I love nature and am always inspired by it. I am naturally drawn to art with nature themes.
I found a wonderfully talented designer recently whose products caught my eye. Tobi Wood of Tobi Wood Designs has a bright and bold artistic style.
She carries paper goods, magnets and prints that feature her art. She has 8 series of designs including bloom, bulb, flower, grass, leaf, stem, tree and vase.
Her designs are bright with colors that really pop!

I am on a bubble kick right now. My son is loving the bubbles and we have so many contraptions for bubble making. We have electric guns, nospill bubble cups and huge bubble wands.
I have a new design I am toying with that involves bubbles. The hard part is, how do I represent a 3 dimensional, transparent object through silk screen? I have been looking at other bubble objects and found so many different ways to depict bubbles.


Here are some of my favorite items I have come across.

I love these bubble coasters by allisonsphotography
She is a fellow nature lover out of Montreal.


What a perfect graphic for a coaster. They are just asking for a bubbly concoction to rest on them.

She even makes these in a set of eight for parties or in my case, when I start loosing them as I always do!


I love the cool colors and the mix of circular rings with full bubbles.








I also like these funky bubble earrings by jewelera

Derya Aksoy is a multi-talented jewelry designer who creates intricate pieces that can be seen in her blog, Derya's Jewelry.

I like the different sized circles fused together in this cool pattern




I love the colors and swirls in this painting by ttgart
This is actually a 3 print reproduction of the original painting.




I like the white swirls inside the colored bubbles. I like the cool blues with the deep purples and yellow spotted in.






Hmm, this would look lovely in my office. I must resist...

There has been a recent resurgence of interest in the Gocco printer, the Japanese home printing machine. The Riso company has discontinued its manufacturing and in turn, sparked a small uprising in the crafting community. Check out the save gocco here.




Flower art By mocchi mocchi


Being a screen printer myself, I became curious about this small, all-in-one printing unit. It seems you can find them at auction sites going for well over $200.00 when they are originally around $95.00. Similar to the high demand for the gaming systems, they are fetching a nice price, even used.


After discussing the pros and cons of the Gocco with a good friend who used one to print cards and t-shirts, I have decided it is not for me. That is not to say it is not for everyone. Here are some amazing Gocco prints I have stumbled upon in my quest.


This is another favorite of mine from
mocchi mocchi

There are many more beautiful prints to choose from.








Another technique used with the Gocco is stamping. You can purchase special kits for use on different mediums. I found this artist who creates beautiful patterns to use with her Gocco stamp.

Here are some classical style stamp patterns I found from Lara Cameron out of Australia









She has an Etsy shop, kirinco, filled with delightful jewelry and prints as well




Print Addict Japan sells Gocco supplies on Etsy too.
Welsh Products is another supplier.


Here are a few links to check out if you are interested in using a Gocco
You Tube tutorial
Flickr photo tuturial
Makezine tutorial
Ingafruit Blog tutorial
The Small Object Blog tutorial
Paper Source Video tutorial
Stamp Blog




Don't forget your card stock!

I recently purchased 2 sets of cards from Heather Toupin of heatherjeany. She has a modern line of prints perfect for any occasion.




For myself, I selected the goldfish. This is a delicate design printed in a shimmering gold ink onto a mix of A2 size beautiful blue and green note cards with stylish rounded corners and corresponding glittery gold envelopes.





I also selected the tall giraffe. It too is a detailed print in a shimmery bronze on a cheerful set of orange and red cards with matching chartreuse envelopes.

I can't wait to send these cards out to clients and friends; don't forget about the art of writing now. I love "real" mail.