Puppy Love

|  Puppy Love : hand-drawn digital illustration  |

When I originally created the puppy love design it was only in black and white, because it was printed on some Kraft paper and embellished for a Valentine card. As time went on I had often thought of taking that illustration and giving it some life with color, to make prints and maybe even more cards too. So that's just what I did today. What do you think?

Window Display - Dancing Eye Gallery

Girls Night Out window display at Dancing Eye Gallery!

Last weekend at Dancing Eye Gallery in Northville it was Girls Night Out downtown. They asked me if I could bring in some Barbie images for their window display - thinking that the "girls" would love the Barbie prints. Of course I said yes! Janine who works at the gallery did a great job of filling the window with tons of great gifts for the event.

Lots of other cute gifts amongst the Barbie prints!

Girls Night Out was a big success at Dancing Eye Gallery, so today I stopped in and replenished lots of Barbie prints, cards and other goodies. My Mom came along and dropped off some crochet goodies (unicorn, frogs, bumblebees, robots) too!

It's a really great shop, with Theresa (the super-fun-fantastic owner) and the gals that work there are always cheerful and ready to help you with whatever you need . I always enjoy stopping in to drop off my work -- just being there gives me a lot of inspiration. Downtown Northville makes for a great afternoon when you just want to have a day to play!

Check out that super cute Sock Monkey wine bottle bag!

Modern Portait

Just a quick post to show you this modern portrait that I did as a custom piece. I used a loose watercolor style with a pen & ink illustration. The client wanted me to use neutral colors since this is a wedding gift and she didn't know where they would be hanging it in their home.

Think Spring... with a Bicycle!

We really needed a new rug for our foyer and I feel like the beginning of Spring is a great time to do it! We needed something fresh + fun around here after the long, sad winter!

Wassily Chair • Mid-Century Chair Collection

I have a new mid-century chair design to show you! If you by chance have been collecting my chair illustrations I think this one will make a really nice addition to your collection. It's now available in my Etsy shop in two sizes, 8x10 and 5x5 (sized to fit an affordable IKEA Ribba frame).

Wassily Chair

DUCF 2012

This was my third year to be accepted for the Detroit Urban Craft Fair. My heart has been overwhelmed by the whole experience from being accepted to the final hours of the show.

First and foremost, the show is extremely well organized. We even get a tasty amazing lunch provided for us both days! There's a DJ playing music all day to keep the shopping vibe going all day and to help keep the vendors perky. Well, I can't speak for anyone else but the Motown music kept me perky! The gals from Handmade Detroit, do an AMAZING job of promoting the show! This was its 7th year... And I remember going to the 2nd show, but just as a patron thinking WOW! I need to be a part of this! So blown away by all of the cool stuff everyone was making. The DUCF has helped to make my artist dreams come true! It's given me the confidence to approach local shops to sell my work and that has been great as well. I love meeting new artists, and seeing their work, I find the show so overwhelmingly inspiring. I treated myself to a pair of earrings from one of my favorite jewelry designers, Kristen Perkins Jewelry.

I had two amazing booth helpers this year. Saturday I had my friend Karen. Karen and I have been friends since our early elementary school days. She has come to my shows to support before, but this time she was behind the scenes with me. On Sunday, my Aunt JoAnn came out to help. She's my veteran helper, always there to support and help out. I so appreciate the fact that they each gave up a day on their weekend to help me out.

I also want to thank all of my friends and family that came out to the fair this year. As an artist it helps so much to receive plenty of support! It's unlike any other job, because you are creating artwork that is an extension of who you are, what you like and how you feel and then putting it out there for everyone to see and hopefully would like to purchase. It's exhilarating when someone you don't know picks up your piece and says hey, I want to buy this! It validates everything you have been working on and makes your heart sing!

Even though the fair is over, you can still check out my Etsy shop to finish up your holiday shopping!

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As many folks know, my Dad has been very sick for 3 1/2 years now. He had another surgery in October at U of M and just yesterday he was moved to a rehab hospital. I don't think he'll be home for Christmas, but at least he's moving in the right direction. I was really hoping for my family to be together Christmas... I'm still hoping. Everyone's continued prayers and kind thoughts are what keeps my family going. On behalf of my Mom, my husband and myself we want to wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and here's hoping for an amazing 2013.

Chunky Beef Chili

I don't know about you but when the weather gets cooler we start thinking about a warm bowl of hearty chili. I was flipping thru my Martha Stewart Living last month and spied this chunky beef chili recipe that uses dried chilies. I could only find 2 of the four dried chilies called for in the recipe, so I doubled up on the ones I could find and all I can say is delicious! Martha has done it again!