cat's gotta eat, ya know? So, crafty me, I decided that vintage forks from a thrift store would make great holders for my little laminated labels, created on my trusty Mac! Here's a sampling of what I came up with:

I've been obsessed with my new/vintage Spirograph lately (my amazing husband found one for me for Christmas!!) so I took it digital, and voila! Unique, creative, and personalized garden markers at a fraction of the price. It felt good to do something fun and artsy, and useful. I can't wait until my little plants start sprouting and we have some yummy veggies of our very own!

I'll leave you with this picture of our friend Totoro, who is helping Mei and Satsuki grow their own little seedlings. Here's hoping our neighborhood Totoro pays us a visit too :)

Friends in far places

Wow. Today was a really long day. Good to be home, getting ready for date night with Dave (Whole Foods picnic!).

Yesterday I was contacted on Etsy by Jen from SimplyInvitingCards. She has some adorable handmade cards, scrapbooks, papers; basically anything you could want for your correspondence needs. She featured one of my headbands on her blog, and it's getting my Etsy shop some great exposure! Thanks Jen! You can see her blog here, with a picture of my headband! (Click here for the Etsy Treasury page it's featured on).

I have to say that I have been so impressed and wowed by the amount of artists out there who cross-promote each other, and the whole idea of discovering the undiscovered, and sharing it with the world! We shouldn't be in competition with each other...as artists, we should be inspiring each other, helping each other become successful, and achieve our individual goals and dreams together! I know I have felt it from other artists, and I want to give back and help my fellow creatives as well.

So that's my inspiring thought for the day :) Off to get some yummy food!

P.S. Started a new illustration tonight...realized that the whole Sarah Montes Illustration and Design moniker only makes sense if I have actual illustrations to show for it. Hopefully I can share it with you all soon!

Adorable Adornments!

 

New Etsy items up! I started making headbands and hair clips/brooches after I made some for my sister for Christmas. Each one is different, as I make them with odds and ends I find in my jewelry making supplies, or pieces of jewelry that break...upcyling the useless into something beautiful!

Check them out here!

The Clockwork Assassin

  
My amazing, talented husband, Dave Montes, has a new toy design up on Patch Together! It's an adorable red panda, who you just want to cuddle.....until you find out his mission is to annihilate you. This was entered as part of the Patch Together design challenge "Cute Animal Warriors," and Dave needs your votes!!

You can vote here for his design, which would get made into a toy if he wins. I don't know about you, but I need a cute little assassin for my desk, to protect my pens and post its :)

As for me, I have been working on some new stuff for my Etsy, and finishing up some old projects so that I can get started on some new ones! And my lunch break is over, so gotta go! Don't forget to vote!