A New Era

It's time for more vintage enthusiasm, dancing, sewing, thrifting, surface pattern designing (pictured: Bubblegum Calico), European adventures, and *wait for it* my first home, built new to my design specifications! Keep an eye on my Instagram @creativelygraceful for all the exciting, inspiring things! As always...Make Everything Beautiful!

Frankenstein Cat Eye

I have been looking for gold cat eye frames for a looong time. While trying on my other new pair of glasses at the local glasses shop I was lamenting that fact, and the ingenius optician proceeded to dig out three boxes of vintage glasses parts. Creative people unite! We rummaged through the boxes and found two arms, the body, and the tips to create my dream pair of pearly and golden tones. I affectionately call them my Frankensteins. 

While putting the tips on the frame there was an accidental hole punched, so we filled it with a rhinestone. Nothing like covering up a mistake with a little sparkle!

Pssst! You may have noticed that the arms cross in a funny way. That's because they are actually two of the same side of arm! A little bending fixed that problem, and now the glasses have some (inconspicuous) quirk.

I'm so thankful for this fellow outside-the-box thinker! Ta-da!

More Tea Towels

Here are some more goodies from my tea towel making rampage! These were ordered as fat quarters of Linen Cotton Canvas Ultra from my shop, and then I finished the edges with mitered corners. The designs pictured are Pantone, Buttons, Greenery Machinery, Maritime Yarn, and Seamstress Fruit. These and several others are now available for sale at The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum!

Creatively Graceful Boutique Design

I am thrilled to share the design for my Creatively Graceful Surface Pattern Design Boutique! This store sells my surface pattern designs on homewares, gift items, clothing, and textiles, and reflects the whimsical style of my designs through the fixtures and décor. My analogy for the space is a ball held at a vintage textile factory in the spring! Though this boutique is not yet a reality I hope that some day it will be, and when that day comes I will be all set! The storefront windows are masked with the silhouette of my logo and the items within represent the imagination and creativity bursting out of the logo's brain.

Here's an interior perspective looking into the Textile section through the Gifts section. The cash counter has a central space for the Surface Pattern Design of the Month and window space on either side to display the vignettes of the items of inspiration for the design.

The rendered floor plan

The rendered reflected ceiling plan

 The rendered planogram for the wall of the Clothing and Gifts sections

The rendered planogram for the wall of the Home and Gifts sections

The renderings board and my company manifesto

The board for the antique and eclectic furnishings and electrical specifications

Finally, here's the finishes board. Scalloped concrete tile, Carrara marble, a spray of blossoms over the cash...the elegant, graceful finishes allow the chaotic, creative products to stand out! Above all, I want to make the customers' days with thoughtful touches, and invite them to discover the story behind each design!

Creation Painting

Once upon a canvas I began painting a glamorously staged room.

I wanted to cover the bottom of the canvas in bright splashes of paint, but since I wasn't sure if it would ruin the effect of the pastel-colored painting or not, I was reluctant. However, my friend suggested I could frame it and splatter the glass with paint instead. Thanks to her genius idea my painting was popped into a frame, although it was a plastic faux wood frame that I immediately painted white.  

I was about to paint a trompe l'oeil ornate design onto the simple white frame, but I realized it wouldn't have the same great texture as the real deal.

The next thing I knew, I was frosting the frame with acrylic modelling paste smooshed into a Ziploc baggie.

I kept building it up, smoothing it out, adding a little white paint here and a little podge there, and sanding the rough edges.

And that is how my art projects usually progress. They are whims of weirdness that end happily ever after! 

The Page that Started it All

I will always adore fashion and interior decoration, but I've finally realized that it is truly the fabric behind it all that I love. It is the gorgeous, functional, versatile medium that easily transforms simple structures or is crafted into a shape of its own. Recently I've been thinking a lot about how I got involved in fabric design, and how much I enjoy it. I began thinking about how I first was introduced to the art form. In March 2012 I was leafing through an issue of Country Living when I stumbled upon this page. I was immediately captivated by the script-print chair, because that is one of my pieces of dream furniture. I read that the chair fabric was made through Spoonflower.com, set the magazine down, and went on with life. For a couple months I pondered the idea of designing fabric, and then I finally remembered to check Spoonflower out. The site instantly hooked me, and when I read about their weekly contests I was certain that I had found a thrilling new hobby.

The first contest that I entered had the theme of cakes made with paper collage. I was delighted by the fact that it seemed like the perfect prompt, because I love to create art featuring food and I often make paper collages. My Cupcake Damask  fabric was the result. Since then, of course, I have made many a fabric design, read numerous books on surface pattern design, and everyday I feel more and more packed with ideas. It's funny how a single page in a magazine can initiate such strong creative direction!

Creative Resolve

These are some of my goals for 2014, as depicted in my Spoonflower fabric for the Hand-Lettered New Year's Resolution design challenge of the week!