More recent work

Another project.

Experimenting with design ideas for bridal showers and bachelorette parties. I am loving simple, square invitations lately.

What do you think?

Recent Work

I wanted to share part of some projects I've been working on the last few weeks. This is a mock-up of a first birthday invite. I drew the lion in Illustrator - not always my strongest program but I think I'm getting more comfortable with it.

Paisley is pretending to be a one-year old boy named Danny here. She's into acting and I try not to discourage her dreams.

Like what you see? If you would like some custom invites or other paper goods designed I'm your gal! You can reach me at liz(at)theskylarkstudio.com. Or check out our website here!

OR you could always check out my shop for unique, pre-made greeting cards and prints!

Wedding Invites

I've been meaning for a while to post these wedding invites that I designed for my brother and sister in law. They wanted something fun and colorful, with little cartoon depictions of themselves. I really enjoyed putting these together.

There were more pieces in this set than usual, which was just more fun for me!



These were sent out last summer and the happy couple has now been married for a few months, so I'm a little late getting these up. BUT. Anyways. Here they are!

The Skylark Studio - New Website!

After many meetings at Starbucks and Panera (and too many iced chais to count) my business partner Emily and I recently finished putting together our brand spanking new website for The Skylark Studio.

And when I say "we," I mostly mean "she." Because while I helped out with the graphics, it was actually her website producing genius that got the thing put together and running.

We are super excited about how it turned out and will be updating soon with more projects, and at some point a blog feature!

Here's the link if you want to check it out!

www.theskylarkstudio.com

And here's a bit of background story on our little business.

It's a life changer.

Things have been moving right along here, as they always do. The happenings of the past week include a few new design jobs, meeting with my business partner to re-design our website (we are getting super close, can't wait to share the new site soon!), the start of summer violin lessons, water aerobics at the gym (the water makes my lurching body seem almost...graceful), my 28 week appointment (all good and healthy here!) and subsequently the start of the 3rd trimester (WHAT).

I've also been spending quite a bit of time pondering the strange new shape and size my butt is taking on.

ANYWAY. I've been wanting to share with you pet lovers out there our newest pet investment, which we are in love with. I mentioned here that our two cats had been driving us bonkers with waking us up at horrible hours of the morning wanting to be fed. When I say horrible hours I mean that sometimes it was BEFORE 5am. (Shudders.) No matter what we did we could not get them to just. simmer. down.

So. After many months of talk and debate and morning grumbles, we finally decided to splurge and get an automatic cat feeder. And after having it for about a month, we are LOVING it.

HELLO precious hours of undisturbed sleep! Pleased to have you.

We got the "Petmate Portion Control Infinity Programmable Cat Feeder." What a mouthful. We love it. Lu hu hu hu huv it. We programmed it to disperse a pre-measured amount of food (that we decided on) at 5 am to satisfy their early rising bellies. Our cats are from the same litter and have always been good at sharing, so they have had no problem eating out of the same bowl. Otherwise we would have had to buy two. Which would have been an expensive bummer.

They were a little nervous of the noise it made at first, but manned up quickly once they realized that that noise meant food.

You can program it to dispense up to three times a day, and although it doesn't come with a power cord (so far we are using batteries) you can order one from the company. I think we will do that soon, so that we don't have to worry about the batteries dying.

Not that our feline friends wouldn't let us know if they didn't get fed. They have their ways. Their very loud ways.

And so. If you are suffering from lack of sleep because of your stubborn, hungry pets...this is has been our solution and as I have already mentioned we looooove it!



P.S. Don't think that I'm oblivious to the fact that I will soon be having a baby and will once again be losing precious hours of sleep. I'm just choosing not to acknowledge that right now. kthanksbye.

P.P.S. Petmate has no clue who I am and didn't give me any money to rave about their genius product.

Life Some Days

Hi!


I'm still here.


And I still want to share about my recent trip, more daily animal doodles, and what I've up to during my first week of my new life (including my first ever trip to the farmer's market!)


BUT. I recently had a super hot deadline thrown at me for a project I'm doing for a client and it's kind've been taking up all of my free time.


And when I say kind've I mean VERY MUCH SO.


So that's my little update. Welp, see ya later. I hope to be back with a crabby camel doodle very soon.


To wrap this up I am including a picture of me and my bro. Because I don't think you've met him yet.

He's nice.

Walrus Doodle

(Semi) Daily Animal Doodles
(complete doodle list at the bottom)


This guy looks a little sad. A little weepy.

Cheer up walrus.


Well July has come and gone, along with the July Daily Animal Doodles. I definitely didn't do it daily, I didn't even quite do it for half of the days. 


BUT. I think August (here's the new list) will be better.


You know why?


It's because I will soon be leaving my full time job in order to make (a lot) more time to pursue graphic design and my Etsy shop. 


Um, yes you can say that I'm very excited. 


I have been very thankful for my job - God plopped it right into my lap when we really needed it. I gained some valuable experience and met some great people. But now He has opened up doors for me to be able to pursue what I really enjoy, what I have been dreaming/hoping my career would eventually look like. 


I will still be teaching violin lessons, and I'm also picking up a part time nanny job. But I have done the calculations and I will be freeing up 24 hours a week.


24.


That's a lot of hours. Not only will I be able to pursue design, but I will have more time to take care of things around the house, which is something I've been wanting too. 


So. It's a new chapter in our lives. I'm super excited to see where our family goes from here.


And it will of course lend me much more time for animal doodles.


HAPPY! happy. HAPPY! happy.


So that's the news around here! Ummm BIG SMILE.




July Doodles: Aardvark, Chameleon, Deer, Eagle, Fennec Fox, Goose, Insect, Koala, Lemur,Meerkat, Quail, Raccoon, Rabbit, Walrus
Want to check out June's doodles? Click here.

Sometimes I change I guess.

Lately, I have been inspired to improve my housewife skills!  


What.

My living room. I cleaned it up just for you!

It's strange, because I was always a girl who never wanted to stay home in any way, shape or form. I wanted to be out with friends. When I was in high school, not having plans on a Friday night was the most horrifying of scenarios. And as I squinted ahead towards the future, I didn't think I wanted to stay home as an adult, either. The thought of being a stay at home mom or house wife never appealed to me. I would be a working woman, at some graphic design firm! With plans every Friday night. And probably most other nights too. And I never wanted to cook, or clean, or garden or sew or anything like that. You know, all that cliche staying at home woman stuff.

But something has been happening to me in the last year or so. Or probably longer than that.

I want to stay home.

Whaaaat.

I love my home. I want to stay there and take care of it. I get bummed that I don't have enough time to keep the house as clean as I would like, or cook full meals with actual recipes and stuff. I have sudden urges to write down detailed cleaning/cooking/meal planning schedules for each day of the week, preparing for the day when I get to quit my day job. I dream about having all the time I want to work on new art pieces to put in my Etsy shop, or to continue growing the business I started with my friend Emily.

So, what's happening to me?? 

My friend Beebs said that she thinks I must be nesting. I don't really know what that means but, well ya I don't really know what that means.

A couple of months ago I lamented to Brian that, "All I want to do is stay home and cook you delicious meals." He looked at me with the wide eyes of surprise. "That's new," he said.

Here are some strange things that have been happening in my life:

I have been cooking full meals more often. And I love searching for new recipes. 

I actually get excited when I realize that I have a few spare hours to scrub some part of the house. 

I've been sewing curtains. (Well, my mom has been helping me with that because she's pretty much the best seamstress ever. This is how it goes: she figures out all the measurements and logistics out and then gives me simple tasks to help with that I can comprehend. Like pinning or sewing a seam. Oh but I get to pick out the fabrics. yessssss)

And yes I have even gardened. (But I sure didn't like it. Gardening's the worst. Someone please tell me what I have to do to have a presentable yard with the least possible amount of work.)

You know the weirdest part? 

I sometimes get excited about not having plans on a Friday night.

But only sometimes. I'm not going to become a hermit or anything. Friends, please still hang out with me.




Linking up with Gussy's Inspiration Workshop!

Click to see everyone else's linkups!

Previous Inspiration Workshop posts: week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, week 6, week 7

The Skylark Studio

Ok. I have been meaning to write this post for a couple weeks now, but remember back here when I said a friend and I were starting a graphic design business? Well I have some exciting news. Our website is up and running! This is especially a good thing because we have been handing out business cards for the past few months (actually since Christmas), and our business cards have our website on them. But...our website has not existed until a couple weeks ago.

We like to do things a little backwards I guess. Ya, it's how we roll.

Ok. Let me back up. A long time ago in the year of 2005 AD, I went on an 2 month overseas adventure to learn about missions work through the school I attended (good ol' Northwestern College in St. Paul, MN.) We had a total group of twenty fabulous people, many of whom are still very close friends today.

We went to England and did awesome things together.
We went to Romania and did awesome things together.
We went to South Africa and did awesome things together.
We went to Mozambique and did awesome things together.
To say it was life changing is an understatement.


(Yes, I was going to actually list all of the things that we did in all those places but then I realized this blog post would become a novel and...let's just do that another time.)


Here we are.

This is Romania. At a castle!


One of my team mates was a little red head named Emily. We got to know each other (as only two people living in such close proximity over two months could) and we realized we had a lot in common. We liked art. We liked graphic design. We liked to laugh at each others jokes and talk to each other in British accents. We liked music. As we painted a house together in the blazing African heat she introduced me to Ben Folds who eventually became my absolute favorite musical artist in the whole widest of worlds. This girl has good taste. 

Once back in the states, we would always say to each other, "Hey, let's start a graphic design business!" Then we would laugh, make some British accent jokes and continue on our merry way.

Years passed.

Then one day we said to each other, "Hey, let's start a graphic design business!" But this time we finally took each other seriously and did it. Soon after, The Skylark Studio was born.


Here are some nice pictures of us.

Here's the link to our shiny new website. Wanna take a looksie? And maybe there is someone you know who would like some design products? Perhaps a fresh new logo, brochure, or business card? Or maybe some classy wedding invitations? Perhaps an updated website or blog header? 


Feel free to just send them right over.

All about me - the part where I talk about myself a lot

Well, here we go. Anyone who might be reading this probably already know these things about me but...just don't think about that. A girl's gotta start somewhere!

I'm happily married to my better half, Brian, a ruggedly handsome adventure man. We live in a little brown house on a hill.  

no this is not an updated pic and its not at our 

brown house on a hill, it's at the ocean.

We like to laugh, read, play outside, watch Scrubs or Lost reruns, play with our kitties, camp, play rock band, kayak, watch our movies in alphabetical order (10 vetoes each), bike, walk, have long talks in the car, rock climb, and laugh together. It's pretty great.

Living with us are our two cats, Pisica and Gepetto. They are sisters. Yes, we realize that Gepetto has an old man's name and that it's misleading and most people will assume she's a boy. But we are ok with that. And she probably is too. 

Gepetto & Pisica

You should know that I'm pretty much a crazy cat lady so there will lots more pictures of these two on this blog. It's just how I roll. I like cats. I really like my cats. We take lots of pictures of them. And we like to share them, because they are our babies. If we had an actual baby, we would probably share lots of pictures of it too.

Since before I can remember I have loved to draw. You could say that I was a drawing fiend. But when I went to school for graphic design, drawing fell by the way side a little bit. Not on purpose, but I had found a new interest. Now, I am combining both. And loving it. As I mentioned yesterday, I will soon start selling online. Yay! But also yikes. 
[ Update: the shop is open! YAY!! Have a looksie here. Blogged here on 6/4/11.]

Madge & Pat

I start with a sketch and then color it digitally. I'm creating for myself, for my own desires and purposes, not for a specific client. That makes me happy.


Not that I don't also enjoy creating for clients. Heeeyyy clients. In fact, a dear friend and I are in the process of starting a graphic design business. The website is not quite ready to be launched, but until then, if you have any design needs, please let me know! We will hook you up. With design.
[ Update 6/14/11: the website is up! YAY!! Have a looksie here. Blogged here on 7/3/11. ]

Here are some other random facts that I can feel you are just dying to know. Family is awesome. Friends are awesome. Music is awesome. Well, music that is good is awesome. By the way my sister and I are basically music soul mates. And no I'm not sucking up to her because she's one of the only people actually reading this and I want her to leave a comment. It's just simply true. I have also played the violin since the squeaky age of 5, and I teach violin lessons part time in addition to working a full time job. Sometimes I'm busy.

The most important thing about me is my faith.  I believe in a living and loving God, Jesus Christ. There have been times in my life where I have been broken. But each time He puts the pieces back together and I end up stronger than before. Cool. Sometimes I don't have all the answers, and I know my faith is on a journey. The one thing I do have figured out is this - I am on this earth to love God and love people. Simple.

Well, that ends the talking about myself post. Tune in next time! 

Look I even made a special signature:

But it's too big and I can't figure out how to make it smaller. I hate to break it to you, but for now we will just have to make do with humongous signatures with weird gray outlines around them.