Quilting

I'm here to tell those of you who have been around these parts for a while that the boy has officially graduated to Mister Fizz. We've been married just over two years now (I snuck that one by you, didn't I?!) and "the boy" just doesn't cut it anymore. We celebrated our second anniversary in October in traditional style with gifts of cotton.

In keeping with my personal style, I presented an unfinished gift: This pieced quilt top. Mister Fizz knows me well and made me promise that I wouldn't touch it again until after the busy holiday craft show season. So here we are. Photographing this beauty on the coldest day of winter so far.

I had pieced quilt squares before for various small projects, but have never made a full quilt. Since I wanted it to be queen sized, so I thought I had better stick with a simple pattern. I've been working from this Instructables tutorial and am excited and nervous to put it all together. Wish me luck!

On a quilt-related theme, I once again checked out this oversized The Quilts of Gee's Bend book from the library. I tend to do so about twice a year. It's so inspiring for so many different projects.

Right now, I'm just focused on doing a little bit of sketching every day. The above is inspired by one of Annie May Young's quilts in the book. 2014 was filled with lots of client work with not as much time for new personal work. I'm excited for 2015 and a new year of projects and illustration. We'll see where this goes… 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, friends! 2014: What a year! I was much a stranger to this space in 2014, but want to kick off the new year right with a hello to you all. I thought it would be fun to take a look back through my calendar designs from over the years. I started this project way back in 2011, so here's a look at five years of Januarys:

It's really fun for me to review and critique and see the ways in which I've grown and changed as an artist. Which is your favorite? I think for me, it's 2015 — but I always seem to like my newest work best. (You can still purchase the 2015 calendar right here.)

I plan to take a look back at the start of each month. I hope you'll follow along. Here's to a new year of adventure and art!

2014 Holiday Craft Show schedule

It's hard to believe it's that time of year already! (I probably say this to you every year, but it feels like it becomes more and more true each and every year. Are you with me?!) Next Saturday, November 22 marks my first of four holiday craft shows this year. I hope you'll make it out to one or more so I can say hello and merry to you in person. I'll have new holiday card designs, my 2015 illustrated calendars, DIY ornament kits, new print designs and more! 

Ridge Fine Art Show
Saturday, November 22
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Drayton Avenue Church
2441 Pinecrest Drive
Ferndale, MI

Crafty Supermarket
Saturday, November 29
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Music Hall Ballroom
Cincinnati, OH

Detroit Urban Craft Fair
December 6 and 7

Masonic Temple
Detroit, MI

DIYpsi
December 13 and 14
Riverside Arts Center
Ypsilanti, MI

As has become tradition, I will also be involved in two local art center holiday shops:

Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center
December 4 to 20
Birmingham, MI

212 Arts Center
December 5 to 13
Saline, MI

2015 Illustrated Calendar

It's here! My 2015 illustrated calendar is available in the shop. This is the fifth in what's become an annual tradition. I hope you enjoy!

Foraging Tote

I recently made this "foraging tote" for a friend's birthday after spending a week in the woods with her gathering sticks and stones for crafting projects. We wrapped sticks with wool thread, painted fun nature-y things on big dark rocks and laughed a lot the whole time. I came home and inspired by this project, decided this handmade carryall would be a great gift for our next outing.

I made it all up as I went along, but was originally inspired by this photo on Pinterest:

As cute as the found sticks are, I thought smoother handles would be more sensible. I found this tutorial, too, but didn't quite feel like following directions and doing things like measuring! But they're there if you want a place to start. Happy summer gathering, friends!

The Sewing Party

I have been itching to share this project with you for ages now! I have been working since late winter with SVP Worldwide, makers of Singer, Viking Husqvarna and Pfaff sewing machines, on illustrations for The Sewing Party.

On November 8, 2014, The Sewing Party will be the first live, online DIY sewing and crafting event ever! Thousands of crafty DIY-ers will gather for a fun-filled day of sewing and crafting classes taught online by leading bloggers and educational experts.

I've created a logo and t-shirt design for the event and am busy, busy, busy drawing a virtual world in which the event will occur online.  I can't wait for you to see that part!! They've used some of my rough sketches in the video on the site and lots of little elements throughout.

Here's a look at the tee. Girly tees will be available, too. Stay tuned for more details and illustrations soon! 

Owl and raccoon wedding invite

Another happy wedding celebration this past weekend! Congratulations to my sister-in-law, Amanda and her husband Ian. Amanda does a lot of wildlife rescue so I took the opportunity to draw a few critters for their invite.

A sweet dog-inspired wedding theme

Congratulations to Val and Brett! They were married on Saturday and this is the invite I did for them featuring their beloved dog, Ruger. Isn't he the cutest?

I created what became something of a logo for the wedding. It went on their seating chart, programs and a poster for guests to sign. Clearly, this is a couple with a good sense of humor and an amazing dog.

Vintage lunch box planter

This vintage lunch box I picked up for my craft show display wasn't making the cut, so rather than have it gather dust on my shelf any longer, I turned it into a sweet little planter this weekend. I love the glow of gold on the inside of the top lid.

Delivery by horse and carriage

I shipped off a small number of prints and greeting cards to Poppins on Mackinac Island yesterday. It's so fun knowing that they will be delivered by UPS via horse and carriage today!

DIYpsi Indie Art Fair Summer 2014

While it seems far away now, August will be here before we know it! Toward the end of the month I will be participating in the fourth annual DIYpsi summer indie art fair. I've never done the summer show, so am excited to see you all in the heat and blazing sun. Two days of art-filled fun at the Corner Brewery — how have I resisted this long?!?

Craft-a-way Camp 2014

I am officially in full-on summertime mode. It all started with a weekend spent at Craft-a-way Camp in the Waterloo Rec Area. Organized by Amy and Ethan Cronkite of Small Craft, the weekend was jam-packed with crafty workshops, making, laughing and spending time in the greatest of outdoors. We checked our phones at the door (voluntarily) and I left my camera at home, so all of these wonderful photos are courtesy of Amy Cronkite.

 This one says it all!

 Getting to know you…

 Andy Sell, working his magic…

 Printing from plants in progress…

 Our crafting area in action…

 Some tie dyes hanging out…

 The chock-o-block schedule and a dreamy dream catcher…

 Modern dream catcher supplies…

 Camp fire singing from official camp songbooks… no joke.

My own dreamy modern dreamcatcher 

We made journals, screenprinted totes, wrapped sticks, turned old t-shirts into stunning jewelry, transferred images onto all kinds of surfaces and so much more. The whole weekend set the stage for good times this summer. and got my creative making juices flowing I can't wait for next year! 

Inspiration: Jo Oakley

'Through her eyes'

Mixed media on canvas 176x96cm 

I saw this painting on Pinterest this morning and immediately went looking for more. I found my way to the artists's web site and discovered a whole collection of paintings one more gorgeous than the next. This is the work of London-based artist, Jo Oakley. I am fully in love and so want to be able to see these in person. Her artist statement went right through my heart. 

'The calm before the storm'


mixed media on canvas 120x100cm

'Tin table and snowdrops'

mixed media on canvas 80x80cm

'Forget me not'

mixed media on canvas 152x91cm 

'She is waiting'

Mixed media 152x91cm

'He's on his way'

Mixed media on linen

Quilts and Color in Boston

I spent last week on vacation with my family in Martha's Vineyard and Boston. I was lucky enough to run into an amazing quilt show at the Museum of Fine Arts. It was beautifully curated and hung and I thought you might enjoy a look at the few snaps I took with my phone.

Overheard at a craft show

I've been at shows the last two weekends and one of my favorite parts is the conversations I have with customers. I get so many great book recommendations and suggestions of artists and illustrators to check out, I thought it would be fun to share some of those here.

The first is Ben's Dream. I knew of Chris Van Allsburg's work, but did not know this book — nor did I know he is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. You may know his work from Polar Express or Jumanji, but this book is a true gem.

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathman is another fun kids' book recommendation that I loved. I also get to have lots of discussion of the work of Shel Silverstein and Raold Dahl — two of my serious heroes! 

But I also hear about all different topics you can't even imagine. Someone told me I just had to see the George Harrison documentary. Someone else was reminded by my work of this album cover:

I also take little notes about these conversations and sometimes they make no sense to me later. For example, I wrote down, "James Fenimore Cooper's daughter." I quick Google search has not helped me with the relevance of that one.

I love having this conversations and can't wait to talk to you!

Crafty Supermarket is Saturday!

I'll be back in Ohio this weekend for Crafty Supermarket in Cincinnati on Saturday, April 26 at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. In addition to an outstanding lineup of vendors, they always have rockin' good food choices. Love me some Cincy craft show times — hope to see you there! 

Maker's Mart in Toledo

I'll be in Toledo this Saturday, April 19 for the Handmade Toledo Maker's Mart in conjunction with 419 Day. The show runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 1717 Adams Street and features over 45 artists and makers doing their thing. I hope to see you there!

A Treat for Sunday

Illustration (The Finest Occupation) from Studiocanoe on Vimeo.

To all my illustrator friends and fans. Happy Sunday!

Toomai of the Elephants

A few weeks ago I finished the illustration above as a custom gift for a baby nursery. The parents are big Rudyard Kipling fans and the idea was to base the art on The Jungle Book or anything by Kipling. I had never actually read the "real" Jungle Books, so seized on the opportunity.

I had not realized just how deliciously dark the stories are. I thoroughly enjoyed them, but then wondered how I would translate that into a piece for a child. I chose to focus on Toomai of the Elephants because there is a scene of the elephants dancing wildly in the night jungle that was so vivid and magical to me … and this is where it led.

Pioneer Nation says yes you can

I was trying to decide what to tell you about the Pioneer Nation conference I mentioned last week. I gained a lot of valuable insights and information, but I think the most important thing for you to know is that I went. I took a chance and I gave myself permission to more fully invest in myself as an artist and small business owner. And it felt great.

Kari Chapin

There were inspiring words and a success story from Ohio artists Jen Adrion and Omar Noory of These Are Things, lots of laughter with Kari Chapin, crafty author of The Handmade Marketplace and interesting thoughts from Rena Tom, serial entrepreneur and founder of the co-working space, Makeshift Society in San Francisco. Lots of "go you!" "You're not alone!" type cheering.

A blurry Rena Tom with quote from Anthony Burrill

I did some big picture thinking and planning — but really it was the overall, charging ahead and saying yes!