24 days of Christmas

Hey friends! I just finished posting 24 days of Christmas illustrations, in the days leading up to Christmas. I'm loving sharing my photos and designs on Instagram. If you aren't following me there, please do, my IG name is ninaseven7. It's all pictures, all the time! I hope you all had a very, merry holiday season. I sure did. Here's to the best year yet - 2015!

FREE printable holiday tags

 

download here

 

We are kicking off December and the holiday season with a series of free printables, over at We Love to Illustrate Studio, my group blog. Here's my set of tags to make all your packages look festive and fun for the holidays.



Makes Me Happy - Home Sweet Home

The lazy days of summer are winding down and my schedule seems to be filling up, so I missed last week's Makes Me Happy post. I think I will now shoot for posting every other week, so I don't stress myself out. It would be a self-induced stress, since I'm choosing to do these posts, so that would just be silly, wouldn't it!

There is something about little house shapes, in a row or in a pattern, in particular, that really captures my heart. They can be simple, like something a child would draw, or more intricate, with lots of detail and texture. Here are a few that brightened my day, with the links below. To see more, visit my Home Sweet Home board on Pinterest.

Appleville fabric collection by Suzy Ultman

Little Houses card by Heidi Kenney

Illustration by Darling Clementine

Tall pink house by Me!

Houses of paper by Nanou on Flickr

Illustration by Carolyn Gavin

Houses and Confetti by Takashi Iwasaki

Print by Ekatarina Trukhan

Collage by Betania Zacarias

 

 

 

 

 

Makes Me Happy - Owls

 

With the recent release by Enchante Accessories, of some fun journals and notebooks, using one of my owl designs, I decided to make owls my theme for this week's Makes Me Happy post. I grew up in a house with a lot of owls in it, so I guess I have always known owls to be something to admire. My Mom liked them, so every birthday and Christmas, we always got her something with an owl on it. She probably grew to loathe them over time, but she never let on and we happily just keep buying more owl gifts every year. LOL! Here are the links to the owl themed goodness shown here and to see more owls visit my Owl Always Love Owls Pinterest page.

 

Give a Hoot art print by Suzy Ultman

Owl hand-lettering by Steph Says Hello

Owl illustration by Michael Mullan

Owl Tea Towel from Marks and Spencer

Rinaldo the Owl by Colin Walsh

Enchante Accessories notebook pattern by Me!

Owl Party Banner by Creative Party Banners on Etsy

Mini Boden owl sweater

Owl Treat Bag by Jettabees on Etsy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Makes Me Happy - Trains, Planes and Automobiles

 

My husband and I just purchased a new car, so transportation has been on my mind a lot these past few weeks. Not the most pleasant experience to go through, but we are happy with the end result and are having fun driving it and exploring all it's new options. So, when I was thinking about my Makes Me Happy post for this week, it was an easy choice. One of my favorite things to draw are fun cars and trucks with animals riding in them and I had a lot of fun finding great illustrations and products with the transportation theme, too. As usual, the links to the images shown are below and to see more, visit my Planes, Trains and Automobiles Pinterest page.

 

On the Move by Jannie Ho

Birthday Boy Invitation by Print Smitten on Etsy

Les Petits Bateaux by Cosmmia

Elephant car by Me!

Mini Boden Car Applique T-shirt

Buttons by Denuartigekat on Etsy

Coin purse by Sandra Taylor on Folksy

City Life by Nancy Wolff

Giraffe Driver by Joanne Liu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Makes Me Happy - Summertime!

 

Ahhh, summertime! With your lovely warm sunshine, lazy beach days, ice cream and lemonade, you really do make me happy. The weather here in Seattle has been so nice this summer with a lot of sunny days, so happiness is in full swing. Listed below are the links to the artwork featured here and to see more Fun in the Sun pieces, please visit my Pinterest page. 

 

Vacation Time by Helen Dardik

Hello Sunshine art print by Shop Hooray Today

Ice cream by Lizzie Mackay

Sunny Side Wall decal by Jill McDonald

Summertime by Rebecca Jones

Sunbathers by Kelsey Garrity-Riley

Easy Living by Anne Bryant

Summer is Here by Make Do and Mend

 



Makes Me Happy - Hand-lettering

 

 

There are so many talented illustrators and artists out there, that are extremely good at hand-lettering. I had a lot of fun putting together this board with all the great choices out there. I know there are many more examples and artists that I may have missed, so here is just a few of what is making me happy this week. This is a skill I am planning on developing over the next year and hope to get better at. Here are the links to the ones here and to see more, please visit my Pinterest page - Hand Lettering Love.

 

Do More Ecojot Journal by Carolyn Gavin

Greeting Card by Flora Waycott

Merci by Sophie Ledesma

Love you More print by Elissa Hudson

Just for You by Linzie Hunter

Art print by Katie Daisy

Home is Where print by Sarah Walsh

Believe in Yourself by Bee Brown

Handmade by Karli Ingersoll

  

Word Art Stamps for A Muse Studio

 

Look at me, blogging 2 days in a row! I'm been meaning to post about this for a couple of weeks now, and am finally taking the time to do it. I recently designed some fun word art stamps for my friends at A Muse Studio and the new catalog that showcases them is out now, so I get to share. These were so fun to design and I love how they look in the photo, stamped with black ink on white, with lots of negative space around them. So clean and sophisticated. Thanks, A Muse Studio for the opportunity to design these fun stamps! Here's the link to the catalog page: Word Art Stamps 

Makes Me Happy - Dogs

 

As promised, this week's Makes Me Happy blog post is for all you dog lovers (and lover's of cute dog illustrations) out there. I thought I might not be able to find as many cute dog things, as I did for last week's cats, but I was wrong. So, so much cute doggie goodness! I was not disappointed! There's even one of my designs on here - it's the Scottie Dogs on Pink which was licensed by Robert Kaufman for fabric. Here are the links for the images shown above and for more delightful dogs, visit my Oh So Darling Dogs Pinterest page.

 

Dog Pack by Nancy Wolff

Four Dogs by Lizzie Mackay

Birthday invite by Love from Ginger on Etsy

Red dog Melamine plate by Helen Dardik

Mini Boden dog shirt and striped pants

Whiskers and Tails Scottie Dog print by Robert Kaufman

Dog art by Sarah Dyer

Ecojot dog art by Carolyn Gavin

Dog fart cards by Anne Was Here on Society 6

  

Makes Me Happy - Cats!

The internet does not disappoint when it comes to the vast amount of cute cat photos, videos, illustrations and products with cats on them. This makes me so very happy, in particular, super cute cat illustrations! I was in heaven creating my Pinterest board with such great images to choose from. Here's the links to the ones I am showing above and you can see all my finds on my Oh So Cute Cats Pinterest board.
And, for all you DOG lovers, next week's Makes Me Happy post will be all about those darling dogs!

 

Cat faces by Hiccup Studio Designs

Hello Cat shirt

Cat cupcake liners by MeriMeri

Silly Kitty art by Matt Kaufenberg

Kitty art by Dawn Machell

Nursery Art by Bubble Gum Years

Meow You Doing cards by steph says hello

Cat faces by Dawn Bishop

 

Makes Me Happy - Camping and Hiking

 

Now that it is finally SUMMER!, it's time for some camping and hiking! I've seen a lot of really fun surface designs and products with this theme recently, some of it coming out of Lilla Roger's class last year and a recent Spoonflower contest. That's what's making me happy this week. The links to these lovely pieces are below and to see more fun camping things, visit my Pinterest Let's Go Camping page.

 

Striped Teepee from Land of Nod

Camping Fox Art by Elise Gravel

Art by Freya Harrison

Surface design by Jill Howarth

Surface design by Jannie Ho

Brown bear by Me!

Notecards by Paper Sparrow on Etsy

Fabric design by Abby Zweifel 

 

Introducing We Love to Illustrate Studio

I'm really excited to announce that my illustration group blog has a new name, We Love To Illustrate Studio! We’ll now be sharing each of our six member’s individual work as well as group projects such as free downloads on our blog and through our new Facebook page, on a weekly, rather than monthly basis. 

We really hope you continue to be a part of our creative journey, and we wish to ask all of you to help us with the following:
1) update any links to our site to: www.welovetoillustratestudio.com, 2) follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/welovetoillustratestudio, and Twitter: https://twitter.com/welovetoillo.

Thanks so much!

Makes Me Happy - Nautical

 

Ahoy there, matey! This week's Makes Me Happy post is about all things Nautical. Looking at lovely nautical inspired art makes me want to put on a red and white striped shirt and go sail the ocean blue. I'm even sharing one of my designs this week - the anchors print in the top right is one of mine, licensed to Design Design for use on beverage napkins. Below are the links to the art you see here and to see more of my nautical loves, here's the link to my nautical Pinterest page.

 

Surface design art by Rebecca Jones 

Design Design napkins by me! 

Here Fishy Fishy pattern by Maeve Parker 

Seagull with Pipe  

Nautical art by Monster Riot on Society 6

 

Makes Me Happy - Gnomes!

What makes me happy this week? Gnomes! Who doesn't love a cute little gnome? I especially love the modern take on gnomes, seen in these uber cute gnome dolls from the Etsy shop, Warm Sugar. I also really like the little felt cone shaped gnomes from Etsy seller, Little Dear. Here are links to all the photos above or you can see all these, and some more, on my Gnomes Pinterest board, right here.

Stuffed Gnome dolls from Warm Sugar

 

Cone shaped felt gnomes from Little Dear

 

Gnome fabric collection

 

Gnome and Mushroom Stationery from A Little Lark

 

Michael Miller gnome fabric

 

Tired Gnomes photo

 

 



Doodle Dreams Blog Tour

I few weeks ago, I was asked by my Facebook friend, Jenipher Lyn, to do a little something for her Doodle Dream Blog tour, to help promote her new book. I said YES right away, because Jenipher's book, "How Being Stubborn, Depressed and Unpopular SAVED My Life” is written for tween and teen girls who are struggling with issues such as body image, eating disorders and depression, to name a few. Jenipher is open, honest and encouraging as she relates some of her own struggles and how she overcame them. And, her book is filled with colorful, fun "doodles" and Jenipher's own quirky good handwriting.

This week, the Blog Tour's theme is Gratitude, for the last chapter in her book. Here's Jenipher's banner for this week (so CUTE!),

and here's my illustration for the theme.

 

The link to purchase the book directly from Jenipher is HERE or it is available on Amazon, too, right HERE.

 

makes me happy - succulents!

Working in the field of art licensing means that I need to keep a lot of the work I'm doing a secret, until it is licensed and out in the stores on products. That means a lot of time can go by, from the finished art and when I can share it. So, my little blog is often neglected because I can't really share what I want to share. Therefore, I decided to start a regular (hopefully, weekly) feature called Makes Me Happy, so I can post on a timely basis and also share things that I like and of course, things that make me happy. There will be posts about trending topics in the illustration and fashion worlds, posts showcasing other artists work that I admire, posts about color palettes that are swoon worthy and posts that are just fun, happy things.

With all the bad news in the world, sometimes you just need to take some time to focus on happy things and happy thoughts. I hope the things that make me happy will make your day a little bit happier, too!

My first Makes Me Happy post is all about Succulents! Here are some fun photos and illustrations of wonderfully, unique succulents. The links to these images are listed below and to see more succulent love, visit my Pinterest Succulent page.  http://bit.ly/Txlqpr

 

Art by Loris Lora

Spoonflower fabric pattern

Pattern by Lisa Congdon

Art by Paper Moon

Photo on Etsy 

Wedding invitations

Throw Pillow on Zazzle  

Notebook on Etsy 

Photo by Sanctuary Studio

FREE Mother's Day Printable card

For all the wonderful Mom's out there - a FREE printable card just for them. You can download it right here. Nina Seven - Mother's day printable card 2014

trending - home is where the heart is

I recently starting following the super talented surface designer, Kristina Kraemer, on Instagram and on her blog. Today, she did a great post on her blog, regarding a trending theme in illustration and pattern design, that she calls Home Sweet Home. She has some great photos of the trend on her blog, which you can see, right here and on Pinterest, where she created a board for it. You can go here to see the board.

I've been seeing that trend as well and recently did a couple of collections that featured some of those elements. Here's a little peek at them. As usual, for any licensing inquiries, please contact my rep at Pink Light Studio.

This one is from my Black+White+1 collection

 

 

These 2 are from my Happy Town Collection

 

Photo a Day

Hello lovely blogger friends

For the past few months, I've been participating in a Photo a Day challenge hosted by Chantelle from the blog Fat Mum Slim. It's so fun! You follow the prompt for the day, which is posted at the beginning of every month, take a photo of something that you think fits the prompt, then upload the photo to your Instagram account, with the hashtag #fmsphotoaday. By clicking on the hashtag, you can see what people from all over the world have submitted for the challenge. It's a great way to document the little things in your world, have fun with your camera phone and connect with other people across the globe, who are doing the same thing you are. Here's a little collection of some photos I've taken recently.

 

And here's the list of April word prompts, if you want to join the party. Happy photo taking!

 

 

  

Easter Fun

It's April and time for some Bunny Love and Springtime Fun, over at my group blog, We Love to Illustrate. Here's my pattern, filled with fun Eastery things on a chocolate colored background.
I had so much fun making this. To see all the bunny illustrations from our group - go here. Happy Easter!

Colorful Chicken recipes

I entered the latest contest over at They Draw and Cook last night. This is my submission for the One Ingredient 3 Ways contest sponsored by Glad. I always enjoy creating illustrated recipes for They Draw and Cook and this one was not only fun to do, but challenging, too. Getting all the text from the recipes to fit into spaces I created for them was tricky.
Here's the link to my recipe on their site. Colorful Chicken

Year of the Horse

It's the Year of the Horse, in the Chinese zodiac, and we are celebrating over at We Love to Illustrate, this month. Here's my entry for the challenge and you can see the rest of them here. Happy Year of the Horse!

FREE Printable Valentine's Day treat box

Hello and Happy February! This month, over on my group blog, We Love to Illustrate, we all decorated a template for a Valentine's Day treat box. Here's what I did for my entry and you can download it and print it out here, or go to welovetoillustrate to see all of the fun boxes and download all of them there.

download here

Happy New Year!

Hello and Happy New Year!

Since it's the beginning of a month, as well as the beginning of a new year, we have a new post up over at We Love to Illustrate. This month, we celebrate the new year with some fun owl illustrations. Who doesn't love a cute owl? I love designing owls and so do the rest of my blogging friends.

Wishing you ALL a happy, prosperous, healthy and creative new year. 2014 is going to be awesome!