snowflakes and cupcakes

girlie snowy visuals

2 awesome all girl snowboard movies will be hitting the shelves this fall. The first is Float, an all female snowboard film, featuring riders Chanelle Sladics, Jamie Anderson, and Izzy Lalive. The Float film projects are rider driven and produced. They focus on documenting the lifestyle and environment surrounding the ladies' snowboarding as well as the level of women's riding today. The film incorporates travel sections to remote and rural locays world wide as well as revisits some legendary women that have paved the way for what female riding is today. It's shot entirely on 16mm and HDV so the imagery will be beautiful! Premiers are happening on September 7th at the ASR tradeshow in San Diego and November 17th in Seattle. Check out a ton of teasers at Float's website and add them to your friend's list to get the latest info on its release!

The other highly anticipated all girl snowboard film is the debut release from Runway Films called La La Land. This movie features some of my favorite riders, Alexis Waite, Erin Comstock, and Tara Dakides. Runway has been working for the past two years on La La Land filming in places like Japan, Whistler, and Salt Lake City. Not only will it showcase the riding from the best female shredders around, but also a glimpse into their every day lives. You can check out the teaser here.

Both films, I'm sure, will be absolutely amazing! Both focus on a variety of different riders who have very different riding styles. I'm so excited for the release of both films. Be sure to check them out!

little bit of love

So this summer I had planned on really having time to do some personal art, but as usual freelance projects took over and I didn't get as much time to do that as I wanted. However, I did have time to paint a present for my two good friends, Joey and Laurie. They own my favorite little doggie, Lopan, and I wanted to paint them something to represent everything they love. I painted this watercolor featuring Lopan, the beach, the ocean, the mountains, and Philadelphia. I'm pretty proud of the way it came out and I think they were excited to get it!

jetty: east coast flavor

Love love love jetty from LBI/NJ. How could you not love a company that's born and bred in the cutest little right coast beachy bum island. Not to mention a company that lets yours truly design for them. ('cept not this season b/c grad school took over my life).

Check out the above video for a behind the scenes glimpse into their fall photoshoot. Then head over to jettylife.com for some sweet well made threads.

Katie Reim: Illustrator Extraordinaire

I've loved my buddy and UD/VC alumner, Katie Reim, since she introduced hawaiian pizza into my life. Not only because she is such a sweetheart, but also because her art is insane... and always has been! Katie is a Philly local who creates whimsical and hilarious illustrations of love sick girls, red neck trout, surfing monkeys, and more. I adore her style of bright colors, loose moving characters, and abstract concepts. Katies figures are super detailed and perfectly painted. She combines them with dream like scenery, splashes of paint, and an amazing sense of humor. Every crazy eyed moose, fish, and dalmation is unmistakenly Katie.

Katie also has her own line of clothing and accessories, Cirrus Skooter. Katie handmakes each piece by combining different fabrics and textures along with her illustrations to create beautiful works of wearable art. Every piece is one of a kind. You can buy her awesome pieces at her Etsy Shop.

Garden Painter Art

Searching for inspiration I came across the lovely handmade collages created by Kimberly Wlassak. Kimberly loves creating worlds that don't exist in reality with her collages. She loves inter-twining different time periods and bringing things together that have never been together before. In her own words... "It gives new life to old photos that have been thrown by the way side. Through these photos, I can "introduce" people that never knew each other in "real life". Maybe I can connect a small boy from 1921 Missouri with an old house from turn-of-the-century England. Now, the boy has a new home inside my collage." I absolutely adore how she adds hands into her collages, it feels like the collage is being made right before our eyes.

Recently Whitney has been working on collage ACEO's. These are small pieces of original art. The only rule is that all ACEO cards must be 2-1/2" x 3-1/2". They are small enough to keep in your pocket but bold enough to display and collect!! She loves collaging in such a small size and is addicted to creating mini worlds.

You can check out Whitney's work at her site and buy some at her Etsy Shop.

Billabong Girlies

Billabong Girls has beautiful desktop backgrounds on their website. Their awesome surf inspired photos and illustrations are the visuals that grace the background of my little mac. You can also check out their whole fall line, read their summer tour blog, and even watch their most recent fashion show with behind the scenes info given by Design Director, Mandy Robinson.

Speaking of Billabong, I love this 'Conglom' hoodie. The combination of bright prints is fun, unique, and lively. Oh, and the 3/4 sleeves are perfect for those upcoming late summer days.

Karen Newgard

On our trip to Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks, NC, I visited one of my favorite art shops, Down Creek Gallery. There you can find the work of North Carolina local, Karen Newgard. Inspired by the drawing style of Southern Folk Art and the architecture found in South Louisiana, Karen creates unique bowls, cups, and more out of porcelain. She makes her pieces by using a technique developed in the eastern Mediterranean in the 1st century B.C. All her pots are made on a treadle wheel, an English style kick wheel. Once the form is completed and has become “bone dry”, she applies a terra sigalatta to the pot. Terra sigalatta is the finest clay particles that are extracted from dry clay.

A stain is then added to the terra sigalatta and brushed onto the pot, it absorbs into the clay forming a thin skin. She then carves through the terra sigalatta into the porcelain pot with the use of small loop tool; this carving method is called sgraffito (pronounced scra-fee-toe), an Italian word meaning, “to scratch”. After the carving is complete, the pot is then bisque fired in an electric kiln. After this firing a glaze is applied to areas such as the inside of a cup or handles for functional and decorative purposes.

I love Karen's style as well as her beautiful imagery. The birds, flora, and scenes from everyday life pop out so vividly on her black and white porcelain canvas. The texture that her technique creates gives such an organic feel to her elegantly styled clay objects. So if you're on Ocracoke anytime soon, be sure to check out her work (as well as many other awesome artists' pieces) at the Down Creek Gallery, right on Highway 12.

Unexpected Discovery

During my stay down on Hatteras Island in The Outer Banks, NC, my friends and I stayed at a little cottage a few steps from the beach. Every summer we rent a different house because we love the surprise of what it will look like and how it will be decorated. Usually we find lots of lighthouse paintings, seahorse figures, and shell wallpaper; however this time we got lucky. In one of the bedrooms was the beautiful poster posted above. It was an intricate illustration of Atlantic wildlife. I instantly fell in love with the simplified birds, magical seashells, and the details included in the repetitive ornate patterns. In the corner, a signature of "C. Harper" was inscribed. The amazing, talented, and lovable Charley Harper. Once I started searching through his work I realized I had seen it before. Charley had been painting and silkscreening since the 1940s. He began his illustrious 60-year career as an artist when he attended The Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he later taught and inspired younger artists. Charley loved protecting and preserving nature with his art. Unfortuneately, Charley passed away in June, but his brilliant and timeless works of art will live in my heart forever.

His work can be found all over the place, in old biology books, wildlife posters, children's books, and more. You have to check out more of his work here, you will be BLOWN away!!

Here is a nice little video about Charley put together by Todd Oldham...

Back to Reality

I'm finally back from my vacay's! It was so nice being able to relax and enjoy the sunshine, ocean, and freedom before I go back to grad school in a week. I'm getting stuff together for some nice Snowflakes + Cupcakes updates and I'm really excited to share some of my favorite finds! Snowboards and outerwear are hitting the shops and buyers guides are up on mag shelves. Snowboard season is coming; you can almost smell the the scent of your freshly waxed board.

Keep company

My personal stylist, aka nyc girlfrand, aka best friend for life, aka Monica, sent me a lovely link to this awesome shop. Keep is a shoe and clothing company. I love their whole ideal and what they have to say about themselves... "We do Keep for all the women who have their game tight, who work hard to make things happen, who spread positivity and energy around them, who take care of their loved ones and most importantly take care of themselves. We make Keep shoes for those women who are tired of clown shoes, too many bells and whistles, and the misappropriation of the color pink."

Their clothing is so unique and fun, but my fave are their shoes. The patterns and styles are classic yet different. I have totally fallen in love with The Juniper in Green and Purple African Print. Not only is the print amazing, but I can't get that magenta sole out of my mind. And yes, it's always about the detail... check out the bottom of the shoe. So sweet! Love love love!! Thanks Moni!!