Mai Autumn

happy friday + the new 2012 calendar!

i can't believe how fast this week flew by! i *finally* got the chance to get the new 2012 calendar up for pre-order! it's here! calendars will start shipping on oct. 1st - so you can get yours before the rush. last year, i could hardly even keep my little birdie calendar in stock, so this time around, i have a larger quantity available through the holidays, but there is still a chance it could sell out if the season is anything like last year. check out the illustrations that are featured on each page...

it took me forever to decide which ones to include - i probably painted about 30 different flowers before i decided on these 12! each one is inspired by an antique floral motif taken from fabrics and wallpapers from all over the world, across several centuries - so, a little bit of history for you!

i am excited to report, that all of the other flowers are not going to be going to waste - just you wait and see what i have up my sleeve for some new lovelies coming in the future!

i hope you all have a fabulous weekend out there! asbury park is having their annual oyster festival, so i'm sure i'm going to be enjoying my share of seafood when i step out my door over the next few days :)

 

 

happy friday! sneak peek at new gifts

i've been super busy all week! between packing orders and getting some new goodies ready for gift giving time (yes, i am aware that it's only august!) i can't even believe it's already friday! above and below, there are little sneak peeks of some new paper goods i will soon have available - recipe cards featuring a sweet little watercolor flower, and the new 2012 calendar with hand painted flower illustrations on each page. the calendar (which i have been bursting with excitement about for the past few months!) was inspired by antique floral motifs found on fabrics, decorative art and wallpaper from all over the world.

before i decided to start my little biz, i was planning on going to graduate school to study the history of decorative arts. as i was creating this calendar, i realized that those interests still stick with me to this day, and i feel like it's still a thread that runs through most of my work, without me even realizing it! i just love the history of design, so to be able to study it and incorporate it into items that people are using today, is just the most exciting part about my job. :)

these new sweeties aren't available just yet, but if you would like to reserve either of them, you can pre-order them by emailing [email protected] with your request. the recipe cards are $15 for a set of 12, and the calendar is $32, and comes hand bound with a lovely vintage velvet mint ribbon. (more pictures will be posted once they are up for sale on the shop site.)

i hope you all have a smashing weekend! see you next week :)

fall is creeping in

my mind keeps drifting to cooler breezes and the smell of crisp fall leaves. you know that time of year when you can sense the changes coming? here are some things that are grabbing my attention for a fresh fall season.

made by nanna

 

lorenzo durán via design milk

 

style me pretty

 

anthropologie

 

arrows design

 

bonnbonn

 

and did i mention that i want everything on this list? (of course, i have no patio to place that lovely orange chair on! but! a girl can dream :) ) sigh sigh

as the summer weeks drift by, i'm finding that it's getting difficult for me to focus on making new art. last week was another dud of a creative week. i'm hoping that i can find some time (and some inspiration) as august continues. we shall see.

hope the start of your week is going swimmingly! :)

 

gettin' it together

while i did have plenty of much needed fun this weekend, i also got all my resources together and figured out some important things i've been pondering over the last month or so.. i can't wait to share all my new plans with you!

last month, as you may know, i took a little hiatus from blogging, to sort out my upcoming holiday goodies (i was half successful - half not.. more on that later) and, as promised, i am back to my usual posting schedule. it felt kind of good to clear out all those weeks for my mind to reboot, but it also felt a little bit too unorganized for me (and my studio shows the proof of that!) i'm hoping july will make a bit more sense!

and.. i am actually pretty confident that it will! all the free time i allowed myself resulted in some concrete plans for a new series of work focusing on several things that i am really excited to explore. i'm still planning on continuing with my watercolor, but acrylic paint has really been calling to me these days. the new paintings are going to involve the following: night, darkness vs. light, family, house vs. home, and of course, pretty things :) i'm thinking of each piece as part of a story board for an imaginary "movie" of sorts. a little abstract, i know, but it just makes sense to me right now. here are some things that i've put together for my inspiration for the series...

kari herer

 

anthro

 

elizabeth messina via lou, boos and shoes

 

sparks of fire

 

anthro

 

portobello

 

for more inspirations, i have created a pin board on pinterest called "imagination no.1" because i'm really hoping this is the beginning of many more exotic imaginations turned into art! we shall see :)

so, here's to a fresh start for a new month! i'll see you tomorrow - possibly with new art or with new things to inspire! toodooloo til then! :)

addicted to pinterest

i went to compose this post and i couldn't stop repinning everything there was to pin over on pinterest, so, here are some of my finds! enjoy the eye candy :)

here

 

here

 

 

here

 

here

 

here

 

and here

 

i could pin all day long! :)

 

found - knife in the water

clever, is what i thought of when i found knife in the water. beautiful, nostalgic designs and fun pops of color for your wardrobe and your home.

and there are lots of fun interior design posts over on the knife in the water blog!

knife in the water on etsy

what's distracting me

this is kind of what i feel like today...

a beautiful, yet organized, ball of chaos :)

picture arrangement via pinterest, painting via michelle armas, ink drawing via lovely sweet william

southern charm - savannah, ga

with the humidity and warmer temperatures gracing us with their presence here in nj, my memories drift to a year i spent in savannah, georgia, at the savannah college of art and design (scad). here are some dreamy things that remind me of the way that magical place felt...

wrought iron fences were everywhere (andrea fanton), the old fashioned feeling of this cameo (arreign) completely sums up the graceful age of the city, and the lovely drink decanter up there is from the paris market, which is actually in savannah (i've never been to this particular shop, but it looks like i would love it!) (via pretties and posies)

green and lace represent it very well (starbags)

as do antique wood crates filled with wild plants (the primitive home), the night filled with a beautiful soft glow (racey tay), fresh linen (affaires nomades), and mossy trees (vlad)

and the light was always amazing (treefox)

to end this post, i think it is only appropriate that my pandora player has given me sara bareilles's version of sittin' on the dock of the bay ("i left my home in georgia...") what a wonderful coincidence !

:)