Transformation

I have always been drawn to butterflies. Lately, they've been present in my life in several forms. It wasn't until today that I actually did a little research on their symbolism. I liked what this site in particular had to say. I found that butterflies symbolize transformation and metamorphosis. They represent a need for change and greater freedom and at the same time represent courage. Butterflies are also a symbol of joy and are a reminder that life is a dance and not take things so seriously. They have long maintained their standing as a symbol of the soul and rebirth.

I feel that I am on the verge of exciting transformations in my life, both for myself personally and with my love, Brian. I've not shared this in my writings here on my little blog, but i suppose now is an appropriate time to share the happy news. ;) I'm engaged! Brian designed this amazing wedding ring for me too! one of my favorite details is our initials that he drew to create a butterfly and had engraved on the inside of the ring. My mom loves butterflies too! I created this painting last week to give her after surgery that she actually had yesterday. She's recovering really well and we'll already be going home tonight. I'll be here in the great state of texas til monday visiting my wonderful family and getting my fix of tex mex and sunshine! I stayed at the hospital last night and was happy to discover that we had internet access in the room! I was up late reading some of my favorite blogs and came across an interesting post at Creative Thursday about Oprah's new book club. I've heard a lot of talk lately about the book, A New Earth : Awakening to your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle, but I hadn't yet taken the time to look more into it. Last night seemed like the perfect time. I watched Oprah + Eckhart's discussion about Chapter 6 online and it got me really excited about reading more of Eckhardt's teachings. I feel that I've really been searching for something like this in the past few months (or maybe it's just been adjusting to the winters in portland?) but no time is beter than the present for a litle soul searching!

2 more of 4 sea creatures

A jellyfish + octopus! These were created in the same way the previous post explained. I've got more surprises to share using the same sea creature illustrations that I'll post those in the next day or two.

2 of 4 : Sea Creatures

I've been busy on a few new projects over the last month. I wanted to share 2 in the series of 4 sea creatures that I just finished painting. I feel like this was the first time that I've created a painted 'series'. They wouldn't look even half as good without brian helping me out with the backgrounds ;) I illustrated the different coral varieties and the seahorse + fish with a very fine tip pen. Then to create the paintings Brian added layers + textures and the most beautiful colors to my black and white drawings. And last, I painted my illustrations onto the wood surface to end up with these beauties! I have lots of ideas for these 4 creatures. Next step, preparing the paintings to make into jewelry. I'll post the other 2 paintings tomorrow!

Rediscovery

My first experiences with formal art lessons began with watercolors. When I was in 5th grade, I took weekly private lessons from an artist in her home. One memory that I have was painting a large panda based on a national geographic photo. I recall making a grid on the photo in the magazine and then making a grid of 1" squares on my watercolor paper. Next, I painted that panda square by square. I'm sure that it took weeks to finish, but i don't remember that part. So last month I decided it would be fun to give the watercolors another try. I've been thinking about them for quite awhile, but you know how that goes. I illustrated these 2 owls, drew them out in ink and then tried out my paints. I think the hardest thing for me was adding water. And now that I'm thinking about it, I do recall having that same problem in my lessons. I would often daintily dip my brush into the water and be told not to be 'scared' of it. I've got a lot more experimenting to do, but here's my first painting after the rediscovery. It's for sale in my etsy shop, It can be yours if you'd like it.

Work in Progress

I've been working on new artwork and wanted to share. They are taking longer than expected, but I'm excited with the outcome so far. Brian took my black + white drawings and created these beautiful paintings for me! I love him ;) Next step will be painting my creatures. 1 down, 3 to go! I can't wait for you to see the finished pieces...next week.

Easter Fun

Easter was full of wonderful surprises. Our friend's family was kind enough to invite us into their home for the day. One of my favorite surprises were all of the cute little canaries. Last time we visited there were 4 birds, now there are 10 big birds, 2 babies, and 5 eggs. I learned that the male canaries are the ones that make all of the beautiful chirping. They have favorite songs they like to sing to as well. There were also all of these adorable cookies! I've never eaten such cute and yummy cookies. I enjoyed the frosting tail with coconut most of all. Their yard is full of all sorts of plants and flowers that I had never seen. I love this purple. Thanks for all the Easter fun!

Renegade Handmade

I sent out 30 lovely pairs of earrings yesterday to a new stockist Renegade Handmade in Chicago. If you're in the area you can stop by 1924 W. Division St. Open daily 11 AM - 7PM. Also, applications are being accepted for Renegade's First Annual San Francisco Craft Fair! The event will be held Saturday and Sunday July 12 + 13 from 11am - 7pm at the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion!

A hike at the gorge

This morning a friend and I went for a nice hike in the Columbia River Gorge. Thought I'd share the beauty!

I joined Flickr

It's so hard to keep up with all of these sites that are now available for marketing yourself and your business. I love it! I have an account with myspace, etsy, indie public, lov.li and most recently Flickr. I went ahead and got a pro account so I would be able to upload photos into more than 3 sets. So far I have 11 sets. It's so great being able to see all of my photos in one place. Last night I decided to add my design portfolio in with all of my handmade julz photos. This set represents my work as a designer in dallas, tx. from 2000~07.



This was the first poster that I created, while at my first job as a designer. I had no idea how to even begin thinking about how to design a poster and I'm really not even sure I had an illustration style at the time. I just know that I've always been drawn to lots of color and texture. To illustrate my idea I took black and white construction paper and literally cut circles that were about 1.5" out of the black paper and then cut out the shapes of all of the different food from the white paper. I then taped the 'food' onto the 'plate' and proceeded to the copy machine with my 16 circles. Next I shrunk and enlarged the circles to get the rough look that you see. The final step was coloring everything on the computer. After all of that, and the client didn't pick this concept, but it's still one of my favorites.



I created this logo for the Dallas Museum of Art's annual fundraiser while at my second job in Dallas. I was pleased with this logo that the client chose as I feel it sophisticated, yet playful and a party that anyone would have liked to attend. To illustrate this I drew everything on the computer in Illustrator.



My last job in Dallas was an art director for women's apparel graphics. I remember being so excited at the thought of my artwork being translated into artwork for apparel. This was the very first shirt that I designed, of course using every technique that I knew at the time, embroidery, applique, and screenprint.

Octavine Illustation Treasury

I am so excited about being included in my first treasury on etsy I just had to share! The treasury title is : S E A F O A M. See it here for yourself. Many thank yous to Cara of Octavine Illustration for the inclusion. She illustrates the most beautiful art deco inspired art that I have seen out there. This is my current favorite. I love reading her daily blog posts on the Octavine Illustration blog where she shares her artwork or latest custom work and a story to go along with it. Her words are so poetic they bring a smile to my face. You can also visit the Octavine Illustration Etsy Shop. Prints of her beautiful illustrations like the one shown below are available for $25.

Continued Inspiration.

Inspiration is everywhere! I'm here trying to make the most of this day which only comes once every 4 years. I just finished reading Design for Mankind's e-zine : Issue 2 which is all about inspiration. The e-zine promises a monthly dose of inspiration, "motivating you in your quest to accomplish each and every one of your goals." Erin, the woman behind Design for Mankind has put together thoughts from various creatives on what inspires them. If you have trouble finding where to download, the post was written on 02.25.08 I first learned about Design for Mankind thru my "week in review" from Indie Shopping I enjoyed it so much I felt it necessary to share! I still have the included artists' individual blogs and sites to look forward too for now and hopefully many more days of Inspiration in this wonderful life!

Inspired

At the moment I am looking out the window onto a beautiful sunny day. It's been a great day! I feel really excited about my business right now and all of it's potential. It's been one year since we packed up and made the move to portland from texas, which I think was the best decision that brian and I could have made. Although we miss all of our friends + family back home dearly, it has been a dream come true. I love more than anything living in a city full of artists and dreamers and people really working at what they believe in. Reflecting back on the year, I think one of the toughest things for me has been working from home. I know...how sad. I have all the freedom in the world, while some others are stuck working inside not able to see the light of day. At times, I get into my jewelry and art and get busy with all of the things that come along with running a small business and forget to go experience what the day has to offer. It's always inspiring and refreshing to be around people that are experiencing or have experienced the same things you are going thru. Last night I attended a workshop/meeting organized by Grace Bonney of DesignSponge that I had marked on my calendar back in october! It was a wonderful evening. Amy Ruppel spoke very candidly about her experiences as an Illustrator/small business owner. I have admired her work for years and it was great to learn that she is such a sweet person! There was also a woman speaking from Mercy Corps NW and Grace the woman behind DesignSponge and the fabulous evening shared some of her PR and Marketing advice. I'm happy that I went, now I've got more work to do!

35% off SALE

I'm so anxious for spring, that I decided to do some spring cleaning! I've discontinued 23 images from my site. I'll be posting new pieces in the sale section of my etsy shop daily for the next couple of weeks.

Time for a change

Happy Valentine's Day! It's been a beautiful Thursday. In the last couple of days, I realized just how much I've missed the sunshine and designing. I finished up my friend's save the date today. I was happy with the outcome and in the process, I realized that I need to spend more time on my art. I've been working on Handmade Julz as my full time job for almost 1 year now. Previous to that, I've always had a full-time job as a graphic designer. I think it's time to change things up a bit. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Hello Gocco

It's probably been close to a year since I last used my Gocco. I'm always amazed by that piece of machinery! Last week I designed a Save-the-Date for my dear for Cara to send out for her wedding in October. And yesterday I printed it! I also made lots of large magnets that will also help friends remember the special day. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I'll post more pics tomorrow of the finished product.

Shoot Cupid + Crafty Wonderland

I've got 2 shows coming up this weekend! Yippeeeee! Saturday, FEB 9th SHOOT CUPID featuring PDX Street Artisians. The show will be at Plan B (bar) : 1305 SE 8th St. and Sunday, FEB 10th CRAFTY WONDERLAND

Custom Julz for Orange County Museum

Last month I sent off some very exciting pieces to the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, CA. The custom artwork and jewelry that I was asked to design and create coincide with their current exhibit Birth of Cool. The exhibit examines California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury which encompasses the painting, architecture, furniture design, decorative and graphic arts, film, and music that launched midcentury modernism in the United States and established Los Angeles as a major American cultural center. I feel honored to be even a small part of the greatness exhibited in this show!

My new view

I rearranged my office and I love my new view of the outside world. I can see the birds flying, cute little squirrels running across the power lines, colorful leaves falling, and people going about their business on the street ahead. I'm happy!

Thank You!

It was another great Sunday selling at Crafty Wonderland. I could not leave without purchasing something from Sew Many Cats, Octavine Illustrations and my fun booth neighbor Sugar Lily I'm sorry I can't share photos of purchases, but they were gifts! The Christmas shopping has already begun. Yea!

Thank you Neither Hip Nor Funky for purchasing a tee and posting this pic for everyone to see! It looks like she sells cute cute tees too! Also an overdue thank you to Cortney with The Gift Giver she wrote some nice words about my jewelry! She has some great gift ideas!

Cuteable included me in a recent posting Clinks - Cute + links Thank you! I love your work as well. Check that out here! This is my fav print in the shop! And another big thank you to Diane of diy alert, church of craft, and crafty pod She recently interviewed me for another blog that she writes for diyalert. In case you missed that interview

Purple Pink + Orange is another great blog to visit. Amy has been a great support of handmade julz. She used to carry my goods in her online store, but has decided for now to concentrate on school and write daily (unlike me!) in her blog! I cannot get over this Spoon Fudge that she recently reviewed. YUM!

Thank you so much for your help in spreading the word! You are great!

What happened to September?

I guess I'll start from the beginning! I wanted to give a proper thank you to sister diane of DIYALERT for asking me to do an interview for her fabulous blog. You can see my interview here THANK YOU DIANE! It was really fun to reflect back on my biz. SEPT 1-3 Bumbershoot was amazing! It was held in the Seattle's city center. My friend cara flew out to help brian and i which was a tremendous help. THANK YOU CARA! and BRIAN! And MOM! Everything was perfect the entire weekend. We had some great neighbors too. partybots, daisy rock hats, and don't quilt your day job And here are a few more pictures of the booth! It was my first time to fill up at 10 X 10 space. And a final picture brian took with his phone. pretty! New images to choose from just in time for fall! I also got my ETSY SHOP back up + running to sell other items that I've been working on besides jewelry. I've added magnets, kitchen towels, badges, and soon coasters! And we had some wonderful friends come to visit from Texas a couple of weeks ago. Last weekend we celebrated Brian's birthday in this cabin near mt. hood. I love mini vacations and I love brian! This was the first thing we saw when we pulled up to the cabin. If you look close, you can see our cabin thru all of the green. This month I am also participating in an online indie street market called Poppy Talk Handmade. My table here!