As much as I love egg salad, this year I decided to do something a little different with our Easter Eggs. Since my husband and I have an pretty sizable succulent garden, the idea of creating planters out of pretty little egg shells seemed like a great idea. Thank you Pinterest.
The trick is to skip the hard boiling process and simply save your discarded egg shells from throughout the week. Just be careful to crack them in a neat circle up at the top, which is actually not all that difficult to do. You can color and decorate your shell any way you see fit. I used a mish-mash of crayons, nail polish and neon food coloring for mine.
Happy New Year, friends! I am predicting that 2015 will be our grooviest year yet, so I made this little illustration to celebrate the feeling. I just love beginnings, so full of inspiration and imagination. The new year is like a virtual reset button where you can take a pause and begin to breathe new life into everything you do. Whether or not you believe in the magic of fresh starts, I’m wishing everyone peace, love and all around good vibes in the upcoming year!
I heard Kimbra’s new song, 90s Music, on the radio the other week and recently decided to pull it up on Youtube for my listening pleasure. Oh, my god, Becky. I had no idea it would come with a bomb-diggity video filled with kitschy, neo-psychedelic, in-yo-face visuals. It’s filled with SUCH great inspiration for textile designers! It kind of reminds me of an updated version of Deee-Lite’s Groove Is In The Heart, which itself was a 90s throwback to the 70s. Kinda makes me wish I hadn’t thrown out my wide-leg Jnco jeans and Cross Colors gear. Below are some stills from the video but you should definitely take the time to check out the whole video here.
Once again it’s springtime and inspiration is in full bloom. Flowers have always been a source of beauty, and quite the staple for inspiration as a textile designer. But lately I’ve come across several designers who are using them in some really marvelous ways.
Petals, buds, leaves and twigs have transcended their common status as a mere object of beauty to become an instrument of design, popping up in some rather unlikely places. I am especially enamored with the leafy portraits of blogger and designer Justina Blakeny’s ongoing series Face The Foliage. All of the below designs have me looking at flowers in a whole new way.
1 & 2 via Justina Blakeny
3 via M. Hochhalter
4 & 5 via Alice Mouoru
6 via Grace Ciao
7 via Joseph Scissorhands (source unknown)
8 via Design Love Fest
We may be well past Black Friday, but I have for you a hefty serving of last-minute gift ideas all those Patty Procrastinators out there. (I decided that should be a thing.) And this is not just any list of gift items, ladies and gentlemen. Within the pages of My Fair Gift Guide are over 175 green gift ideas collected by Rachel of My Fair Vanity, along with a small group of guest curators – including myself! It’s a vast offering of eco-friendly, made in America, and fair trade gift ideas that will empower and inspire you to make thoughtful gift choices. Now you don’t have to feel so bad about being so last minute.
It was an honor to be included among such fashionable ladies who are also known for being so kind to the earth. Each one of these ladies picked out things I would seriously love to call my own. This bright yellow journal that Rachel picked out would be perfect for on-the-go sketching. Dominique of Let’s Be Fair picked out these uber-cool letter openers that would make opening credit card statements a little less painful. The city-centric selection from Alden of EcoCult has the cutest tassel necklace from Krysos + Chandi that I would love to sport. This cardigan from David Peck chosen by spades + siLK can shut up and get in my closet right this minute. And wouldn’t these yoga socks, picked by yogi Carissa Ciuca, be the perfect solution to cold toes on the one day a year I make it to a yoga class? Maybe if I had them I would be better about that? Sounds like a legitimate reason to buy them, right?
And then there are my gift picks. For the pattern lover if your life, duh. I was sure to include some of my favorite designers currently contributing to the world of surface design, including the likes of Nikki Strange, Kindah Khalidy and Wind & Willow to name a few. So pick up something last-minute for someone you care about. Or buy something for yourself. I’m pretty sure it’s never too late to do that.
