Places to visit: Urbanic Paper Boutique

On Monday I had the pleasure of hand delivering a package to Urbanic Paper Boutique, who is one of my stockists. I have been a fan of Urbanic's blog Parcel Post for awhile now, but I had never actually been to the shop, so I was excited to get to see it in person.

I wish I had snapped a picture of the front of the shop, but somehow I forgot. The store is crazy adorable and it's jam packed with beautiful paper goods. I had so much fun browsing and my husband and I both picked out cards for our dads for Father's Day.

Here's a sample of some of the fun things they carry:

inspiring packs of paper and stamps,

darling journals,

and best of all, beautiful cards (this one's by me!)

The above images are all from Urbanic's blog Parcel Post, which is highly recommended if you are a fan of stationery or just beautiful design.

Visit!

In person:

Urbanic
1644 Abbot Kinney Blvd

Venice, CA

On the internet:

Parcel Post

Inspiration: Misprinted type

I recently came across Misprinted Type, which showcases the work of Brazilian artist Eduardo Recife. Misprinted Type is one of the most inspiring websites I've ever seen. The images are breathtakingly lovely, and the site also offers some really fun and inventive fonts (both free and commercial).

You can visit Misprinted type here:

http://www.misprintedtype.com/v4/

And also highly recommended is Eduardo Recife's portfolio of commercial illustration work, here:

http://www.eduardorecife.com/

Happy exploring!

Handmade brigade

In two weeks, I'm taking part in my first craft fair: The Handmade Brigade.

Now, I say it's my first craft fair, but I should really modify that to be my first fair with a booth selling my own things. Because growing up my mother hauled my brother and me off to craft fairs several times a year where she sold all manner of 80's country scariness. I'm talking beribboned bell door hangings, tole painted picnic baskets, all kinds of stinky flaky dried flower arrangements, and corn husk dolls (the dolls she actually forced my brother and me to make ourselves). She even sold dried flower headwreaths at the Renaissance faire and she even made my brother and me dress up and walk around the faire selling them. Did it just get cold in here? Because I definitely just shuddered.

Needless to say, it's taken years for me to get over my craft fair trauma. But I'm actually pretty excited about this one. It's small but it was juried and the other vendors look pretty awesome. Plus I'm excited about getting to design my booth. I'll keep you guys updated on how it goes.

If you're in LA or Orange County, you might want to check it out. I'll be doing the June 6th show at Tall Mouse in Cerritos (which by the way is a really fun and HUGE arts and crafts store). There will be no dried flowers or cornhusk dolls at my booth. Promise.

What I'm working on: sketchbook pages

I've been super busy filling orders lately, but I'm also trying to prepare some new prints for an art show next month. My friend Simon, a.k.a. Ghost Ghost Teeth asked me to participate in an art show next month at Sweet Breams in San Mateo, California.

I'm working on a series of images with girls and giant animals inspired by imaginary fairy tales. The finals will be limited edition prints on wood. So far I have two preliminary sketches. I start out with a rough sketch that I then refine, ink, and eventually transfer to a linoleum block to be carved. Here are my first sketches:

Inspiration: vintage postcards

I find old images extremely inspiring, and one of my favorite ways to acquire them is via vintage postcards. They're readily available and can be picked up at antique stores and flea markets for $1 - $2 apiece. Here are a few from my collection. These are old, copyright expired, so feel free to print them out to use in your own collages.