pretty writing meets CHUBBY BABY: Austin!

this kid is special:

1. first newborn baby of our congregation

2. first baby i've ever visited at a hospital

3. first newborn i've ever held, period.

seriously, we've seen this all the way from prayers to now REAL LIFE. 

wow.

i have a new appreciation for brand new babies because of him.

he's so cute.

only 6 weeks old and he's already changed so much.

i can go on and on and on.

but let me stop here,

and just show you:

so serious

---

so when his mama asked me to create a little announcement card for him..

gee? how could i resist?

especially when our buddy Johan took thee cutest snap:

Johan Wong

which we then combined with a little lettering 

and his mama's favorite chevrons...

to make this fun number:

seriously, this wasn't even work.

---

sidenote:

if you don't have a baby to announce, 

but you do have some parents to congratulate...

i've just relisted my "BABY congrats" card over on etsy!

have a peek!

Whoa.

Inspired by a story my buddy Emily shared 

about having really poor vision since she was in second grade.

Thick glasses on a little 7 year old has got to be the cutest.

print available in the etsy shop

A different perspective, a shift from how I normally compose..

thus, more of a challenge that boasted little bumps in the process.

But this little girl and those awesome bold giraffe spots 

--crediting only the Big Man upstairs--

makes for a really fun illustration.

(I think!)

Shark week, y'all.

Got to catch up with my old camp director, Kacy, the other night. 

She's hilarious and is pretty well-known in our little circles for her LOVE of sharks.

I quote: 

"I was weird as a kid, went off to the library to read books about dinosaurs and sharks."

So, thee most exciting news yet.. 

She's expecting a baby girl in November!

Trisha Vo Photography

Clearly, I get a little too giddy about other people's offspring. 

Here. And here. 

But I can't help it, 

especially when I've been following their stories from the beginning.

 It makes me so happy to know that God's blessed them with a little mini. 

Anyway, 

in light of this baby excitement AND shark week (coincidence, really), 

here's an illustration that is now happily housed in the Nagatoshi residence:

print available in the etsy shop.

- - -

Also working on getting some custom baby illustration options available..

yay? nay?

Counting down..

- - -

Between the printing, cutting, and folding..

We're counting down! 

*anticipation* so much.

THREE...

TWO...

It's coming!

Ah, I can finally post this now that details are ironed out.

Ready?

WHEE!

I'm a ball of emotions: excitement, anxiety, anticipation, fear.

If I had to fill out one of those "What is your mood today?" cards, 

I'd write ALL OF THE ABOVE in gigantic sharpie marker.

I know from the some of the past experiences 

that nothing comes together wonderfully without a little fearlessness and big faith.

I'm hanging onto that.

that, and this:

Prints are great, but cards are so fun!

So I'm working on getting some of that into the show. 

It's not too far of a stretch, but still a whole 'nother level of organizing and dreaming.

Here's a little teaser:

testing prints and type

that Micron Graphic pen..mmmm

favorite pen, ever.

and this past tuesday, Lilly treat us to delicious almond croissants before we talked shop. 

Olivia's having her own show at Share the same night!!

I'll probably have more to share as we approach the August 2nd opening night.

yikes.

stay tuned, friends. 

Illustration Storytime: Grass baby.

My friend, Tritia and I share the same name.

She was one of my favorite "older sisters" growing up in church. 

One Sunday morning we were both wearing green sweaters,

and the following conversation happened:

Tritia

Ew, you look like a booger.

Me, responding with my great wit..

Well, you look like grass.

Thus began "Grass and Booger."

circa 2005?? 

- - -

Being four years older, Tritia has and will always be a little more ahead in life.

I've seen her get engaged, then married, and now..

SHE'S GOING TO BE A MOM?!

I'm beyond excited for her, and my mind is blown a little every time I think about it. 

"Grass Baby," available soon in the etsy shop.

Grass--
Praying for a happy, healthy pregnancy.
This Auntie Booger can't wait to see your little booger!!

A Friday.

Coffee and googling French foods for an illustration logo.

oui oui?

Happy weekend. 

Illustration Storytime: "Stars"

Thought it'd be fun for little storytime segments on what's behind some of my illustrations.. 

yay? nay??

- - - - -

Some of you may remember I had a "photography phase" 

(heavily documented on my old xanga and trickled over to my tumblr for a little bit.) 

I still love it, but I was definitely consumed then.

This phase began freshman year of college, 

when I had no burdening homework and lived in a beautiful apartment complex overflowing with trees.  

I had also started following a TON of photography blogs 

(many of which you can still find on my blog roll to the right), 

totally inspired by their use of color, composition, light, subjects, etc. 

One of my favorite photographers, theimageisfound, grabbed my attention with personal posts featuring their daughter, Grace---

then a toddler with so much energy, spunk, and personality. 

I loved it. 

Here's one of my favorites.

See? Beautiful and so hilarious.

This one obviously left an impression (how could it not??) 

and ultimately inspired this guy:

prints available in the etsy shop

" S T A R S " 

This guy stemmed out of "Flight", my little aviation buddy and his dreams of flying way up into the stars. 

It's an ode to Grace, telescopes fashioned out of tape and glass cups, and paper skies.

I'm constantly inspired by my nursery kids...

sure, their attention spans are about a minute at the most, 

but their ability to imagine, wonder, and dream is incomparable. 

This whole "Embrace" series has been my effort in trying to remember and capture that. 

Hopefully this is doing it justice.