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Scrapbooking bits - final assignment Who doesn't like scoping out the towers of loose papers at the craft shop? It's a pretty big area to avoid. Scrapbooking is usually my first stop: search for paper textures and eye the motifs. What surprised me most about this week is that there are still scrapbooking companies licensing from freelancers for there collections. I thought this was an area where companies relied on in-house designers. Well... surprise ! They also find artist inspiration to make accessories too. How about that? This week's assignment was to design a sheet of icons which could be suitable for chipboard pieces or stickers, or inspiration bits and pieces. I started with a LOT of drawings... here's a snippet: Sketchbook spread with scrapbooking inspirations. Then I went nuts on PATTERNS to apply to my digital cuts: Pink-pink-pink herringbone pattern Assorted patterns which could be used for washi tape, paper, icon decorations, etc.

Assignment #2: Baby Apparel Babies are fun. No doubt about that :-) I had oodles of fun working on my camp-themed Baby Apparel Assignment for the Make Art That Sells eCourse . I struggled with this assignment... just a little bit. The struggle wasn't about coming up with ideas to complete the assignment, but that I couldn't stop drawing. Below are some close-ups of the final artwork, since it's so hard to see in it's tiny-format. Placement fabric design: Animal trailers and trees. Baby Girl's dress mock-up. Tree patterned onesie. "Camp Cutie" onesie. The color pallet was inspired by Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom .  I got a little carried away with the film inspiration and ideas kept flowing in about scouting. I had to take a day or two to re-collect my thoughts on the project, but kept drawing all the while. I eventually landed on my final animal campers, which may be a little abstract for baby apparel, but still cute no

Holiday Card -- First Assignments Yep! Back in class :-) I'm back to taking Lilla Roger's eCourse Make Art The Sells (or MATS for short). The first assignment had me whittling away at Holiday cards. I LOVED making this card! I know I may have gotten a little too ambitious with this assignment, but I had a vision and I just had to go for it. I don't want to burn out after assignment #1... I've got four more weeks to tackle! This is definitely one of the market niches I've really taken to. Though the assignment was to make 2 cards, my second composition never left the sketchbook because I became so consumed by this one. I did struggle with background quite a bit. Here are some of the samples: Holiday card background samples. Right to left - flat navy, silver lacy, and assorted darks (shown here with lace detail). The navy is a little different for a Christmasy card. All the bits and pieces were originally pooled together against a white background, bu

Plate Designs for Home Decor Assignment Dinnerware screams "Paint ME!" so I took a shot at watercolors for my second assignment in the Make Art That Sells eCourse. When I couldn't get just the right colors I wanted, I took my designs to the computer. This turned into a week-long mini war with messy (paints) versus clean (digital). At the moment I'm struggling with my assessment of the Home Decor Market because I know I'll be a good fit for it, but I need to follow my gut. As inspiring as flowers can be, I overwhelmed myself with too many concepts and ended up picking none of them. My first reaction to an idea (generally) is to get it down on paper. But my first reaction to this assignment was "Get flower buds!" I sketched a bit in marker, took to watercolors, (which I'm madly in love with by-the-way,) and then eventually sketched out my designs in pencil. A little backwards for me. For the curious eyes, here are some of my watercolor doodle

Lilla Rogers MAKE ART THAT SELLS Course Back to school for me! I've signed up for Lilla Rogers Make Art that Sells  (MATS) eCourse. It all begins tomorrow! I'm nervous and excited. Nervous because it's a pretty big commitment. I'm fortunate to not have so much going on right now to participate - just a slow an steady spring clean mixed in with my regular evening sketch sessions. Excited because... come on - Lilla Rogers! What I'm hoping to get most from this course is the pants kicking I need to pump up my portfolio. Deep breaths! ~Samantha