Friday Freebie :: Mustache Bash

 

Good morning friends! Today’s freebie is a set of 8 colorway mustache patterns. C’mon, you know you’ve bought into the craze. Their creepy in some contexts and awesome in others, yes? So this package includes 8 patterns and a photoshop file for you to change the colorways to whatever you want. Enjoy!

Download the mustache patterns

Pitter Pattern :: City Living

Hello friends! Happy almost-weekend. I’ve been tied up with some work but been working through some new patterns, which is so relaxing for me. I will be at BBC Philly this weekend and I’m excited to meet a few new bloggers! Are you headed there? If you are, let me know – I’d love to meet you.

Here’s just a little something I’ve been working on. Enjoy!

Buy it at society6 and soon at spoonflower

Pattern loving :: watercolor peonies

Happy Saturday to you all! I thought last week was busy, which was apparently no match for this week. I’m nearing the official end of my course for the quarter and I also have a lot of awesome clients and great projects. One day, I’m working on a ridiculously bright colored portfolio and the next I’m working on a minimalist blog with a modern twist. Seriously folks, my design muscles are being flexed in ways I couldn’t imagine and it’s making me happy. Something I’m especially excited for.

In my busy-ness I’ve discovered how important it is for me to take a creative break. I’m not great at this whole taking a break thing. I’m the gal who likes to power through it, so I have time for more projects, more exciting possibilities. A friend of mine on twitter reminded me that a brain break is important and 100% necessary for me to be at my best ability, creativity-wise. I made this a few days ago in light of that and recently turned it into a fabric. Find it here. Like it? I think I’ll put it up for sale soon, but we’ll see! On that note, I’m taking a brain break today. And going to smell some flowers.

Just another Moroccan pattern

I know, I know. I cannot get enough of these bright colors lately! Blame it on being cooped up, or on too much coffee, or whatever! In between client sites, I’ve just been sketching. No biggie. Plus, the other crazy-ridiculous-moroccan-flavored-accident was bought more than any of my other products. Wow, you guys. I find it awesomely ironic that the work I did in the dark was loved that much!! So I made another..

buy it at society6

pitter patterns :: ocean themed fabric

Good evening! (at least it is here!) I recently added four patterns to my Spoonflower shop that are “ocean themed”. I was sitting in a coffee shop down the street gathering inspiration for a client and started sketching some coral reefs and lobsters. I have beaches on the brain, apparently! Summer is almost here and obviously my brain is thinking it should be here right now. These will all be for sale in the coming weeks, so stay tuned! Which are your favorites? I’d love to hear what you think!

 

 

 

wanna see ‘em as fabric? here!

on inspiration vs. stealing

I am overwhelmed with the response I got from you all the other day regarding the “Things I’m afraid to tell you” post. It’s so inspiring to hear that others are so accepting and wonderful. In the same spirit, I’d like to talk about something that has been heavy on my heart and mind.

We see a lot of inspiration around the web. It’s everywhere, and by the end of the week I’m usually all inspirationed-out unless I keep myself from becoming so. Between Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter, I’ve brought this upon myself (thanks, smartphone!), creating inspiration on the go as well. But lately I’ve noticed a rise in a trend that’s been around from the beginning of time, but seems worse now more than ever. Stealing.

It’s no secret that there must be thousands of truly renowned and frequented blogs on the web, and thousands more that are hardly visited. So many people are making, creating, designing interiors, clothes, graphics, furniture, food, diy-ing and probably hundreds of other things that I can’t even begin tackling thinking about. How many of those blogs do you think are creative unique and individual artwork?

What happens when curating and inspiration become stealing? Where is that line and how do we keep ourselves from crossing it?

I know. There is nothing new under the sun. Anything created is truly a collection of other things that were previously created. Bits and elements of other things, put together in a different way, to create an entirely different piece. I acknowledge that this is art.

There is truly a difference between inspiration and stealing, of course. Inspiration by its truest definition means the process of being mentally stimulate to create something of your own. But what happens when what someone creates, is an identical relic of what they were inspired by? What happens when the creator of that new design has it sold in a renowned store, or is nationally, or even internationally recognized for that artwork. The original artist may never have any clue that it’s happening. But if they do, the sting is probably just as bad as a heartbreak. To create an original piece with blood, sweat, tears, and sometimes even years of hard work, and see someone else reap a reward for it is painful for most people to watch, even as an outsider.

Lately I see pinboards called, “things I’d like to copy”, and “DIY”, with items carefully curated around the web that were not meant for this purpose. It breaks my heart to see the hard work of someone plastered on a page meant for copying.

How do we go about correcting this, as a community of bloggers, readers, curators, and creators? At what point do we say, copying cannot and will not be accepted? I know I don’t tolerate it on a personal level, and I hope and pray that others feel the same way I do.

Colorful Mondays

Always, always, always, nail polish cheers me up, whenever I am down, or just in a rut. It’s like this teeny splash of color that reminds you of your own colorful nature. I am that girl who stands in the store, figuring out what color to pick, fooooreeeverrr. If you’re waiting for me to pick, just tell me to move out of the way : )

Friday freebie :: seamless strawberries

 

Happy Friday friends! Hope you’re all ready for a fabulously restful weekend (I know I’m not!). We will be going to a wedding on Saturday that is a bit of a trip away from us, but it’ll be great to see friends. Sometimes you just have to trade fun for rest, and vice versa. Today’s freebie is a seamless strawberry pattern, enjoy!

Download the seamless strawberries pattern

Pitter Pattern :: painting in the dark

Hello, Moroccan patterned print, made on a whim. This was one of those things I made at 10pm, watching TV, sitting in the almost dark. I was picking colors based on what they looked like in super dim light, hence the ridiculously bright hues (they were the only ones I could see, ha!) What do you think? Should I be painting in the dark more often, or never do that again? ;)

Buy it here.

Things I’m afraid to tell you

I’ve been comfortable talking about my personal life a little bit more over the past month, as I begin interacting with all of you and learning more about myself as a blogger. I’ve learned this blog is more than just another website, it is a connection to many of you who read my blog and I am learning to like love that connection.

A few weeks ago this lovely woman shared her feelings on the things she was afraid to share with her readers. Ez, over at Creature Comforts decided to have an open invitation to bloggers to take part in writing in the same open-book fashion. So today, I’m opening my book, and sharing some things that I am afraid to tell all of you lovely readers.

• I’m afraid of failure. After the loss of my job, I spent a day good week or so crying into my husband’s arms about how I had failed. It wasn’t in “the plan” and I had disappointed the people I loved and more importantly myself. He assured me, this could not be further from the truth. I had in fact disappointed myself, but not anyone I loved, or who loved me. Learning to live with things that are out of my control like this can make me feel like a failure, and I often struggle with this.
• I fear airplanes.. like you wouldn’t believe. This is so common, I’ve noticed, in so many people, but I wish I could just hop on a plane and go to a networking event, or visit a friend.. but every time I plan a trip, it has to be well thought out, and I spend weeks mentally preparing being terrified for the flight.
•  I don’t like living in a city. I know, it’s the “cool” thing to do. I’m probably living the life that so many people dream of and want, but I’d trade a trendy life for a front yard and garden, in a heartbeat.
• My faith is the most important thing in my life.  Here’s a big one that I was afraid to share, because I was afraid of offending people. But why? My faith is my rock that keeps me grounded in everything I do in life. I love all people, those who have a spiritual faith those who don’t. I’m embarrassed of those who claim to believe in God and preach messages of hate. (Do I even need to give examples here?) I try to make sure that in everything I do there is an undercurrent of love, because I truly believe it’s what binds us together as the human race.

I think the thing that links us all together are the things we love, the things we’re inspired by, but also when we are open with each other, as friends would be. The only reason I’ve felt comfortable enough to share these things is because of all of you being so accepting and wonderful to me as a designer. I hope if anything at all, I’ve inspired you to not be afraid of those things that you’re afraid to share.