Here's the Rest!

Rita - 1940's

Audrey - 1950's

Jill - 1960's

Here a few samples from CHA, the craft industry's largest trade show that was held in January. These are the rest of the stamps that I designed in my Through the Decades collection. On my last post I talked about how I make up stories when I draw. I've drawn this way for as long as I can remember. My illustrations always had a story to accompany them.

 

Meet Rita. The late 40's was a milestone for fashion....Christian Dior became huge with his New Look., cinched in waistbands with full luxurious skirts. This particular dress is an actual Dior dress from that period. Now mind you, Rita could not afford to dress like this, so she made her own version. I'm thinking after the war she came to Hollywood to become a star. Hmmmm, I wonder if she made it?

 

 

Of course with the 3/4 length tight sweater and black and white, I was thinking the Audrey but as I got more into it, I decided she was more of a rich socialite. Perhaps she married rich and loved to shop and host great parties. Of course belonged to the best country club! With those sunglasses, I'm thinking she probably drove a fancy little convertible!

 

 

The 1960's brought one of the most drastic changes to fashion ever. London was the capitol of mod fashion and this is where Jill lived. She of course was a model and hung out with rock stars. She may have even dated a few!

 

 

So there you have it. The rest of the girls. Hope you enjoyed their stories!

Meet the New Girls!



Ruby


Jeanne

My newest collection is getting ready to ship! I have always been interested in the history of fashion and knew that this fascination would become a part of my little stamp world! This collection spans the 1920's through the 1960's, when fashion had it's most drastic changes in history.
 

Recently in a class, I was asked if my girls have stories behind them and the answer is, of course they do! As I  sit and draw I can't help but come up with stories. This is Ruby. Yes, I watch Downton Abbey and can't help but be infatuated with the clothes! Ruby is from this period and as I was drawing her I couldn't help but think about what life must have been like in the 20's. We all watched The Great Gatsby last year and this little lady seemed to be flirtatious and maybe a bit of a scandalous flapper. I'm thinking she may have even gone to Paris and hung out with all the artists and writers. Perhaps she may have even done some modeling for the well known artists of the day. I do know she would not have been happy at home making jam or sitting in the parlor doing stitchery all afternoon. She wasn't a bad girl (well maybe a bit naughty) she just wanted to experience the excitement of a new era.

Jeanne is a bit more mellow. This was actually my most difficult girl to draw. It was the 1930's, an era of depression and the beginning of war. To me, she looks like she is going to the train station. She rummaged through her wardrobe to find something suitable to see her love off to war. She's a bit sad as she heads back home to start a new life of working in a factory as she helps with the war effort. Although I drew this stamp at least 6 or 7 times before I liked it, it became my favorite.



Orny Class!

Come join me for this fun ornament class at Treasured Memories in Oak Park, CA on Nov. 8th at 10 am! I will have several paper styles and paint colors for you to choose from. Once you make these, I promise you will want to make more!

Happy Mother's Day!

Hey...where did April go? I completely forgot to do a tag for April and I had the cutest idea in my head! It was a crazy, busy month for me with a bad cold thrown into the mix. I was happily making some samples for package photos for some awesome new products coming out in July. we also had some last minute ideas for a release in October that I had to squeeze in. I just received the prototypes and I promise much fun will be had by all who purchase these little gems!
So all of a sudden it's May. Didn't we just pack Christmas away? Here is my May tag, made simply with the new Prima Bloom Sprays and lots of washi tape. Had so much fun with this. Did you all make your Mother's Day cards or buy them?

Introducing Shay

This is Shay. She's one of my favorites. My inspiration for her? She's a city girl. You might find her in New York, maybe San Francisco. Her hat, heels and clutch say it all...she's into clothes and she knows how to wear them! This stamp goes perfect with the Boutique stamp pack consisting of hats and handbags. Accessories always makes playing dress up a lot more fun, don't you think?

Meet Taylor...

I was asked if I assign ethnicity to my stamps. The answer to that is no. These are line drawings with no faces so it's a bit difficult to do that. Long before my stamps came out and I used templates in my classes I noticed that African-American ladies were shading in their dolls. That's when I brainstormed the Buff Paper Pad in all different shades of skin tones and working with a company such as Prima gave me the opportunity to do that. About 6 months after the stamps came out I had several requests to make ethnic stamps. Hispanic, Asian and African -American....how does one do this when there's no faces? I do have a HUGE following of African-American ladies whom I love and adore so I really had to think my way through this one.
So, meet Taylor....I was told that an on-line shop was selling her as an African-American stamp. Well guess what? She is a line drawing and can be whatever you want her to be!  As I waited for my answer to come to me on this dilemma of ethnicities, this is what I drew. This is what came out of me. I believe she could have the lightest of skin tones and red hair and look as Irish as can be. Even add a few freckles to the mix! Make her in a dark skin tone and voila, she is African-American!
She was totally inspired by all my lovely ladies of color who follow me. It dawned on me as I was thinking through this that I did not have many curly haired gals. These women have been purchasing all my stamps, straight hair and all using darker skin tones, making the most wonderful creations, without a complaint whatsoever. Curly hair is hard for me to draw so I've avoided it for the most part up to now. I then knew I  needed to add some curly hair to the mix! Taylor happens to have short hair but I added some longer curly hair to some of the other girls.
I hope this answers the questions. Creative ladies from all backgrounds, colors, shapes and places have made the dolls however they want them to be. That's what we creative people do. I hope ladies of all colors enjoy making creations with this stamp however they see fit. I can't wait to see the end results!

Tag of the Month...Lucky!

 

Isn't it fun to sit down and create something you normally would not create? Never in a million years would I make something in emerald green unless it was Christmas. Not that I don't like this color because I do...it's just not my norm in creating. I did love pulling out the sprays and gelatos for this project. I started with a solid tag from my Aquarelle Tag Pad from Prima. I drew some easy free form flowers onto the tag with the two green shades of gelatos. I then lightly misted with water and just brushed around the flower shape ever so lightly with a paintbrush. After that dried I sprayed Prima's new Color Bloom sprays through stencils randomly over the tag. I used the newly released Megan stamp and hat from the Boutique accessory stamp set to create this lucky girl. A cute flower stamp and embellishments from Prima complete my March tag!