this blogging thing is a good thing

i had big plans for today, like finishing the moodboard for my 50's inspired floral collection. but for some reason i woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep. all day i couldn't wait for my daughter to nap, so that i could nap myself, which i did, but not before painting this tab for my photo box.

september tab for photo box

if i didn't have this blog, i don't think i would have found the energy to draw even one raindrop! i wanted to have something to share at the end of the day. i could write 5 posts about how much fun we had with my daughter today, but that's not what this blog is about. i am very happy that blogging kept me somewhat motivated even when all i wanted to do was sleep.

good night. 

love is in the clouds

last night i found out that the wonderful tigerprint studios are accepting valentine themed submissions for their homepage banner. so that's what i worked on today. i sketched my composition out, and then drew everything again in photoshop. it took me exactly 2.5 hours. did i time myself? no, but i did time my daughter's nap!

valentine's day tigerprint banner  in progress 

my submission to tigerprint (without my logo) | text/font provided by tigerprint

tigerprint rotates the submitted banners on their homepage, and if you click on a banner, you are guided to the carousel gallery where all the entries are displayed (mine isn't up yet). if you want to find out about a specific banner's designer, you can simply click on it. thank you, tigerprint!

something new, and a new schedule

this weekend was good for starting new projects. today, i moved on to something new. literally, i am illustrating and designing a DVD sleeve cover for a short documentary by that title, produced by an environmental education institution. i realized that i still haven't shared any of my illustration work on this blog, so here's a peek into my process. below is a page of thumbnails that show how i start developing a concept. i had nothing at the beginning, but towards the end, i feel i am on to something.

thumbnails for something new

i also made a new decision regarding my blog. inspired by fellow designer tammie bennet, i have decided not to blog on weekends - i want to spend the weekends away from the laptop, enjoying my time with my family, friends, and neighbors. if anything super exciting happens, i can always share it on monday. so starting this week, this blog will be updated monday to friday.

i will switch off my laptop after i publish this post, promise.

seashells in the snow

it's been snowing since mid-morning, so daycare was closed today, which means i didn't have as much time as i thought i would. my plan to create new work will have to wait until tomorrow. this doesn't mean that we slacked all day (slack we did, just not all day)! we made this clay tablet with my daughter, something i had been meaning to since we came back from greece last summer. we pressed the seashells she had collected into a slab of clay, and it made us dream of summer.

seashell project

speaking of summer, i'm glad i was able to work on the june/july/august tabs for the photo box. three more tabs to go and i can cross this one off my list!

summer months photo box tabs

i am reminded of an important decision i have to make

the photo box project is slowly advancing. i am working without thinking too much, and that's always fun.

may tab for photo box (april tab in background)

painting these flowers reminded me of this illustration i had done a few years back for a kids' magazine (see below). which in turn reminded me that i still need to add a mini portfolio page of my illustrations on this blog. currently, you can see my illustrations on alikart.com (in need of a massive update). 

flower | march 2010 

i need to figure out how to present my surface pattern collections and illustrations side by side on the same website...would they work together or should i have separate websites? it's a good question, to which i am hoping to find an even better answer asap!

30 minutes

today started lazy and ended crazy, and i'll spare you the details. what matters is i did manage to squeeze in half an hour of painting, and i am one small step closer to finishing the tab project i started yesterday. i have been working on these without any prior plan or sketch, something i am not used to, and i am enjoying the freedom that comes with the knowledge that these will end up in a box that will be opened mostly by me.

march tab for photo box