Sarah Burwash illustration

How sweet are these illustrations from Sarah Burwash? The answer is very, obviously! Sarah is a full-time artist and freelance illustrator based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. She grew up in a small mountain town in British Columbia and studied drawing and print making at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. Sarah works with a variety of media, from drawing and collage to video and ceramics, although most often takes the form of watercolour paintings and installation. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the USA and Europe, and she has also participated in a number of artist residencies and won numerous awards.


It's not difficult to see why Sarah has received accolades; there's a real sense of beauty to her work. The illustrations here show a shift in style compared to Sarah's previous work, and instead focus more on symbols and patterns. Sarah initially began these works as an exercise to warm up her drawing hand but found herself enjoying the process of creating patterns so much that she continued with the series. Although I haven't been to Canada (one day!), I also imagine that the landscapes Sarah grew up with play a pretty important role in her work.


If you'd like to see more, check out Sarah's website and Tumblr, and to purchase prints and cards visit her Etsy shop.


That's all from me for this week – I hope you've enjoyed reading and have a great weekend ahead. If you're in Melbourne, don't forget that the Craft Hatch Market is happening from 11am–4pm on Saturday at 1000 £ Bend, and is a great place to check out some of Melbourne's best handmade and independent craft and design.

Tabletop Made Letterpress

Tabletop Made is a letterpress boutique run by friends Karis Van Noord and Sarah Wilkinson from their studio (in Sarah's parents' garage) in Santa Barbara, California. The pair print their range of cute greeting cards, gift tags, stationery, wedding invitations and assortment of other paper goods by hand using a Kelsey Excelsior tabletop letterpress printer (which they have named Sven!).


Karis and Sarah take inspiration from their surroundings in Santa Barbara, especially its Spanish culture and traditions. They love Santa Barbara's local textiles, architecture and natural landscape, as well as Mexican pottery and paper cuts, and try to incorporate some of these influences into their work via detailing and bold colours. I'm especially loving the simplicity of the Tabletop designs – sometimes all you need is card, ink, a nice message and a simple graphic, and this is something Karis and Sarah do very well.


If you'd like to see more of Karis and Sarah's work check out their website and cool blog, and visit their online shop to browse through their range of items.

Amy Borrell illustration

I've written about Amy Borrell of Cake with Giants before, but I thought it would be fun to check in and see what new projects Amy has been working on. For those who haven't heard of Amy before, she is a talented Melbourne-based freelance illustrator, designer and pattern maker who splits her time between commissions and personal projects. Her beautiful watercolour illustration style has kept her in-demand and creating work for a range of clients including Frankie, Urban Outfitters, The Finders Keepers, Uppercase and Mambo, just to name a few.


Filling her work with narrative is very important to Amy, and to that end she incorporates plenty of  detail and a sense of whimsy. Her colour palettes are usually soft and cheery, and the content inspired by childhood and nostalgia.


For the past couple of years Amy has also worked in collaboration with Frankie to design and illustrate their daily journals, and 2013 is no exception. Amy has put together what looks to be a lovely journal full of patterns, vintage-inspired details and hand-drawn typography. (The journal is avialable for pre-order, if you're interested).


If you'd like to see more from Amy's portfolio, check out her website and blog, and Amy also has a range of giclee prints of her original watercolour and pencil illustrations available for sale in her online shop.

Hello Marine

Hello all, I hope you had a lovely weekend? Mine was pretty relaxing. We managed to go for a drive to the country yesterday, which was a much needed escape, especially seeing as I now work from home. Of course, I'm dreaming of a laid back life in the country on this sunny Monday morning – a little ridiculous seeing as how I know I'm very much a city person! Anyway ... I wanted to kick off this week's posts with some fantastic illustrations from Hello Marine. Marine is a French illustrator who is based in Brighton, UK. She moved to Brighton to study graphic design, and decided to stay in town, now diving her time between commissions for clients and personal work that she exhibits regularly.


Marine loves and is inspired by music, fashion, the yé-yé movement, vintage toys, car boot sales, polka dots and patterns. She has produced work for clients including The Guardian, Penguin and Amelia's Magazine (among many others), and also sells a range of giclee prints and tote bags featuring her illustrations.


Marine has developed a great illustration style that's entirely her own, full of bright colours and intricate detail, as well as a touch of nostalgia. If you'd like to see more, check out her website, online shop and Etsy shop.

San Francisco illustrations by Michéle Brummer Everett

I wanted to round off the week with these super cute illustrations from Michéle Brummer Everett, spotted recently on the fabulous Gems. Born and raised in South Africa, Michéle moved to the US to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and now resides in the wild, wild west with her husband where she works as an illustrator. The pair recently took a trip to San Francisco and Michéle decided to document their holiday through pictures, and seeing them made me smile and think about my own trip. And also about how I'm getting itchy feet for more travel adventures!


It turns out Michéle has designed a couple of adorable fabric collections for Cloud9 Fabrics (Seven Seas and Monsterz), and also has a great portfolio of work with some fantastic illustrations, which you can check out on her website and Tumblr.
I hope these cute illustrations bring a little cheer to your Friday and set you up for the weekend. Have a good one!

We Are Yoke

You may have seen some of these prints about the place, but I wanted to share a little bit of British goodness with you today in any case. This fabulous illustration and print making work comes from Mark and Zoe of We Are Yoke, who are based in Perth, Scotland (a place I've never visited, but have been through its bus depot many a time on Megabus journeys!). Mark and Zoe's philosophy is to keep it simple, something they have certainly mastered if their bright, bold and cheerful illustrations are anything to go by.


All of Mark and Zoe's designs start life as paper cuts and are then transformed into a variety of hand printed products, including screen prints, greeting cards, tea towels and bunting kits. The pair love having fun with their illustrations, and are inspired by popular culture and the little things that people take for granted. They also love how, via the hand printing process, a little bit of themselves is put into each product they produce. So cute!


I don't know about you, but there's something about the We Are Yoke illustrations that just makes me happy. Maybe its the simplicity of the designs and their bold colours and innocent humour. Whatever it is, I can't wait to see what else Mark and Zoe come up with. To check out the rest of the We Are Yoke collection, visit the website, online shop and blog.

Fellow Fellow paper goods

I love these gorgeous paper goods from Claire of Fellow Fellow. Claire is a Brisbane graphic designer who now lives in Singapore (after a stint in Germany). Her label, Fellow Fellow, was created from Claire's desire to get out from behind the computer and create more with her hands. She turned to screen printing, and hasn't looked back since.


Claire primarily works with high-quality papers and screen prints patterns onto them herself. Her collection includes paper garlands, mobiles, notepads, travel wallets and gift tags. I really like Claire's hand-drawn illustrations and how she uses paper and card in interesting ways.


If you'd like to see more of Claire's work, check out her website and Etsy shop. Claire also has a lovely blog, filled with yummy recipes, DIY tutorials and freebies, and beautiful travel photographs. Definitely one to bookmark.

Rifle Paper Co 2013 calendars

Yep, that's right, August isn't even over and the 2013 calendars have started to come out. Although I was going to hold off on posting about 2013 until at least September, I couldn't help but share these fantastic new designs from one of my favourite labels, Rifle Paper Co.



The team at Rifle Paper have just released three new 2013 calendar designs in time for the New York International Gift Fair. I love the 2013 Cities Calendar, which is a collection of hand-painted city maps printed on high-end felt paper. The 2013 Garden calendar features twelve garden-themed illustrations (and includes rustic jute twine for hanging), and the 2013 Antoinette Calendar print features delicate hand-painted florals.



Such lovely designs, and I for one am adding the Cities calendar to my wants list. To check them out for yourself, visit the Rifle Paper Co. website.