Cut it, fold it-It's done and out of here!

Teabag package topper....



Tea bag frame for a card with the beautiful Morgan as the star. My husband's very talented photographer grandson (Gabe Gonzalez) took the lovely photo of his sister.


Iris folding used for these man in the moon variations.


Another book for the wonderful Leslie (Arena Books) done unbelievably quickly- lots of fun though to make up for the lack of sleep (and money) -these projects are so different than my usual illustration work ... feeling so very crafty these days -and have discovered that I love teabag folding- especially if I get to use my own papers. I have become obsessed with designing papers and have no idea what I'm going to do with them all! I also love making envelopes with templates from.....The Kreate-a-lope www.greensneakers.com. They are torn -not tediously cut out and all the more charming I think for the irregular edges. They can be glued as usual or even better, fixed -I guess we all must say affixed these days, with origami folded clasps or torn or punched bits of paper and strings. I'm enjoying printing paper with a different design on each side or using very rough kraft color hand made Japanese paper for the envelope and adding a colorful insert or even a piece of corrugated paper for strength and textural interest. I'll gather a  few more images here eventually.........

I think these are so cute. I designed a double sided
teabag folding paper for the book that wasn't used, rose pattern on one side, red check on the other. The idea was to use these shapes inside a card with a message tucked inside. I'll try eventually to add links to the patterns I've used just in case anyone wants to try them.

what I'm doing today...

I've worked up several ideas and finally narrowed it down to four.
This was the design I preferred (it was originally one of my photo transfers from a few years ago that I played with in photoshop until I got this even more romantic version)


.....but the bride wanted something in their favorite color and went for the design below (which is a photoshopped version of a paper sculpture I did for self promotion). There was a folded cover for it, with vellum, a ribbon closure and, of course, lots of printing and cutting and assembling. It took forever but the bride and groom loved the results so it was worth it. I guess. And we used them in GREAT CARDS AND TAGS so they are famous.

Have been busy, busy, busy- thank God

Finally finished the Girl Scouts book- the style was a little different but fun- anthropomorphic flowers- a 'petal powered car' zooming across America. Lots of different looks- landscapes, diagram of petal car, maps....had to literally work double time to get it completed in time. I think I have a very happy client. Always a nice feeling when you actually get genuine happy feedback.