favorite thing . Happy Spring to Me

It’s cold here in Mississippi this week! We are enjoying temps down in the teens, and my children are disappointed that it hasn’t brought snow flurries. I have to admit I’ve fallen prey to a little Spring weather teasing. Last week we had a little bit of warmer, sunny weather — the way winter seems to waffle in the deep South. The days of Spring-like temperatures sprinkled in between these frigid days are just enough to make me wish for new blossoms.

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I have another confession. Sometimes if I’m looking for special inspiration or, like lately, wanting a little touch of Spring to brighten a winter day, I browse Etsy for to find a little happy just for myself. I thought I would share the latest sweet inspiration. This lovely hand-crafted linen flower brooch was created by Wild Peace Organics. The crafter is located in Portland, Oregon, and describes this pin as “eco rustic,” a style I’m loving these days. The packaging was wonderfully simply. The delicate petals, not-quite frayed edges and soft blue-green color let me close my eyes and think of Spring. I can’t wait to wear it when the weather is warmer! But for now, I’ll content myself with simply looking at it 🙂

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I hope you’re staying warm wherever you are, and finding your own reminders of the Spring to come.

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client work . 2014 Savor Our South

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Today, I’m excited to share a recent client project completed for the Starkville Convention & Visitors Bureau. Each year, the organization promotes a spring even series called Savor Our South. I’ve had the privilege of designing the campaign since its inception. This year’s poster is one I actually created for the 2013 campaign and re-worked this year with new colors. For the design, I had fun with some watercolor painting to give it a vibrant feel! If you’re in Starkville this spring, I hope you’ll join us for some of these great events!

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New Art Prints for Little Girls

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I’m excited to share these sweet new prints I’m adding to the Print Shop today! During my holiday dreaming, I decided I wanted to incorporate more of my personal illustration work into pieces for the Etsy shop using some of my sketch journal entries and hand-drawn words. I’ve added a few new pieces of equipment to my office “tech” to allow me to print with great quality and color permanence, and I hope you like the results as I start sharing more of the pieces. I’ve had a goal for the last few years to incorporate more illustration into my daily work. It’s exciting to see some of the work come together.

You may have noticed from some of the sketch journal entries that I’ve been inspired by patterns and doily-type shapes recently. The sweet shapes fit so nicely with this sentiment we’ve probably all heard from our grandmothers… Pretty is as pretty does. I’ve created the design in pink, yellow and lavender color ways, and I’m excited to add one to my own Baby Girl’s decor. I hope you enjoy!

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photo essay . Icy Puddles

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We’ve had a few milder Spring-like days this week — the typical January indecisiveness of Mississippi weather. It’s been fun to go out without coats, but we are anticipating the return of the cold tonight. Below-freezing temps had me thinking back to some icy walks we took during our Thanksgiving farm trip, and some photos I never shared. What began as an alert that “there’s GLASS on the road!!” ended with some chilly fun looking at the patterns water makes as it freezes. (And of course, the sound it makes as we break it!)  Winter has its own frosty beauty, even for those of us in the Deep South. Happy Wednesday!

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