Vintage Chics + Leaf

Before I head out on my Thanksgiving adventures, I will leave you with a few sketches I did this week, and a few things I am thankful for:

• Living an easy bus ride or short drive away from my office - I got a taste of some gnarly traffic earlier in the week. 
• Having a boss who is always sharing his chocolate.
• The freelance work I have been getting lately - it's challenging but fun and rewarding.
• Having my dad in California for a week; he spoils me rotten.
• Curb Your Enthusiasm for its hilarity.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Cheers,

Cat

Grain Edit showed some vintage photos by Tom Palumbo, and I was struck by this girl. 

 

I love Hot Dogs puts up screen shots from old movies. This chic from the 1975 film Maitresse needed some marker love.

I did a brush pen drawing of a leaf, scanned it in, and went nuts in Photoshop experimenting with textures.

gma tote

After a lot of time traveling for the Holidays (including a lengthy cruise in the Caribbean with my boyfriend's family), I am back and ready to post some stuff! I'll try to space it out though... I like to keep you in suspense.

For Christmas, I decided to create a unique tote bag for my grandmother. I call her "g-ma" - I don't really know why, probably just because the family likes to abbreviate and be cutesy like that. I used Zazzle to create this tote and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

Poinsettia

Getting in the Christmas spirit with a little sketching.

Nature Lady

This is the special project I have referred to several times. I volunteered my services to a company called Terressentials, a wonderful USDA certified organic and all natural body care product company. I learned a lot working with the kind people there - they are SO PASSIONATE about having products that are healthy for the soul, body, and environment. Diana, one of the founders, believes so strongly in her products that she ATE some of their body cream to prove to the government that their product was deserving of the elusive USDA certification for organic goods. I encourage you to go to the Terressentials website to read a bit more about them.

Unfortunately, the packaging-redesign project was put on hold, so they are unsure if they will be using my art (originally intended for shampoo, which I hear is to die for - I am ordering a couple bottles myself). But it was still a really cool project and I was very lucky to be able to learn a lot about organic products from these super cool people. And I get a lot of great body care products to boot - you have to try their body oils! They leave your skin silky, smooth, and subtly scented all day long.

Heine Brothers centerpiece

Relaxing at the Frankfort Ave Heine Brothers when I was back in Louisville a few weeks ago. They had lovely centerpieces... a creative way to recycle an old glass bottle. If you are ever in Louisville, spend some time on Frankfort Ave - great restaurants, shopping, and fair-trade coffee at Heine Bros.

Orange Blossom

This is the illustration I spoke of. This is a special gift for my dear friend Leigh Ann and her husband, Jeff. I don't want to get into the gory details, but I will tell you that the orange blossom is a symbol of fertility, love, and togetherness. The bee is fertilizing the flower. So it's sort of a good luck charm for them.