My first trip to Paris

Bonjour mes amis!

All things French have been on my mind lately.

I'm typing this blog post while my husband is grading papers, and we are both listening to Julia Child's TV re-runs (Jacque & Julia to be exact) of how to make Vichyssoise from Potato Leek Soup. (Oh! How I love that woman. I could listen to her voice all day.)

I've been a lover of the French language and the cultures of all French speaking countries since I can remember. As I child, I loved hearing my dad speak the language to me, or to others he met who could actually speak back to him! I started taking French lessons at school in 5th grade, and now that my daughter is in a French Immersion Elementary school, I'm starting to resurface my love of all things French!

And then just last week, I finished illustrating a book (Harper Collins, April 2012) on a Canadian family's move to France and the lessons they learned while adopting the French culture of food and eating. More on that later...but I've been absorbing myself in French food, French books, French music...

And since our pocket books and life with little ones prevents any sort of travel these days, absorbing myself in the culture has been my travel bug medicine. At least for now!

When I started making paper dolls, it was a huge hit. But I kinda fell off the bandwagon (easy to do!) but these are seriously so fun and such a great play time activity, and I am reintroducing paper toys again. With the holidays brewing, I hope to have more!

But these are making me happy. Since I have resigned fashion design to a hobby in my next life (that and like a whole strew of other things I want to get my hands in), designing paper clothes will just have to do. It's really so much fun!

This collections is called "My First Trip to Paris." Addie asks about going to Paris or Switzerland someday, and while I know it won't be any time soon, I do dream of big hair bows and blue and white stripes. These children are picking up food and flowers from the market, playing with the street monkey and his accordion and getting read for their first painting class.

Each clothing collection now comes with a set of dolls, boy and girl...or you can just get the whole set of dolls and clothes I've made over the years.

Enjoy! Allons-y!

**These paper dolls are PDF downloads only, so no shipping, just print them out on your own and voila! In the shop here. **

New Fall Shop Update!

Well, it's high time for some fresh new art. I've been antsy to get you some fresh prints for your kid's rooms, and I'm really excited about these!

This next collection is the beginning of what I hope will be a flourishing "Inspirational" art section in my shop. Coupled with colors from my fabric collection, these art prints are really getting me excited!

To be honest, this is the first art in a LONG while that I've been excited to put in my own children's rooms!

Right now, there are 3 girl prints, and 3 boy prints that coordinate really nicely with the Children at Play fabric line. Creating that collection was a real awesome experience for me, because I was able to think so much about color. Color that I've been wanting to see in my own art prints for a VERY long time!

"Love you more"... a daily phrase in our house. You? It usually starts out as a simple "I love you!" And then an "I love you too!" and on to "I love you more!"

Then onto:

Love you more than the moon

More than the world

More than chocolate

More than climbing trees

More than tigers

More than the zoo

And so on.

It used to end with "I love you most!"

But when Addie was 3, she came up with a really clever solution:

Addie: "I love you Da-gee-ga"

Me: Did you just make that up? What does that mean?

Addie: "It means I love you the most I could ever love you."

It has since become a family phrase, but it always starts with "I love you more!"

And of course, this Balloon Print. A definite favorite of the Children at Play prints. Who wouldn't want to fly sky high like that?

This how to make a paper hat, is actually my original version that I wanted to put onto fabric. The idea didn't translate over like I wanted to, so I'm super happy to make it a print. The first time I made a paper hat for my kids, I had to look it up online. Pretty sad. It had been too long since I made one as a child. This way, you'll never forget!

This print, from the Chasing Planes fabric, is Ian's favorite. I've always loved this phrase, but after doing some research on who it's quoted from, I'm realizing that it might be an undocumented name? If any of you have info, let me know. Richard Dumb is claimed to have said this, but according to the www I can't seem to find his existence, other than that he said this phrase and everyone loves it.

I've been shooting up a storm around here at the house. I'm about ready to launch a website (horray!!!) that will have a lot more of a comfy home feel, with lots of more pretty things to see. I won't give away too many secrets, but it's been so much fun to put together! Very much like building a house. For sure.

And the "BE" collection! Is in the shop now too. I have some lovely photos to share of these, but they'll be up a little later. I couldn't wait to get these in the shop...so many of you have been knocking on my door about these.

I have more to share about the motivation behind them, but for now, you can see them in the shop!

And the good news is,  you can purchase all of these in sets of 3 and 4, saving 20%

So, horray for new art! I hope you enjoy!

xo

Virtues:

School has started, which means my oldest two are in school full time. I won't go into the dilemma about how I feel about all this (Ahhhh!!! My babies are out in the world!!!!), except to say that my house is finally getting clean, and I'm finally getting artsy again. Right now, I'm in the middle of illustrating a book, fabric, new products, new designs for the fall season, and and a few other hush-hush projects. Translation: Some fun things are happening creatively here, non of which I can really spill the beans on! But I do have new designs trickling in which will be in the shop in the next couple weeks...hopefully sooner.

These are the start of a set of "virtues" I've been wanting to do for a long time. Don't know how many there will be yet, but there's more. Set a bit more retro than my older work, it's fresh, clean and happy! They are more in line with the work that I've been creating personally, and so while they are a bit different than what's in my shop right now, I think they will make a great addition! What do you think? Do you like?

I've been wanting to get new art in the shop for ages, and these are fun because they actually compliment my fabric very well...so if you are working on some bedding in your kids room...you finally have some colors to match!

{photo via Dairy of a Quilter}

More coming soon! I'm back to the drawing board...scribbling as fast as my little hands can! It's been a good 6 months since I've really filled a sketch book. It feels good. Funny how I always get a little nervous though, posting new work. It feels good to be spontaneously creating again. I'm a happier person, which makes me a happier mama, and happier everybody.  Life is good:)

Doodling in color.

I think about color a lot. As an illustrator who takes drawing very seriously, color is something that has always taken second place. As I've grown as an artist, and forged my path for where my art wants to go, I've learned to apply design and color in balance with my drawing, and it's been so enlightening. Rather than thinking of the subject of the piece I'm working on, I've learned to think about color just as early on in the doodle stage. And because of the handy-dandy computer, I can play with color a lot faster and it's not as intimidating when trying to come up with color palettes.

This is a color palette I'm seriously in love with at the moment (well, for the past few months) and I can't get it out of my head. Gorgeous, isn't it?

{Bottom images: here, here and here. Also collectively found here.}

Time to make some changes

Ok. This post has some mixed feelings involved. I have always been a split personality when it comes to cleaning house: I LOVE throwing things away and getting rid of junk. But there is part of me that does like to hold onto the sentimental value in stuff. Especially when it represents a lot of work, time and energy. Most of these prints hold a place in my heart because they marked a beginning....

But here's the deal:

I'm a real person with a real house, and a real family. Just this year, we brought our shop back into the house, and while it's been wonderful to have things in my hands again, I am realizing (like I do every day of my life) that I can't (nor do I want to) do it all.

Raising three small children, keeping up an (old) house and (big) yard, running a shop out of the basement, designing fabric and books and still having a totally awesome relationship with my very amazing husband is no small task. And most days, I'm ready to crash and call it a night by 7pm.

Part of living the lifestyle like we do includes change. Constant change. There isn't a week that goes by where my husband and I don't talk about how things are going, how we can do better, and how we can get to the ultimate lifestyle we crave, while enjoying it in the process. And honestly, it's weekly that we make changes. Mostly small ones like: Let's try making 3 meals all at once and freezing them so we have 2 nights with no cooking. Or, Let's make a weekly family activity on a weekday, so Saturday mornings the kids can be with Dad while Mom works. Etc. But nothing ever stays constant, because our family is always changing. But ultimately, our goal of getting to where we want to be is the same. And one of those ways is by cutting back.

One of the ways we're cutting back, is by getting rid of A LOT of prints in the shop. Since these are hand printed, and a lot of time goes into the printing of these Fine Art Prints, we are cutting about 50% of my designs to 1) reduce the amount of printing involved, and 2) make room for more designs and more illustration work behind the scenes. At the end of the day, I'm an illustrator. And though we need the paycheck coming in from our little corner shop, the time to create new work is sacred. And that's always the most important thing for me to protect (after my family of course!)

So, the shop is OPEN! But if you see a design that you love in the above images, it will be gone May 31st! Please notice that some designs (the family tree, and the Read with Me prints for instance) come in multiple colors....what I am doing is reducing the options and keeping just one or two. So no...the family tree is still available. Just in the color that sells the most.

Contact me with questions, but use this list as a reference!

Parting is such sweet sorrow....but man it feels good:)

xoxo

sarah

Introducing Children at Play

It's finally here! What I have had to keep a secret for 4 months now is my first offering to the wonderful world of textiles!

Children at Play is the name of the collection, and there are 4 groups...separated into colors but also into themes. And if you count, there are 52 pieces in all! Yes! Fifty Two! I think it's the biggest collection Michael Miller Fabrics has every done. But it's been SO wonderful to create and put together. With such a big group, I'll have to introduce it to you bit by bit so you can really get to know each piece and each collection properly. But for now, are you ok with an overall look?

I won't talk about it too much now, other than to say I am so happy with this collection! It was inspired by my own feelings of childhood, as well as my own children's. Simple play, creative play...the kind of play that requires imagination and no agenda. So while this collection has a very classic feel, there is a lot of whimsicality in the color and design as well.

There is so much to tell and share about these pieces. It's been a labor of love, and I really want to take you into the story of the collection. But I'll spread that out over time.  In the mean time, I'm sewing away and designing away as I get ready to debut these at the International Quilt Market in SLC, UT.

Spread the word, and come and visit! I'm booth #437 by the Michael Miller FabricsParty Booth.

Love to you all!

xoxo

sarah

PS: CHILDREN AT PLAY is expected to ship at the end of the month. Depending on where the store is located, they should be stocked by mid-July!

UPDATE: Children at Play is in it's second wave of printing! The first wave sold out, so if you're local shop hasn't ordered yet, it should arrive in August.

Girls

I know everyone has a thing for boy prints (and boy fabric....ooooh....just you wait!) but I thought it'd be fun to add a couple girl prints to the shop since these boy ones are so popular.

I'm sorry, but girls can have fun with wild animals too, right?

New to the shop here and here.

I've got a few more things up my sleeve for April...mostly in the form of embroidery patterns and cards. So stay tuned!

And thanks for all the messy house love. Nice to know I'm not alone!

xo

sarah

April Showers & Advice.

Thanks so much you guys for filling out the survey! (I'm going to have it open until Monday, so come on over if you haven't filled it out.)

So many great suggestions, so thank you!

Some of you suggested I offer a discount for the "Month-by-Month" prints in the month that we're in!

Brilliant.

Every Month I'll be offering the corresponding print 25% off ($17.50).

So, welcome April. We're a little late. But better late than never!

(And a little about this print: It's perfectly easy to take the text off the print as well as to make it an standard 8x10 size. Just mention it in your order!)

*And if you are in Utah this weekend, please swing by the BIJOU MARKET. I'm slashing away tons of stuff: Framed prints, Frames, and lots, lots more!