snowflakes and cupcakes

starlets of craft calendar

"Get inspired everyday with the Starlets and Stars of Craft 2008 Calendar! Each month features a different super star of indie craft. The calendar includes the creative masterminds behind: If'n Books + Marks, Extreme Craft, Young Blood Gallery & Boutique, The Small Object, Croq Zine, Twospace, The Sampler, india*romeo, Crafty Bastards, Wonderland q, boygirlparty and the ICE Collective."

The calendar is not only a great homage to a bunch of talented crafters, but it's also beautifully designed. I adore that for each month, the day boxes change shape. It's like a new present every month! You can buy one for only $15, here.

Check out the rest of the pages here. The calendar was designed by Tweet.

jen oaks illustration

Searching through the latest issue of N.E.E.T. Mag I came across the beautiful illustrations of Jen Oaks. I absolutely love the color palette and the adorable patterns and stencil like flowers mixed in with the delicate line drawings. You can see more of Jen's work here, and buy some giclee prints of her original digital paintings at her etsy shop.

Collage Goddess: Claudine Hellmuth

Searching through blogs I found the lovely and talented, Claudine. She not only shares my love for collage and mixed media, but also for Martha Stewart. She created the above collage (the one on the left) of Martha and her beloved Paw Paw and Francesca (look in her purse) as a gift to Martha. So cute right?!

Claudine has her own Etsy shop as well as her own blog. She also appeared on the Martha Show giving a tutorial on how to make her lovable Sitting Pretty Poppets. Lucky!!

Perfect. Inspiring. Packaging.

I absolutely adore Thymes: Bath, Body, and Home products. Not only are the fragrances and products awesome, but the packaging it all comes in is a pure delight. So much detail was put into each bottle, box, and envelope. When you buy a product it's like a a precious keepsake. Each fragrance has its own special design. My favorite is Kimono Rose. I love the combination of patterns, colors, and flowers. The color palette is so soft and lovely and the boxes are folded so uniquely.

Most of the packaging is designed by Duffy & Partners out of Minneapolis. They've worked with other companies like Starbucks, Smartwool, and even designed one of my favorite logos ever for The Islands of The Bahamas. Check em out!

Maxwell Dorsey

I love the illustrations of Maxwell Dorsey. I found his cards while shopping at the little stores in Rehoboth Beach, DE. However, I couldn't find much info about him online. Nonetheless, his illustrations are fun and colorful. They're kind of like little puzzles you have to read to figure out. I also adore his hand done type. It's so simple, yet so perfect!

Leanne Biank, Indian Summer

My favorite philly-artist, Leanne Biank is having a solo show at Liberty Boards (on 7th between Chestnut and Market) on October 5th from 7-10pm. Leanne's work is amazing. The characters she creates in her paintings are as unique as they are lovable. Her work has the perfect mix of intricate prints, perfectly detailed faces, and abstract concepts. Even if you're not a Philly local, you should take the time to come down and see Leanne's show. You will fall in love!

Black Apple Cupcakes

I found the lovely Black Apple Shop while searching for cupcake inspiration on etsy today. I adore her sugary sweet illustrations of little girls and porcupines. Not only are her creations beautiful, Emily also has her own blog where she posts art, inspirations, and other yummy treats.

HP shares my passions

Today, thanks to mah girliefrand Monica, I found out that our beloved Gwen Stefani is now working with HP on their 'What Do You Have To Say' line. You can step into her world and customize designs and illustrations to make Gwen's style your own. The thing I found the most entertaining was the part where you can design your own paper doll entourage. You can pick from a variety of hair styles, dresses, and shoes and make your own adorable Harajuku Girl, like I did above.

...and because we're all design nerds, I can't forget to mention that Paula Scher is also part of HP's 'What Do You Have To Say' line. You can check out her page and find out about creating awesome brand identities while you customize business cards and letterheads with layouts designed by Paula herself.

...then if you have even more free time you can check out Jake Burton's HP page and learn all about how he took his passion for snowboarding and turned it into a thriving business.

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.