* New Etsy Shop Maebella Open! *

Hi all! I'm pleased to announce the official opening of my new Etsy shop Maebella by mtdesigns. Maebella is a line of handmade bows that you can clip to your hair, clothes, bags etc. to customize any outfit. Check out the shop here and leave me a comment with your thoughts.

Now is a great time to buy a Maebella bow for holiday gifts and/or stocking stuffers!

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* Fashion: Mike Gonzalez *

Paperfashion does amazing fashion illustrations. She recently did one look from Mike Gonzalez's new collection. I can see why she liked it so much. I love the patterns he uses and the cutout shapes. It really adds a lot to the somewhat muted color palette. It's a clever mix of African-inspired and military looks. Here are some of my favorite looks.

(images from here)

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* Video Illustration *

I created a little video in camtasia (demo version) as a sample for a work thing. I made the video to document the process of colorizing a sketch in photoshop. I like to sketch any cool fashion photo shoots I find in magazines for fun. This sketch is based on an image in an old urban outfitters catalog. Enjoy!

song is "Another Day" by Jamie Lidell

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* Friends *

My wonderful friend Jess (and avid commenter on this blog) has an interesting and funny post today about sacrificing your own personal vision as an artist in order to make money, in whatever form that would take.

"I suppose this is what every artist struggles with; we can serve ourselves up on a silver plate, quivering and real - or we can wrap ourselves in cheap leopard print and make a couple million.

At this point, I still want to believe I'll make those millions (and I do mean millions) without totally whoring myself out...but if this goes on for much longer, don't be surprised if I'm slipping on those five inch heels and giving them a literary lap dance."

Jess always has a way of describing things that immediately puts a hilarious picture in my head. The "literary lap dance" image is still making me laugh. Check out her blog here.

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* Dedication *

My grandmother's close friend Joel, who was like a grandfather to us, passed away this morning. I just want to take this opportunity to remember him as the strong, kind, and wonderful man he was. God bless him.

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* Sunday Sketch to Final Product *

This design I did for The Podcast Eating Contest logo for itunes. I sketched it on the corner of my moleskin journal. Sometimes sketches end up in weird places...on post-its, napkins, take-out menus. I always try to keep them in one book, but it rarely ever happens. When inspiration strikes, just grab what's nearby and start sketching.

* Sketch *

* Final Product *

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* Collage Crazy *

Collages are the most versatile and inexpensive way to make something (in my opinion). I can always rely on having magazines, glue and paper around. I have one sketchbook that I keep solely for doing simple collages. I have a whole stack of cut out objects from magazines that I like, and I try to challenge myself to put them together in unusual ways.

Most of these are works in progress, since I'll usually find another cool object to cut out and add to a design later. It is a really fun way to pass the time. Here are some from my sketchbook:

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* Week Wrap Up: Dad's 60th *

All last week my mom and I were busy putting together a huge surprise birthday party for my dad. And by huge, I mean 85 of our closest friends and family. Coming from half an italian family, this meant lots of food. Coming from half an irish family, this meant lots of alcohol. Needless to say, there was a lot of preparation needed.

During the planning, I was in charge of designing the invitations and decorations. I thought I'd share the designs I did with you here.

I also wanted to come up with a way of displaying photos of my dad that was interactive and fun. I decided to hang twine from some pieces of wood to make a photo hanging. People could use these *adorable* clips to attach their favorite photos or a nice note to the hanging.

I was so busy running around that I didn't take many pictures. I only have these 2 shots of the final hanging, but it gives you an idea of what it looked like.

The party was a blast! It didn't go exactly as we expected of course; it was too cold to be outside for long, the food was getting cold, and my brothers kept my dad out too long getting shots at the bar, so they were almost 2 hours late. But, we made the most of it. I haven't seen my dad that shocked in a while. Totally worth all the effort. :]

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* Totally MIA *

I have been super busy this past week, and haven't gotten around to posting...

I'll be back with a week wrap-up post and should be back to normal posting tomorrow.

much love.

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* Artfest in Maine *

My mom and I went to Artfest in Maine this past weekend. It is part of a month long festival for Oktoberfest. It consisted of a bunch of open artist studios scattered around southern Maine, including pottery, jewlery, painting, sculpture, and more.

My mom and I only hit up 4 of the many places: Red Door Pottery, the Wentworth Dennett Studios, Just Us Chickens, and Ocean Fire Pottery. It was so much fun! We met a ton of amazing artists who were so welcoming and full of creativity. It was incredibly inspiring to talk to these local artists and hear their stories about their passion for art.

At the Wentworth Dennett Studios, an old school transformed into several artist studios, there is a giant wooden chair sculpture out front. So, of course we took turns sitting in it. I had a great time, and I definitely recommend checking out some of these places.

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* Sunday Sketch to Final Product *

Here is a "Sketch to..." of some cute gift tags I made for my cousin-in-law's upcoming baby shower. The giraffe is an inside joke, plus it is an adorable animal, so it worked all around. We also don't know the sex of the baby yet, so I went with purple and green for the colors.

You'll notice that this sketch is different than the final artwork. Once I drew out the giraffes, I had to make some changes to their position and to the arc, so it would look better on the circle tag.

* Sketch *

* Final Artwork *

* Final Product *

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