Made in the 216 Holiday Shoppe
I am so happy to be part of another wonderful Made in the 216 event! This year's Holiday Shoppe takes place inside Room Service and lasts for a whole month—so there's plenty of time to get in and snag your gifts for the season. I'll have some new mini-prints for sale as well as some gift tags to add the final touch to your wrapping. There are so many other talented vendors participating, you're sure to find something wonderful (and locally made!) for everyone on your list.
The event kicks off on Black Friday with a DJ and some good drinks, with an after-party to follow down the street at Market Garden Brewery. It's always a good time so I hope to see you there for the opening!
Jonesco Beer: Frenchy
Remember my Frenchie illustration from a little while back? Oddly enough, I was recently contacted by Wes from Jonesco Beer about doing a label for his latest brew, a French-style Saison called "Frenchy."
He thought a bulldog with some quirky French accessories would make for a perfect label. Even more strange, I thought this was all because of my illustration, but he hadn't seen it. At all. So it was a weird coincidence that worked out, because we adapted my existing drawing to suit the label, and above is the finished piece. Just one of those serendipitous design moments, I guess! You can check out his full variety of beers and labels (he has designed most if not all of the other labels) here.
Stay Creative.
Really love looking over this list I found over at Sterling Style. I can definitely say I do a lot of 26 (don't force it) and 33 (finish something). I go crazy if I start something and don't finish it! I do some of the others but those resonated with me. What do you do to stay creative?
Welcome to SS!
After months in the making, my blog relaunch is finally finished! (Well, for now, we all know there's always work to be done). The relaunch not only effects the design of the blog and shop, but I have some new business cards and packaging for my prints in the works. I'm so excited that everything will now be cohesive, and can't wait to roll out the new identity in the upcoming holiday shops I'm participating in.
I'm now running my blog and shop as Shore Society, which is a nod to my love of lakefront living as well as all things of high design. You can read more about me and SS here.
Hope you guys like it, and continue to follow along. Also, although my old web address will forward to this new one (blog.shoresociety.com), if you have linked to this blog on your own site, kindly update your link to reflect the new name and web address. Thanks!
New Prints + Blog Announcement
Just listed: Lake Erie Love prints in three new color schemes with filled lettering (as opposed to the original outline lettering).
My Frenchie print has also just been added to the shop, and I will be adding some more dogs as I finish them :)
Also, I've been making some changes to my shop (as you'll notice) which will soon be trickling over to the blog. I will be keeping this blog, but it will operate under a new name, new design, and include a bit more personal posts and inspiration. I hope the re-launch will allow this little corner of the internet to serve as a one-stop holding station for all of my news, photos, sketches, and artwork, and that you're just as excited about it as I am! This has been in the works for months — the product of many conversations, brainstorms, and design attempts, but I'm finally so happy with what it's becoming.
So keep your eyes peeled, pardon my dust as I get things up and moving, and I'll hopefully be finished after this weekend.
DIY: Glitter Wedges
I have a love/hate relationship with the star shoe of the season: Miu Miu's glitter heeled booties. They come in so many sparkly, magnificent colors and I just want to squeal when I see them. I mean come on:
They're amazing. And since they cost more than my rent, I'm left emulating them at home. I've found quite a few DIY posts (namely this one) floating around and finally decided to try them with Brigitte.
S U P P L I E S :
Paintbrush
Gesso
Mod Podge or Glue
Paint - waterproof acrylic - ours was actually very cheap from the craft store
Painter's Tape
Glitter
Clear Spray Fixative
We looked for a cheap pair of heels, but ended up with wedges and thought this would be an interesting way to bring in the accent of color (like in the Miu Mius) by painting the sole and wedge a color, and applying the glitter to the upper. We found these wedges at Target, they were about $25.
Wipe the shoes clean, and brush one coat of gesso over the sole and wedge. We painted the bottom of the shoe as well so the black was totally covered.
After the gesso dries (about 30 minutes), apply two coats of paint, allowing them to dry in between.
This process takes some time, so I recommend a glass of wine and a good show.
I used a coral pink paint (to go with gold glitter) and Brigitte used turquoise to go with silver glitter.
*In retrospect, we should have added a step here. After finishing, we both realized we should have also painted the upper of the shoe to match the color of the glitter, so the black gaps weren't as apparent. We solved that with metallic paint pens at the end, but I would recommend painting the shoe just to make it easier, and to give it a solid colored base for the glitter.
Next, mix the glitter and glue together in a bowl. You can use whatever ratio you feel is best, ours was about 1:1. By mixing the glitter in with the glue, it won't shake off and make a mess. Brilliant!
Tape off the painted area, then brush the glitter over the shoe. Here is what it looked like after one coat.
And here they are after 3 coats. Starting to lay on thicker (and taking longer to dry). We did about 4 coats, and on the last coat, shook some loose glitter onto the shoes to fill in any gaps. Be light-handed about the loose glitter, as it will be more likely to fall off.
After the final coat dried, we shook off any loose bits and sprayed the shoes with a light coat of spray fixative to seal them.
Welcome, Fall
Falling leaves, apple spice, crisp cool air, pumpkin treats, cozy days...around the corner!
Ekko & Panda
My friends Nathaniel and Val have two completely gorgeous Siamese cats, Ekko and Panda. I always thought they'd be so fun to draw, and recently they asked me to illustrate them. It was an interesting challenge..not only was it important for the cats to look right, but also to get their different personalities into the piece. Panda (on top) is a super fluffy lover who is always laying on a windowsill or dangling her paw from a shelf. Ekko (bottom) is sleek and aloof and is always flipped on his back or laying in a box. There were a lot of other layouts I considered but liked this the most. They aren't the most playful of cats, so drawing them just chilling out in their favorite spots made the most sense.
I did their fur with watercolor washes that I did by hand, which I picked apart and collaged together digitally to get their markings right. The linework and the rest is all digital.
I'm so happy with how it came out, and that Nathaniel and Val loved it!
The two kitties are below so you can see how cute they are in real life :)
DIY: Tissue Paper Flowers
My mom is starting back to school (first grade!) in a couple weeks, and is having a garden theme in her classroom. I learned how to make these tissue paper flowers at work and offered to make her some for her bulletin boards and activity tables. I thought I'd share how to make them since they're easy and you can use them to decorate for basically anything.
Start with tissue paper, whatever colors you'd like. I got a multi-pack so I could make a lot of different color combos.
Cut the paper into squares and sort by color.
Choose three colors for a standard size flower (my squares were about 8x8"). You can do four or two if you're doing a larger or smaller flowers (I also made some that were 5x5 but still used 3 layers...it's really up to however you want them to look).
Stack the sheets and start accordion folding. My folds were about 3/4", you can fold smaller if you'd like more/tighter petals or larger folds for a bigger, less defined shape.
Keep going until you reach the end of the sheet.
Fold the paper in half.
Cut a rounded edge along the open side.
Wrap a piece of yarn around the fold and tie in a knot. You could also use garbage bag ties or wire if you plan on attaching a stem and making a bouquet.
Fan the flower out
Fluff the three tissue layers apart from each other until they start to make a flower shape. Decide which layer you'd like as the bottom color, and hold the flower there, where the yarn is. Pinch the center and form the layers away from where your fingers are. You almost want to make a "nub" at the center base of the flower so you have something to attach the flowers with.
Keep arranging and fluffing the layers until you fill in the gaps. Repeat as you'd like!
