playtime!

Went to CHA conference yesterday. It was so inspirational! Good friends, good times! And a very well earned break from the kiddies. Made lots of good contacts, too. Can't forget that.

Since I was so inspired from all the great products yesterday, I thought I'd post some cute cards I've made lately. Most of the materials are from my favorite Papertrey, who were disappointingly not at the conference. Maybe someday I'll make it to the Chicago conference and meet all those talented gals.

Ooohh, love this one. I love cute birdies and sweet sayings and nature inspired art. I didn't create the art, this is just part of my playtime. The challenge comes in the composition, color choices, pattern choices. There are so many choices, it's easy to make bad ones, kind of like with clothing... so I keep things simple. Limited palette, asymmetric composition and some breathing space. That's the formula I use and just see how much I can expand on that.

Understated but girly, you can't see the glitter well, but trust me, it's there. And of course, buttons!
With this one, I had some paper I wasn't crazy about, but I love grids, so I figured I would try punching the paper with my square punch and playing with the patterns. The clear domes are dimensional stickers from ek success. I bought them, not really planning on how I'd use them (which is what I always do). But I think this is a nice subtle way to call out the little sentiments.

I love tags. All tags, any tags. And graphic flowers. Just girly enough without getting too fussy.

Thanks for reading! Have a creative day!

Heather

Inside my sketchbook

I haven't posted in a while, I'm frantically trying to get my too complicated website finished in the next few days, but I thought I would take a break and post about something that is probably the single most important aspect of my work - my sketchbook.

All the art I create starts as a sketch in my humble, oh-so-low-tech sketchbook. No tricks here, just a pencil (I like mechanical ones) and my 5.5" x 8.5" 100 sheet Strathmore sketchbook. I like this size because it's easy for me to hold and not too intimidating. There is nothing more intimidating than a huge piece of blank paper! So I like this size, it's small, so it's easy to fill up and if I do a crappy sketch (most are), I can easily turn the page and never see it again! I never tear out pages though. I like to keep the sketchbook fat and I like to see how far I've come. Sometimes (rarely) I have bursts of relative genius (for me) and I like to have record of them. Then on an uninspired, uncreative day, I can look back for a little, much needed inspiration.

Like I said, everything I do starts as a sketch. I never go near the computer until it's time to render. My final drawings look very much like their pencil and paper parents.

Here are some peeks into my mind (scary!) and sketchbook:

Here is how the fairy queen from my collection "fanciful fairies" started out:

... and here is the final. You can see she looks exactly like her sketch.

Here is a page were I was having some fun creating some cupcakes for the "sweet treats" collection. I was most likely inspired (and most definitely) hungry for this one. I remember I cranked it out very quickly! There is some "bird garden" stuff as well.

Sometimes pages are very messy, like when I'm trying to design a composition. Lots of drawing over and erasing. If I hate it, I can just turn the page:

Here are some pages where I decided to just experiment with flowers and butterflies:

Here is a page where I was trying to work out my website:

So there it is! Nothing to it, just get a sketchbook and pencil and just draw..... anything! In a future post I'm planning on writing about ways to kick start ideas. Some fun techniques to get that right side of the brain working. I know you can't wait for that!

Thanks for reading, I hope it wasn't too painful!

Heather

A little sneak peek

Here's just a little sneak peek of some of the collections on my new website. I really can't get it finished soon enough! I'm hoping to have it up by Jan 30th, when I go to the Craft and Hobby Show. Here are the peeks:

These are a few of my favorite things...

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite things, a few things work related and few things personal.... I'll probably add to this as I go, but these are a few of my favorites right now:

• Papertrey Ink a great site for beautiful paper, embellishments, stamps and inspiration. I'm actually quite addicted to it.... really it's a sickness! I secretly make cute little cards and altered notebooks at night when the kids go to sleep. It's my creative outlet. My time to experiment with color, composition without any expectations. So fun! And expensive!

• Color Trends + Palettes :: COLOURlovers love this site for color palette inspiration. You can build a palette you like and it gives you the RGB and HEX values.

• Maria Carluccio.com one of my favorite artists right now. Her stuff is so inspirational. It just makes me happy. I have one of her prints in my bedroom. It's one of the first things I see in the morning, other than my DH of course.

• Oopsy daisy - Fine Art for Kids again, very inspirational!

• Ballet Body by Jennifer Galardi - I love this work out. After I drop my little one off at preschool, I have a hard time sitting down to work, so I usually work out for an hour or so. This workout is one of my favorites right now.

• My All Time Favorite Thing????? Watching my children laugh and play. Sounds cheesy, yes I'm aware. But really, watching them enjoy their childhood makes all those sleepless nights, dirty diapers and the condition that the back seat of my car is in right now, worth it.

Thanks for reading. On to do one of my other favorite things.... sleep!

Heather

Everyone is doing it...

... so I guess I will, too! Start a blog that is. Seems kind of narcissistic, to write on and on about myself and expect anyone to read it. So I'll try not to bore anyone!

I'm planning on posting sketches, inspiration, color palettes and anything else related to my little illustrated world of fairies and butterflies.

I hope to not have too many spelling errors... if I do just chalk it up to enthusiasm and fast typing!

Thanks for reading!

– Heather