daisy duo gift set

I finally got my hands on some paper! It felt strange to be away for so long. It doesn't help that my studio looks like a bomb hit it. I started a purging process mid-summer and I haven't quite gotten around to finishing the job. The mess is not very conducive to any creative endeavor at this point. I need to move this decluttering to the top of my to-do list asap.

I was reading an article on stamp collecting when I was sketching ideas for this Daisy Duo Gift Set. I put the two things together and this is what became of it. The set includes a gift box with a gift card holder, an accordion style card, a simple card and three different flower stamps. The negative spaces in the single flower designs allow for the addition of a stamped sentiment if needed.

Below is an idea of a triptych that would be a very easy project to complete with the help of some frames. I favor Ikea frames for something simple like this.

The subtle difference in pinks of the two flowers is something that I would keep in mind when selecting paper for this project. If the flowers were equal shades of pink the illustration would look very flat. By making the flower that is in the 'back' darker, a bit of visual dimensionality is added.

You can now order the Daisy Duo Gift Set in the A Little Hut shop.

Have a great day everyone—and enjoy the short week!

happy national coloring book day!

Tomorrow is National Coloring Book Day. Who knew? I just found out by chance a couple of days ago. I celebrated a day ahead by coloring one of my Flower Nook coloring pages and then turning it into a trio of note cards.

This weekend also marks the end of our vacation (insert sad face). We stayed home this year and I took a very close to 100% internet and work sabbatical. It was a fabulously relaxing week and now I feel energized to take on the end of the summer and the start of school in a couple of weeks (ahh! too soon!).

I'd been wracking my brain to see how one the illustrations from Flower Nook could translate into a paper craft project and I just couldn't come up with anything. I want it to be a bit like what I did with the Fantasy Bloom Gift Set. The week off gave me the mental space to finally come up with an idea that I think will work. We'll see!

• • •

To celebrate National Coloring Book Day I'd like to give away 2 signed coloring books (and a few other suprise goodies) today! All you need to do is leave a comment below (include your email address or a way to contact you) by answering one little question: what do you like the most about coloring and what is your favorite coloring tool.. or just say hello!

I'll pick a random winner from the comments that are posted from now until Monday (August 3rd).

That's it. Good luck, happy Sunday and happy coloring!

color and frame - part 2

I posted this photo on Instagram yesterday and I thought it would be a good idea to answer some questions about using my coloring book.

First of all my favorite tools for coloring:
- Right now I’m into markers. I got some Prismacolor Double-Ended Art Markers for my birthday and I’m really hooked. One end has a flexible brush tip which is wonderful to give strokes a more organic look. The other side is a fine tip which is great for more detailed work.
- I’ve always been partial to Prismacolor colored pencils. Thery're just the best.
- Pastel pencils - My dad had a set when I was little and I was so careful with them. I just thought they’d crumble under the pressure I used back then. I've loved them ever since then because the blending options and soft look is just beautiful. I want to give them a try again with these coloring pages.
- Good old regular lead pencils. Sometimes I keep a drawing in black and white and just add some shading. That’s a lot of fun too and less decision making.

The coloring book has illustrations on only the right hand side of each spread - so the backs of all the drawings are blank. This makes it safe to use markers. Just remember to place an extra sheet of paper behind the page your working on so that the ink doesn’t bleed onto the next image.


I move my paper around a lot when I’m coloring or drawing. Sometimes I want a stroke to be just so and the angle of the page is just wrong if I keep it straight in front of me. That's why I like single sheets. My coloring book pages aren’t perforated (it would’ve made the book much more expensive!) but you can cut them out with a few simple steps.

1. Place a letter-sized sheet of chip board or cardboard (a cut out of a cereal box would be perfect) behind the illustration you’d like to cut out.
2. Place a ruler at the point where you’d like to make the cut. Make sure the ruler is covering the image to protect it (in case your blade goes in the wrong direction!).
3. Make sure the cardboard is pushed in as close to the spine as you can get it and under the area you’re going to cut.
4. Hold the ruler steady and cut. Done!

As you can see in the photo I also used the cardboard to protect my clipboard from the ink bleeding through the page.

I hope these easy tips help you out. If you have any other questions feel free to ask below.

Thanks again to all of you that believe in my work and have been ordering my coloring book. It’s been an exciting week!

If you don’t have a copy of Flower Nook: A Coloring Book just yet you can order one on Amazon. If you do - thank you! - if you have a few minutes I’d appreciate you leaving a review on the. I’d love to see what you think!

Have a great day everyone!

color and frame

 
Here is a mock-up, inspired by vintage botanical illustrations, of how you can display some of the images in Flower Nook: A Coloring Book. I kept the color to a bare minimum just to see what a limited color palette would look like. Full colored versions of these would really pop against the white background. Why not display your handy work?

I'm still pinching myself because I can't believe this project is finally complete. Thank you so much for all your kind messages on Facebook and Instagram and for all your orders. I've been smiling all day long. Now onto the next big thing. I'm already thinking of the theme for the second book and I'm sketching ideas for another A Little Hut set. I need more hours in the day!

flower nook: a coloring book is now available!

Look what I have to show you today! I'm so happy that Flower Nook: A Coloring Book is ready to go into the world. I still marvel at the idea it all started with some simple sketches I posted on Instagram. Several people asked me if my illustrations were available for coloring and here I am.

The process of creating the 50 illustrations in the book took about two months. My sketchbook was my main source of inspiration and if you've been following me there you'll see the connection right away. I also remembered childhood fantasies where I wondered what it would be like to be tiny (like Thumbelina) and walk through blades of grass that were twice as tall as me and being surrounded by enormous flowers. That's why I included about 5 illustrations that have little girls enjoying the flowers and tending to them.

I truly hope you enjoy the book as much I did creating it. I got silly excited when I got my proof copy in the mail. Ha! It reminded me a bit of what I felt when I got my first book. It never gets old.

This project confirmed (yet again!) that I love working on ideas that my customers can take to the next level. Whether you're building something out of paper or adding color to pages, you're contributing your own dose of creativity and that thrills me. Hopefully, you're also having as much fun as I have when I'm working on all this – it truly is a joy to do what I feel I was born to do.

Thank you so much to those of you that have been so encouraging during this process. Special thanks go to my amazing (patient!) family, to Jenean Morrison for sharing her expert advice and Natalie Barsalou for helping me name the book.

You can order your copy of Flower Nook: A Coloring Book on Amazon.
As always, thank you so much for supporting my work!

fantasy bloom gift set

This one took much longer than expected. It's been in the making since I translated a hand drawn sketch into a much larger paper cut version. I'd been wanting to get back to it and it just hadn't happened until today.

We're having a spectacularly uneventful holiday weekend because both kids are studying for finals (read: a lot of long faces around here!). So... in between going back and forth asking questions, I got to finish this.

I really like that I stayed very close to my sketch. It gives the piece a little more of an organic feel that translates well in any size.

I hope you enjoy working with this set as much as I had making it!

Have a wonderful weekend!

my coloring book

These are two spreads in a mock-up of what could've been my coloring book. I was testing the paper (a lot of markers and coloring on this!) and it's perfect because it took the ink really well. I say 'could've been' because today I found out the costs behind trying to go down this path — not feasible. I want to make a quality book but at the same time it needs to be affordable and this option, however awesome, wouldn't be. I was really disappointed when I found this out just today.

But...

As luck would have it I have received information from a very generous, sweet person (thank you!!!) that will make my project a reality. The book will be reasonably priced and even though it won't be designed exactly how I had planned it, it will work well for everyone — my customers and me. Double-yay! I couldn't be any happier!

So... now to continue drawing, drawing, drawing. I'm surrounded by sheets and sheets of flowers, leaves, and many other garden pretties. I can't wait for the reveal. I'm not sure of my timetable quite yet but let's just say that the beginning of summer (no homework, more sleeping time, etc) will be very helpful! :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

to and fro

I always move between two worlds with my work. I go from very illustrative and loose to more graphic and simple. If I had to pick one I'd stick with the latter but I enjoy working both ways. I find that lately I've been craving the work with the loser illustrations and sketches. I've been working on them during the week as a warm-up to my day. It's been a great practice that keeps my design mind nimble.

Typically, I look at my lose sketches and imagine them in a more graphic and reduced format. Today is a great example of how my sketch inspired a pattern that I'm really loving at the moment. Behind the scenes I've also been working on an adult coloring book. I'll show you some spreads when the time comes. Cant wait!

• • •

Most of these products can now be found in my Society6 shop. I haven't had time to update my Spoonflower shop but that will be forthcoming as well.

Ta-ta for now!

happy mother's day!

Have a wonderful day everyone! I'm enjoying it tremendously with my family and my babies (not so babies anymore, but in my heart they always will be).

XO
Patricia

who wants to color?

I was going to take the sketch at the top as inspiration for some 3D pieces, but now I don't have time to do that. Another project has taken the front seat. I may tackle it down the road, but for now I decided to share the image with any of you that would like to color it in or for those of you that would like to try some paper cutting. This would look amazing cut out by hand! Just make sure to print it on some sturdy card stock.

Get the free download here.

Feel free to share your creations on my Facebook page or Instagram. I'd love to see what you do with this. More importantly, have fun!

buds & stems - a feeling of connection

This is my new Buds & Stems collection (coming soon to Spoonflower). Just three simple little patterns that I love so and came about through the work I've been posting for my shop. It's like spring truly invaded my work (not a bad thing for sure!). I tried coming up with another pattern to make it a balanced set of four but it wasn't happening. So I let the group stay as is. I notice that I've been doing that with other parts of my work — I'm not forcing things. I'm just letting them be.

This year in particular I've been letting things develop more naturally and working on truly listening to my inner creative voice. You'd think that I'd have that well taken care of by now. But I can tell when I'm falling off the rails my work doesn't feel as genuine. One thing that has helped me a lot is that I've been conscious about staying offline for longer periods of time. The less I look at Pinterest, random web sites and blogs, the more I can see myself in what I'm designing. Don't take me wrong — I love seeing what other artists are creating (specially when it's in a medium I don't work in), but time away is time to recharge and it really works.

So, here's to more work that is truly me.

Have a great day everyone!

• • •

TIP:: I didn't have dark blue ribbon so I made one out of thin strips of blue card stock. I wrapped the gift with one piece, used another one for the bow and third tiny one for the center of the bow. I was going to make a typically symmetrical ribbon but this lopsided version seemed more interesting to me. That's it!

lush garden

This week I gave you a tiny preview of the Lush Garden Gift Set in the image for the cover of the quarterly that I have in the works. You can see most of the set in the photo (only the full size images of the card designs are missing). I'm still working along the lines of making projects that can be used for your own decor or to be given as gifts—those are the best.

I'm killing two birds with one stone here because I'm using the framed piece for our own home which is in need of some artwork. I used a 12" square frame for the piece that is cut out of one piece of paper. It's gracing one of our walls now and now I'm thinking that it needs some company. I'll be working on that for the next few projects.

The illustrations are direct copies of sketches that I worked on when I was just doodling one day. Sometimes the work that you start without an end in mind seems more genuine and more joyful. That's why the more I worked on this the more I fell in love with it. The final touch was adding spots of color that don't match up with the outline illustrations. I think that offers a bit of a contemporary edge that seals the deal.

You can now order the Lush Garden Gift Set in the shop. I hope you enjoy it!

paper hut idea

So... here's an idea I've been tossing around for a very, very long time. I haven't gotten into detail as to what would be on the inside but the idea would be some sort of quarterly (?) book/magazine about paper (maybe other mediums that include paper) projects, ideas and inspiration.

What would you like to see inside? What do you think is missing out there?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. There are no wrong answers or ideas. So how about it?

simple wins

I've been sorting, filing and just cleaning up a lot of my files. I went through my photos too and I don't know why but I felt very connected with this old photo. Remember my Simple Monday posts? These cards are definitely great representations of how simple can totally work and be used for so many different occasions.

These cards can be made with simple flower designs and portions of background shapes. The card full of leaves is by far my favorite. I made it using a portion of my Just Leaves Lattice file. Groups of leaves are still one of my favorite things to draw — they are therapeutic to work on.

Look at your patterned embossing folders and background SVG files in a new light. Instead leaving them in the back, why not making them the centerpiece of your cards?

(The cutting files are part of my backgrounds and flowers files.)

spring embrace gift set

I've been giving some in-progress images on Instagram regarding this project. It started with the simplest of little sketches that I drew one night right before going to bed. It developed naturally after that.

Here are some additional ideas for using this Spring Embrace Gift Set:
- Table numbers
- Rectangular shaped banner pieces
- Cut the illustrations out of white paper and place over colorful paper (pastels?) for a nursery
- Frame the 3D flower in a shadow box to use as artwork
- Use one of the illustrations on top of a gift wrapped in solid colored gift wrap.

I decided to turn this into a gift set because there isn't anything more fun than to give someone you've made. Right? Cards are not only a great gift but they're small (fast to make) and so useful for the person that gets them. The larger rectangular piece and the card illustrations are great to give someone framed artwork. I'm about to make more of these myself as gifts (Mother's Day is on my mind ;)).

Have a great weekend everyone!

joy collection - svgs and printables

The first collection of the year is called Joy. It includes SVG cutting files and printables in two colorways — yellow and red.

I wanted to create a group of patterns and shapes that would coordinate all the way through different product lines. This collection is included in my Society6 products as I showed you the other day and will be coming soon in the manner of fabric and gift wrap on Spoonflower (still waiting for samples).

My ideas for the printables (8 letter-sized sheets of each pattern):
- To wrap small gifts
- Make envelope liners
- To make cards and hangtags
- To decorate scrapbooking layouts (including pocket scrapbooking like Project Life)
- Anything else you can come up with!

I'm pretty proud of this collection and if truth be told it does make me joyful when I look at it.
I hope you enjoy it too!

---

The Joy Collection is free from now until 1/11 with the purchase of $5.98 and above.
Code: thankyou
Important: Make sure to add the code to the GRAY Shopping Cart link at the top of the website home page.

joy collection - svgs and printables

The first collection of the year is called Joy. It includes SVG cutting files and printables in two colorways — yellow and red.

I wanted to create a group of patterns and shapes that would coordinate all the way through different product lines. This collection is included in my Society6 products as I showed you the other day and will be coming soon in the manner of fabric and gift wrap on Spoonflower (still waiting for samples).

My ideas for the printables (8 letter-sized sheets of each pattern):
- To wrap small gifts
- Make envelope liners
- To make cards and hangtags
- To decorate scrapbooking layouts (including pocket scrapbooking like Project Life)
- Anything else you can come up with!

I'm pretty proud of this collection and if truth be told it does make me joyful when I look at it.
I hope you enjoy it too!

---

The Joy Collection is free from now until 1/11 with the purchase of $5.98 and above.
Code: thankyou
Important: Make sure to add the code to the GRAY Shopping Cart link at the top of the website home page.

while in bed

When other people are probably doing something like reading in bed, this is what I've been doing. It isn't exactly a nightly thing but it's getting close to it. I thought about making this a 365-day challenge but I don't want to put that limitation on it. It's just for fun (and therapy on the weary days) and it's great practice.

I'm using...
- Pencil
- Eraser (I love this one but I really want to get a chunky one to cover more surface easily)
- Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen - the tip is flexible similar to a brush and it glides so smoothly on the paper. I think it's too thick for smaller illustrations but it's perfect for this format I'm using. This pen came in a set that has other thinner pens but this is the only one I've used so far.
- Strathmore Sketch 11 x 14 spiral bound pad - I love that the ink doesn't bleed onto the next page. Not even on the back of the page I've drawn on. It takes the ink really well.

I've been posting some of these on Instagram, where you can tell they are taken in my poorly lit room. I'm keeping it real there—on my bed and all.

I think I'm subconsciously using this series as a warm up for the Lilla Rogers class that I signed up for. I cannot wait to get started in March! I know that class is going to take me out of my comfort zone but that's precisely why I want to take it. It's just like these drawings. They aren't what I typically do
but I'm enjoying the newness of it all.

Here's to trying new things!

while in bed

When other people are probably doing something like reading in bed, this is what I've been doing. It isn't exactly a nightly thing but it's getting close to it. I thought about making this a 365-day challenge but I don't want to put that limitation on it. It's just for fun (and therapy on the weary days) and it's great practice.

I'm using...
- Pencil
- Eraser (I love this one but I really want to get a chunky one to cover more surface easily)
- Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen - the tip is flexible similar to a brush and it glides so smoothly on the paper. I think it's too thick for smaller illustrations but it's perfect for this format I'm using. This pen came in a set that has other thinner pens but this is the only one I've used so far.
- Strathmore Sketch 11 x 14 spiral bound pad - I love that the ink doesn't bleed onto the next page. Not even on the back of the page I've drawn on. It takes the ink really well.

I've been posting some of these on Instagram, where you can tell they are taken in my poorly lit room. I'm keeping it real there—on my bed and all.

I think I'm subconsciously using this series as a warm up for the Lilla Rogers class that I signed up for. I cannot wait to get started in March! I know that class is going to take me out of my comfort zone but that's precisely why I want to take it. It's just like these drawings. They aren't what I typically do
but I'm enjoying the newness of it all.

Here's to trying new things!

hydrangeas and news

I fell off the online planet for a bit didn't I? There's a good reason for that.

After 12 years of working from home I am now working at an office full-time. It's temporary because I'm helping out a group of designers that were short-handed and it's a long story so I'll leave it at that for now.

This has obviously been a big shock to our family life, schedule—everything. I no longer pick the kids up at 3 (they stay a little longer at school), and let's just say that homework, dinner, soccer practices/games and everything else just swallows the rest of me up. So... something had to fall through the cracks and my online world was the victim.

I still want to keep A Little Hut running because it's such a big part of what I love to do (how can I stop when I'm loving this series I'm creating recently?!), but I had to share this change because I wanted you to understand why I'm a bit more absent than usual.

So...

Here's a little project that I've been wanting to give a shot for a long time. It's finally done—hydrangeas! It was challenging (so much of the fun is in this step!) to arrange the set up of the flowers but after a couple of revised designs I finally got it.

The first hydrangea I made had 60 little flowers on it! Even though it looked great I thought it was overwhelming over the box and I don't know about you, but who has time for a project that time-consuming? I want these projects to be a bit more of a challenge but I don't want them to be daunting!

I looked up the meaning of hydrangeas and apparently there are differences of opinion on the subject. The one meaning that caught my eye—specially because of today's post (my absence/news)—was this: Gratitude for being understood. Isn't that just so coincidental?!

So there you go... hydrangeas for you—for being patient with me!

I hope you're all doing great!!