Japanese Fan Card

Here is a cool Japanese fan card I promised to show you. Here it is all packaged up as it was bought.
Below is an up-close view of the little add-on sticker on the front. I thought it was a nice touch and was impressed that this little detail was die cut into a fan shape too.
Here it is out of the cello sleeve. There's an envelope and a little card with a slit that holds the fan in place.
When you remove the fan from the holder card, you can flip it over and write a message on the back.
Here's how it looks when you open the card and flatten it out on the table. It works like a pop-up book. I love all the gold foil detail!
It comes with string attached for hanging.
Here's another view of it when it is closed again.
And finally, here's a view from the front of it when the card is only opened a little bit.Thanks for checking out this little card with me! I hope it inspires you in some small way as it did me.

Fine Art vs. Commercialism

Hello everyone! Happy Friday to you!
I got an interesting comment on my blog yesterday on my bird cage cards from "anonymous." She/He says: "Reminiscent of Gwen Frostic's work. huummm. Gwen's prints are the best, think I rather prefer her cards for buying. I find your work is very cold and barren. Almost Soulless."

I'd like to say thank you for pointing out Gwen Frostic's work. I'd never actually heard of her until this comment so I went ahead and Googled her. Her beautiful prints have a rich watercolor feel and bring out such beautiful colors of nature in birds and botany. So delightful and a feast for the eyes.I urge you to check out her work; particularly her cards HERE.

Clearly, Ms. Frostic's work is the result of many hours of intensive work. Soulful work. This is fine art at its best. She has then turned her art into cards and calendars and all manner of wonderful products to make a living from her work. Kudos to her and I hope to have my own successes with my own work one day. However, currently I have not been working on my fine art. It's been placed on the backburner for a while now. All my paintings and drawings from the past are stored away in a special case; save for one small watercolor painting that is framed in my living room. Someday soon I will take out my pencils and brushes and paints and enjoy it all again. I have made the choice for now to create little letterpressed greeting cards that are just plain fun for me to make. I either illustrate the subjects myself or I find free clip art that I make unique compositions with. Do I put my soul in it? Hardly. I'm having fun! I'm enjoying myself! I'm doing what makes me happy. Yesterday, I was printing a little card that will be coming soon...little hippos by a palm tree. Cartoonish yet cute. Is my soul there with it? No. I giggle at the thought. My happy helpful commenter was correct: I didn't put my SOUL in my cards. I make my cards purely for the fun of it and with the hopes that others out there will enjoy them too. I put my SMILE in it. Little paper bits to send around and urge a smile from others. Nothing more and nothing less. I do not take my little cards too seriously. I think the topic of fine art vs.commercialism are important..It's vital to know the difference between what is meant to be a soulful expression and what is meant to be a fun expression made specifically for a commercial product in an effort for fun and to help make a living.

The comment raised another important topic: How do artists gain inspiration? and Has someone copied my work or have I copied someone else's work? These are issues that we freelance designers worry about and wrestle with. There are so many ideas out there and many have been done several times over. On purpose? Sometimes. But I think most of the time it is unknown. It is impossible to see every piece of art that has ever been created and make sure your special piece isn't similar to another. It sometimes happens. My happy helpful commenter implied that my work was like Ms. Frostic's. I'm flattered! But I do not see the comparison or similarity. I guess I have a bird on my card. That's about it. I found the cool bird on a royalty free clip art subscription-only website and just plain liked it. I'm happy to have learned about Ms. Frostic's work though; it is incredibly beautiful and really speaks to me. Something to note is that we all get inspiration and ideas from each other and from somewhere else. We as artists develop our own particular style over time. Sometimes two different artists will have similar styles. For example, when I looked at Ms. Frostic's work it immediately reminded me of the work of CharleyHarper. They aren't exactly the same style, but they reminded me a lot of each other. Her work is more painterly and less geometric.

Ms. Frostic's work:

Charley Harper's work:
Are they the same? No. Are the birds in dynamic and expressive poses? Yes. Are their angles exaggerated? Yes. Are the birds of the same species? Maybe. But they are also different in lots of ways and I could go on and on.

These are all topics that have been floating around in my head for a while now and I'm glad my happy helpful commenter reminded me of them. I've said how I feel about these issues; I'm curious to know what all of you out there think about these topics in relation to YOUR life and occupations? Enjoy your weekend everyone! I will be hanging out with family...I plan to go to a town carnival and then off to a fun paper store to see what treasures I can find. I'll be back Monday with pics of a paper treat from "Japan" at Epcot. Be well and here's a smile!

The Bird Cage!

Here is my newest letterpressed card that will be available today in my shop. I've been enjoying the color combination of yellow and gray and thought this was my big chance to use it! This is a small folded notecard printed on ultra-thick and cotton Crane's Lettra letterpress paper. They come with matching white cotton Crane's envelopes. I will be selling these in sets of 3 for $9, but feel free to contact me through my shop if you'd like other quantities. I hope you like them!

Fun!

Thanks to Nicole over at Freshly Blended for featuring the invitations I did for my Mom's surprise birthday party invitations last year on her blog. You can view the post here. She has a new "DIY Invite Tuesdays" feature where she profiles some "do it yourself" invitation designs once per week during June. If you have some invites you've created and want to show off, you can submit them here.

Hello again

Hey friends! I'm back from vacation and back at it. We spent a few sunny days in Vero Beach, Florida playing in the pool and on the beach there with friends. Chris and I then drove to Orlando and spent a few days there playing at Universal Studios and at Disney's Epcot park. Universal has really updated their rides to utilize the newest technologies. What a great time! I loved all the rides we went on (except for maybe one where I felt pretty sick after). It's like a new park though, and I highly recommend it if you are ever in that area. Epcot was fun too; but was more about walking around and being relaxed and shopping. I spent a lot of time in "Japan" and bought tons of little paper items that I plan to share with you over the next week. Everything is so intricate and folds this way and that. I haven't assembled anything or taken anything out of the packages yet. I thought we could discover each thing together. We also enjoyed "Germany" a lot and had dinner in an Oktoberfest atmosphere. I think Chris was in heaven. I have lots of pictures from our trip, but they are on my husband's new camera and they have yet to be uploaded to the computer.
I have lots of plans this week for new letterpress card work, but I'm having such a hard time getting motivated. It's sunny and warm out so it makes me not able to focus very well. This is my number one problem: staying motivated. I have so many plans and ideas but such a hard time making myself follow through. Perhaps it's fear? I'm not sure. Anyway, I'll be back soon with the newest paper discovery from Epcot's "Japan."

we're off!

Chris and I are headed to Vero Beach, Florida and then on to Orlando for silly fun at Universal Studios and such...we'll be back in just over a week from today. I'm excited to get away for a bit and feel the warm, well...I guess HOT, sun. This comes at the perfect time as I've just completed work for several weddings and am approaching a break. This has me contemplating my business and what I truly want with it. I've found that refining your vision every once in a while is necessary in making sure your business reflects what you truly love and want to be doing. That being said, I have several sets of letterpress plates in hand that are new...and over 5 new notecard designs that I will be working on upon our return. I'm excited about them since they are a departure from what I've been doing for my shop and I think they will start to provide some much needed variety. New flat notecards are on the way, but more new FOLDED notecards will be showing up as well. I have lots of ideas up my sleeve, so the next month will bring along lots of new reveals! I hope you will be as excited as I am! I wanted to thank everyone for their support regarding my last post. This has been quite a journey for me and I'm so glad I have people on my side rooting for us and sending their best wishes. It truly does make a big difference! I feel like I'm starting with a clean slate now as we move toward the unknown. I've made the choice to smile and be joyful. And remember that today is a gift, that's why we call it the present.

time to fly

Have you ever woken up one day and just felt different? Like the track you have been riding on what seems like forever suddenly disappears and you're on a new one...new scenery, new backdrop, new location...yet the physical things around you stay the same? As my longtime readers know, I have struggled with my fertility and had 3 losses in the last year. The anniversary date of the first loss has just passed over the weekend and I didn't cry. It's amazing, but true. Because of that first experience of pregnancy, I have feverishly tried to replicate it every month since then. Yearning to have that feeling again. I felt it twice more, but lost it just as quickly. This deep seeded desperation had taken over my life as I scoured blogs and medical websites for answers. My daily life consumed with taking my temperature every morning and reading the "signs" just in case I need to go back to the doctor later for more evaluating. I've been consumed by grief as I try to get it back--trying to conceive that miracle I'd been blessed with for such a short time. I've come to realize that none of this helps--None of it. It is a counter productive use of my time and I get nothing from it but worry. I've decided that assuming I will need to go back to the doctor for evaluation doesn't help me. Taking my temps every day just puts out that negative feeling into the world that says "hey, this isn't going to work so I need months of data to bring to the doctor when too much time has passed." I'm going to remove all the blogs I have bookmarked that relate to infertility or pregnancy struggles. I'm to no longer scour medical websites. I will no longer take my temps each morning or look for signs. I will fill my life with affirmations of joy and positivity. The dark gray cloud that has been following me can take a hike now. I don't need you anymore. No, I'm not pregnant now. But. I WILL be a mother. I WILL have a healthy pregnancy. I WILL have a healthy child. That is all I need to know. I don't know when, but I know it will happen. It's time to tuck these spirits away, gently, and whisper "it is ok; you can go now. I will be ok without you. I will never forget you" And now, I can breathe.

Here is a song from Coldplay that I firmly identify with. It hits the nail on the head for how exactly I feel. Could he be singing to me? For me, this song speaks to the issues of losing my babies and the feelings of grief I've endured. It's such a gentle song and a lovely one. It's called "Fix You." You can listen to the full track here. Just be sure to hit the "play" button.

"Fix You"

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse.

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
"Just what your worth"

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream, down on your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face and I...


Tears stream, down on your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face and I...


Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you.

Tagged again!

Jeff has tagged me...it's hard to know what to write since I've been tagged a few times already. Hmm. Anyway, the game is to write 5 little-known things about myself. The challenge is to think of something interesting that doesn't bore the crap out of my small audience. So, I've decided to just write what comes to mind and it's probably boring so I will apologize now. I will try to make the stories as interesting as possible!
1. Since I was 6 I'd wanted to become an art teacher...up until I realized there were other careers that could be done with art. I then wanted to become an illustrator until I saw the competition out there and also decided I didn't have the attention span to focus on a piece for so long.
2. I love to listen to music from the 40s from an online radio station while I work. I find it is so chipper and tends toward being so innocent and happy. It just makes me happy and changes the atmosphere. I highly recommend trying it for a little while!
3. When I was 15 I had a crush on an older boy in my school. It took me weeks and weeks to get up the courage to ask him to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me. I called him on the phone (heart racing, palms sweating, mouth going dry) and I managed to croak out my request to speak with him. We'll call him "Frank" to protect identity. Well, "Frank" said "this is him." And I thought, oh boy, here we go. So I said it was me, and he seemed to light up with recognition and we made small talk. I finally mustered the courage to ask him to the dance and he started chuckling. Then he said "who is this?" And I said "Megan!" and he goes, "Megan SuchandSuch?" (as in, not MY last name) and I said "no!!!!" and he goes, "I think you have the wrong number; I'm 35 years old." He told me his FULL name and it turns out I had called the wrong number, but the guy happened to have the same first name and he knew someone named Megan. His voice even sounded correct. I wanted to die right there. I swear I wanted the Earth to swallow me whole. I hung up and burst into tears and was shaking like a leaf. I believe this has to be one of the most embarrassing things that could happen to a shy 15 year old girl.
4. When I was single and lived alone, I used to go out do dinner or to movies all by myself all the time. Usually, the waitstaff would look at me funny when I said "just me". I'd bring a book to look at and enjoy my meal. I would get glances from people at other tables that seemed to say "what a weird0" but I eventually got used to it. One time I was at the movies at a morning Sunday showing at a small independent theater. I think the movie was "The Pianist." Anyway, it was filled with elderly people from the small town I was in. A little woman was sitting with her husband behind me and she shouts "that girl's date must have stood her up!! the poor girl!". Of course, she meant to whisper, but you know how it is when the hard-of-hearing talk to each other. Her row continued to chat about me as if I couldn't hear them. I turned around and smiled and said "it's ok. I came alone today." And she goes to her husband "such a lovely girl too! That boy is really missing out!!" *sigh*
5. I dream to one day own a Queen Anne Victorian house (not haunted)...one that is fixed up or needs just a little fixing. But has a huge old attic and maybe a secret passage or room. As a kid I was obsessed with trying to discover a secret passage in our house. I guess the dream hasn't died. A favorite show of mine is on HGTV called "If Walls Could Talk." It features houses that have interesting things about them like secret rooms, passages, or hidden notes tucked in the attic. It's fun to listen to all the stories as people discover the history of the house they live in.

I'm not going to tag anyone else, but I hope you enjoyed my little stories. Be well!!

P.S. I eventually DID go to the dance with that boy, but not after he said "no" to me first since he'd wanted to go with someone else. Well, she turned him down so he went with me after all. It was fun and everything, but I learned that we weren't a match and my crush slowly died after that. I'm glad those days are over.

Filigree

I've been hard at work completing several wedding orders before my vacation happens in a few weeks. I printed a program in black ink the other day so I took advantage of the set up and created a new flat note design. I also created a smaller more subtle logo for the back of all my flat notecards going forward. Too bad I have a big inventory with the original logo that will have to run out first before printing new. I'll still be using the original on folded cards...the small logo will go on flat cards. You can get the new filigree notecard set here.
Have a great day!

elephant baby

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great weekend. Mine was just fine thank you. My poor husband is terribly sick with a super-cold. Well, it's not SUPER, it's BIG. He's home from work today and I'm hoping he feels better soon! He's not having much fun. Meanwhile, I've been busy in my little office working away. I designed the birth announcement shown above recently for a client...it was letterpressed by a friend of hers. She was kind enough to send me one and I'm so pleased with the way it came out. (it's always a thrill to see the finished product after your hard work) This new mom was a great art director and knew just what she wanted. That made the project so easy.
My tip for anyone out there thinking about ordering a custom product from a designer: brainstorm in advance and think about what it is you would love to have. Think of your favorite colors, your favorite subject matter, and consider what sort of feeling you want the piece to have (fun, classy, preppy, traditional, cute, sophisticated, etc.) It even helps to find ideas you like online and other places to show the designer the types of things that you love. No, the designer cannot copy an idea already out there, but this will help the designer by giving a specific direction of style to go on rather than flailing all over the map for an idea.

Dooce!

My Leaves and Follows print from my shop made it (in a small way if you squint) onto Dooce's website today in her photo of the day section. How exciting! See it HERE. It's the tiny print to the right of the giant print over her head. My little print looks like it's sitting on top of Heather's head. Yay! (looks like Heather is doing an interview for Nightline and Good Morning America airing next week.)

surgery day

Maren, soaking up the sun by the window for a nice nap.

Little Maren had to go in at 8:00 am for surgery today; she is being spayed. I'm pretty sad about it even though I know it's the right thing to do for her and for us. I hated leaving her there and she had this puzzled look on her face as I walked away. Many fat tears slid down my face on the way home, but I know she will be ok. The nurse promised to hold her little paw through it and, knowing her, she will.

UPDATE**** Maren is doing great! Thanks so much for all the well-wishes! She was pretty out of it when we came home but she's already almost back to her old self today! She just has a tender belly and can't jump on things (which, of course, she keeps trying to do). The nurse informed me she DID in fact hold her left paw the whole time (and then decided to trim all her nails while she was at it).

Angel Lily

We decided to get a new plant...an angel lily. I wanted something that would flower all year long but be basically easy to take care of and this fits the bill. We also found a cute pot with a peacock on it at Anthropologie (at a great price for heavy ceramic) to put it in. It makes the kitchen much more homey and the sunny window sill now has life-sustaining purpose!

busyness

A random pile in my office; pencil case from Koch Handbags.

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry I've been so absent. I've been so busy with business that I've had to put any blogging to the back burner. I'm back and I'm loving the nice warm weather! We took advantage over the weekend and went hiking on both Saturday and Sunday; both in different spots. Maren loved it...getting to see all the people and all the other dogs she's never seen before. We even passed by lots of people on horseback. It was nice to get out into nature and away from the television or computer. We've decided to reconnect through hiking a lot more from now on. Sometimes I get so involved with my work endeavors and with blog-reading that I forget to enjoy living my life. I forget to slow down and notice everything around me. To stop and enjoy my husband and pup. These things, in turn, will inspire me later. But I have to stop and MAKE TIME. And more importantly...DO SOMETHING. I like it!

of measure

Isn't this a cool measuring cup? Goes up to 600 ml for measuring. You can find out more about it HERE.

How it all works

Hello everyone! Happy Thursday to you! I wanted to let you know that me and my letterpress were featured on A Visual Guide for the Online Bride...
Kim Calakoutis is a fabulous wedding photographer who decided to start this guide as a reference point for all kinds of things dealing with weddings. She decided to include her most favorite vendors and locations... thus giving brides a one-stop-shop of wedding goodness (especially for the New England bride)
This article focuses on what happens in the letterpress process (in basic terms and step-by-step photos particular to how I do it) and why you would hire a designer to craft your wedding invitation designs. I hope everyone finds it interesting and useful. For the article with me an my press click here; and for future reference the article is under the date April 8, 2008. You'll get to see me, my press in action, some of my work, and my little dog Maren! Thanks for including me Kim, it was a blast! Be well everyone!

Article A

Hi everyone! Look! I had a mini interview/article written about my viewpoints on letterpress. How fun! You can check it out and read the whole thing here. Thanks to Roxanna at Aisledash!!!

DFM E-Zine

Hi everyone! Long time, no-see. Not much new going on here in my world to report on...until today! I have and essay/image featured in this month's E-Zine (Inspiration 3) from Design for Mankind. The issue focuses on inspiration from little corners of homes and I'm on page 19! It's a must see for a personal look inside other people's spaces. You can download the PDF here.
Erin also featured my Flying Fish print on her Design for Mankind blog recently as "print of the day." So exciting! Thanks Erin!!

For the kiddos

Good morning friends. Today I thought I'd show you 2 new prints I illustrated with intention for a child's room. You can find them for sale for $12 in my Etsy shop. I wanted do design something simple, colorful and cheerful. They are small; 5 x 7, so these would work great in a small frame on a dresser or simply clipped to the wall. The paper is very thick (soft 100% cotton I use for wedding invites), so a hole could even be punched at the top to thread some ribbon or string through to hang it on a hook or doorknob. Happy Easter everyone! I'm off to get the house picked up, run errands, and do some client work. I hope you enjoy your Friday!

The Art of it all

Hey everyone! It's a rainy and dreary day here (as usual for March) and I'm happy that it's the first day of Spring! Woo Hoo! Not that we'll see spring weather yet, but we're getting close now! March usually shows rainy weather all month, so April should start to show improvement. Today I thought I would share 2 new Fine Art prints with you. Of course, I enjoy doing letterpress notecards and stationery. But I have the "fine art side" to me that has been itching to get out for a while now. I remember I used to draw or paint every single day. Sadly, now, that is a rare happening.
But I'm getting back in the game with these prints now for sale in my shop. These are not letterpress; be warned. But each has it's own little back story (you can find the write up for each in the shop). I'm pleased with how they turned out, as this idea has been in my brain for a year now. I plan to do a few more in the theme soon. Have a great Thursday; I'll see you here tomorrow with some work great for babies and children.

More of a good thing

Good morning! Today I have listed a new item in my shop: a notecard multi-pack! I printed tons of each color to create a pack of 5 flat notecards with 5 unique animals in the set. I just figured that a multipack would allow everyone to get a sampling of a few popular designs at once rather than only getting one kind to a set. Of course, feel free to contact me through the shop if you would like a certain number of one kind. I've got lots made. I chose to use bright colors to ring in the warm season here in the States. There are also 2 new cards that are making their debut in the set: the seahorse flat note and the dragonfly flat note...I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed making them! Have a happy Wednesday everyone and I will see you tomorrow!

Spring is coming!

Spring is almost here...Thursday is the day I've been waiting for all winter. Not that it will change the weather much right away, but it's a step in the right direction for me. I love Spring and Summer. I love going outside without a coat and being able to walk freely without a thousand layers. Not getting frostbite is always an added bonus when going outside. These cards I designed and letterpress printed are my welcome to Spring (to be enjoyed all year round)...for sale in my shop here. I hope you like them!
Today I will be working on shipping orders, posting new items in the shop, and working on quotes for clients. Then, perhaps I will work on brainstorming new card designs and do some client work. I'm feeling a good bit under the weather (I'm scared I'm catching that super flu) so I'm trying to take it easy. Be well everyone!

It's in the cards

Hi everyone! It's Monday again and I'm back to the grind. I'm assuming you are too! Happy St. Patrick's Day! I would have a theme post, but I was too lazy to bother. See how honest I am? Anyway, I recently redesigned my business cards and letterpressed them in a pale robin's egg blue color...that's the photo above. It is a standard size for business cards, but this one is held vertically (just fit my info better) to be a little different. I used Crane's Lettra paper and was worried it would be too thick, but no, it isn't. It took a nice deep impression and makes the card feel sturdy and luxurious. I love collecting fun or fancy business cards and I hope people hang onto mine as a keepsake (the way I do others) when I start handing them out. This week I plan to share some of my recent notecard projects with you as I refresh items in the shop. Be well!

Nest

I came across this great online shop today: a non-profit organization helping women in poverty stricken areas around the world start art and craft-based businesses for themselves. It is called "Nest." The women are provided with micro loans where they then take the funds and obtain all the supplies they need to start their business. They then sell their goods on Nest to pay off the loans...
There are also other designers and artists who sell their wares and 25% of the proceeds go back to help with the funding for this great endeavor. The products are a great range of giftable items for the home and for self. When you make a purchase, you are also helping women around the world. A pretty great thing, huh?

Polaroid

As many of you may have heard, Polaroid is closing its doors. No more film. No more cameras. Waaaa! I'm so sad about this. I keep hoping a small company will open that can create the film. It doesn't have to be a huge corporation, does it? Can't a new modest little company step in and create the film for the artists and photographers out there who still love the polaroid? A photo I'd taken of some of my little lovelies was featured today on my daily read: SF Girl By Bay blog. Such a fun surprise to look at her posts today and see my own photograph staring back at me. I will miss you Polaroid, many hugs and kisses to you.

Pretty paper

I'm always on the lookout for pretty flat papers to use in future projects or as envelope liners. I finally found a website with a nice wide variety at Paper Mojo. I'm in love! My favorite ones are from Elum...they have the greatest letterpress cards and now a matching line of wrapping paper! The photos here are of some of my favorite patterns from the Elum line. You can see the other papers in the line here.

meadow wedding

Good morning! Happy Monday to you. I thought I'd show a picture of a letterpressed wedding suite I did a while back...all in a chocolate brown. The invitation is a tea length card and envelope (just for something a little different). I can't wait until the weather here improves and we'll really be able to romp through the meadows like the one in the invitation! Today you will find me putting together quotes for several clients and working on artwork for some future prints...along with putting together a few etsy orders that came through over the weekend. The daylight savings time has me all thrown off. But I have to say I love when it is still "light" out at 7:00 in the evening! It makes me feel so much more energized. Time to come out of hibernation! (And the Robins hopping around outside seem to agree).

A Peacock Wedding

Today's images are from a wedding suite I recently completed that involved a variation of my peacock wedding design shown in the portfolio section on my website. I could not use the original design since the bride's color scheme was too dark to work that way. I little shuffling took place and this is what we came up with. I'm very pleased with the outcome. It's printed on Crane's Lettra letterpress 100% cotton paper in Pearl White (an ivory). It's very soft to touch.
The suite included in invitation card, a directions card (with a map on the back) and an rsvp card. I also did an outer envelope with return address on the flap with a plain inner envelope. This was so much fun to work on! I love my job.
This Design is copyrighted by Megan creates...