shanna murray

out take

A grey morning, some snow falling, the wind lingers. My mind feels muddy. I'm hopeful that another cup of tea and some quiet will be good medicine.

The last few drawings for the spring line are on my list today. Did I mention I had nearly an entire collection of drawings ready to be cut three weeks ago but decided to scrap the whole stack and start over? Something felt off, a little too polished. I'm glad I listened to myself, rather than pushing through. The new drawings are what I'd been wanting to create the first time around, but somehow got lost. Just a few more to go...

(for now, here's one last peek)

Later, a date with my dear friend for some good soup and this. Have you seen it? I've been looking forward to this movie for months. Can't wait. What's on your list today, friends? I hope something really good.

xo, S

mulberry lane

This morning we had sun for about twenty minutes! I don't want to drone on and on, but lately the weather here blows, more than literally. All we have to show for spring is a few very persistent daffodils. But I am hoping for sun on Wednesday, I've heard it's making an appearance. 

While the sun streamed in by patches and spurts through the window, I quickly snapped some photos of a project I've been wanting to share, it's a recent favorite. My clients, John & Lucia asked me to come up with an informal but classic, welcoming invitation to their house warming party as well as some cards to tuck in with the invites that included their new address. 

For the change of address cards Lucia wanted something similar to business card size that she could keep on hand in her wallet. She needed something to hand out to parents at school when a play date came up, or to pass out at her book club and the like for those that wouldn't be receiving a party invitation.

I loved working on this project. It was relaxing and quite therapeutic painting those little blue houses, about 150 in total! The original design was done in ink and then offset printed on cream card stock. The scalloped edges, gold on the invite and blue on the address cards, as well as the houses were all hand painted after printing. The envelopes we chose are a muted bluish grey kraft with a sweet scalloped edge that matched the garland on the invitation perfectly. Black wax and a laurel stamp sealed the deal.

I miss those afternoons, putting on a movie and sitting down to paint those houses, but there's plenty to do before launching the new decals - mostly to do with painting of another sort. There's a bit of a hint for you...

Happy Monday to you! I hope it's sunny where you are! xo, S

happy days

Popping in to say hello!

I'm making progress on my list of things to finish up before the launch (hooray!) but all will not be ready for April 14th. Sad faces over here about that. All in good time, right? One thing I learned from the launch last year was to just lean in, take my time and all would come together. So that's what I'm doing. I'm just happy being in the process.

This time around I guess I'm learning that I tend to drastically overestimate all that can be completed in a finite period. So, instead of choosing another date I'm just going to plug along and keep you posted. It won't be long, I promise. 

 

Some things making me smile while I work:

+ Flowers from the weekend. Don't think I've ever seen black pussy willow branches before, have you? I swooned when I came across them. 

+ Warmer temps, and the return of flip flops (if only for one day).

+ My new desk area I set up at the heart of the house (rather than tucked away upstairs).

+ This song, and how the video reminds me of Abby's photographs.

+ A road trip down south with one of my favorite people, to see another favorite, after the launch. Can't wait!

+ Ollie splashing in the creek on Sunday. That was a sight for sore eyes.

 

Happy days to you, friends. xo, S

soon to come

A cheerful friday to you!

Life is busy as a hive of bees lately, I've lots of projects on the go for the spring decal and stationery lines right now. I hate to say it, but I think I'll most likely be pushing off the launch date just a little bit...there are a few little odds and ends to wrap up and I just don't see where I'll eek out enough sunny daylight here in gray, gray Rochester to shoot all of the decal designs in time for the 14th.

I won't be too far off the mark though, I think. I'll keep you posted. Be sure to sign up for my mailing list (don't worry, I send precious few mailing list emails throughout the year and all involve something fun!) for an early preview. For now, I thought I'd leave you with a little peek at some of the stationery set to launch later in May. Hooray! Wishing you and yours a happy, sunny weekend full of good things. 

xo, S

for you

Hello!

Running a bit behind schedule over here, but I'm so happy to share April's calendar with you today! I was delighted when my online chum Heather Smith Jones said she would join me for the month. I've been a fan of Heather's since I first laid eyes on her work.

Several of her small watercolors hang in my home. Each piece means something different to me, and together they tell a story that is very close to my heart. If you've never explored her work before, I hope you'll take a bit of time to look through Heather's remarkable collection. Thank you for joining me for April, Heather, I'm so grateful you did. (both sizes are available here)

Wishing you a wonderful day, wherever you may be, dear friends. S