Congrats to these winners:
Florida: Tona
Texas: Tori
Wisconsin: Bethany

Thanks for playing! All prints will be mailed this week.

We have some new designs coming out in a few days! Here is a sneak peek! Well, back to being a busy bee. Tax day is coming up and we have a lot of paperwork.

Here is the deal:
1. Tell me what state you are interested in: Texas, Florida, or Wisconsin
2. Tell me what you like the best about your state of choice
3. Why don’t we make it more competitive and fun? If you tweet, retweet, facebook, or blog about this giveaway, I will put your name in twice. Please leave a link or twitter name in the comment section. If you add Paper Parasol Press on FB, please let me know by commenting on my Facebook page.
4. Please don’t forget to link back to you blog or comment with your name/email so I can contact the winners

I will draw names at 8pm on Monday January 30th! Please don’t forget to list your state of choice!

Texas print, 11×14, three colors, printed on a vintage Vandercook #3 on 140lb paper

Florida, 11×14, three colors, printined on a Vandercook #3 on 140lb paper

Wisconsin, two colors, printer on a vintage Vandercook #3 on 14lp paper

My state print project is partly inspired by nostalgia road trips, Americana, and vintage travel maps. As much as I love getting my ol’ passport stamped, there are so many beautiful places and people within the states. Why leave, when adventures are just a drive or short plane ride away?

Here is our line up of cards! You can also visit the Etsy shop to buy.

Today is going to be a busy day of mailing out a new wholesale account I am very excited about and some self promo material. Happy Monday!

The Renegade Craft Fair is by far my favorite show. Looking forward to spending one weekend at the cozy Pulaski Field House and then the next weekend in (hopefully) a sunny Los Angeles. In LA, I will be sharing a space with the talented Sonya Gallardo.

Oh, I love California. I am planning on squeezing in some movie time with Bret Iwan, attending holiday parties, and going to see California Design, 1930 – 1965: “Living in a Modern Way” at the LACMA. It is always so wonderful visiting and I am so thankful I have been able to sneak in so many trips this year with my hectic schedule. I have a feeling it’s going to be hard leaving the Golden Coast without a another trip in sight. Le sigh.

Also, I will be having a sale for Black Friday in my shop. There may be a Cyber Monday one as well, but it will be a different coupon. Happy shopping this holiday season and please support small and local businesses.

Mid-century Holiday Card
A2 Size
2 Color letterpress card

Drive Each Other Crazy
A2 Size
2 Color letterpress card

At the end of this week, I should know my holiday show schedule. I am hoping one of the cities happens to be someplace nice and sunny in December. Other than that, working on a wedding design with an amazing client. I can’t wait to share the entire suite, but it will be a while yet! I am also trying to keep my head above water as much as possible, but I suppose that is the life of an illustrator/designer.

Now, I am off to work a little and enjoy my Labor Day. Have to send summer off properly, right?

At the moment, I have the windows opening and enjoying the noises of summer. I am not looking forward to it ending or winter. Hopefully, the nice crisp weather will stick around well into November.

I am also working on a very wonderful wedding job! The wedding is not until next summer, but I love the design and the clients, so I can’t wait to unveil it.

rough sketch screen capture of Chicken Feed Thank You Card in progress

I believe it all starts with an idea and then a sketch. After a sketch I scan in the card, clean up a few things in Photoshop and finish it off in Illustrator. Sometimes, there can be a few missing pieces, but I am comfortable enough with my Wacom tablet to finish off the drawing on the computer. This one is for my mom. Growing up in Poland, she picked mushrooms, had chickens, and is an amazing gardener. She was the inspiration behind this card. Although, she does not dress as traditional! Sketching is very important to my process. I do admit, I have been awful at carrying my sketchbook around with me these days. I recently picked up a stack of moleskin sketchbooks on sale at a store going out of business and I intend to fill each and every one of them up with doodles, thoughts, and ideas. I plan on launching a lot of new ideas and cards in the next year. Hell, maybe I should start right now!

Final two color printed card

This chick is up in the shop now as a single card and a six pack.

I spent a good part of four years of my life in Florida. Finding myself at the age of seventeen in a pull with NYC and Sarasota, FL, I let Sarasota take me away. I think it was because I wanted to be someplace completely different and switch up my surroundings as much as possible. I have no regrets. I met some of the most interesting and closest people in Florida while at college. Sarasota was a quirky and beautiful place – white sand beaches, lush gardens, a beautiful art museum, and a rich history. The circus history in Sarasota was really interesting and still lingers in some unknown and forgotten corners of the city. (Hence the reason I have an elephant on my Florida map.) We would take nightly jogs along the bay, find ourselves in drum circles with strangers, and skip illustration class once a semester to hit up Siesta Key Beach. I have a deep nostalgia for this Florida, but every time I return it’s not the Florida I remember. I guess that is how nostalgia works, it’s a longing for what was before and that can never be again. It’s wistfulness and its best. The people who made it what it was have all scattered the world. Even the campus I called home is completely different, but Florida will always have a certain place in my memories. The state represents the times I could escape two completely different places a few times a year and always come back to the other and call it “home.” Maybe in the end, this did not work in my favor, as now being more landlocked, I daydream having two completely different worlds I can run to when I tire of the other. I thank Florida partly for this uncontrollable wanderlust with the world.

Arcade Houses Congratulations Card

Lion and Shield Happy Birthday Card

Bicycle Lady Happy Birthday Card

Modern Thank You

My Mac keeps telling me, “scratch discs almost full,” and to any other Mac user – why can’t I invest in a new one? Is it because:
a. it’s so much money
b. I am going to miss this ol’ one?
c. desktop or laptop? I’ve always been a desktop gal, but a laptop has been pulling on my heat strings.
I think it’s more of the money thing. Yikes. Better start saving my nickles and dimes and dollars.

Back to scoring cards as it thunderstorms outside. More new cards coming soon!