trafalgar's square

oh for cute!

A bit of adorableness to cheer you for the weekend. :)

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comfy cozy

For me, February is cozy up month. To be perfectly happy, the following are absolute neccessites:

comfy reading chair

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squashy pillows,

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wooly blankets (to be knit while using),

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mugfuls of hot, chocolately cocoa

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and chunky chocolate cookies.

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Unfortunately, I'm in bye-bye-baby-fat-before-beachweather mode, so I should (emphasis on "should") be foregoing the last two luxuries---we'll see if that happens...

happy hearts day!

Ha! Here's to one of my very favorite holidays (think about it, what other other celebration is centered more heavily around chocolate?)!  If you're anything like me, you're probably frantically trying to come up with ideas for last minute valentines and decorations.  So, to help us all out here, I've found four super cute (and quick and easy), diy, loverly little projects. Just click on the source links for directions and downloads.

These prize ribbons would look fabulous on a garland, perched atop a paper crown, or just stick a safety pin on the back and wear as a brooch (did I mention they're made with cupcake liners-genius!).

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Perfect mantel attire:

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I love the vintage charm of these.  Write a note on the back of each for a particularly sweet valentine.

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This is probably one of my favorite Valentine ideas ever.  Love the love bugs!

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Here's wishing you lots of hearts, hugs, kisses, and heart shaped chocolate boxes!  :)

XOXO,

 Kit

oh my darling

Valentines is just around the corner (less than a month now!), and with it, the endless search for the perfect valentine.  I love the valentines exchanges, it's like a heart-themed Halloween party.

 I remeber going through my little cardboard shoe box decorated with construction paper hearts and eagerly opening, looking, and sorting through each valentine.  As kids growing up, my siblings and I would spend days planning and creating hand-made valentines for one another (no small feat when there are 12 of you!).  The supreme challenge though, was trying to create the perfect love letters for my mum and pop.  That's when the sibling rivalry came through.  Not only were we kids trying to impress our parents with each of our valentines, we were in a deathly race to see who could make the best one for them.  No wonder my parents always looked a little startled/overwhelmed/frightened when we would en masse deliver our cards to them.

So, being the kid that never grew up, I had a lot of fun designing these new valentines for the shop.

 I of course had to use my pup painting (I have a bit of a crush on him if you can't tell), 

and I love the shower of hearts with the little bunny--just to take the "catch a star" theme to a new level. :)

 They're the perfect size for small hands, and I love the crackly sound the glassine sleeves make when you slip them in.  Just finish them off with a few candy hearts or shiny heart stickers, and you're set for making someone's valentines a very happy day.

 

waiting...

Remember when I mentioned my magnum opus I was working on a while back? I really should have told you all earlier but with one thing and another, I kind of put it off until the very last minute (hopefully). By the way, for some reason, I can't upload pics onto my blog from this computer, but believe me, I would if I could. But to get back to my announcement...Adam and I have been working on a little project for the past 9 months and we're happy, thrilled, delighted, ecstatic, etc to announce...we're having a BABY!!!

I'm actually in the hospital as I write, hoping that Babykins will make its appearance soon. Things are going very smoothly thus far (I hope I don't jinks us by writing that), and it looks like Baby is well on its way. I've been here now for 11 hours and am starving for something other than ice chips and apple juice. A bowl of linguine alfredo would be heavenly... I'll definitely keep you posted and hopefully before the night is over, our little family of four will have acquired the latest model. :)

very grateful

Here's wishing each and every one of you a very Happy Thanksgiving! Let's all eat tons of pumpkin pie with heaping dollops of whipped cream, lots of turkey, and platefuls of stuffing, yams, and cranberry sauce!

I also wanted to thank you for your support, well wishes, and very kind comments, both here and received through the shop. It's such a pleasure to work with you, hear your wonderful ideas for future prints, and to share a little bit of my world with you through my illustrations. Thank you so much!

Now, let's go eat some turkey! :)

 

p.s. I have an enormous "thank-you-kindly" sale going on in the shop right now, so once the pie plates are put away, please feel free to stop by!

I really hate to do this but...

I have to give you a sneak peek of our new Christmas line of goodies.

There's lots more coming (I'm sooo excited to show off our new line of brooches, especially our jolly line), but that's all I'll show for now.  There.  That's done with--now to get back to Halloween!!  :)

 

 

a halloween outing...

Aside from Christmas, Halloween is my favorite holiday.  I love the magical side of it, the bright orange pumpkins with their flickering grins, the crisp feel to the air, the leaves on trees that turn different colors every day, chocolate cupcakes with little candy corn pumpkins decorating the tops, and the thrilling search for just the right costume for that special night.

We recently stopped by one of our favorite haunts, "Roger's Garden," at Newport Beach.  I love the vintage-inspired treasures they featured for this year's displays.

 

 

 

 Halloween just wouldn't be Halloween without my favorite character--

That's right, the legendary Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.

Originals

Well, aside from getting ready for Halloween (spooky posts to arrive soon) I have a few more original paintings up in the shop! And what with the economy being as lovely as it is, I've put them into a more affordable price range (yay!).

Ny little girls have been on a Madeline craze lately, and after reading about pooh-poohing the lions in the zoo for the millionth time, I finally gave into their demands to create a Madeline painting. 

I think she may not be the last of my Maddy-themed prints.

 

And as if I didn't already have enough wishing star illustrations:

Nothing like a little star flying to brighten your day, eh?

Oh, and speaking of originals, I have a particular original I have been working on for the past several months nonstop.  This one looks to be one of my best creations ever (there's only two before this that have my undying affection) and it's one that I'm absolutely tickeled to show you.  I'll be sharing the details of this magnum opus in the next little bit, so be sure to stayed tuned!  :)

we've got a new logo!!

Actually, now that I think about it, it's also our first "real" logo.  But, I guess that makes it new too doesn't it? 

About a year ago, Adam and I were trying to pick out which character seemed most representative of trafalgar's square.  After going through pages and stacks of my sketches and paintings for about a week, we finally decided to go with the bunny catching stars and with that, immediately dubbed him Trafalgar. 

So now, it is my pleasure to (re)introduce to you, our official Trafalgar of trafalgar's square.

How do you do?