Fall Owl Birthday Invitation

After my social media class last month, I've been *trying* to post more regularly on this blog, so I'm going to share this invitation I recently made. I'm breaking my former rule of only sharing work after the event has passed, and in this case, before some of the invites were even mailed ;)

I usually make a Halloween themed invite for her birthday every year, but this time decided to go with some fall woodland creatures. She is obsessed with snails, so I had to include one. The mushrooms & owl were my personal choosing, but I did ask what color she wanted them to be and she said "Rainbow!".

So here is my attempt at a "rainbow" fall color scheme. I think it came out OK, but has some room for improvement, so I will be re-coloring with 2 different schemes in the next couple weeks.

As I was inking the owl, I had a major case of dejavue, "I feel like I've drawn this owl before.....". Because as it turns out, I have, more than once. So much so, I've made a blog label for them.

Happy Halloween!

Frankenstorm Halloween Card

2012 Calendar

It's a little scary to be thinking about 2012 already...when I just got used to writing 2011 on all my checks :)

It's also hard to believe that this is my 4th year designing a calendar for the Wissahickon Charter School (an eco-centered learning community here in Philadelphia).  This calendar features art from the school's wonderfully talented students, ages kindergarten to 7th grade and is sold as a fundraiser for the school. 

They as sell a notecard pack -  with 10 different cards featuring more talented artists from the school.

Please click here to find out more ways you can support the wonderful school.

Baby Shower Invite

Okay, here it is...the previous sneak peak....

....A baby shower invite for my lovely sister (who is due this week with a long-awaited little girl! ah, hurry up, lil' Sara Jr! I want to hold you!!).

I really loved the way this turned out and was so happy to finally show it to her 2 weeks ago (the party was a surprise).

In addition to the card, I also make a matching "shopping list" to include in card and matching candy bars as a shower favor.   

The complete set is shown below (can you tell I love branding?? hehe).

Updates and a Sneak Peak

Ahhh, summer. I'm enjoying you so much, even if you make me lazy with posting on the blog, or working on art in general, hehe. But I have been working on some freelance jobs which I hope to finishing up soon, and I have 2 BIG projects starting in August with I'm pretty excited about :)

One is for Fair Trade USA, and while it doesn't require too much creativity, I am incredibly happy because it is for a fabulous environmental sustainability company, which is a cause very near to my heart. (And I don't want to get off topic, but my design skills were recently featured in this article about the earth-friendly arts movement, check it out!) 

I just finished a project which I am so very in love with, it pains me that I cannot share it before it goes "live". Argh!!! It's so darn cute, I can't stop staring at it (this is a rare thing, usually by the time I finish a illustration I have been starting at it so long that I hate it :)). So because I can't help myself, and because I don't think it's possible to post on a design blog without a picture, here's a sneak peak......

Kids Animal Themed Snowboard Art

Dear Burton; I love you, I own all your gear, but your board design are a bit, uh...boring. You may think the graphic doesn't matter to people when they are buying a new board, but every snowboarder I've talked to has said otherwise. So here is my suggestion for some great art for your kid's line. 

Love,

Lauren

Be kind to the Earth.....Use Cloth Diapers!

I'm a BIG cloth diaper supporter -it's the only load of laundry I LOVE washing & hanging out to dry :)) My second child has been cloth diapered from 3 months - 2 years, and we have used the same diapers the entire time and they are still going strong! Currently we've begun potty training and I'm a bit sad because the cloth diapers will soon be packed away, awww. 

So here is my public service announcement poster - Use Cloth diapers! 

Rush hour in Busytown

Paws Farm Logo

 I am really loving the new logo I designed for Paws Farm, an amazingly fun and educational place for kids located in Mount Laurel, NJ (my kids could stay all day here :)). The director had two requests before I started this project: she liked ladybugs and owls. Done and done. 

Princess Illustration

This is a quick 8 x 8 inch acrylic painting on panel I made for my wonderful cousin who blogs over at The Thrifty Mommy ( a must read blog for all you price-conscious shopaholics).  It was her daughter's birthday this weekend, and she has somehow convinced/tricked me into thinking the only possible presents I could give for her kids are original paintings for their rooms (she has been spoiled because a couple years ago I painted these construction trucks for her son).

I have grand plans to make this into a princess series and start my licensing portfolio, which will include other sickeningly-cute, mainstream illustrations like ponies, kitties, & butterflies (my secret dream, to completely sellout ;). So that's 1 down, 200 more illustrations to go......

( I always like my rough sketches better for some reason)

Fun Tote Bag Gifts

I am slightly obsessed with reusable bags (see here and here), and make sure to use one whenever I go shopping. If for some reason I go into a store without one and end up buying something, I still refuse the store's bags because I feel so darn guilty...all those little baby sea turtles......


So this year my gifts for all the grandparents and anyone with kids was personalized tote bags. I bought some plain canvas bags at a craft store and used iron-on inkjet transfer paper for the designs. After making 8 of these in various designs (some turning out nice, some looking only so-so), I figured out the trick to ironing them on is NOT to run the iron over the transfer 37 times while pressing down as hard as possible...you should actually only use as few strokes as you can to make the transfer stick (a hard concept for someone who can't use a crayon without breaking it, hah :)).

Overall, I was pretty happy with these, and hopefully they will save a few plastic bags from the landfills.

Children's Room Mural

Here's the mural I designed & painted in my daughters room last October, about 24 hours before my due date (luckily she came 5 days late, much like her mother to every event she has ever been invited to, haha.) I had a lot of fun decorating her room trying to use found objects (a.k.a. trashpicking) & things I already owned. The only thing I bought was the paint.

Oh, wait, I just remembered I bought her rug at Pottery Barn, which pretty much cancels out any savings I achieved through trashpicking.  

We have a ritual of saying goodnight to the owl before bedtime, where I would tell her to kiss him, say goodbye, etc....which is just my way of saying: LISTEN BABY, I PAINTED THIS OWL FOR YOU AND YOU'RE GONNA LIKE IT, OKAY??

So far, so good.

Mother & Baby Illustration

Above is a quick illustration I created for the thank you cards I gave out after my daughter was born. This is the type of thing I would draw in my sketchbook while waiting for all those boring OB appointments.

Ink Drawing, Colors Edited in Photoshop

The Colorguardians and the Magic Books of Color - 2nd Edition

This is a children's book I illustrated back in 2006, which is being republished as a hardcover edition this October by Joseph Publications. For the 2nd edition, I also redesigned the cover and all the text pages, adding some nice hand drawn embellishments. I'm really excited to see this republished with all the changes. Here's a sneak peak at the new cover and an inside page spread.

Illustrations drawn in pencil, colored in Photoshop.