Summer art camps ended swell and the Fall semester at the art school is off to a great start!  I finally decided to have someone bring my dream of a legit website to life.  Caitlin from Feb10 designs is working on creating a beautiful website for The Stationery Bakery.   I am so happy to be able to direct potential buyers to a place other than my blog, etsy, facebook, etc.  All these

things are great, but I know it will be much more convenient for people to maneuver thru a website.  Here is a “sneak peak!”
So I am happy I met with Caitlin to have her create the site, because she more than created something that speaks to my vision!  The site should be up in about a month  So in addition to getting a site created, we had another bridal show last weekend at Lakeway Spa and Resort, it was awesome!  We met a group of excited brides, the ladies and gentlemen we met were so complimentary of our stationery book and, fingers crossed, we will be busy with wedding invitation orders!  We also met some really awesome vendors, I am super thrilled to start making new relationships with others in the wedding industry!

ON A CREATIVE NOTE…..

I have been creating cupcake and dog illustrations to sell as fine art prints and blank note cards.  So…hope you all enjoy these dogs!  I have an obsession with the four legged friends, the series comes from images submitted by various dog owners who are fans of The Stationery Bakery on facebook.  Thanks o those who have submitted images, hope you like the illustrations!

Next weekend we will have a booth at Chalk Walk 2011 in downtown Round Rock.  We will be selling 8″ x 10″ prints of these dogs as well as folded note cards, hooray!!

We will also be selling our Plaid Christmas cards, here is our newest design….

So, now that I have  shared with you the past two months in a nutshell, I must get back to work!  We will have embossed details on most of our notecards!  I will be better about revealing more pictures at least once a week instead of once every few months.  Have a beautiful Sunday.

Hello!  It has been a few weeks since my last post, I apologize!  This summer has been full of art projects, production for wedding orders, art camps, bridal show (first one), and a little swimming here and there!  Somehow I am still standing even though there are many days where I feel completely defeated by juggling it all!  I have to thank my husband because he is supportive and never tries to stop me but rather dives right in to help get the work done!  A year ago, I never thought my dream would actually unfold into what I call reality now.   I have included a few shots of some of the latest designs.  A few weeks ago we were a part of a small modern bridal show at Twin Creeks Country Club.  In order to get ready for the show I had one of my closest friends, Melanie Caskey, take pictures of each set.  She set up shop at the apartment for two days just photographing away!  Andrew was awesome with helping as well, he cut down 60 sheets for a portfolio book, and the book looks sooo good!  Here are a few for shots, thanks for stopping by.

Well, thank you for stopping by to see some pictures, I am off to teach kids how to draw princess and super heroes

Every Design begins with a simple question-what is the story behind this set?  I do not just simply start designing, I start with a general theme and time setting for the invitation suite to be used.  ”Vogue Blooms 1922″ was created for brides getting married in the Fall at a venue tucked in an antique/vintage setting.  Now, this set may also be used for Spring brides, I am just telling you the story I created!  Once I figured the time and setting and began sifting through vogue covers from 1920′s/1930′s and immediately fell in love with a fall cover from 1922.  I then began painting the surrounding blooms on a piece of water color paper and it was the perfect illustration for my suite.  I then hand selected fonts that portrayed the typography of the Art Deco time period.  I also realized fine linen paper was the best choice to print the suite on for it’s subtle texture and beauty.

After selecting the paper to print on, I  knew the set need earthy toned paper with a few pops of color.  So I incorporated a bright reddish orange linen paper, shimmer gold, and beet colored envelopes.

The stationery does not end with invitations, what better way to tie to set up Vogue blooms table numbers than a pretty gold frame!

This is just  a sample of the suite, there is also a save the date and coordinating thank you card for when it is time to thank the friends and family for all those lovely gifts!

I hear brides sometimes asking where to save money while still maintaining an elegance and stunning event, and I strongly believe the lovely brooch filled bouquet is so striking and unique! Here is a close up of our very own Vogue inspired save the date.

So, I just finished a wedding invitation suite for a very sweet bride  Kristin approached me saying she wanted something vintage, handmade, and with some element of lace.  I spent my time studying Italian signage and looking for romanesque motifs

Kristin also expressed wanting something with grape vines potentially. One day I sat and created a few styles, creating different ways to use lace.  It was indeed a day similar to that of how a baker would spend his/her day in the kitchen.  I mixed various ingredients in different amounts until coming up with the perfect combination of elements. 

So, I stained some lace bands in coffee, for the aged and vintage aesthetic.  I even created a truly earthy lace enclosure, which would make a great option if you are going for a shabby chic approach.  After speaking with my glowing bride to be, I realized the lace needed to be a more subtle element in this set, so the invitation was wrapped with a .25″ cotton white lace and mounted on a paper bag type paper then wrapped in a fine hemp ribbon.  I also created hand drawn grape vines to adorn the corners of the invitation and rsvp.  I am so happy to say this set was a success and has just been shipped off to the special bride to be!

enjoy my selection of..wild things

The Musicians 5×8   minifanfan $14.00	Fine Art Print -The Pomegr…   TheJoyofColor $20.00
Daylight Dreamers-Letterpres…   jackiepeppermi… $30.00	Print of My original folk ar…   DUDADAZE $10.00
Spore Ink Original Drawing   drawgabbydraw $90.00	Waiting Spring Art Print   corelladesign $20.00
sweet milk… limited editio…   helendardik $20.00	SALE Giclee Print 5×5 Where …   drawgabbydraw $12.00
Lucas, paper puppet   pintameldia $18.00	She Didn’t Know Where He…   jennymendes $35.00
stiff shouldered   soozo $56.00	Blue Loch Ness Monster Magne…   PearsonMaron $10.00
Rabbit journey   schalle $30.00	Vintage 800 Silver Butterfly…   galleryhhill $18.00
DianeKenneyPri… $	SALE- Bornean Peacock Pheasa…   KhaliNouveau $200.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Hello friends, family and etsy brothers and sisters  I am so excited to be painting more often these days!  I decided months ago my dreams was to start a stationery design boutique here in Austin, and became so focused on the business side of things and designing purely stationery (nothing wrong with that).  I just know that I was neglecting my roots of picking up a paintbrush and having a grand old time with my water color paper!  

This Rabbit was created for a “fish tank” display at Cordovan Art School.  Instead of fish, we rotate fine art and design displays inside of  giant fish tank (more pictures to follow upon completion).  I really enjoy building up texture with water colors and different brushes, and I LOVE dropping water on the page then dropping colors inside of that tiny puddle and seeing what shapes and color develop to illustrate fur and sometimes a soft emotion.

These butterflies were made of a lace textured paper for the wings and lokta paper for the budding antennae.  These soft creatures can also be fund in the spring themed fish tank!

Well, hope you are having a good week so far Remember  to take time and do something handmade and creative this week.

Sarah D.

Good Morning Monday!  So recently I have been working on a number of projects, each one falls under the realm of pastel portraits, graduation announcements, and a completely handmade wedding invitation set.  In order to maintain creative sanity, I have also been exploring different ways of painting and printmaking.  This last week I pulled out my paper from Nepal and decided to do a print of a Spiny Babbler bird.  This bird resides in Nepal, and where else?  I am not sure really but I waned to do a print of a bird that I have not yet drawn or painted.  Here is a link to a poem written about the puffy creature-

http://www.spinybabbler.org/modern_poets_of_europe/display_modern_poets_poems.php?id=poem31.htm

How was this print done?  I used aluminum foil and transparency paper to press layers of loosely applied acrylic paint.  There are about 15 layers, and each layer is unique because the marks left are not contrived or planned.  Thanks for taking a moment to take a peek at this crazy ole blog!  Hope your day is marvelous!

I discovered this when reading Creature Comforts blog!  If you are looking for inspiration or DIY ideas, check this blog out!  It is awesome!  There are instructions here:

www.creaturecomfortsblog.com

If you have any DIY projects you would like to share, PLEASE DO!  I am working on an invitation set using lace for each invite, which I cannot wait to reveal, we are just waiting patiently for the lace to be shipped!