flower power

I've been lucky enough to have a couple fun flower-y projects come my way as of late - the one above was actually just for fun though! Sometimes I like to pretend that I own a line of good smelling body products and that I get to choose the scents and design the packaging... and someone else does the rest of the work. Wouldn't that be ideal? Doesn't eucalyptus have the prettiest leaves? All answers point to yes.

Other floral things happening in my life currently:

On Saturday I took a quick jaunt out to the ocean to do a little boogie boarding (newest obsession) and Gwen Stefani ogling (she was RIGHT. THERE) and then headed back inland so I could be Katie's official floral crown-maker at the Bust Craftacular. The whole thing was MAJORLY fun, there were cute ladies and amazing goods everywhere. In case you want to drop some hard earned cash on something pretty and fun, here are some of the vendors I was crushing on:

Selvedge Dry Goods (for your fashion truck-y, watermelon shorts-y needs) | Sienne Josselin (for your earthy illustration needs) | Hannah Nance (for your Babe Alert print-y needs) | Paola Loves to Shop (for your dreamy jewelry needs) | Small Adventure (for your gorgeously illustrated cards-y needs)

And DUH, the Good Twin for your best letterpressed cards ever-y needs!

And here are two photos from my trip to Michigan - a gorgeous letter "B" made by my future sister-in-law's sister (what is that? is there a term for that?) and a happily full windowbox in my parent's backyard. If you ever wonder where my love for mint and teal comes from... well.. it's probably because I grew up in a perfect minty green house.

class act

When I signed up to take Lila Roger's Make Art That Sells class I was still working from home every day and wanted a little something to challenge myself. I'd seen a lot of amazing work practically pouring out of my peers taking the class and thought to myself "heck, sounds like it's time I took a crack at it".

And then I started that contract job in downtown Minneapolis that sees me leaving the apartment at 7:30 AM and not coming home till about 6:45 PM... the very same week that Lilla's class started. I'm not going to lie guys, a lot of my assignments (and by a lot I mean all of them) have been completed the day before they were due. I really really want to take all that I can from the class but unfortunately I also have a few small freelance gigs that also require my attention.

But I'm still mostly happy with what I've been creating, so I thought I'd give my blog a little looksee. Above is the very first assignment, bolt fabric with a vintage kitchenware and berry theme! It was so much fun, I'm thinking about making prints or cards of it!

 

The second assignment was to make art for fancy plates using bromeliads as our inspiration. I wound up liking my sketches a LOT better for this one - part of the problem being that I hardly ever like plates with actual art on them... but it was a learning experience nonetheless!

Last week's assignment, a spread for a children's book based on a Russian fairytale. I tried keeping some of my sketch in the final piece at Bryan's suggestion and was really surprised with the outcome. Guess I'll have to play around with that technique some more!

As per usual I'm running VERY behind on this week's assignment... guess I should spend less time blogging and more time working on that, huh? WHOOOOOPSSSS.

petal pusher

A T T E N T I O N ! Are you a recently married person/celebrating a wedding anniversary/looking for a belated wedding gift/just like paintings of flowers? Well my friend, I have just the thing for you!

As of now I'm taking commissions to do illustrated portraits of your wedding bouquet! The world of freelance is a fun but prickly place, and I'm looking into any avenue that will allow me to keep making art but also, you know, provide myself sustenance and shelter. I think it's pretty clear by now that I love love love drawing flowers and plants of all kinds, and I've been getting back into watercolor on the regular, so this was the clear next step.

Some details, if you're interested in one for yourself or some newlyweds that you know and like:

-The painting will be 9x9 inches, perfectly sized for this simple frame from Ikea

-This is not a print, you'll get the original watercolor painting!

-Pricing will range on the complexity of your chosen bouquet, starting at $100. 

-Shipping within the U.S. is included, if you're international we'll work something out. (And if you're in the Twin Cities I'd be happy to do a drop off at a local coffee shop!)

-I am by no means a student of realism, so this will be a stylized painting. See below for details.

-The process will take about two weeks to complete (before shipping), unless you'd like to approve a sketch, in which case I can't quite estimate the timing.

-Paypal is my preferred method of payment, and unfortunately I won't be able to offer refunds.

If you're super into this idea, here's what I'll need from you:

-Photos of the bouquet from different angles. 

-If you'd like, the exact wording for you & your partner's name and the date of your wedding.

-An initial e-mail from you so we can talk pricing and my schedule.

As a warm up for this project the lovely Maggie volunteered to be my first customer. Guys, Maggie is seriously the sweetest and most adorable person ever. Here are some more photos from when we installed it in her (also sweet and adorable) apartment:

 Here's an example of the "stylization" I'm talking about - a photo from Maggie's wedding day (by the great Gene Pease) vs. a scan of the painting itself. Also watercolor is a serious pain to scan - does anyone have any tips? 

lately

clockwise: new plant baby / attempts at pottery / a bostcok from patisserie 46 / space party prep

I've got a few projects brewing in the wings, in the meantime here's some glimpses into Emma-world to satisfy my little bloggie bloggert. And don't forget - you can buy that font above over at the Perfect Pair!

pattern pals #3: tropical

That's right friends, it's time for another themed pattern! This week it's going to be around 30 degrees in Minnesota - AKA TROPICAL. Seriously guys, I've been wearing a VARIETY of coats... instead of just the one that is the warmest. It's a miracle, maybe spring really is coming early this year.

To celebrate, Katie and I are dreaming of travel plans and tropical climates. I have a very specific scenario in mind for this pattern: me sitting by a pool that is scattered with fragrant, massive flowers and plants with a tropical drink in hand. That comes through, right?

You know the deal, here come the freebies: repeating tile / iphone wallpaper / ipad wallpaper

I'm also tossing around the idea of including a dream outfit inspired by each pattern from now on.. what do you guys think? This one obviously had to be a beach-worthy outfit...

bag / swimsuit / tunic / sunglasses / sandals

now someone stop me from online swimsuit shopping....

flower child

Last night we had a windchill advisory. There's ice that refuses to melt EVERYWHERE, limiting my shoe options to one very tired pair of boots. It's supposed to snow again on Friday... I'm tired of the winter!

A quick job from a favorite client of mine was exactly what I needed last week - she wanted spring florals in bright colors. Can do! Now you, little blog, get to enjoy some much needed vitamin d (if only my low vitamin d levels could be boosted by looking at a picture instead of medication tralala).

Since I'm addicted to the magic of seeing my work put on an iphone case like magic, I'm also making this available as a print and a case on Society6! FREE SHIPPING TILL SUNDAY DUDES, GO FORTH AND PURCHASE!!

ooooh, ahhhh

prints charming

Have you heard of Minted? It's a pretty good website to get completely sucked up into, only to come out an hour later dreaming about baby shower invitations and moving announcements - even though you're in no way planning on having a baby OR moving. 

The nice thing is that they sort of have a Threadless-style system going, with themed challenges for artists and designers to submit too... with promises of prize money and a cut of the profits if you're picked! Obviously there are more direct ways to make money as an artist, but I sort of like the homework-esque feel to these challenges. After all, the pressure of a deadline always works well for me.

So here's my little plea, oh Dear Lovely Readers of My Blog. Would you go vote for my submission to their latest art print challenge? I'm quite happy with what I came up with, and hopefully you are too!

And even if you don't vote for it, at least go look around. There's a lot of fun stuff to find, and a lot of talented people contributing!

rock & roll

Inside this little bowl I found at a garage sale there are secrets. 6 little rocks, each to be sealed in a small envelope and attached to the back of each copy of It Will Be Known to Us.

The idea to make these totems came from my love of collecting snippets of nature when I'm in a new place. It's the sort of thing your mom probably did when you took your family vacation to the ocean back when you were young... at least, that's what my mom did. And now I'll do it too, and soon you will have the fruits of my weird, collect-y labor.

We collected them along the shore of Tenmile Lake during our recent trip to the cabin, but hopefully they'll travel much further than the three hour trip back to the Twin Cities. Get the word out! This thing is going to be all sorts of greyscale creepy fun, in one little zine-y package!

Alli took the last two photos in this post, and man. Talk about another lady making some great new work - some of it creepy as well!

day dream

lazy breakfasts, video games and downton abbey, braid experiments and morning light. I love my Sunday mornings, in all of their incarnations. This one was filled with a new pancake recipe (whole wheat & cinnamon!), twin peaks and maybe a little bit of Minecraft.

Oh, and experimenting with our new Canon! We got a Rebel T4i recently and I'm finally learning how to use it. The boy will most likely be using it more often for film projects, but I certainly will be taking advantage of my minimal knowledge of photography for fun shots of food and various small corners of my apartment. 

my bag from the new domestic pretty much looks good in any situation.

doesn't that pancake look like it has a tail?

yet another little green darling that I'm trying my darndest not to kill.

rad

Who knew radishes came so small? There they were, at the bottom of the first box from my CSA, no bigger than a ping pong ball. I tried to use them sparlingly, maybe slicing one up for a salad, but soon enough they were all gone. Luckily, I recorded them in all sorts of media - including a some watercolor doodles (pictured above, which I am officially counting as part of my analog project because I can) and on the brand new camera the boy and I purchased, but that's a story for another day.

p.s. speaking of the analog project, something that should come out of that is living here. More details on that in the future, for now we're keepin' it real spooky-like.

over all

I can't tell if the summer is ending, or if it's got a few more kicks left.....

I was poking around on etsy this morning and practically swooned when I found these dried & preserved moss pendents from Mr. Lentz. If you can't tell, I've been particularly taken with forests and plant-life as of late.

LHR13's outdoor spaces board on pinterest has also been inspiring - I wish I had less of a black thumb and more of a yard to garden. Maybe someday!



p.s. I've got a few posts planned soon - hopefully with more illustration-y goodness!