Catching up! Father's day + illustration class

Sorry about my unintentional hiatus. It has been a crazy two weeks for me! Here's the down and dirty version:

1. I quit my job. I have an outdoor education job lined up starting next week and I'm pumped! I traded in my headset, tiny cubicle and steady paycheck for the great outdoors and minimum wage.... and I'm not even a little sorry about it. (This decision was also part of the Happiness 30 in 31 list of mine)

So this week I'm on a break between jobs and I'm loving that I have time to get stuff checked off my to-do list and get my own work done (read: Etsy). Which brings me to my next point...

2. My shop is in full swing with Father's Day quickly approaching! And a little publicity via Buzzfeed didn't hurt, either! The only trouble? Trying to package a million orders all by my lonesome. Tanner was out of town last week and thus his assistant duties were magically unavailable. (This same thing happened during Valentine's Day...) Coincidence? I think not. 

3. I had my last illustration class on Thursday. I'm bummed it's over, but I had a really good time! Our teacher even brought in an agent last week to talk to us about the "biz" and what a book agent really does for a writer/ illustrator. I feel like I came away with some in-depth information and some really great stuff to take forward in the future. Yay for unknown destinies! Wherever my path takes me, I'm excited about really pumping up my portfolio so that I can make a decent website and start writing some books. It's like a kindergarten dream come true. Seriously.

Here are the latest sketches of mine from a short story I wrote about a dinosaur:

And this one is a prompt from a website called Illustration Friday. Every week they come out with a new topic and you have to draw something to fit the bill and link your drawings to the site. (It's a good way to keep the juices flowing!) This week the topic is "Temptation."

And because this particular Father's Day card below is doing so well, I had some fun this week redrawing it in a new style to do a potential 5x7 print of it. What do you think? Do you like the old one or the new one better? Either way, it feels so great to be drawing consistently again. :)

Mother's Day Cards!

Can you believe it's May already?! Like, what happened to the first half of the year? Seriously.

With May comes Mother's Day, and this year it falls on Sunday, May 10. Which means it is.... less than two weeks away. And you should buy a card. Hint hint.

I added a few new Mother's Day cards to the shop and all the oldies from last year are still there. The new cards primarily focus on new moms, since this - apparently - is the year of babies. (At least among people I know.) Then again, maybe if you're in your 30s you should just assume that every one one your friends on Facebook is procreating and posting daily pictures of their offspring.

I also updated a version of my "long voicemail" card, as seen below. Last year it had a black iPhone on it and looked rather dark and dated, and I didn't really like it. The new white iPhone version seems to be doing well. It gained some recognition on Buzzfeed last week and has been the most popular one in the shop lately. I got slammed over the weekend and fortunately had Tanner at my beck and call to help me package orders. Yay for tolerant fiancees. ;)

Happy May, everyone!

Valentine's Day Card Line 2014!

Whew! This week has been crazy. I'm still knee-deep in boxes and learning the joys of having every one of my possessions in some random corner of the house. It makes getting ready for work a new kind of challenge. (Where the hell did I pack my toothbrush?)

It also tests the limits of my OCD, because EVERYTHING IS MESSY. I hate packing and unpacking because there is STUFF. EVERYWHERE. As much as I enjoy the act of organizing things, if everything is a wreck it messes with my chi. Once my world is clean and organized again I will be a much happier individual.

Somewhere in the midst of all this chaos, I managed to whip up a brand new line of cards for the Valentine season! I love this time of year, because making goofy I love you cards is my favorite thing. And this year I came up with some particularly goofy ones. For some reason I was feeling really "punny," so you'll get a kick out of how cheesy some of these are. (Seriously. Like, groan-inducing.) And of course, it wouldn't be Darkroom and Dearly without a touch of geekiness. Harry Potter, Star Trek, Doctor Who and Indiana Jones all made the cut this year! :) Woo-hoo!

The cards are up and available in the shop, so get 'em while they're hot! You can see the whole Valentines Day lineup {here!!}

(And shhhh... I still have a few secrets up my sleeve... I have some new products which should be hitting the shop sometime soon! I'll keep you updated!)

Valentine's Day 2014 - Friday, February 14

First the punny...

Then the geeky...

DIY: Christmas Instagram Gift Tags

I love having fun with instagram photos (do you follow me already @darkroomdearly?) and coming up with brilliant new ways to get crafty with them, like my Polaroid coasters. So of course I was super excited to see fellow blogger Bonnie of {going home to roost} post a really awesome instagram Christmas craft on her blog!

{instagram gift tags via going home to roost}

By utilizing your own instagram photos (or hers, which she also provided for you!) you can create gift tags for your Christmas gifts that look classy and festive all at the same time!

{photo via going home to roost}

How cute are these??

I had fun making my own with some of the PCT photos I took this summer. (Not very Christmassy, I know, but they still make for great pictures and tags!)

You can print them to sticker paper and attach them directly to your gift, or print to cardstock and use fancy ribbon or twine to tie them to your wrapped present. These cute tags will give any gift some definite Christmas flair!

Bonnie has graciously put several different file formats of these gift tags for upload so you can choose which suits you best.

Visit her page to download them for free!

 Enjoy! (And get tagging quick... Christmas is almost here!!)

I hope everyone has a merry holiday. I will see you again on Friday!