Mai Autumn

mini shop update

this week was a little less productive than i would have liked, but i do have two new sweets for you to check out. it was almost difficult for me to post these necklaces for sale - i totally want to keep them! this is becoming quite the problem with making only one of a kind pieces now!

costa brava necklace

 

sun drops necklace

 

also, in case you aren't a subscriber to the newsletter (which you can sign up for over on the right) you might be interested to know that you can take 30% off your whole order this weekend! simply enter code MOTHERSDAY at checkout, over in the shop, to see the discount. the sale is ending monday, 5/2 at midnight est. for further details, you can also check out the whole newsletter here.

hope you all have a wonderful, sunny weekend! i'm planning to take a little excursion out to princeton to enjoy the nice weather we're supposed to have here in nj. hopefully i can remember to put my camera to good use and capture some of my fun! :) see you monday!

royal wedding fever

do you have it? i'm guilty as charged! no, i didn't wake up to watch everything at 5am (but i did turn on the tv when they repeated the whole thing at 9am on tlc!) why do you think we are all so fascinated with this big event? i'd love to hear your thoughts! 

the house that lars built

(i do have to say that cate's dress was perfectly fit for a princess and i got chills when she got out of that car! amazing.)

counter-productive

i'm totally antsy today for some reason and i keep catching myself procrastinating by perusing lots of pretty things on the internet...

bonspielcreation

 

wanderthisway

 

herbert james draper

 

digforvictory (i'm kind of needing this dress for an event i have in june!)

 

anthropologie + carol schiff

 

deargoldenvintage (and i'm kind of needing this dress for no reason at all!) ;)

 

and this one sums up the whole thing.. by making me feel better for spending half my afternoon wandering! :)

shopsaplingpress

 

definitely true!

hope you're enjoying your day out there!

sneak peek

besides all my fun outdoors, i also got down to making a few little illustrations for one of my 2012 calendars yesterday. i'm just in the beginning stages right now, but i'm already liking where this is going!

 

i think it would be just lovely to have exotic illustrated flowers all year long :)

how does your garden grow?

yesterday was the official groundbreaking for the plot of land that will become my garden! i haven't been able to garden since i was a kid - so far, my adult life has kept me in apartments - and i can't even put into words how excited i am because of this! my parents were kind enough to lend me some of their yard for my cultivation this year.

(prints in the shop)

it was so great to get dirty, spot plenty of earth worms (promising!) and feel the warm sun on my shoulders. here is a snapshot of the little perimeter I edged out...

i know it doesn't seem like much, but that was a lot of work! a girl's gotta get used to manual labor again :) apartment living is kind of cushy! i've got my seeds all ready to go, so here's hoping today's work is a bit easier on the back/hands/feet and i can actually start planting!

i'll be sure to post lots of updates as i go along! and you can also follow me if you're on folia.

happy planting out there!

small sale

i hope you're all having a lovely tuesday! i just want to pop in to let you know that some items in the shop have gone on sale! woohoo! there's a wee little section of sale things right now, but i plan on marking things down for your enjoyment a bit more often. here are some of the goodies now available at reduced prices:

butterfly study no.2

 

sun catcher earrings

 

all the framed prints for the available titles are marked down as well - a great opportunity to purchase artwork all ready for hanging!

i would also like to make a small note, (since we're on the topic of small things) that with mother's day right around the corner, the cutoff date for orders is may 2nd (next monday!). don't forget to get your momma something sweet this year! :)

hope it's sunny wherever you are! 

view into my studio

this weekend i needed to snap some shots of me at work for a really exciting thing that could be coming up in the fall of this year (i don't want to jinx it, so it's a secret until i know for sure sure sure!) 

:)

so, that's me at work. you can see me starting to make some pretty illustrations for one of the 2012 calendars i'm planning on (i know, don't get me started on how early that is starting!) 

more info will be revealed about the amazingly exciting thing as i know more! :)

shop update

i've been a busy bee here today getting lots of new goodies in the shop for you! as promised, i have added as much new stuff as possible! i'm going to be sad to see some of these lovelies go (lots of vintage and one of a kind today!) but i already have them packaged away in my inventory, so i'm not tempted to keep them :) check it out..!

siren necklace

 

elephant necklace

 

vintage flower brooch

 

another vintage flower brooch

 

vintage earrings

 

vintage royal copenhagen dish

 

and! vintage sunglasses are back - just in time for summer :)

sunglasses

before i got to all this shop updating madness, (which, by the way - it is so good i only do this one day a week now - so many details to pay attention to!) yesterday i created another little illustration in the same vein as the previous day. collector of dreams is available as prints in the shop, or you can pick up the original, too!

 
i decided it might be better to stick with acrylic for the face of this little lady - results in a much smoother skin tone than i experienced with the last painting. i also really love how the flowers turned out in this composition. for these paintings, i've been sketching out the figure, but letting myself play around with the floral elements. sometimes this results in spontaneous happiness, while other times, it can end up in a big, muddy mess. it's a risk i'm willing to take though! when it turns out well, there is no comparison to the satisfaction! 

i hope you enjoy all the newness! i already have lots more cooking up for next week, so stay tuned! :)

p.s. - hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend ahead! i'm looking forward to some restful family time, for sure!

daydream

here's a little sneak peek of what's new!

 

(daydream - prints and the original are available in the shop.)

i'm attempting to embrace my illustrative side with this new piece. lately, i've started to look at my work and see that i'm more of an illustrator than a 'painter' if you will - i like the narrative aspect of illustrations, and the idea that you can create a make believe world of sorts. i'm waiting to see where this notion takes me... what do you think?

lots more goodies tomorrow! jewelry and prints and vintage.. oh my!

swans a swimming

i'm finally getting a chance to upload some of my older work on ebay and this is your chance to snag it! i'm starting the bidding on all my paintings/drawings at only $.99 (with appropriate shipping for each item). i am hoping to post everything on the blog when it goes up for auction. items included will be things such as small studies, sketches, or at times, full blown finished work! i'm excited to see how this goes! here's the first one up on the auction block -

you can bid on this drawing over on ebay! (if you're the first and only person to bid, you would win this for only $.99!)(woa)

i'll also be back here on friday with my new designs and illustrations from the past week! so stay tuned :)