Lady Lam

Don't you just love stories of people quitting their 9 to 5 jobs to follow their true passion? I think it's something we all dream about, but few of us actually have the nerve to go through with it. That's why I was so happy to help my friend Christine with a logo and business card design for her new endeavour. She had a great start and a clear vision of what her logo should convey: nostalgia, glamour and good, old-fashioned customer service. As you can see, the updated logo has a fun vintage feel with a modern palette, perfect for her new business (opening September 1st).

More from the garden

Although my work load right now is busy (which is great!) I've been sneaking out to the garden for more sketching when I can. The summer months here are so short, you have to enjoy them while they last. The other day I tackled Bee Balm which to me looks straight of a Dr. Seuss book. I planted it last year and this year it has completely surprised me with its size and color. Initially I tried to draw it very realistically but it is so detailed, I quickly realized this lady had to be stylized so I changed gears and got much looser with it. The hummingbirds and bees adore it.

From the garden

After brainstorming for a client's project the other day, I sketched one of the echevaria babies I started that is now getting pretty big. I drew the black outline with pen as one continuous line (not lifting it up as I drew). Then I went back with colored pencils and tried to capture all of the different colors in this little guy.

Home comforts

I haven't shown too much craft on my blog yet, it's been mostly design work. So here's something I made the other day. I've been looking for cute pillows to use with our outdoor furniture during these precious few months of Seattle summer but hadn't found any. So I decided to overcome my fear of sewing in zippers and make my own. Zippers are actually a lot easier than I thought and thanks to this handy YouTube video, I whipped up four new pillows last week. The patterned fabric is 'Midwest Modern Moss Martini' by Amy Butler which was inspired by 'beautiful summer days in Amy's Ohio garden'. Being a buckeye myself, maybe that's why I was drawn to it! Once I put the pillows out in their garden environment, I discovered how similar the combination of the two fabrics is to one of my favorite plants, the euphorbia. I could have a whole garden of euphorbia and be happy.

Vitality

Here's a business card design project I recently completed for a naturopathic physician. I'm really pleased with the results and hope she is too. The design of the cards needed to be: professional, trustworthy, organized, and nurturing. Aesthetically, she wanted it to have a modern, yet organic feel. The botanical drawings of lemon balm and licorice create a pleasing wallpaper effect, and are symbolic to the naturopathic field. To keep costs down we printed them with an eco-friendly online printer.