Supplies for Sale with Free Shipping!

I buy a lot of art supplies for various projects, but a lot of the time don't use the entire package. Some of this stuff I've had for over 5 years, and if I haven't used it up yet, I'm probably not going to.

In that case, I'd like to pass along these supplies to you, it would be a shame for then to just go to waste!

My studio needs to get organized, and to do that I need to get rid of this stuff, so it's all priced super cheap, plus free shipping! These listings will only be up for 1 month, then I'm getting rid of the stuff, so act fast.

More jewelry supplies will be posted sometime in the next week, but for now these supplies are available at Designosaurus on Etsy.

One Day Without Shoes

On April 5th, ML Gifts & Accessories and Maria Luisa Boutique will be sponsoring Nyack's One Day Without Shoes.

TOMS Shoes started a One for One movement, where every pair purchased means one pair of new shoes is given to a child in need. On April 5th TOMS is challenging all of us to go a day without shoes, and experience what children growing up in developing countries go through every day.

Join us on April 5th at 75 S. Broadway in Nyack, 10:00am - 6:30pm, to show your support and raise awareness! There will be a silent auction featuring TOMS shoes customized by local artists, many of those artists will be customizing shoes on site throughout the day, and a barefoot walk at 4:30pm.

Here are my custom paisley TOMS being auctioned off at the event...

Baby Shower Invitations

Recently I had the opportunity to design invites for my friend’s baby shower. It was a really fun project, and I was so happy to get the chance to do it! Here are some photos tracking the process…

First some sketches. At the beginning of the process I really wanted to incorporate the triangle bunting… but in the end the monkey became more important.

After finalizing the image and typography, I tried a few different colors. Blue? Green? Should the monkey be colored? Or just outlines?

Once the colors were chosen, I printed the invites (front and back), and the small direction cards. I find it easier to print 4 cards on 8.5” x 11” paper and cut with an X-acto. For me this is more convenient than trying to align 4” x 6” paper properly to print both sides.

I designed colorful circular envelope seals, and printed blue address labels to match the typography from the invites.

Everything cut and ready to be assembled. Envelopes, address labels, return address labels, envelope seals, direction cards, and the invitation itself.

Envelope seals.

All the invites ready to go!

Being a big dork, I like to see the entire process, beginning to end. This means what the invite looks like, even after going through the mail. So here’s the invite I mailed back to myself, with the postage stamps and a little water damage to the return address label.

The Sketchbook Project 2011: Opening Reception

My friends and I went into Brooklyn Saturday (braving the wind advisory across all those bridges!) to attend The Sketchbook Project opening at the Brooklyn Art Library.

They had a great turnout! So great that when we got there with 1 1/2 hours left to the reception, only a couple of us were in line early enough to check out a sketchbook! The group of us only got to look at two sketchbooks, but it was still fun to be there, be a part of the reception and see that so many people were enjoying the project. Hopefully my friends and I will all be able to get back there when its not so packed, and we can really enjoy the sketchbooks.

As a bonus, it turns out I knew Steve, the man behind The Sketchbook Project! We were friends freshman year at Hartford Art School, then he transferred and we lost touch. Congrats to Steve and everyone else that worked hard to make The Sketchbook Project such a success!

Check out the website for sketchbook tour dates near you!

The wall of over 28,000 sketchbooks!

Looking through another artist's sketchbook.

I think her name was Jessica Meath.

Detail of Jessica Meath's book.

Check in your books!

My great friends who came to the opening with me!

I think next year all of them will be participating in

The Sketchbook Project.

Inspiration: Vintage Greeting Cards

Vintage greeting cards are a fun source of inspiration for typography and image. Above is a Valentine my cousin sent me the other day, that my Grandmother had actually saved from when our parents were little.

My Grandmother never got rid of greeting cards, even if they were blank ones she had never used! She kept them nicely in a box and now my family is able to use and enjoy them. Its become a nice thing around the holidays to receive cards from my mom or uncle with a little note on the bottom that reads "this card was from Grammy's collection".

Now I keep many of these cards and stationary sets in my studio, a few hanging up and others on my shelves to reference when I need a little nostalgic inspiration.

The Sketchbook Project 2011

A few weeks ago I finished my entry for the Brooklyn Art Library’s Sketchbook Project 2011. The Sketchbook Project is described as a concert tour, but with sketchbooks. What a fun concept! As soon as a friend sent me the link last year, I knew I wanted to participate.

Each sketchbook has a theme. Participants were able to choose a theme (from a list of about 40), or elect to be given a random theme. I chose the theme “dirigibles & submersibles”.

Almost 30,000 people from around the world participated. The tour officially begins later this month, with a reception at the Brooklyn Art Library on February 19th, 12:00-10:00pm. Check out their website to see if the tour stops at a city near you!

After the tour, all sketchbooks become part of the permanent collection at the Brooklyn Art Library.

Here are some samples from my sketchbook. To see more, and to see thousands of other sketchbooks, try and make it to a tour date near you! Or check out participating artists here, where you can browse by name, location, and sketchbook theme.

Daily Drawing #4

I drew this a few days ago, after hearing a friend of mine from college had passed.

We were in a tight group of friends together freshman year, and although we didn't hang out much after that, I got to thinking about the impact he had on my life. I realized how everyone you meet can really play a big part in who you are and how you grow as a person, regardless of how long your friendship with them lasts. This seems especially true during major changing points in life, which freshman year of college certainly is.

So on that note, don't take anyone you meet for granted, and always try to recognize the positive impact they can have on your life.