Thursday, October 21, 2010

Penguins, Owls, Wood, Ink, Fabric & Felt - that crazy time of year

WIPs for fall show & sale

So here's what I've been up to! Bet you thought I was just playing at pumpkin patches all the time based on my last posts ;o) All I can say is it's hard balancing being the cool, fun mama and the productive artist/designer, as well as keep up with other parts of life (did I mention all the renovation projects going on around here??).

WIPs for fall show & sale

I have a sale coming up on the 4th - I do it every year because it's just so fun. Basically I get to hang out with designers & architects & all sorts of other creative folks for a night of shopping & selling. And I usually do really well. I'm going on year 5 with them. This year I have more of what I usually offer (plushes, brooches, itty bitty hair clips, etc) with one BIG difference. All my sewn products this year are made with my own fabric!! Can you believe it? I can't!

This is a really positive step in the direction I want to go & I'm so excited to share it with you. I feel like even a year ago it seemed out of reach to get it together and design/print fabrics, much less end up with finished products in my hands to show for it. To be totally honest I was somewhat disappointed by my first round of prints from Spoonflower - many of my colors were deeper or lighter than expected, or bloomed in a way that I felt threw off the print. I also saw issues with scale and proportion. But really I needed to give myself a break and realize that this is part of the process & it's impossible to get it perfect the first time round. I don't know why I'm so hard on myself, sheesh.

Happily, I have enough fabric to put together a great group of new products and I'm thrilled with them. And a little cranky from the late nights working, haha.

WIPs for fall show & sale

My friend Cheryl reminded me (thank goodness at the beginning of the month & not at the end!) that I'm the featured artist for November for a gallery space in Santa Cruz. I had totally forgotten. Really. Where's my brain huh? So things are actually more busy than usual - I have several painted pieces on wood I'm pulling together (as well as some original watercolors & some pieces of framed printed fabrics) and will install on the 1st. Then I have the sale on the 4th, then the show opening on the 5th. Then I will crash & sleep on the 6th.

WIPs for fall show & sale

I've also been having fun catching up with family popping in unexpectedly & hosting another Creative Night at my studio with an awesome bunch of artists & designers. There's so much going on this time of year. Just need to hang on and go with it.

WIPs for fall show & sale

And this week puts me at halfway through the pregnancy! I've felt so much better over the last few weeks (just in time for all this craziness). We're already brainstorming on how to best design Bird's room to hold two kiddos (eventually - we'll have baby #2 in our room for first 6mths probably) and still be a place for fun & creativity. There is so much inspiration online - my favorite place to check out is Ohdeedoh. Definitely visit the site if you haven't before!

WIPs for fall show & sale

Now it's back to work for me...Bird's still sleeping so I need to hustle! Thanks so much for stopping by.

And I'm curious~ is this a crazy busy time of year for you too? What are you working on?

Hugs,
Devon
:o)

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Pumpkins everywhere...!!

Uesugi Pumpkin Patch
It seems like we can't get enough of pumpkin patches this October - and of course all the things that go along with them: train rides, carousels, hay mazes, wagon rides, and just frolicking in that awesome hay.

Uesugi Pumpkin Patch
We've had unusually warm weather for Fall (like over 90 today!) and it's been lovely being outside ALL the time - just soaking it up. I'm a Summer girl...and of course I'm from Panama too so I really should say I'm a warm weather girl. In any case, I'll try again to have a good attitude about the upcoming Winter and Spring (Spring is actually most challenging as it rains endlessly at times and the sun barely says hello - I'm sure I'll be so busy w/ #2 starting in March I'll hardly notice eh?).

Uesugi Pumpkin Patch
After seeing the 1001 scarecrows at the farm we went to I'd kind of like to make one and set it up in our garden. I bet Bird would love it.


Hugs, Devon

Monday, October 11, 2010

Pumpkin head & Bird


DSC_0038, originally uploaded by kleja.

In the giant pumpkin


DSC_0047, originally uploaded by kleja.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Tomatoes & Strawberries

Tomatoes & Strawberries

This is the pattern I worked on during Heather Ross's class in Portland - now in 4 yummy colorways :o) It's such a happy pattern & makes me smile thinking of Bird in our garden munching on all the goodies growing wild out there. The other day she had not only strawberries and tomatoes, but also figs and an orange. You have to love California's bounty - especially at the time of year.

This pattern will soon be real fabric - a la Spoonflower! I'm a busy bee trying to get all the color calibration and uploading complete, along with several other patterns. I have a sale on the 4th of November and would love to sew up a bevy of products & plushes with my own fabrics (a goal I've had for a while). This somewhat depends on how fast I can get the order placed...and how fast UPS delivers. I admit I'm pretty stressed about it.

I also had forgotten about a show I'll be doing in November as well :O November 5th actually haha!! It's going to be a busy week of mad sewing and making, painting installation, pricing & display, packing, and being extra clever about making sure Bird's needs are met too. I'm sure I'll fall in a heap on the 6th...

The upside is I'll have lots of beautiful new patterns and paintings complete and hopefully more encouragement to keep going.

Okay, back to it! Have a lovely day!

Hugs, Devon
:o)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Favorite pictures of Summer

Favorite pictures of Summer
Long weekend camping - exploring redwood forests & wild empty beaches.

Favorite pictures of Summer
Bird really getting into our cold west coast ocean.

Favorite pictures of Summer
Trying to keep Bird from swimming away and appease Phylo's nervousness around water!

Favorite pictures of Summer
(Jared doesn't usually look so GI Joe, but always wears these pants while camping ;)

Favorite pictures of Summer
Mmmmhh! First smore.

Favorite pictures of Summer
Humboldt Redwoods State Park - big trees, river, little critters all around.

Favorite pictures of Summer
Getting into Daddy's things too.

Favorite pictures of Summer
Visiting family in 105 degree Texas - cooling off whenever possible.

Favorite pictures of Summer
Bird turning two.

Favorite pictures of Summer
The beautiful pergola Jared built!

Favorite pictures of Summer
Our first really warm day (in a fairly chilly summer overall).

Favorite pictures of Summer
Popsicles made from yummy farm picked strawberries.

Favorite pictures of Summer
We really enjoyed a ton of Summer fruit this year...strawberries, apricots, figs, raspberries...

Favorite pictures of Summer
Picking strawberries at the farm we subscribe to (and my last week with glasses).

Favorite pictures of Summer
Peonies...the beginning of warm days.

And now onto Fall & pumpkins & Halloween & Thanksgiving & more good times with family!

Hugs, Devon
:o)