Holy Moly, dreams DO come true! Hello Lilla Rogers!

So when I was first starting out at Hallmark as a designer/illustrator I was on the kids team. They encouraged us to research and hone our creative skills. Naturally I would take advantage of the awesome library that Hallmark has and peruse the internet. Well, low and behold I stumbled upon this really cool website called Lilla Rogers Studio. And it was a feast for my eyeballs for sure. Never had I seen such talent all under one roof. LRS became a "hallmark" if you will, of inspsiration and style for me and has influenced my personal and professional work. I later became a mentor for a new designer name Mimi. I shared this gem of inspiration with her as well.

As I looked on in admiration, it became a dream to be represented by her. Years pass, life happens....the dream is still there. My awesome husband Colin tells me to submit my work to LRS. I say "Oy, I'm not ready yet!" Then about 2 months ago, I have lunch with my friend Laura and SHE also says I should submit my work. A week later, low and behold she saw some of my work on Pinterest and asked if I had an agent. My jaw dropped and my heart almost beat out of my chest! I submitted my work and a partnership has been forged! I now have Lilla Rogers as a rep. See my work HERE. She has a team of amazing women working with her that I adore. Lilla and her team are a force to be reckon with and I feel so lucky and blessed. LRS is an international Art Rep agency at the top of their game and they get thousands of submissions every year. To be honest....it's a bit intimidating. Many of her artists, like Helen Dardik for example is definitely one of my art heros. That said, it's time to be fearless and take advantage of this opportunity! So to wrap it up full circle, I have the rep I've always dreamed of AND the designer I mentored, Mimi, became one of my best friends and now we're taking Lilla's Make Art That Sells class together a long with another great buddy of mine Flora Chang. Life is funny sometimes. I really believe we all have a quiet tune playing in our hearts that only we can hear. Our "inner boombox" and if we're the only ones who can hear it, we're the only ones that can sing it. So we need to sing, gosh darn it!!!!!!!

TokyoBunnie Blog!

Hello good folks of the world. It's been awhile. We have been so busy it feels as if we're planning another wedding. A kid graduating high school/getting ready for college, a kid getting ready to be born/remodeling our basement so we have a studio to work in because this little kid will need a room upstairs and then in addition to family stuff many many freelance blessings and happenings....
WOW! Are we lucky but MAN, it's a lot to take in at once. It's just kinda happened that way so we have to go with the flow and count our lucky stars :) We are doing our best to manage it all and make sure we soak in the amazing moments. That said, a blog will get mighty dusty whilst life is happening :) But we are never too busy to thank people that promote our work without even being requested to.
There is sooooo much good stuff out there so to be written about by an amazing blogger is always a treat. Wanna give a shot out to Tokyo Bunnie for choosing us! Thank you for your lovely feature of our work. We really appreciate it!

Alexander the Great

Toys," said Alexander Girard, "represent a microcosm of man's world and dreams; they exhibit fantasy, imagination, humor and love." Yes, this is one of many reasons why I identify with this artist. He had such a unique vision and his passions flowed into his work. Rumor has it that his textiles were all over some of the offices in Hallmark back in the day. Where is my time machine?

According to DWR, "Part decorative object and part toy, the Wooden Dolls were originally created for Girard's own use. He also may have planned their distribution through the "Textiles & Objects Shop" in New York City, which he operated for Herman Miller from 1961 to 1963. This mixed group of figures, some cheerful and others stern, is now being introduced in a special edition series based on documents and originals in the Alexander Girard Archive of the Vitra Design Museum. Available to purchase for $180 a pop at DWR. sigh....If you ever go to Santa Fe, New Mexico and you're a Girard fan you need to go to the International Folk Art Museum. During the Thanksgiving holiday my buddy Stephanie took a bunch of us stranded Hallmarkers home with her one year to New Mexico and her sweet grandmother lived in Santa Fe. We all decided to visit the museum and had a blast. I also fell backwards in my collapsable chair during dinner so yeah.....some unforgettable memories :)-S.W.

I like to make things!

Hello folks. Yes, it's monday.....BUT, there's some exciting stuff going on in the art world! And you can be a part of it. It's an online class that any artist, no matter what the level of experience, can sign up. It's called Make Art That Sells and it's taught by one of the most successful illustrators/art reps in the industry, Lilla Rogers. This woman knows her stuff. She also just came out with an awesome book called I Just Like To Make Things. If you shell out the dough and buy this little gem you won't be sorry. There is nothing else like this on the book market. After reading it, I imagine it's a preview into the class. Speaking of, back to the course...It's broken into two seconds, each one covering the different aspects of the illustration industry. Paper product, surface pattern bolt fabric, children's books, home decor....you name it. There's an assignment given each week and a critique as well to discuss strengths, what art does well in that particularly industry..and so much more. There are also major contributors from Land of Nod, Anthropologie and Chronicle to name a few. WHAT???!!!

The class is still taking on students so if this sounds great to you don't wait a minute more :) I signed up and I feel like it's an investment in my future. Another step in the right direction! If I'm coming off like a crazy info-mercial lady it's only because I'm genuinely excited about this. Sometimes the universe just puts things in front us at just the right time and we have to just..well....do it :)

Raleigh St. Bear

I love Wes Anderson, Bill Murray, and Bears...This is Raleigh St. Bear from a wildlife version of Royal Tenenbaums...Hope you enjoy!

Frankie!

So I'm kind of obsessed with etsy's stat page. It's a great tool! If your getting a lot of traffic it tells you exactly where it's coming from. I like this because we always feel extremely grateful when someone takes the time to share our work. Folks are busy these days and there is SO much great work out there. If someone is blogging about our stuff we know about it and we can actually get in contact with them and thank them! So long story short...Frankie, an Australian magazine I absolutely ADORE blogged about us and as a result we had 3 sales in one day!!! That may be small potatoes compared to some of you Etsy rock stars but to us it was a big deal :) We were thrilled and we just want to say thanks!

The universe works in weird ways my friends...I have a little field notebook that I keep in my purse and I wrote down Frankie when I first came a cross it months and months ago, just wanting to make a mental note to myself that I loved the mag....well that page just so happened to be flapped open in my purse the day the posted about us. W E I R D. 

We're having a BABY!!!

HUGE NEWS!!!! This has been a hard secret to contain. Phew!!!!! So glad we can spill the beans.....

In about 6 months we will have a new member of our family. We are both excited and...well...terrified. But more excited! Colin and I are just realists so of course I'm going to be honest. If you bring a child into the world, raising him or her to be a decent human being is the hardest, most important and most rewarding task you'll ever do.We have one pretty awesome human under our belt so we have some experience. She's off to Chicago about to start college! One bird leaves the nest and another one flies in ;) What an exciting time :)