Inspired: Chocolate

Inspired by chocolate? Um, yes.

Every year I make chocolates for the holidays, a heavenly sweet little treat, a glorious decadent bite of goodness. I especially love making (and eating) truffles - in the past I've made such delights as chocolate raspberry, white chocolate peppermint, pistacio covered white chocolate cherry...mmmm, all delish. This year I tried a new recipe - chocolate peanut butter truffles, a lovely smooth chocolate peanut butter ganache rolled in chopped peanuts. For all you peanut butter cup lovers out there, these are a must try!

That leads me to my inspiration! As a lover of all things chocolate (although I am indulging only in moderation these days), I've added "Chocolate + Moose" to my collection of hand block printed party animal cards. These whimsical notes feature some of my sweet little creatures, along with cupcakes, party hats and birthday cakes.

I think that Chocolate + Moose will sell like hotcakes (or maybe cupcakes!) in Maine, where they love their moose!

Hazy, Hot and Humid!

Despite being a beach lover, I am definitely not a lover of the hazy, hot and humid days that seem to fill the summer. The past few weeks have been sticky, so I've been hunkered down in the air conditioning, printing, and thinking cool thoughts. Here's a little peek at some of the "cool" designs I've been printing recently.

I'm loving the simplicity of these little snowy woodland creatures which are new to my collection this year.

Now, I don't want you to think I'm wishing summer away, but these do make me fondly remember the joys of a fresh (light!) snowfall.

From my sketchbook...

I love the whole process of creating the designs for my cards - forming the idea in my head, sketching, refining the sketch, carving the block, then finally printing. I love seeing what I have imagined come to life on paper. I thought I'd give you a little peek into my sketchbook (which is always with me!) where the designs begin.

These are initial sketches for some greetings that I am planning for my next product release. They are really rough, but they show the ideas as they first get from my head onto the page. I'll take these sketches and refine them before I transfer them to blocks, carve, and then finally print.

Before the National Stationery Show I created a few holiday greetings similar in style - simple greetings with charming images, in the same color palette as my Assorted Affections collection -a bit non-traditional for the holidays, but I love non-traditional.

I am looking forward to adding to this collection, completing the process with the new sketches - carving and and printing... but first, I have lots of printing to do to fill my current orders, so these will have to wait a bit!

In need of a beach day

Boy, this has felt like the longest winter! I've been craving warm weather and sunshine, and dreaming of a lovely day at the beach, even if it is too cold to play in the waves.

Many of my wholesale customers are in coastal New England, and each winter I look forward to seeing them at the Boston Gift Show - to me, those four days in late March are the start of the summer season, even though it's barely spring at that point! Each winter I design new coastal inspired goodies that I hope they'll love - this year's designs include the Waves cards, and Waves and Fish pencil tins.

I've been playing with a lot of pattern in my collection this year... which has meant lots of larger, detailed blocks to carve - at least, larger than I'm used to. It's been a great challenge, and has led me in directions that I'm really pleased with.

I'll have more for you to take a peek at over the coming weeks, and look forward to hearing what you think about the new goodies.

More new goodies!

For quite some time I've been considering offering initial note cards, but hadn't come up with a design that inspired me enough to carve 26 intital blocks... until recently. After getting such positive feedback on my new valentines, I decided to do something inspired by those designs. So I now introduce Twig, Blossoms and Vine Initials.

I'm still working on carving all the letters, but here are the first few that I started out with!

(Will be available in the coming week in my etsy shop.)

January thaw... in February

We're getting a little warm up here in New England... it is supposed to be close to 50 today, but a bit cloudy, and quite breezy. Earlier today it looked like it was pouring rain outside my window, but it was just the massive icicles melting. I'm desperately needing the warmth and some sunshine, and waiting anxiously for when we start consistently getting warm days. Ok, that still may be many weeks away, but a girl can hope.

I've been keeping the dream alive with lots of new spring and summer prints! Can't wait to get them all finished, but here's a little peek to show you what I've been up to. I'm loving curly vines, and have more like the strawberry vine above in the works. I also have lots of new coastal goodies and am looking forward to unveiling all of those at the Boston Gift Show in March. (Of course, I won't be able to resist giving a little peek here in the coming weeks.)

As for right now, well, I'm seeing blue sky and sunshine right now, so I think I'll head out for a little walk and soak up some inspiration!

{SWAK}

seal with a kiss, that is.

This little guy is available in my etsy shop, for your Valentine sweetie, or just because.

New Goodies...

...for Valentine day, or any time you want to send a little love! These three lovelies coordinate with my tins, so you could put a little gift in the tin and add a matching card! These new designs are currently available in my etsy shop... and there are loads more sweet valentines on my site as well.

Warm and Wooly....

now in my etsy shop!

I just love these sweet designs - they remind me of my childhood, winter days, and playing in the snow. I first designed the mitten card several years ago, inspired by my grandmother. Gram loved to knit, and I was lucky enough to always have hand knitted sweaters and hats and mittens. Each year, she would knit me a new pair of mittens, the pair was tied together with a long yarn that you'd thread through your jacket sleeves, so you'd never lose them!

Gram taught me how to knit when I was a child, but it never really held my interest for long enough to make anything bigger than a doll blanket or potholder. I'm thinking I might like to give it a try now, I probably have enough patience to at least end up with a scarf, and with all the lovely hand dyed yarns out there.... hmmmm, I'm talking myself into it!

Life's a beach.... any time of the year.

The beach is a big part of my life and inspiration, not only in the summer, but throughout the year. As a New England native, and a beach-lover since I was 2 weeks old, I am incredibly inspired by the joys of the coast.

Many of my customers, both wholesale and retail, are along the New England coastline, on lovely Cape Cod, the craggy coast of Maine, the beaches of Rhode Island and Connecticut, and of course, the tiny New Hampshire coastline. I've always had a collection inspired by coastal living , and a couple of years ago expanded it to include coastal holidays, combining New England tradition and a bit of whimsy.

This year, one of my retailers, P-Town Pulp in Provincetown (at the very tip of the Cape), asked if I could message the inside of the normally blank coastal holiday cards....it was a bit of a challenge, but wonderful fun! I struggled a bit, not wanting to be too corny, but definitely needing something beyond a generic greeting.... so I thought I'd share a few of my favorites!

Now... I've got tons more of those lobsters with holly to print, so I'd better get back to work.

Sweet Valentine, will you be mine?

With Valentine's day just over a month away, it's the perfect time to start planning - of course starting with the perfect card and sentiment! Sweet or sassy? Cute and cuddly? What will you choose? When I think Valentines, I am inspired by the the whimsical little cards from my childhood....

How about our little bee card? Add a very simple message: Bee Mine! Delightful for the kiddos, or your sweet love.

One of my favorites is the heart breathing dragon, for the hottie in your life. Pen a little note inside like You Set My Heart Afire and send it on it's way.

Another cutie (and customer fav) is the little squirrel with heart card. And what better message to send your sweetie than I'm Nuts About You!

... and lastly, Hoo Loves You, Baby? says our wise owl, or you to your sweetheart.

But of course, for all of you traditionalists, there are always hearts and roses!

Speaking of deer....

Thought you'd enjoy a peek at a custom Christmas card I designed for my best friend. She has a sweet little lab, Bailey, and we dressed her up in "antlers" - like the Grinch's pup - tied on with a red ribbon.


Today I'm finally finishing up my cards, so I can get them in the mail before the holiday.... I can't believe it's just over a week away.


I'm also planning to put up my tree - it's the perfect day for it, since there's a nor'easter keeping me inside today. I love having snow in December - it's so much easier to get into the holiday spirit!


I still have some Christmas shopping to do, and am anxiously waiting for a few packages that I ordered from some fabulous indie businesses to arrive. Unfortunately, I think I'll have to make one trip to the mall this coming week, but up until now, I've managed to avoid it. And then there's wrapping, and cooking, and - YIKES - I've got a lot to do, better get back at it and away from the computer!

Oh, deer!

Whew! 250 reindeer postcards completed and shipped. I'm finally (pretty much) caught up, and can now get started on my own Christmas cards...

Birthday Boy! What can I say?

I'm a very visual person, and because of that, most of my cards are blank. In one respect, this is good - they can easily be used for multiple occasions. In another respect, this is not so good - so many people are intimidated by blank cards because they don't know what to write inside.

This is my first post of a series - I will offer you a little help in that department, by pairing some of my card designs with an example of what message would make them perfect for that special occasion. In honor of my brother's birthday, which is in just a couple of days, I'm going to start with some guy birthday card ideas!

I sell this card with the message printed inside. The concept was inspired by my clever friend Brian. What sporting guy isn't going to appreciate the bowling ball and pins? And inside: Another Birthday Strikes!

Who doesn't remember those summer days during childhood, when the dandelions went to seed and we made wishes on them? (Oh, yeah, we also spread all those pesky seeds all over dad's lawn in the process!) What about a dandelion card to celebrate a lawn-obsessed guy's birthday - and inside: May All Your Wishes Come True!

And last but not least, man's best friend... this card was inspired by my brother's sweet dog who loves cake and shares my name - Molly-dog's birthday. What would I write inside this one? Let them Eat Cake!

(oh, and Happy Birthday Johnny!)

Artful, Indie and Fresh

It's been a busy summer at Artful Sentiments! I've been printing lots of cards and journals and assembling the new 2008 calendars and magnets galore for my shop and many fabulous retailers across the U.S. that stock my goodies.

I've designed several new holiday cards, and of course last year's favs are also available... Last year I sent the "chill" card to everyone on my list, it was a bit of an affirmation for me!

I've also been working with some other wonderful business owners in two coops, IndieFinds, a group of over 100 talented peeps with delightful online shops, and A Fresh Bunch, a group of fabulous stationery business owners who have joined forces to help promote eachother. Please check out both of these great groups.