You can expect these colors to be popular next year according to this Pantone color report for Spring 2009. My favorites are Lucite Green, Dark Citron and Super Lemon.

Technorati Tags: color trends, Pantone color report, Spring 2009 trends

I stumbled upon this blog post about Sweetbeets and I have to quote it here because I love it so much:

this is exactly the type of card that i don’t use as a card at all. i will frame it in a simple white frame with a white matte and give it to the most scrumptious two year-old on my list. even better? frame the entire 5 card-series to be lined up neatly on a playroom wall.

Framing my cards as letterpress prints had been on my to-do list, but seeing this post made me get moving on it. Here are the results so far.

The cards are framed in IKEA RIBBA frames (9×11 inches). I had a custom matte made at a local framing shop because the one that came with the frame had an opening that was a bit too big.

I’m pretty happy with how they turned out, although I need to figure out how to prevent the horizontal and vertical lines in the image from appearing a bit distorted. I know there’s a fancy photography term for this lens distortion but I cannot remember it right now! I also bought a RIBBA frame that fits three cards that I thought would be perfect for the Sweetbeets number series, but that will have to wait for my next photo shoot.

Technorati Tags: affordable artwork, letterpress print, made in Canada, letterpress, framing cards, nursery decor, children’s spaces

The other day my boys and I went ‘fishing’, complete with a handmade fishing rod (I had to improvise a bit with a hardware hook!). We’re lucky to be able to walk about five minutes to reach the forest and a short hike along the trail led us to a small stream. The fish weren’t taking the bait, but we had fun anyway.

You’ll read at my ‘About Sweetbeets’ page that watching my children play provides much inspiration behind the illustrations on my cards. I thought you’d like to see an example of what I mean!

Technorati Tags: Sweetbeets, inspiration

The pure simplicity of Parma Lilac really resonated with me when I first saw these lovely images at Marta Writes the other day. I really love this pared-down style, though I’d have to add some splashes of green like in this image below via decor8.

Technorati Tags: decor, simplicity, minimalist, white, pure style

Here’s a peek inside my design studio where I create all of the Sweetbeets illustrations. I’m working on new designs and plan to have them available in September. I made this inspiration board by placing felted sweaters inside three embroidery hoops I found at the thrift store.

Technorati Tags: inspiration board, Sweetbeets, letterpress design studio, sneak peek

I spent a few hours on New Year’s Day thinking about my booth design for the upcoming National Stationery Show, where I’ll debut Sweetbeets. The show is not until May, but I’m sure the next few months will fly by and I really need to start designing my booth.

Since Sweetbeets is all about celebrating the magic of childhood, I want to evoke a sense of nostalgia as soon visitors see my booth. I want my booth to feel happy and fun and modern. I’ve put together a collage with some of my favourite images for me to keep in mind when I source card displays and props for my booth.

I love the simplicity of the nursery with the bursts of colour from the flag banner. This photo is from Children’s Spaces by Judith Wilson and the copy I have was published in 2001. I envision a few select props such as euro style children’s valises and vintage alphabet blocks. I think I’ll also bring along a few wooden toys like this handcrafted airplane that was a Christmas gift to my boys. I have some neat ideas for incorporating beautiful glass marbles and even lego! And I love the idea of displaying a few cards using a mobile like this one that I saw recently in an article on modern baby showers in Blueprint magazine. With all these display ideas, I’ll have to make sure I don’t get carried away so my cards take the spotlight!

Technorati Tags: National Stationery Show, Sweetbeets, letterpress cards, wholesale greeting cards

Yesterday I went to see the first printing of Sweetbeets cards using a vintage letterpress! More on that later… first let me back up a little and tell you how I got here.

An article in the summer 2002 issue of Martha Stewart Baby caught my eye when I was expecting my first child. A variety of charming birth announcements were featured and the lion and olive cards in particular jumped out at me. They were letterpress printed!

I was immediately drawn to the simplicity of the images and the handmade feel. It obviously made quite an impression on me since I saved that article all these years. (Anyone who knows me will know that I love to declutter!)

Fast forward a couple of years. I dreamed of owning a letterpress and starting a stationery company. I began researching the stationery industry and excitedly signed up for a letterpress printing class. Well…the class was cancelled and it was just as well because I had realized that letterpress is an art that’s perfected over many years and that if I wanted to offer high quality letterpress stationery then I needed to collaborate with an experienced and skilled printer.

Luckily I found a local printer who runs a family-owned business and just happens to have several letterpresses in his shop. It turns out that he learned traditional letterpress printing from his father. In fact, he started as a young boy and has been printing nearly all his life! Next time I’ll post about the art of letterpress printing and why I think letterpress is so special.

Technorati Tags: letterpress, letterpress printing, stationery