sources of inspiration

good lord, it's been a long time since i posted here! things have been crazy. if you read my nicblog, you know that my dad got very sick on march 1st and passed away on march 25th. it was a terrible month. to make matters even worse, i had to prep for the stationery show in the month and a half after his passing. so, life was pretty much insane.

now it's a bit lighter. work has slowed down to a normal pace again, and we're all sort of adjusting to our new world without my dad. 

in good news, work is great. i now get to spend all of my time illustrating, and that to me is the best gift ever. after years of giving up on an illustration career, i've found my way back to it. and that is brilliant. to check out my new notecard line and my new wedding invitations, all illustrated by me, please go to my site. 

image courtesy of jennibick.com

in more inspiration, i was given this sketchbook yesterday by my hubby. it's the fabriano artists journal. a colleague of his used it for his sketching, and i fell in love. well, that colleague was nice enough to give him one for me yesterday (thanks jeremy!). it's a fun sketchbook, with multi-colored pages, and it inspires me to want to sketch fun things. sort of being like a kid again with a construction paper pad. i absolutely adore it.

hoping to fill this book up with tons of inspirational sketches. =)

so what inspires you?

my little girl's birthday gift

last year i made an illustration for my daughter's 1st birthday party invitations. i made the original large enough to print and frame, and i put it up in our home above her toy chest. my goal was to make a new one each year for her birthday, so she could keep all of them and look back later to see the changing pieces.

of course, this year i have been completely swamped with work, and waited until last night to start -- and finish -- the piece. thankfully it worked out.

the theme is 2, for her second birthday. so she has two toys with her -- her "ivy doggy" and her "baby ocean", as she calls them. rainbow is her "favorite color" (ha!), so she's wearing a rainbow shirt, and the floor is based on her bedroom carpet.

she came out this morning and immediately pointed to ivy doggy. so i've done my job. happy birthday anna jae.