Pretty Little Paintings

Every time a birthday or holiday comes around, I love to make my gifts and cards (when time permits!). This spring I made cards for Mother's Day and my sister's college graduation. I was heavily inspired by the work of the amazing Katie Daisy. I adore her whimsical paintings, so I put brush and paint to paper for these two cards. I really enjoyed creating these, it was very "stream of consciousness" painting for me. These are just for personal use, but thanks to Katie for the inspiration!

I heart paper!

So, last fall and winter I was on a crafting spree. Seriously. We couldn't use our kitchen table for months, it was so covered in fabric, beads, ribbon, paper, glue, paint.....I was a woman on a mission. There were a couple of craft fairs in our area that I participated in, and I couldn't stop coming up with ideas! I still haven't gotten around to posting all the leftovers on Etsy, but you can find these earrings in my shop.

    

The paper beads were made by gluing together 1 inch circles punched out of a vintage french textbook. It was tedious work, and they are very delicate (they have been sprayed with copious amounts of a shellac to protect them from tearing), but they are quite stunning statement earrings.

These cards aren't in my shop yet, and honestly, I love them so much, I may just use them myself! I saw this place card DIY from Design*Sponge, and thought they would be just as adorable as notecards. These were super cheap to make because I already had all the scrap-booking paper on hand, and I only had to buy some cardstock and envelopes. A few hours with an x-acto knife and my sewing machine, and voila! 

2011 Update

Well, I really didn't mean to let a year go by without posting anything....but here we are! So much has happened since I posted last, in my creative process and my career goals, and I'm so excited for any new ventures that lie ahead. I don't know my exact plans at this point, but I rediscovered printmaking last December, and that kind of blossomed into something I didn't expect.

This stationary set was a gift for my mom last Christmas. She loves writing letters, and getting handmade gifts, so I got out all my supplies from printmaking class and got to work. She loved it, and it was an eye opening project for me.

Throughout making this gift, I realized that I loved the delicate and beautiful art of carving print blocks. So, from here on out, I am going to explore this rediscovered medium. I really enjoyed my printmaking class in college, and I'm hoping I can take some more classes one of these days.

Besides that, one of the biggest things I've been involved with lately is doing a regular DIY post over at Glamour and Grace, the most unique and inspiring wedding blog, run by the talented and lovely Megan Acosta. If you are planning a wedding (or just love wedding stuff!) definitely check it out! For this month's DIY, a jeweled cake stand, click the photo below: