Now announcing the Etsy Shop: Lightheart Paper Company

Finally, I'm proud to announce the launch of my Etsy shop, Lightheart Paper Company!

Here it is

To start, I'm selling some familiar prints as well as some newbies, and slowly expanding to home items. Here are a few of pics of what is available.

Grow wild print

Life of Love woodblock print

Remember this guy?

Roaming octopus woodblock print

And this one, honoring my great home state post Hurricane Sandy, or Superstorm Sandy according to insurance companies.  All profits still going to the Red Cross!

Still Strong NJ print

As usual, I'll be writing plenty of posts showing the creative process for my pieces and giving away all kinds of trade secrets (if I can think of any).  So check it out here and send me any feedback!

Southwestern Color Palettes

My first trip to the Southwest was a visceral experience.  14 days away from city noise, humidity, rain, and the monotony of every day. But it wasn't just the escape, it was being embraced by nature, seeing bright reds and yellows in the stone, vast open spaces, and the crystal clear moons. We started in western Colorado, then Utah, stopping at Arches NP, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, and Zion, then finishing up on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Now, this may just be an excuse for me to post my vacation pictures and talk about my vacation, but the sights are truly inspirational.  So along with each photo I'm adding a corresponding color palette for dressing, drawing, decorating, and other things that may or may not start with d.

This first palette is from Hanging Lake, which lies on a mountain top near Glenwood Springs, CO, and requires a 2 mile hike to get to.  This hike is harder if you're carrying your friend's child on your back.  The unique minerals color the water this crazy turquoise color!

Hanging Lake, no swimming allowed

Here's a little desert flower, shot near Moab Utah. The oranges begin here.

Lots of awesome colorful flowers on the side of the road.

Next is Canyonlands, also in Utah. Place is "cray," looks like another planet.  We did an amazing overnight hike into the canyon here.  

Below is Bryce Canyon, my favorite spot.  We regrettably only spent one night here.  The rock formations are called "hodos," and as you can see, the sunlight turns them neon.

Sunrise

Lastly we come to the Grand Canyon. It IS as cool as everyone says.

I could post a million pictures, well 900 to be more accurate.  But I'll stop here.  Just a little taste of all the colors the earth has to offer!

Chalk lettering illustrations on "I Call Shotgun"!

A few weeks ago I was given an incredible opportunity to create some chalk board illustrations for the set of AOL's webcast I Call Shotgun. This video segment features Bravo's Andy Cohen interviewing Jerry Seinfeld as he wraps up the second season of his web show Comedians in Cars getting Coffee. Here's a clip from youtube, you can see a nice closeup of the set illustration at 0:07.

The full show can be seen here.

In lieu of the cars and coffee theme, the set was designed as a retro, right-off-the-highway diner, and some typographic chalkboard menus fit right in.

Retro chic, right down to the cronuts

Time was tight, with one night spent sketching up ideas, and the next night to executing them on a set that was only half built after working an 8 hour day.  But the set designer, who happens to be my very talented brother, must have know that I couldn't say know to hand drawn art, especially when typography and Seinfeld are involved.  The panels totaled 6 in all, and I kept with one food theme for each that could be the point of emphasis.  Here are some pics from the set as well as all 6 after the jump.

Left side panels

Right side panels

Busy springtime

With the collision of weddings, birthdays, and deadlines, it's been nonstop action this April.  My  conversations all begin with my asking, "When is it going to get warm?" to which my boyfriend sincerely responds, "I think this week it's supposed to be nice." And after one nice day, it goes back to 50 degrees.  But now that the storm has passed, I'm looking forward to a few creative weeks before a road trip vacation to the wild, wild west (this one, not this one).  The biggest news: the soon-to-launch etsy shop where I'll be selling my prints!  And now that I've written it here, I'm committed to it.  Here's a preview of the newest woodblock.

Here you are, a message of love. 

I'll be sure to make an announcement when it goes live!

Arts and Crafts at the Herb Farm

Well Sweep Herb Farm in Port Murray, NJ

Last Saturday I spent a lovely morning at Well-Sweep Herb Farm where I took a DIY herb planter class with some friends.  I went in there thinking that we'd build a tray and put some basil in it, no biggie, but I was in for a surprise.  For starters, we built the planter by essentially coiling up a nest out of dried grape vine, which is requires the tremendous arm strength and at least two people.

Our tablemates,
whom we hit with the vines a lot

My planter-to-be

We then stuffed it with netting and dirt and planted our choice of 5 herbs.  Mine has rosemary, dill, cilantro and two kinds of parsley. I can't recall the exact names, but it wasn't the normal store-bought variety.

New friends

Here's my finished product:

I intend to not let die

Afterwards we ventured around the farm and greenhouses.  Being on herb farm is a lot like being on a regular farm, except everything is in miniature.  There was even a miniature cat, also known as a kitten.

A crazy variety

Here's a few tall outliers

If fairies exist, they surely live here

More delicious smells and humidity in the greenhouse

If you're local and can make it to Well-Sweep, they offer lots of weekend workshops and are some friendly folk.  Or check out your own local garden centers or farms, they're fun even if, like me, your garden is limited to that planter you just made!  

Celebrating 2 years with a throwback print

Taken by the Hand turned 2 yesterday and to celebrate I ran a few woodblock prints of an old favorite. This was the first block print I'd done since a long post-college hiatus from printing after being inspired by an old piece of poplar I'd found in my parent's basement. The design was one I'd done in Illustrator, something that started out as a doodle but just kept going. It was the melding of digital and hand-made that I'd been seeking.  But alas, my first few print runs were lacking pizazz, a problem quickly solved by jumping on the ombre trend. The original print blends pink and blue ink for a vibrant gradient. This guy holds a special place in my heart, and a specialer place on my wall and the walls of a few friends.

The words came first and inspired the twisting and curling lines,
alluding to graphic vines and roots

So for the refresh I added a third color and instead used yellow, pink and orange.

A little like a sunset

Oddly, these colors remind me of 90s era Oakley sunglasses, and you can judge for yourself whether that's a good or bad thing.  Number two color combo was turquoise-to-blue printed on a sheet of wood paper that'd been sitting in my stash for way too long.  I'd have loved to do the brighter colors on this but didn't think it would show up on the light wood.

Woodblock printed on wood: a world turned upside down

Here's a few more shots.

Group shot!

The block and tools. Pink!

I'm planning on doing a few more color combos when I get some more paper, and putting them up on Etsy along with the new woodblock that I'm working on.  Lots of projects have been done over the last two years and this one got me out of a slump and kickstarted them all!

The walls of my new apartment

As I mentioned in a previous post, I started off 2013 with a new apartment. Living by myself, I feel like King in the Castle, and I no longer have to trudge up 4 flights of stairs. On the down side though, I did have to scale down my operation which includes stowing my little desk and having my kitchen table work double duty. I've had to get pretty creative with storage (big kitchen+tiniest bathroom=curling irons in the pantry). Here's a little sampling of some of the decor I've put up, with a few effects added to the photos cover up the fact that the pictures were taken with very poor lighting. At least I'm honest.

Living room

The left image is one of my own prints, it reads "you & me can grow wild together," while the right silkscreen from Brainstorm.

Kitchen

Above my kitchen table/desk, a graphic print of New York City buildings from overhead, a Christmas gift from my big bro.

Bedroom, which is also the living room btw

Perfumes on a cake stand, buffered by my Great Aunt's doily.

The potty

The bathroom, where all my jewelry now lives beneath one of my octopus prints. There's a little bit of a nautical theme going here.

There's just one lingering box that is waiting for me to figure out when recycling day is. Now that everything's in its' place, it's time get through the winter with some new projects!

A Busy May

This month has been so much non-stop creative action that I haven't been able to post the hot little pieces I've been working on.  Here's a snapshot of what's been going on around the studio this past month.

From the top: A carousel sketch waiting to for ink to be applied,
a succulent I struggle to keep alive, Mother's Day card from
Hello! Lucky, a watercolor save the date illustration

Hopefully I'm able to put up the full posts later this week! 

Tokens from San Francisco

I recently took a trip out to San Francisco to visit some friends and see why so many people are migrating to the Bay City. While I don't know if I could get used to the unchanging temperature and the rapidly changing weather, it is a pretty awesome place. And what trip would be complete without picking up some paper goods as momentos?  Sometimes letterpress is just too hard to resist.

This map-ish card is by Karen Jean Organics for Loose Petals

A bright skyline letterpress card from Hello! Lucky

"Growing Horns" print by Leah Duncan

Love the soft colors and organic detailing

Paper bird garland from Lamali. I still can't get over birds.

I also bought some of that blue paper that changes colors in the sun. It's been probably 20 years since I last played with this, so lets see if I can come up with anything more interesting than an arrangement of leaves found in my front yard.

Use this paper to trick children into doing chemistry.

Here are a few extra things worth including in this post. I was hoping to get more street art, but I stopped trying to take pictures while riding a bike after almost colliding with one of those Lance Armstrong types.  

In the Haight

This was just a picture I really liked that has not been photoshopped.  Taken in Alamo Square.

Those are my three friends, not aliens

Can't wait to go back!

Signs of Spring

The early bloomers are popping up left and right, letting us know that Spring is finally just around the corner!  Though I am grateful for the incredibly warm winter we've had, the lack snow has actually made for nearly 5 straight months of gray.  And here you thought you avoided seasonal depression this year!

One Spring thing I've been waiting months for is the bloom of my orchid, which I received for my birthday last year.  It doesn't have a name because I'm not really into naming plants, but I love it like a like a child (I don't really know what loving a child is like).  I got so much joy out of watching each flower open last year that I'm psyched it's starting to bloom again.  I'm always amazed at watch a plant's life cycle, and seeing it bloom again is a sure sign that I haven't done anything to kill it.  Welcome Spring!

Hey girlfriend!

Taken by the Hand is turns 1 today!

Birthday cupcake watercolor

One year ago today Taken by the Hand was born! Conceived out of the desire to motivate myself to get back to my roots in fine arts and crafts, I'm happy to say that it's been more successful that I'd hoped.  It's also given me the chance to share what I've been working on, whether it be a quick sketch,  a 3 month long woodblock print, or a seasonal decorating project.  Putting yourself out there can be a little scary no matter how many times you do it, so I thank you, my readers, for all your support.  Look at me, pouring my heart out.  Check back often as I make my way through the list of projects I have in my head, and remember to create, always, in whatever way you choose!

Einstein won the Nobel Prize...

...but not for his theory of relativity!  It was in fact his discovery of the photoelectric effect that won him the award.  This information is a great pickup line for a guy OR a girl and may be useful one day during bar trivia.

This sketch of Einy is actually the front of my bf's valentine's day card.  We are sometimes dorky-cute like that, but not in an annoying, Zoey Deschanel kind of way. 

Follow me on Pinterest!

I'm a little late in discovering Pinterest, but it's the best creative inspiration/idea sharing/visual smorgasbord/time killing website I've come across in a long time.  Needless to say I'm into it pretty hard.  For those of you unfamiliar, Pinterest is a "virtual pinboard" where you can stick any image you like onto your boards and view what others have posted.  Pins get categorized under every imaginable topic.  It's basically a great way to capture any sites you'd like to bookmark in one convenient and aesthetically pleasing location.

I'll be "pinning" some of my latest creations along with things I'd like to make and general pretty and creative stuff.  I will not be posting pictures of cute animals and probably not shoes.  Follow me at pinterest.com/allthesecolors.

It's been one doozy of a month at my normal job, but things have started to slow down a bit as we head towards 2012.  I'm hoping to post more frequently and overwhelm you with holiday crafts.

Welcome to Taken by the Hand!

Greetings, friends!  My name is Kelly and I've always been what people refer to as "one of those creative types."  As a child, I drew constantly, showing favoritism for crude sketches of fashion models in bell bottoms with a different pattern on each pant leg.  My sweet mother would tell me how great they were as she hung them on the fridge.  I loved crafting.  Often I would see a bracelet or tchotchke in a store and then race home to see if I could figure out how to make it myself.  As I grew up, I continued to create things, and after years of art classes the bodies I drew eventually resembled something human and the crafts became more useful.  I went on to study fine arts in college, where I fell in love with sculpture and printmaking.

But alas, the real world hit me like a freight train.  Post college, I found myself in a tiny apartment with no space or resources, and of course, no money.  I took a job as an assistant at an ad agency and have been living the corporate life ever since. Eventually I became an art director, and I'm grateful that I can be creative in my work (I'd go postal if I had to make sales calls all day). Still, like most people I sit in front of a computer in an office all day, and I miss being able to use my hands for something besides working the stylus in my right while hitting key commands with my left.

Though it took a while for me to begin doing my own work again, once I did, I found it wildly fulfilling.  I looked forward to doing simple projects around the apartment, finding I could be creative within my small space. Eventually my own style developed, which I would describe as graphic/vintage/eclectic.  I had become reacquainted my paws and I wanted to share this joy.  Thus Taken by the Hand was born.  Here you'll find things I'm working on, things I find inspiring, and things that you can create by hand.  Don't get me wrong, I still love graphic arts, but my hope is that you are encouraged to step away from screen and create tangible art, in whatever form you choose.

That's my story.  Thanks for visiting!