Turkey with all the Trimmings...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope this week after the Thanksgiving holiday finds you all doing well! So much to share as usual over here in wintery Maine. Let's get down to the business piece first, shall we?

To start, after several years of not painting, I was doodling and got inspired to do a series of work inspired by 60's children's illustrations. The Top Crown Series, as I've named it, is now complete and listed in the shop for sale! These mini paintings are so cheery and fun and each piece is also accented with glittery details! I love them very much and I hope you do too. I think they will make some people very happy this holiday season!

What else? Oh, well STAG is also being stocked up with wonderful, unique, high-end vintage items for the holiday season! What better way to say you care to the men in your life than to give a special gift that you can't get at the mall? I even have some pretty things for the ladies out there, as well as vintage holiday decorations that will brighten the homes of the customers who snap them up! Just a few of these great items are shown below.

These golf shoes are about the craziest thing I've ever seen in men's footwear. Like clown shoes with a purpose.

For the ladies: A purple 100% wool blazer. Beautiful.

And for those of you who have a hard time thinking of things for that special someone, I am doing a Stag Item of the Day every weekday between now and December 20th to get those ideas percolating. Those will be posted on the STAG Facebook page!

It's not all work and no play around here, Lovelies! Oh, no. Thanksgiving was this past weekend and I joined some very good friends for a day of laughter, friendship and good food. (When your family lives across the country, your second family becomes as dear to you as your real one.) I did the baking, which included a lemon torte (hard to do, but I figured it out) and a pumpkin cheesecake with a candied pretzel crust (easier to do because I've practiced). Both were delicious. (Well, the whole day was delicious, frankly.) What a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season. I'm a very lucky girl!

This weekend, I plan on decorating my own place for Christmas and I'm very excited! There's nothing better than sitting in your living room reading or drinking a glass of wine with just the light of the tree on, no? And I will be playing my Christmas records the entire time. Because, you can't beat Bing Crosby's voice on a record with a little hiss and some cracks and pops. Don't you agree? Happy Winter, Lovelies!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Soft Snow & Sweet Gingerbread...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope this week finds you all doing well out there! We've gotten a break up here in Maine from the cold and the snow for long enough, and it appears that winter is finally upon us. We've had some snow and it's snowing as we speak (or rather, as I type this). I love true winter in Maine. So pretty. And this time of year, it gets me in the holiday spirit!

Speaking of holiday spirit, one of my favorite little ones asked me to help her make a gingerbread village this past weekend. I couldn't say anything but yes (and I'm glad I did!) we had laughs, got icing all over the place and then... she spilled the sprinkles. Ha! So fun... I made this little collage with the photos from that day. (And that's her in her tights... she said they "help her decorate better..." I'll take her word for it.) :)

What else? Oh! I mentioned a couple of posts back that I'm creating a portrait family tree for a holiday gift this year. I will post those final shots next week, but until then, here are more candids from the most recent session for that project because I can't resist! Those faces... goodness, so cute. (This is what happens when you eat crackers at a portrait session and/or are really, really shy. Brilliant, no?)

I have also recently added a ton of new items to Stag with gift-giving in mind! Some vintage holiday decor, special small gifts for the stocking, things for pampering and things for the hobby-loving man in your life! Oh, and immediately below is just a small selection of some of the wonderful new ties going in the shop very soon! Wintery, warm, wooly (and in some cases, wide) ties!

In one of my recent junking trips to find items for Stag, I happened upon an entire unopened package of ribbon from the 70's. You know the stuff; shiny, plastic, bright colors, perfect for tying. I had to have it for my own gift-giving! Not a day later, I came across this amazing post from one of my favorite blogs: And Everything Else Too that gave a ton of creative and beautiful vintage gift-wrapping ideas! (Kind of perfect timing, don't you think?)

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Mint Green Suits & Coral Lipstick...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope this week finds you all doing well out there. Things here are busy, busy as usual! So many new things to share. To start, I just wrapped up a project that I'm very excited to share with you. I was approached to shoot an Audrey Hepburn inspired shoot for a client. She wanted to really channel some of the Breakfast at Tiffany's vibe, as well as just the playful, coy feel for Ms. Hepburn herself. So, I set to work, and created the following! (I think the mint green suit was a good choice, don't you?) You may view the rest of the shots from that series over at my Behance site! (A huge thank you to my model Caroline and my makeup artist Brenda for making it so beautiful!)

I have several other projects in various states of readiness and I can't wait to share those too! But until then, here are some candids from a recent portrait session I did. (No, they did not wear those masks in the portraits themselves, but I've found that nothing loosens kids up in front of the camera like playing beforehand! Those cameras aren't so scary then...) I should have that project ready to show in the coming weeks!

Oh! And some exciting news for my STAG shop! I have just reached 100+ sales! I can't believe I reached that goal so quickly. Thank you to all of my customers and followers. Many great things yet to come. I am always hunting up neat things, just for you!

On a totally unrelated note, I have been looking for a good watch for years now. I always used to wear one, and then the one I loved broke and with that, I stopped wearing one. I searched all over place, because I knew I wanted something vintage and high quality. Well, I finally found a watch from Russia that I am absolutely in love with and it just came in the mail this past weekend! (I am a bit embarrassed to admit how excited I was to receive it.) But you know how it is, finding the perfect thing, right? Take a look. The red face and those numerals are amazing...

I am going to wrap up by sharing promos from two of my favorite design studios. They have prints perfect for stuffing stockings or serving yourself some san serifed spoils! Ha!

The first is from Lab Partners. Visit their site HERE.

And Invisible Creature is having a giveaway with purchase HERE.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Super Douche & Some Bowling...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all doing well out there. Things here have gone from busy to literally straight up insane. I have a ton of big projects coming up that I can't wait to share! To start, I have a project I just finished that I dropped today. This shot was inspired by the vintage ad for hair product that I found below. I just thought the image of this woman killing herself 3 different ways because her hair was a mess was just too much. So, I did my own version. I absolutely love how it came out and it will be available soon as a fine art print in the shop and over at Society6! And because I love the beautiful Sarah and her amazing look, I couldn't resist taking some additional shots of her for fun. Such a good time. Thank you, Sarah!

Also in the business vein, I just dropped a ton of new product over at STAG this past week! I am trying to ramp the shop inventory up for the holiday season so you have plenty of great vintage gifts from which to choose when the time comes. I will also be dropping some vintage Halloween items in the coming week or so and some costumes for your All Hallow's Eve needs. (I just did a shoot of promotional pieces to accompany these holiday offerings with my STAG man and I can't wait to show those off as well.) The great vintage green fedora, 1920's era carbonator for cocktails with fizz, and the vintage game pieces below are but a few of the neat things at STAG right now.

One of my good friends recently turned 40, so he threw a little bowling party over the weekend and I had more fun than I expected. I mean, I totally stink at bowling, but I was happy to roll my frames and then spend the rest of my time photographing the party and sipping my beer at the beautiful Bayside Bowl in Portland! There are more great pics here. So much fun and so much vintage goodness to bowling.

I picked up a great independent comic/'zine the other day from one of my faves, Rhode Montijo called the Halloween Kid and it is amazing. I follow him on Facebook and I was lucky enough to snag a copy before the first run sold out. Well, a day later, it showed up in the mail with a cute sticker of Skeletown and a plastic bat ring!!! (I was almost as happy about the bat ring as I was about that 'zine, I'm not going to lie.) A great artist making fun, Halloween and vintage-inspired work.

I'm going to wrap up with an amazing photo that a good friend posted on my wall today. Yep, that's Anne Margaret with a turtle on a leash that also has a very cute purple umbrella on its back. It's images like this, simple, strange, funny that just get my brain going. Maybe I'll do a version with a snake...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Diamonds (When on a Handsome Man) Are a Girl's Best Friend...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all doing well out there today! I have a ton to share as usual, mostly Stag related. To start, I just completed all of my packaging and promotional material for Stag! The packaging stamps came in and they look great, take a peek:

And I designed some promo pieces that show some Stag items available in the store, and the kind of look you can get with said items if you're smart enough to pounce on them! Ha. A big thank you to John, my Stag man, for putting on all those hot clothes in my un-air conditioned studio like a trooper. Here are some of the promo pieces, the rest can be seen here.

What else? Oh, I found some great artwork that I wanted to share with you. P-Jay Fidler's work is kinda awesome you guys. The bright colors and panoramic scenes remind me of Camilla Rose Garcia's work and the pop culture references have a definite low brow art feel. I look at his work and it feels familiar and also very bizarre. Take a look:

My actual full-time job is designing greeting cards. (Yeah, it's a strange job but somebody has to do it.) So I got a kick out of these old cards I saw on one of my favorite blogs: And Everything Else Too. I think that cat is just great and the bunny card came with cigarettes is a fun gag. I actually have some of those novelty cigs for a little figurine from the 40's I got from my grandparents many years ago. You light the little tip and it puffs out smoke rings by itself! Fun stuff.

And speaking of blogs, I found a new one this week I wanted to share with all of you folks who love vintage advertising (I'm hoping that's most of you): Retroarama. It's daily vintage eye candy and not a lot of these ads have made the rounds. I know I'm seeing some new ones. It's a great source of inspiration for me, I know that. Enjoy!

I have a really exciting project I'm shooting this coming weekend, so hold your breath anxiously for that to drop and until then, there's this:

...because the family that paints together, stays together. What the?! 

 Until next time: unpleasant dreams...