The majority of my works, both paper goods and hand-embroidered artwork, are inspired by gardens, those I've visited and those of my imagination. Here's a round-up of some favorite gifts for the gardener in your life!
1. Happy Cactus Designs hand-embroidered floral artwork
2. Diptyque Geranium Rosa candle
3. Modernica small white pot with stand
4. Rockins Flora printed scarf
5. Hunter boots
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I've completed a few new pieces of hand embroidered artwork in the past few weeks and have just listed them in the online shop! I have shared some behind-the-scenes looks at these pieces on Instagram when they were just works in progress. Here they are in their finished framed and matted form.
Rainbow Flowers on Turquoise Linen: A bright and bold piece. The various colors of the flowers really pop off of the turquoise linen.
Prickly Pear Cactus and Wildflowers on Natural Linen: I've done a few different versions of this design. This is the first one with the pink prickly pear bulbs. It was inspired by my time living in Austin and the beautiful wildflowers that bloomed each spring.
Rainbow Flowers Square on Blue Linen: Hands down one of my favorite pieces I've stitched to date. It's a larger square (3.25" across) with some intricately stitched flowers. This piece took a number of hours to complete and I will be sad to part with it!
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I was cleaning up my office the other day and came across this original drawing for the Thanks Garden card. Here it is alongside the final product!
1. A sweet Tory Burch's wristlet featuring an all over botanical pattern.
2. I love the burnished look of this J. Crew wildflower necklace.
3. Fun and funky dahlia earrings from Bauble Bar.
4. Dolce & Gabbana's stunning floral brocade dress.
5. Happy Cactus' Thanks card features layers of hand-drawn floral blooms.
One card that is always nice to have on hand is a general thinking of you card. I feel like it's hard to find non-cheesy cards in the sympathy or sending positive thoughts your way categories, so good thing I can design my own! My intention was to design a cheerful card that could hold many purposes - for someone going through a tough time, someone who has lost a family member, or someone who is ill.
This design started with a row of hand-drawn tulips. Compared to some of my other more detailed floral designs, I kept things very simple. I selected a color palette that was bold and uplifting - reds, blues, pinks, greens, and yellows. "Keeping you in my thoughts" was hand-lettered by me in a loose script.
You can find this card in the shop here.
Today I wanted to highlight two new designs that share a similar theme: lots and lots of hand-drawn flowers. Believe it or not, the inspiration for these designs was an ornament I created as a fifth grader. I remember creating a design of colorful overlapping flowers using paint pens on a circular metal ornament.
For the birthday card, I developed an unstructured border of irises, hydrangeas, roses, daisies, and other flowers from my imagination. "Happy Birthday" is hand-lettered in a deep blue-purple.
I really liked the finished look of the birthday card and decided to try for a second card with a similar look, this time for a thank you card. The flowers in this design have a more tropical feel and I used a pastel color palette. "Thanks" was hand-lettered with my trusty brush pen.
You can shop both designs here.
I loved perusing the new collections for Fall 2014 from New York Fashion Week. One of the biggest trends I saw was bold florals over dark colors. The combination of a deep rosey red or blue on top of black is quite striking. Here are a few favorites.
Monique Lhuillier
Lela Rose
Oscar de la Renta
Naeem Khan
Erin Fetherston
Peter Som
Oscar de la Renta
All images via Style.com
When brainstorming card ideas for the early 2014 greeting card release, I was hoping to create cards for categories where I was missing cards. I knew I wanted to design a sympathy card. While the Thinking of You Lavender card is a popular seller, I realized I really need a sympathy card that could be used for a variety of occasions. The So Sorry card fills that gap.
Sending a card to a friend or family member when he or she has suffered a loss or experienced a hard time can be so meaningful to the recipient. I hand-lettered "So Sorry" in a dark navy script and surrounded the lettering with light blue hand-drawn flowers. I think it's always a good idea to have one of these cards on hand so you can send it off to someone in need at a moment's notice. You can find the card in the shop here.
I love receiving customer feedback and hearing what types of cards people are looking for. One request I heard many times over was for a general "thinking of you" card. For this card design, I reached back into my archives of doodles and drawings, and decided to use this drawing of a bunch of lavender. I associate lavender with calming and healing, so it was the perfect motif for this type of card. I paired the drawing with a light mint background and hand-lettered "Thinking of You" in a deep purple script. You can find it in the shop here.
A number of customers have asked me if I would make a card that could be used for a child's baptism or communion. This Floral Cross card is especially true to Happy Cactus' signature style - delicate hand-drawn flowers and a strong mix of colors (in this case, a palette of pastels). I love the sweetness of this card, and how it can be used for a number of different religious occasions - baptism, communion, confirmation, and Easter, to name a few. You can find it in the shop here.
The Garden Blues Floral note card pairs well with Furbish Studio's beautiful vintage Suzani textile with silk embroidery.
The Happy Birthday Floral Script card pairs quite nicely with these floral paper straws from Waiting on Martha.
