popping in to share the rest of the jungle crew with you today!
along with the hippo gift certificate i designed the invitation for the shower and the thank you notes!


who doesn't love a playful monkey? he's most certainly my favorite of these characters!

hippo gift certificate

peeking in to share this sweet little hippo gift certificate that i was commissioned to create a few weeks ago for a dear client. it was part of a baby shower gift and couldn't have been a better more thoughtful idea for her daughter's first baby!

i'll have more to share soon featuring this hippo and a couple other fun jungle characters!

allison and anthony

remember these boston terrier wedding portraits matt & i created? well this commission was inspired by them but featuring black cats! i jumped for joy at the proposition because i have the perfect model, even though he can't sit still, my very own black kitty licorice!



we had fun creating each in our own style, but adding similar touches with the border and colors



congratulations to the couple, anthony and allison!

daily doodle day #18

the beautiful bright blue jay is today's daily animal doodle!
i'm thoroughly enjoying opening my watercolor's each day, even if its only for a few moments.

daily doodle day #17

i can safely say i've never drawn a camel in my life- until now!
while looking at a number of camel photos, it struck me how top heavy they are... and by the looks of it, they shouldn't be able to function and hold themselves up! my favorite part about this guy is his eyes. i normally stick dots in place of eyes, but camels have such heavy eyelids. adding that tiny line, i think, made all the difference in his expression!

daily doodle day #16

the doodle for day number 16 is a hummingbird and who ins't awestruck by these lovely creatures :)
as soon as i started sketching this morning i knew i was inspired to take this doodle further!
i began a flowery wreath in ink and have plans to continue and finish with a watercolor wash.

a little side note of inspiration... we just bought these stamps and i am head over heels with the design, everything is made up with hearts! swoon! i've been gazing at these lovelies which i purposely placed on my desk for some cheerful eye candy.

daily doodle day #13

i doodled up a red bellied woodpecker in ink and watercolor! i think my favorite part about them is the pattern on their wings- oh so lovely!

daily doodle day #12

there is this fun little project that i was introduced to be the multi-talented emily... it was originated over at the papersparrow where a new animal is the inspiration for a doodle a day. i'm a bit behind and just started today, on day 12!

can i just say i am loving this idea & seeing other creatives knock out some most excellent drawings! it's a great exercise that keeps the imagination wheels turning- who know one of these doodles may turn into a shiny new complete piece!

my very own print...

of my very own drawing!
I ordered this a couple of weeks ago from society6- they were offering a fantastic special for designers & I just couldn't resist. The best thing about the print is the size, its about 12 times larger than the original drawing! I draw itty-bitty so seeing my work larger than normal is pretty fantastic :)

ready to go!

snapped right before mister chipmunk and a few other goodies were packed away to be shipped to their new home!

miss yarn hair >> a doodle

you should know by now my love for drawing ladies with large imaginary hair! i doodled this one quick and light-boxed the watercolor overtop, so if mistakes happen no re-drawing is needed :)

i kind of love the idea of yarn hair. perfect print to hang for all you avid knitters and crocheters out there! i'm going to keep playing with this idea, so you may see a new version in the shop!

new york inspired

last week I was lucky enough to spend three days in new york to celebrate my birthday! I made a couple of new york inspired thank you's featuring lady liberty (even though we didn't see the actual statue of liberty we did see one made entirely out of legos...)
Here is the watercolor wash and the almost finished note!


and just a few snapshots from the trip...


Matt in line for the lion king! and yes, it was amazing.


a new york slice, as big as my head!


charming detail at the carousel in central park


there was about a dozen of these illustrated windows, they were so fun and brightened up our walk to Fao Schwartz

lady with fantastical floral hair

a new lady with a flower garden atop her head. next, a veggie garden? yum!

good morning rooster >> a new print!

yesterday I revealed on flickr a sneak peek of my latest drawing soon-to-be print!
very enticing isn't it? 

here is the finish! I made a few color changes but overall the palette stayed the same. I went back and forth and back again on wether to have a background color or even lay in a background. I admit I loved it on screen and in thought but once it was printed I really didn't like it. at all. I reminded myself that I'm going for clean and simple and left the background white, that way the sunshiny yellow can stand out.

the print is now available in my shop and to celebrate the first official day of summer use the code YAYSUMMER to receive 10% off anything in store. limited time only so move fast :)

hope something today...

makes you smile!


happy friday!

new new new +links!

hello dear blog! it's been so long, you probably thought i had forgotten all about you. 

but don't fret i have lovely things to share like my shiny new etsy shop hello niccoco that I have been filling with prints

Etsy helloniccoco

also i'm currently a part of the papernstitch exhibition this month, and couldn't be happier! i credit my first sale to being a part of brittni's lovely round up of shops & i hope to make a few more by the end of the month. 

lastly, this may be old news to some but in april i received an email from society6 (where i've been uploading designs & selling prints and yes even iphone/pod cases!) that my "all you need is love" design would be a part of urban outfitters print shop. i couldn't believe my eyes, but it was true! i've sold a handful of prints since being on the UO site and it's been a great experience. 

i promise more updates in the futures especially of sneak peeks of new prints for the shop! 

Love is all you need

and here is the other half to join this first design.
the deeper colors seems to pop more for me so i went with the second color scheme.
i can't say it enough, i just love how easy it is to switch and play with color in illustrator! seriously, its the tops!

all you need is love

a fun little design that will soon have an accompanying one to match- bet you can't guess what that will be!


all you need is love in pastels and an orangey orange


all you need is love in blue-y greens with a popping yellow

even though its monday...

today will be top notch!




its true! sometimes we just need a little sunny reminder that it can and will be a good day :)

hello bird!

a fun little piece i drew up yesterday in between some work... its always nice to take a break and make something just because. it wasn't until after i played around with the colors that i realized it kind of resembled my latest inspiration board!




& just in case you haven't seen over at society6 i have some designs up for sale as prints, tees, ipod/iphone skins and cases! including yesterdays hello bird! its really quite an amazing site.

first ever >> screenprints!

yes, thats right these are my first ever attempts at the skill of silkscreen printing! like any other new medium there are trials & errors. lots of them. believe me. every screen and technique i had to do some trouble shooting in an attempt to salvage my full class worth of work (they were only 3 hours long! which sounds like a lot, but boy oh boy the clean up is messy!)

the first assignment we had to draw a handful of thumbs of an object from our surrounding and kind of abstract it into shapes, or even textures... and then separate it into 4 layers.
we were also to combine the use of stencils and drawing fluid to form our 4 layer print.
here is my trusty cactus- with some blob like spikes on a few of the prints :)



the second project we were asked to make a collage and create an appropriation where we could combine found imagery and our own drawing to it. we used the photo emulsion technique which is excellent for mass producing prints.
i used an image from an anthropologie catalogue and created a frame around her & added some fun woodland doodles.



back when i was like 13 years old i always wore those screen-printed looking tees (my fondest memory is one of felix the cat) and my dad always told me i could make my own! i thought that was the coolest thing ever. since then, i've always wanted to try the technique. in my mind i thought i could just teach myself, which i still think i could of- but taking this course really just set the time aside and made me jump right in! learning something new is always a tad bit scary, because what if you jus plain ol' stink at it? i'm not exactly proud of these prints, i'm proud that i tried my hand at something i had absolutely no experience with!

inspiration >> from the philadelphia art museum

matt and i hopped in the car tuesday for a semi-belated valentines fun day and headed east to philadelphia!! it's been 2 years or so since i've been to the art museum (well over 3 for him!), so it was a long over-due trip considering we've frequented NYC museums more than philadelphia.
it was a wonderful trip filled to the brim with inspiration overload.

of course we brought our cameras along & snapped away.
& of course one of my favorites were the dutch tiles.
they are just so fun & simple, i can't help but love them.





i suppose i really enjoy ceramics and delicate paintings? because these asian dishes are so charming!




this shot came from one of matt's favorite sections- the armory!
the detail work on all the armor, swords and yes, even this gun was just so unreal.


there was also a small exhibit showcasing embroidery- my favorite piece (which photo didn't turn out due to lack of lighting) was a stitch sampler that dated back to the 1600s! the stitches created intricate lines, shapes, flowers, designs and looked like a well thought out pattern, it was oh so lovely & inspiring!

hello from sunny florida>> in progress peeks

i always love seeing the behind the scenes/development of a piece of work... so just in case you missed it on flickr here are all stages of the florida postcard!!


the initial sketch done with 4 other concepts for the commissioner


playing with placement of all the landmarks- they were each drawn/scanned in/placed separately for easy moving around. here i was also testing a watercolor bleed...


the finished digital image! complete with watercolor bleed in the shape of florida, & interstate signs!


kept the back of the postcard simple but fun!
everything turned out so lovely that i'm currently working on a maryland map for a personal piece! i've been wanting to do illustrated maps and this commission was the perfect excuse to get started.

a little yodelayheehoo for you

i've been drawing imaginary mountain ranges with polka dots & stripes and thought it would be fun to finally color one of them. i couldn't decide on a color scheme (frozen and wintery? or lush and green?) so here are both of them for you to enjoy!

fun & fancy doodles

mister night owl.



a chipmunk squirrel-ish hybrid.



& a sweater wearing rabbit. because all rabbits need cute polka dots.

inked up ideas

just a few concepts for a commissioned set of postcards.
even if they aren't selected to move forward, i think i may have a few new prints on my hands. i enjoy them all so so much!