Am I a Pink Person?

Before the power went out last night, I had a chance to catch up on some blogs, one of which (The Indigo Bunting) is manned by an artist who does design work for such titles as Esquire and Martha Stewart Living. Drool! Dream job! (Plus she designs seriously cute invites/favors for all her niece's and nephew's birthday parties. Adopt me, please?)

So I pulled this illustration she included for my inspiration file. Love the colors and the simplicity; I wish I could hang it in my bathroom because I think it'd make getting ready for work a happier occasion. It's from an NYT illustration feature that you should definitely check out. Hours & hours of fun, or at least 30 minutes.

Then when I trotted over to The Sartorialist, I found a skirt with similar vibrancy. Look familiar? So fun, right??

And then over at Crewcuts (why is some of the cutest J.Crew stuff only kids-sized?), I found these:

I love this color combo almost as much as slate/yellow. I'm a bit late in the season to be adopting this color obsession, although those boots are definitely for fall, so I'm not sure what to do. My other obsession has also developed from the Sartorialist. I've never thought I could be a long skirt person, but here are some more ideas I'd love to try... once the flood waters subside. :)

I'd Share My Wellies With You...

As Hurricane Irene heads our way, rain boots have been on my mind (especially these from J.Crew that I don't really need, but REALLY want... in yellow, of course! Or these, because ballet flats don't take rain for an answer.)

You'd think that since I'm from Louisiana, I'd be well-versed in "batting down the hatches," but as no one up here seems to understand, Shreveport is practically on a different planet from NOLA.

All this to say, I have another poster design up my sleeve, inspired by those lemon-flavored zapatos up there. The background will be a dusty cerulean with white, hand-written, scripty lettering, "I'd share my wellies with you," barely tucked behind a flat illustration of white-outlined yellow rain boots in the lower right-hand corner. I can visualize it exactly in my head; whether or not it will ever appear in Illustrator is another thing entirely. Maybe this weekend's mandatory camp out (or should it be camp in?) will provide the opportunity to try my hand at it.

I Want to be a Kid Again!

So my father and I have somewhat collectively been working on independent children's book ideas, his about Peanut the Dachshund (i.e. working title: Peanut Saves the Day), mine - of course - about Edison the Calico; no preliminary title as of yet, although after re-watching Narnia Pt. 1 this week, something along the lines of "Edison the Valiant" has a nice ring to it. In case YOU forgot, Edison is a girl, though SHE is quite aware of this fact. Since her story has nothing to do with lords or ladies, that name may never see print, but I might take to addressing her as such around the house. #catladytendencies

We both - Dad and I - had come to a bit of a slump. His work projects (video game story background writing/"world" development) had taken precedence over personal projects. My problem, on the other hand, has just been lack of discipline.

But today, after sneaking a peek at the blog of artist Matte Stephens between tasks - LOVE his stuff! - I was inspired. His book, The Foolish Fox, comes out in September. (I'd post a pre-order link to it here, but can't seem to find it online yet.) Take a look at a few of his illustrations here, followed by pics of his awesome workspace, inside and out. Who wouldn't want to be creative sitting there? or outside, looking in!? Can't wait for his book, and in the meantime, can't wait to log some more hours on my own. For now, going to finish baking some Chinese egg tartlets. Yum!