fresh picked whimsy

My cup runneth over...

...because of YOU!  I have been feelin' the L♥ve, friends.  Lately it seems i cannot check my inbox without finding the sweetest emails, facebook messages, etsy convos, tweets, etc...  I know i've said this before, but i'm gonna say it again...it is so easy to feel like an island when you work from home.  You put your work out there and you hope that it resonates with people.  To get such lovely messages from friends and total strangers is just so incredible.  I cannot tell you how much it means to me.  You all make me smile, giggle, inspire me and make my day.  Thank you for taking the time to write to me, thank you for telling others about me and my art, thank you for following me on twitter and facebook and for reading this little blog.  Thank you so very much, from the bottom of my heart.  I am so so blessed...because of YOU! 

A little somethin' somethin' for you....be sure to go to MommyMishmash for a chance to win a set of my recipe cards and One Happy Mama for a chance to win my Glass Half Full print!  Have a wonderful weekend, friends! xo

♥ Love, Lori

Dream a little dream with me...

Remember the days of your childhood when you would lay on the grass and look up at the clouds and spy animals and objects in them?  When was the last time you took a break from the hustle and bustle of life and did that?  Well, you're long overdue. 

 
I found the sweetest little website last week.  It's called cloud-dreaming and you're going to love it.  Fran, the imagination behind this website, invites you to take a picture of your finds and submit your cloud dream to the site.  Each month, there's a small giveaway to one of the contributors. In the past it's been an iTunes card or a piece of art.  This month, for every cloud dream submitted, a donation will be made to Paradise Kids, a community program that helps families through grief and loss.  Read more about the inspiration behind supporting this worthy cause here. 

I submitted some pictures from a past cloud dream that G and R found a few years ago.  You may remember it.  Today Fran posted it on her site today.  I'm going to submit the dog cloud dream above next.  I found it just a couple weeks ago. 

Cloud-dreaming is the perfect way to introduce the gift of imagination to your children...encourage them to daydream, be silly, and find the joy in the beauty that is all around us.  So, go...by yourself, with a friend, your sweetheart, or your kids.  Find an open window to the sky and allow yourself to dream! 

oh and...bring your camera!!! ♥

Look up!

Had so much fun painting this ceiling tile for my sweet friend Maureen this summer.  It was definitely a first for me and I wasn't really sure I "got it" until i saw the pictures of it installed. 

 
The ceiling at The Dockside restaurant at their lakehouse in Torch Lake, Michigan is covered in personalized ceiling tiles from local families and businesses.  The place looks like a lot of fun.  The kind of restaurant that you boat over to...totally casual...flip flops, cold beer, good eats.  Classic American summer lake living.  Awesome.

 
 

 
  
Maureen commissioned me to paint one for their family.  They specified the Michigan State 'S' in the middle of their last name, the color of the water, the types of trees, grandma & grandpa in the boat and the hill in the background {on which Maureen's husband proposed to her!}. 

 
The handsome Nestor fellas and their adorable sister with the sign.  Thanks, guys for posing for Mom so that Mrs. McDonough could blog about it! :)

Such a fun project...so happy to do it for you.  Love you! ♥

 

Lori was here...

 
Our church parish festival...working the BINGO tent with my friends.  There were some hardcore BINGO players, but we had so much fun. 

 
took my daughter to the Justin Bieber concert (well, actually dropped her off with her cousins and then their mom and i went to dinner while the girls suffered caught the Bieber Fever). 

 
The city was a sea of glitter and screaming girls {and their parents} with homemade signs and t-shirts.

 
Visited our new HUGE Hobby Lobby...sweet!

 
Went to the Football Tailgate Auction for R's team.  Donated my 2 pieces and had fun when some moms sweetly "stalked" me to find out how they could get prints if they didn't win them in the silent auction.

 
LOVING that one of my besties from my high school days has a son on R's team, too!  It's such a hoot to be a football mom with her...the person i went to every game with as a student!  I'm trying to find the pics of us from high school...stay tuned.

 
My uber talented friend Erin, of Vale Design celebrated her birthday yesterday. 

She collects bird illustrations and paintings...and has a love for yellow finches.  Her collection is growing and it's fabulous.  This is what i made for her this year. 

 
If you were in Indy last Saturday and a convertible red Corvette went flying by your car, that was ME!!!!!

 
On Saturday, i spent the day at my Dad's corvette club car show, selling and signing the Corvette Lovers Collage and t-shirts that i made for them.  I took tons of pictures to share with you and will have a post all about it in a few days.  One of the highlights of the day for me was getting to drive my Dad's friend's Corvette to the show.  It was awesome!

Stay tuned, friends:  brand new fall/Halloween art coming soon!  Now, back to the drawing board!

♥

There are signs everywhere...

Had a challenging week last week.  A series of events happened and i just started feeling a bit overwhelmed and having a difficult time staying positive.  As you know...i'm generally a very happy, upbeat, positive person.  But last week truly kicked my booty.  Then, throughout the week, i started to see them.  Signs.

 

When i was a little girl, my grandmother, Mimi, told me that the rays of sunshine that come from behind the clouds were the angels bringing babies down from heaven to their families and angels bringing souls home to God.  I took this photo on Wednesday evening.  On Thursday, a friend of mine delivered her first baby.  On Friday, a friend of mine lost his very young son to cancer. 

Angels were flying nearby...for sure.

Very late on Thursday night, in a very crowded parking garage, i let a huge SUV cut in front of me even though my patience was at it's limit and i was exhausted and i just wanted to get home.  I was cranky and feeling sorry for myself.  The woman driving was so very grateful, waving and thanking me.  This was their licence plate that i saw when they pulled in front of me...

 
hello, God.

On Friday afternoon, a new client came by the studio to pick up her large commissioned piece.  When i gave her the total of what she owed me, she paused and then told me she was DOUBLING my price for her payment.  She told me my art is WAY underpriced and insisted on giving me the extra money.  It was so unbelievably gracious and generous that i couldn't stop my tears from coming.  Who does that?  And why would it happen on a day when i felt so vulnerable. 

It was God.  

Friday night was our usual Friday night pizza night with my grandfather and Mark's parents at our house.  We eat pizza, visit and watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy every week.  God must be a Wheel watcher, because this was a puzzle on Friday night (mind you, Friday is the only night we watch it)...

"THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME"

yup....God.

Yesterday, i pulled into a parking spot and saw this sticker on the van in front of me.  I just lost my breath.   

 
You can get this sticker for FREE here. (i have no affiliation with this ministry or church.  i just decided to google it after i saw it and found their website. )

ok, God, i hear you...loud and clear.  Thank you for always being with me. 

i love you, Lori

Good to the last drop!

The alarm clock this morning signaled the end of Summer 2010 for my family.  Our three kiddos all boarded their buses as a spanking new junior, freshman and 4th grader respectively.  I personally believe it is a crime to go back to school so early.  Today's high is predicted to be 96 with a heat index of 105.  Ridiculous! 

 
 
We will remember this summer with love as we squeezed everything out of it we could and made many fun family memories!  We were not able to cross off everything on our summer to-do-list, which just gives us that much more to look forward to Summer 2011...in just 290 days...but who's counting? 

Me!

Quick announcement!

 

 
***I'm doing a SURPRISE FACEBOOK BOGO sale on prints in my shop this weekend!***

If you're not a fan of whimsy studios yet on facebook, click over there to your left and do it.  You'll find the directions of how to get it on the sale there! Fo rizzle: Buy one print, get one print FREE(of equal or lesser value). 

This weekend ONLY!

 

on being "the new girl"

This recent commissioned illustration for a going-away gift really brought back a lot of memories about moving often when i was a kid.  My dad's job at Eli Lilly was transferred numerous times as i was growing up and had us packing and unpacking every few years or so.  We {my sisters and I} always dreaded the "we're going to have a family talk tonight" announcement, because it always meant that we were moving again. 

my geography:  I was born on Long Island, NEW YORK, moved to Howell, NEW JERSEY when I was 2, moved to Naperville, ILLINOIS when i was 9, moved to Carmel, INDIANA when i was 12, moved back to Naperville, ILLINOIS when I was 14, moved back to Carmel, INDIANA when i was 16.  It was so NOT fun being the new girl in school.  However, in hindsight, it did force me to become more outgoing; if i was going to make friends i had to put myself "out there".  i did make lots of friends along the way {thank you, facebook for reuniting me with some of them!}, and ultimately this very zig-zaggy path led me to Mark.  I will forever be grateful.  It would have been very difficult to explain the beauty in that logic to a teenager who was leaving her friends behind over and over, but as an adult, i see that now.

I am very grateful that Mark's job has allowed my children to stay put throughout their childhood.  I think it's a gift.  I know through first hand experience that not everyone has that luxury.  However, we lived a very comfy lifestyle growing up and our Dad worked his heart out so that we never wanted for anything.  As a parent, i totally appreciate the sacrifices and everything they did for us and our family.  Moving was difficult for all of us. 

A good friend moved to Florida just last week and i created this collage illustration just for her...

 

Have you ever been "the new girl" or "the new guy"?  Or have you lived in the same place your whole life?  What's your story?

Keepin' it real...

with me, what you see is what you get...here's what you get today...

 
i color my hair every 4 weeks...L'oreal dark brown, because i'm worth it and because i would look like a skunk if i didn't. 

 

i wear my Wham! concert t-shirt from 1984 everytime i color my hair...it's worn so thin, you could read a newspaper through it. i love it. Wham! 4-eva {susan and karen, that one goes out to you ♥ good times, good times}

i hate playing video games...i just don't understand the big dealio over them. I should have named my boys Mario and Luigi.

i wish sugar tasted like fish because i hate fish. Nah, forget it...then i would just have a fish addiction.

my guilty pleasure tv show is Keeping up with the Kardashians. Mark hates it, but if i have to sit through Through the Wormhole and Through the Universe, then he can watch Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami. Kardashians and Quantum Physics...we're a pair, aren't we? Somehow, it works for us! ♥

Every day when the Etsy Finds land in my inbox, i cross my fingers that one of my prints will be in it. Hasn't happened yet, but i'm thinking happy thoughts.

i'm the unofficial spokesperson for Grand Traverse Pie Co. apple crumb pie and Fat Free Vanilla CoffeeMate. Those companies don't even know it...but i've got their backs. mmmmmmmmm!

i'm a world class procrastinator ...doing it now even...i work best under pressure.
 

Inspiration all around...

I am an illustrator.  However, i got my degree in Visual Communication Design.  I spent my years at Purdue studying typography, composition, packaging, and photography among other elements of design.  I find inspiration everywhere...music, nature, my kids, life...and from good design in advertising, books, magazines, packaging, etc...  When i find great design, i never forget it.  It stays with me.  Here are some designs i have found that totally inspire me as an artist and as a consumer...and, no...i'm not getting kick-backs from any of these companies!

I think this ad for {our local living history museum and symphony series} Conner Prairie's Symphony on the Prairie Summer Series is GORGEOUS.  It screams summer and music and love and beauty to me.  I would frame this in my home.  Stunning....

 

I saw this ad for Oreos in my Better Homes & Gardens magazine and drooled.  So clever and simple...and tempting!

 

I know you've seen this uber-creative one for Sherwin Williams Paint.  Wow.  Beautiful...smart...visually lovely...

 
 
 Another paint company...Benjamin Moore.  Their packaging is fresh and clean and graphically bold.  It's a huge improvement from their previous packaging.  Their website is equally awesome.

 
 
 I first encountered the Publix Grocery Store brand when we were in The Villages, Florida two summers ago.  Their store brand packaging blew me away.  It's whimsical, simple, to the point and totally entertaining. 

 
 I remember going up and down the aisles smitten with their packaging and giggling at their witty play-on-words taglines. 

 
 
I was so mad that i didn't have my camera with me.  I literally bought products just for their packaging.  Now, that's good packaging!  I so wish we had a Publix here in Indy!

Noodles & Company is one of my favorite places to eat.  I'm in love with their Pesto Cavatappi!  Nom nom nom.  I'm also in love with their whimsical store ads, print ads and website.  Funny and effective!

Finally, this logo from the blog 100 Layer Cake...a beautiful blog about all things wedding.  The logo is luxurious, elegant and so yummy you just want to take a bite out of it.  Delicious design!

 
Do you have any favorite ads, products or packaging?  I'd love to hear about it and check it out!  Now, go out there and be inspired!!!!