ILLUSTRATION INSPIRATION: Aileen Leijten

Lets talk about the talented Aileen Leijten, because I have a lot to say and most of it 

involves swooning. Aileen is an Illustrator with a very impressive resume and client 

list (Including Hanna Barbera and Walt Disney Imagineering, wowsers) But what I love 

most about her are her characters. They are absolutely tangebly adorable. I appreciate 

their big puffy clothes and spindly legs and arms and really love their super big heads. 

Although these may seem like silly things to say, this is what makes her characters 

(and her style choice) stand out. She paints her illustrations and her blog offers a bit of 

insight into her process. (I am always fascinated by how other illustrators create). And Let 

us not forget her palette. Do you notice all of the nice warm hues, my eye could swim 

in the soft color palette that she uses.   

Check out a list of her illustrated books here... my favorite is The Hugging Hour

A Mother's Day Commission

Just slipping in a recent Meant for a Moment Mother's Day Commission.

This one was really cute, commissioned by a musician for his mom. {xox}

Beet and Potato Chips = Beautiful

Here is a great idea to add to your Mother's Day Lunch Menu, aren't the beet chips 

beautiful? Head over to Sips and Spoonful for more details, but for now, 

here is the recipe:

Beet and Potato Chips with Thyme Rock SaltIngredients:Beets
Potatoes
Himalayan sea salt
Fresh thyme leaves
Oil for deep frying (canola or sunflower oil)

Directions:Wash and dry the beets and potatoes. Finely slice with a mandolin. Make sure the 
slices are dry. Heat oil in a frying pan on high heat. When the oil is hot, add the beet 
and potato slices one at a time so they don't stick to one another. Don't overcrowd the oil. 
Fry, stirring every so often until they are crispy. Drain on a paper towel and immediately 
sprinkle with thyme salt. Serve when it cools down.
To make thyme salt, grind Himalayan sea salt with thyme leaves in
on beets and potatoes but that is personal preference. a pestle and mortar.
Notes: Beets will shrink when fried so you are better off using
 larger beets. I left the skin 

Come with a Story Campaign

"Come with a story, Leave with Another" is a brilliant ad campaign for the 

Colsubsidio Book Exchange that will have you double taking. These clever paper-cut 

silhouettes, by the Lowe/SSP3 ad agency, feature a mash-up of two literary icons. 

The First one: Little Red Riding Hood and Moby Dick. The Second one: Harry Potter 

and Troy and the last one: Snow White and Sherlock Holmes. I really like the minimalist 

approach and the brilliant attention to each detail. This campaign caught my attention 

and has me looking for more, job well done!

TYPOGRAPHY Friday: Gem Goode

Sending along some more type love for your Friday. I love the length these design 

have from Gem Goode at Deviant Art. Creating Type Art that is easy to read is a 

difficult task but I think the balance between flourishes and fancy typography here balance 

well and my eye flows across the page. I love that the entire design in both uses only one 

color. And once again, Great Quotes!

ILLUSTRATION INSPIRATION: Featuring John Rocco

Are you taking notes here? Because John Rocco is seriously talented and it is blowing 

my mind. Every image I could find of his work had amazing perspective. And was so 

creative he had me thinking, "Damn I've gotta remember that." The choices he makes 

are divine. Sometimes he fills the page with color, other times he uses the white space 

to set a mood. And if you check out his color palette, he stays in a certain spot on the 

color wheel each time, utilizing hues and complimentary colors in a very strategic way, 

and he nails it.

The really cool thing about John Rocco is how he creates his illustrations. Check out the 

pencil drawing up there. Thats how he captures all of his tones, than he scans the image 

in and colors it in photoshop.

I am taking lesson now, and promise you will see this beautiful forced perspective pop 

up in some of my work. Thanks for the illustration inspiration. 

P.S. John Rocco was also the pre-production art director in the movie Shrek {too cool} 

Love

Since we are in the process of writing our vows, I have been thinking about LOVE a 

lot lately. Its a funny thing isn't it? Finding one person that you want to spend the rest of 

your life with. Knowing that you will love them for as long as you live. And believing in 

them, {all the way to your soul} that their promise of love is worth giving your life to. 

Sometimes when Dave and I are on the couch with Cricket curled up in our lap, it feels 

like we are swimming in love. Some say love is like floating, but I'd say swimming. 

Because love is heavy and weightless at the same time. Just like swimming in water. 

Marriage is a big deal, if it doesn't have any weight to it its not time to marry. I feel 

no pressure or stress, but its a big deal when I look at Dave and I realize that he loves 

me enough to commit a lifetime to me. 

That feeling, when you realize we are both making the same plans is a strong and powerful 

emotion, and its nothing to be taken lightly. 

Like being surrounded by water, swimming forward and being able to breath. 

Yes, to me, Love is like swimming... And I feel so blessed. So blessed.

photo credit Braedon Photography

The Sketchbook Project

I am so excited to have just signed up for the 2013 Sketchbook Project. 

Here is how it works: 

I will receive a Sketchbook in the mail. My task is to fill it. Once its filled, I send it 

back to the creative folks at the Brooklyn Art Library. Than in January of 2013 it goes 

on tour along with all of the other sketchbooks from other participating artists. And at the 

end of its tour, it will be archived at the Brooklyn Art Library.  {xox} I am totally 

looking forward to committing to filling that book! 

PS. The best part...Anyone can join, check out the site for more information.

Happy Birthday to my FUTURE Husband {!}

Happy Birthday today to one of the most Amazing Men I know. Not only is he incredibly 

handsome but he is thoughtful, funny, majorly skilled, creative and incredibly spirited. 

When I met Dave four and half years ago, I knew as we played the game of LIFE 

{literally} that he was the one. 

Let me set the scene for you...We had just come in from a swim at the beach and 

finished our first dinner together. Neither of us wanted to call it a night so we settled 

in for a board game. In the middle of the game I found a pink $50 floating around on the 

game board. I asked him if it was his and he said no. I knew it wasn't mine so I said so.

 So, he took the pink $50 and placed it in the middle of the board and said, "Ok, well I will 

put this $50 here and if its gone at the end of the game... Than I guess we will learn a little 

bit about each other." And I am telling you folks, thats when I KNEW I had stumbled 

into something totally amazing. I laughed... and the game got ridiculously silly. As you 

can imagine being on a first date and playing the game of LIFE, its either going to 

get really awkward or really silly as you fill your game peice with children and 

secure your job as a rockstar.  

And yes, the pink $50 remained in its spot for the remainder of the game. 

Happy Birthday Dave,  you are my best friend, I love you with my whole 

heart and I can't wait to marry you. 

TYPOGRAPHY FRIDAY: Kavan & Co

When I think about Typography Design two things are important to me:

A: Creativity and Layout and B: What it actually says. 

So I double love Kavan & Co's brilliant typography skills. Not only are the designs 

colorful and cheery, they say really wonderful things, and my heart just jumps at 

any well-put combination of words and images. I really appreciate the layers of 

'doodles' and shapes. It makes each design completely unique and absolutely cool. 

Wouldn't the pencil design be great in a Studio? I mean, could it be more perfect? 

It says it all. 

Satchel and Sage { xox }

Satchel and Sage caught my eye with their adorable collaged Animal Prints. Wouldn't 

these be cute in a little boys nursery collaged on the wall? Satchel and Sage has tons 

of adorable prints like this one about a terrarium, and some super cool venn-diagrams.

Check 'em out...

ILLUSTRATION INSPIRATION Featuring: Pietari Posti

I am totally enamored with Pietari Posti's amazing illustrations. The movement and line 

use are addicting, I can't pull my eyes off of them. I really admire his limited palette as well. 

I think I have nail polish in all of those colors :).  Limiting yourself is often a tough thing 

todo, but I think this palette is beautiful. Pietari also does a great job keeping the 

composition moving and allowing the focal pieces to pop. Can you feel your eye moving 

across the illustration in each of these?

And... Im back!

After five days in Sunny California with the cutest little face in the world, returning to 

work is proving to be a bit more difficult than usual. Let's talk about California for a 

minute. SO, I live in Maryland, and I consider it to be a pretty hip state with lots of 

coolness to offer... But have you been to California? There is so much coolness there. 

I am talking, smoothies with spinach, fresh markets everywhere, surfers and barrels of 

candy! Vintage, Retro, Contemporary... California was filled with all of it. 

And that cutie new nephew of mine! Oddly enough, we arrived during a cloudy spell 

(apparently the marine layer was out of control) so we didn't get too much sun while we 

were out there. BUT that just gave us the opportunity to swoon over the newest, 

most awesome member of our family. 

We became best friends pretty quick. My sister is a natural mother and Cole is totally 

in love with his mom and dad. Can you blame him?

Family Time.

I am so excited to spend the next 6 days in sunny California with my new beautiful

wrinkly nephew Cole. He was born on Saturday. My Younger sister and I are flying

out early in the morning to give that cutie little baby a hug and a squeeze. 

So please forgive my absence. I will return next Wednesday with great photos and 

updates of his beautiful fresh new life.  Until then, take good care of yourselves. 

And remember just how beautiful this life really is. {xox}

Happy Birthday to My Sister

An Important Day in history today. Happy Birthday to my sister, Kelsey. 

I love you so incredibly much.

For those of you not lucky enough have a Kelsey to love, let me give you some 

reasons to find one. 

• The Kelsey I love is so big hearted she would walk 

into a bee hive if you told her you needed honey. 

• She is both painfully and adorably gullible, so our 

storytelling family has always had her second 

guessing reality. 

• She has a guinea pig. Love those little guys {!}

• But best of all, she would befriend you, and 

care for you... no matter who you are. Her 

heart is open WIDE. Of all the people in the 

world she is the last person to ever pass a 

judgement. 

And thats why, I'm glad to have a Kelsey in my life...

Happy Birthday Kels {xox}

ILLUSTRATION INSPIRATION: Julie Morstad

For this week's Illustration Inspiration feature I chose someone whose style is very 

different than my own. Actual it would almost be impossible for me to try to mimic 

this style. Thats why I LOVE it so much! It is so unique. Each of Julie Morstad's 

illustrations provide her own signature and every time you see one you can pick it 

out as one of her own. 

She uses colored pencil, ink, gouache and pencil and sometimes even collage to 

create her beautiful drawings. I really admire the mixture of rough pencil that she allows to 

shine through. Each of my pieces end up having to look very clean and smooth when 

they are finished (OCD?) But I always like them best at there sketch phase. Sounds 

kind of like an identity crisis right? She keeps her drawings looking very 'hip' this way.

And to balance the gray of the ink and pencil she throws in those brilliant punches 

of bright color. Its just makes my eyes swim across the page, I just adore her style! 

Hope you do too.

Books are Art...

I am a little behind the times on this ad (Anagram books has since closed) but look at 

their beautiful advertisements promoting their store. That octopus is out of this world.

I could look at it for hours and try to figure out how it was created. 

I became an Aunt and my heart bursted

In the wee small hours of Sunday Morning, I became an Aunt, for the very first time. 

My Sister had her first baby, in California while I  a.n.x.i.o.u.s.l.y waited in Maryland for

word of his arrival.  He is Beautiful and tiny and so wrinkly he actually looks wise; like he 

has years of knowledge on me and I need to hit the books before I go out there so I am 

not out smarted by this adorable tiny wrinkly little face that looks so peaceful and perfect. 

My heart keeps welling up inside with sheer love. I bounce back and forth between 

feeling excitement for my sister and her husband who are over the moon for their 

new baby boy, I know their hearts grew a hundred times when they saw his face.  

And I'm gushing over the idea that there is a new little man in our lives that we are 

all going to laugh with and love and watch grow. And he is going to get hair cuts and

 build blocks and loose teeth and have adorable innocent moments that will make me melt. 

I am flying out to join my sister and her husband and meet Cole for the first time on 

Thursday. I can not wait to see that tiny face. Congratulations to my sister and her 

husband ~ xox you guys are going to be wonderful parents. 

Thanks Bippity Boppity Boo for the adorable photo

INTRODUCING: Typography Friday

New Deal Folks. Every Friday = Typography Friday. 

Since I find myself drooling over all of the type art out there and dying to share but 

without any proper avenue or platform for it, I have created one. So here we go. 

Todays feature proves my recent journey into type love. The top image is the ever 

talented type genius John Passafiume's save the date design {its like a maze of words 

and art, love it} compared with my simple whimsical illustrated type save the date 

for Dave and I. Just getting my feet wet... more to come. Happy Friday {xox}

Katie Rodgers = Amazing Right?

SO Madly in Love with Katie Rodgers' beautiful watercolors. 

Check out more at Paperfashion. Oh Its SO good isn't it?!

Illustration Inspiration featuring: Lia Marcoux

Happy Wednesday and welcome back to our Illustration Inspiration Feature. 

This week, my drawing hands are totally jealous of Lia Marcoux's unique style and amazing 

ability to pick the most perfect color palette. Looking at her work you can't help but notice 

her brilliant choice of color to separate foreground from background, and to set the 

mood in the illustration. Her light and shadow are fantastic. Do you kind of get a a folk art 

feel from her work? And do you notice the noses of her characters? They are all red...

I really adore any artist with a signature that sticks out like that. 

Embroidery... {xox}

Wouldn't it be adorable to use these custom embroidered numbers from Merriweather Council 

as table numbers at your adorable wedding and than gift those cute little initial necklaces to your bridesmaids. I love the color, texture and vintage look that the embroidery adds. Oh its so clever!

Great Alarm Clock Idea

Oh My Gosh! Have you seen these silent alarm clocks yet? Its a touch screen wrist 

band that vibrates when you need to wake up, sum it up or get out of dodge. I LOVE 

this idea. Because Dave and I are always popping out of bed at different times, these 

private little alarms would add a lot less groaning to the morning routine. 

What do you think? 

People Freaking out in a Haunted House: Hysterical

I know this is so random but I can't stop laughing at this. I stumbled upon it looking for 

references, and it gave me a good laugh. Its people freaking out in a Haunted House.

 Look at that guy running away from his wife as she pulls him back, true colors right. 

Haha. I like that top picture of the guy protecting all three girls, way to go Dude!

More Here

To Love a new Life

My sister is having a baby. Have I told you that? Its pretty wild, it will be the first 

baby of our immediate family and my brain and heart are gushing with the idea of a new 

person to love. When I realized she was bringing another person into our family, it hit 

me in a strange way. If you don't know me by now, you should know that I worry a lot, 

especially about the people I love. 

Well, I was driving alone listening to a terribly sad song. Thats when I realized, as I was 

hoping that my new little nephew, would never have to feel the sad ache that that slow 

song sang of, that I loved him already. Because I was already worrying about him. 

Its a strange thing, to worry so much, but it all comes from this giant place in my heart

 where I hold all of my favorite people. Love manifests in funny ways sometimes doesn't it? 

Paige is due this weekend {!}. Her ankles are swollen and uncomfortable and she is 

anxious to meet her new son. Its mere days before I will be an Aunt and my parents will be Grandparents for the first time. The family has halted in wait of this new little baby boy.

 I wonder when his birthday will be!?

 1st image via {great maternity shoot} 2nd image via

Dan Kendrick's Baltimore Book Launch: TONIGHT

Hi friends, I am really excited to announce the Baltimore launch of Dan Kendrick's new 

book, Sex Sells but I'm Ugly, a real time guide to sales, marketing and life.

 I know this event will be a great time, and I wanted to let all my local Baltimore readers

 know to come join the fun! Its a Chic, Black, White and Red party {!} 

And everyone who attends gets a copy of the book!

Illustration Inspiration: Priscilla Burris

Cute Right? Priscilla Burris is our feature in this week's Illustration Inspiration. 

She creates characters that are so adorable and spunky I could pluck them off the 

page and take them to the zoo. I really appreciate the shape of the heads. {Thats 

strange I know} But it definitely contributes to the adorableness of the character. 

She uses a sketchy, low detail, style but adds perfect touches to melt your heart 

or get you laughing. That last drawing at the bottom looks just like my little sister 

Kelsey when she was little. {so cute}

For more from Priscilla Burris visit her site: Priscilla Burris

Amazing Business Cards

LOVE the way these business cards are brightly sprayed.

IS Creative did it themselves with an airbrush!

Oh Harry...

Oh... Now thats just hysterical.

via ffffound

Superman Character Bought for $130

"On March 1,1938, DC Comics gave two young men from Cleveland, Joe Shuster and 

Jerry Siegel, $130 for the rights to a comic character named Superman. That $130 check 

essentially created a billion dollar industry and set in motion nearly 70 years of legal battles 

that continue to this day. Without this check being written out by DC Comics, there would be 

no Superman, and thereby no Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, X-Men, and all the 

characters that came into existence after the concept of "the superhero" was born with 

Superman" This is a lesson for artists to consider maintaining legal rights to their artwork. 

This check is now being auctioned for $38,053.

 I wonder what Joe and Jerry think of the value of the Check now. 

images via illustration art

Happiness

Happiness is a difficult thing to settle in. Its hard to attain because we are always 

looking for more, and a lot of the time you get so lost in seeking it that you don't 

realize you are actually living it.

Lets be honest, we are all occasionally guilty of dreaming about all of the things that 

we don't have that we wish we did. Maybe for the weekend, we could focus on what 

we love about our life, those who we love in our life and all of the decisions that we 

have made to get us here. And by doing so we can find some sort of clarity amongst 

all of the daily 'i wishes' and see that we really do have something to be happy about.

I for one know I am. xoxo

Happy Friday. 

image via

Tea Cookies... Brilliant

Great Idea. So adorable for a Tea themed Party.

via

In the Spotlight for a Minute

Yesterday I felt lucky to be in the spotlight over at Melissa Blake's fantastic 

lifestyle blog, 'So About What I Said'. Included in the interview are details 

on my etsy shop, the inside scoop on how I got started and my favorite 

illustration to date. 

Read More on Melissa's Blog.

Illustration Inspiration Featuring: Erin Stead

Yes! Its Wednesday again and here we are back at our Illustration Inspiration feature! 

I have been looking forward to spending my morning diving deep into the illustrative 

world of another illustrator since last Wednesday's post about Matt Phelan. 

Today I am featuring Caldecott Medal winner, Erin Stead. In order to tell you a bit 

about her, I hopped over to Seven Impossible Things and read their interview. I got 

totally swept up in reading about her unique process. (Its a long one with really great

 pictures so check it out for details.) Basically she adds all of her color using wood block

 carvings. And it is only after all of the color has been blocked in that she draws on 

top of that with pencil. I am actually a really big fan of that Pencil Decision. I feel that the 

gray tone of her drawings gives them all a familiar vintage look. 

Can you feel that too?

May I also add that her husband Philip Stead is also an illustrator. {SO much fun!} 

And they created this book together. This was her first illustrated book and was 

named the New York Times Best Illustrated book in 2010 {Wowsers, Go Erin!)

Design Templates for Paper Folding

Discovered this book today by Trish Witkowski that offers comprehensive

Formats, Techniques and Design Considerations for Innovative Paper Folding... 

Kind of a cool idea... I had to share. 

BONUS: it includes a CD with 40 digital templates {!} 

Advice from Joanne Goddard

I have always admired Joanne Goddard of Cup of Jo for the honesty and vulnerability 

that she includes in her blog posts. She posted a bit about her favorite advice and I 

thought it was worth passing along. Thoughts like these are really good to keep in 

your back pocket. 

This snippet of advice was featured at Refinery29. 

The Just Love Project

The Just Love Project is a Design Project that posts a new design every month about love. 

Above are the poster designs for January through March. I can't wait to see April's! 

Wouldn't it be cool to get one for July, when we get married? I love the colors! 

You can buy them each month or in packages. Check it out here.

The Ghosts of World War II's Past

Wow. As someone who adores history's personal side these photoshopped 

photographs by Russian photographer Sergey Larenkov put things into a really 

interesting perspective, and really blew my mind. The combination of old and 

new really allows you to appreciate the shared history of the ground you walk 

on in a whole new way. This collection is titled The Ghosts of World War II's Past. 

There a 20 photos to view, for all of them visit MyModernMet.

Meant for a Moment's New Website Launch

I am so excited to finally announce the LAUNCH of my Meant for a Moment's new

website. Creating this site has been months in the making. I am thrilled to see it come

to life and to finally be able to announce it to you all. 

www.meantforamoment.com

Make my day and stop in for a visit.

Illustration Inspiration: Matt Phelan

Matt Phelan ladies and gentlemen. (pause for applause) 

How could you not adore his loose whimsical style? 

This talented Philadelphia, illustrator/Author, uses a combination of pencil, watercolor 

and ink to capture these budding moments of real (sometimes desperate) emotion, 

(ie; look at that hamster eyeing up that sandwich, I could melt.) I love the loose lines 

and sketchy quality of his work. I also love the way he draws his children. Look at the 

large cheeks and tiny eyes. He manages so much emotion with so little drawn detail. 

Of his many illustrated books some include: The Seven Wonders of Sassafrass Springs 

(his first publication), The New Girl, and The Storm in the Barn (written and illustrated). 

The hugely talented Matt Phelan is surely an inspiration to my illustration. 

Many thanks to him for sharing his work with us. 

To Have and To Hold: by RUCHE

So, Have you seen Ruche's Bridal Line? Do you see that dress up there that is a pure 

white and adorable? It is titled "The Audrey." Whats not to love? I love the old world

look they have to all their styles and those head pieces too! {xox!} Its all very budget 

friendly my friends, so pop on over and check it out.