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One of my favorite products that I developed and recently launched is the assorted set of cactus flat notes. While the designs are an obvious nod to my company's name, they were also greatly inspired by a few trips I have taken to Big Bend National Park, Terlingua, and other areas of West Texas.
Each card features a hand-drawn cactus design. Then, to further set these designs apart, each cactus is hand-finished with gold paint by yours truly. Each card is truly one of a kind. They are sold as an assorted set of 8 cards - 2 of each design. You can them in the shop here.
Do you follow Happy Cactus Designs on Instagram?
It's the social media site where I've been spending the most time lately. I've been using the photo-based app to share a behind-the-scenes look at Happy Cactus, sneak peeks of new products, updates on retailers carrying our goods, and other fun things. Follow along at @happycactusdesigns
While flipping through fashion magazines this weekend, I came up a great spread in Elle about the growing black and white windowpane trend. I think these picks look quite nice next to Happy Cactus' "on-trend" black and white grid flat note card! Pick it up in the shop here.
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.
Since my last announcement, I'm excited to share two new retailers now carrying Happy Cactus Designs cards and other paper goods.
Rugg Road Paper Company is a wonderful stationery shop in the heart of Boston on Charles Street.
Parts & Labour is a shop right here in Austin on the always bustling South Congress Avenue. They have an awesome selection of goods from many local designers, and Happy Cactus is so excited to have our cards on their shelves!
We encourage you to shop our products locally! You can find a list of all of Happy Cactus' retailers here.
One of my absolute favorite new products I recently launched is the Hydrangea Floral Notepad. The hand-drawn floral arch includes purple-blue hydrangeas, daisies, and roses interspersed with green leaves. The design was originally created as a custom piece of art for a client, and I'm thrilled to be able to share it in the shop now!
The 50-sheet notepad measures 4" x 6" inches and is great for jotting down lists or quick notes. You can find it in the shop here.
Springtime is a busy season for the stationery industry with the National Stationery Show taking place and buyers eager to place orders for the fall and holiday seasons. Happy Cactus Designs' thank you cards were recently featured in two great trade publications (meaning they are primarily read by shop owners).
The Thanks Garden card was featured in the spring issue of Stationery Trends.
Meanwhile, the Thank You Black Diamond card was included in the May issue of Gifts and Decorative Accessories.
For stationery designers, the bulk of design work for seasonal cards happens six to nine months before the actual holiday. In other words, I spent a lot of March and April designing Christmas cards! Here's a peek behind the scenes of the creative process I took to design the Joy Dotted Ornament card.
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 wanted to start sharing some of my new releases here on the blog with little backstories about each of the designs. Look for a number of posts over the upcoming weeks highlighting my new favorite products.
First up is the Painterly Lines Patterned Card. A lot of my work lately has gravitated towards geometric shapes and patterns. The lines were actually painted with black gouache before being scanned into my computer. I then used a color palette inspired by a dress from Chanel's Métiers d'Art 2013/14 collection.
Chanel's collection debuted in my hometown of Dallas last December. When I saw the outfit below, I immediately fell in love with the mix of coral pinks and cool blue-grays and knew I wanted to incorporate those colors into a card design.
You can shop the Painterly Lines card in the shop here.
