PAPAYA! BLOG

Inspired by: Trey Speegle

Trey Speegle's beautiful collaboration with Anthropologie caught my eye earlier this year.

His wooden puzzles, filled with amazing attention to detail in it's figural pieces... and crewel work pillows are so lovely!

(A little more about Trey, from 200 x 200:) Using one of the world’s largest collections of vintage paint-by-number paintings, Speegle explores themes of hope, love, longing and transformation by using affirmations, double entendre and word play that resonate with a broad, pop appeal. The collection also serves as inspiration and raw source material that Trey combines with text, altering their original meaning and making good use of the Jasper Johns credo: "Take something; do something to it; then do something else to it."

 

Words to Live By

Just a few wise words for this lovely warm and sunny Ashland Friday afternoon. Especially fond of the sheet folding quote....was I supposed to be doing that all along? Oops...

Images for above cards, quotes, and prints all from www.pinterest.com (which if you are not signed up already, I highlhy recommend it!)

 

Take a peek inside PAPAYA!'s line of spiral notebooks

Remember the cute sneak peek I gave awhile back about our new line spiral notebooks?!

Today we received an online inquiry about the design of the inside pages, here's a pretty sampling from our five newest!

Our notebooks have 106 fully designed pages, offering the perfect backdrop to inspire creative writing, listmaking, and daily musings. Below is our full line of notebooks, available at papayaart.com.
 
 

100 paintings continued....

As Kathleen wrote about yesterday, we have embarked on a 100 paintings project....a fantastic exercise for any creative endeavor! I am 19 down and 81 to go...

And I say it always good to have pretty refreshments and gorgeous accessory pouches to stow art supplies....from PAPAYA, of course! xo

100 paintings

This summer Mindy and I have been painting quick watercolors together.  It's been a great outlet for us to keep our creative juices flowing. I wont' be too shy to admit that my results have been both good, bad, and sometimes really ugly... the best part for me has been the process, art for arts sake.

When we first started our goal of making 100 paintings. Mindy showed me this great post by Lynn Whipple  who wrote a memory of one her teachers theories on mastering painting.

“…you are going to make 100 bad paintings, so you had better get started! You can insert anything you are working on, as in 100 bad songs, so you better start singing, or 100 bad drawings, 100 bad cupcakes, 100 bad boyfriends..humm….What really happens is, it frees you up to play and not worry. now you can enjoy the process. the truth is you get better really quick, maybe even by #19. try it!“-Lynne Whipple

Here is my #15. Anyone care to join us?!

Creativity comes in all forms...

Call me crazy but sitting outside on a warm Ashland evening with my visual journal, art supplies, MacBook and some design magazines while sharing space with this fur person, Gracie, makes me happy and keeps me inspired. Creativity does come in all forms and certainly helps the flow when animals like this keep you laughing.....

I know you'll be distracted by her cuteness but check out the iphone case I'm sporting--THE BEST!!! (We carry them at the store, PAPAYA LIVING.)

She is dreaming of new products...glitter...gold foil....stickers, tags, totes, wallets...

And that, my friends, is the end of the week going solo here at PAPAYA. The whole gang is back next week and we've got tons of ideas and inspiration swirling around ready to enter our 4th quarter. We love feedback so if there is a product you've been wanting us to make...give us a shout, we love hearing from you! Happy Friday. xo

Inspired by Katherine Dunn

I have thoroughly enjoyed Katherine Dunn's new book, Creative Illustration Workshop. It's a combination of her life on a seemingly idyllic Oregon lavender farm, her thoughts and ideas on her creative process and practical tips on how to capture the "dailyness" of the world around you. In her case, it is farm animals. It's an inspiring reminder to look closely at what is near you and memorialize it--whether it's a painting, a journal entry or a photograph for your blog. Sweetness is around you always.

Thinking I might have to check out her upcoming workshop....

Helllllllloooooooooooooo!!!!?????

Anybody out there? Is that the sound of silence you hear? Why, yes it is! The Creative Abandon Team at PAPAYA has abandoned ship this week for a variety of good reasons (tradeshows, vacation, friends visiting) and I am all on my lonesome thinking up new things to put a tassel on. Never fear, the whole gang will be back next week to get our glitter on....miss you guys!! xo

Just Because

 
I love sending "just because" cards. It makes me happy thinking about my friends and family opening their mail and seeing that fun envelope, the sparkle of glitter, some cool postage and that little note: "thinking about you."

This is one of my favourite PAPAYA cards to send this summer. So many wonderful ones to choose from.... 

Hello Friend!

You Make Me Happy!

And who can resist this sweetie? 

Design & Crafting resources on the Web

Recently I came across The Graphics Fairy a great resource for free vintage images and craft ideas. I especially love this Plume image, and all of the other great ideas her site offers.

Check out her collaboration with (another favorite design resource) Pugly Pixel for a fun  ephemera set, and a tutorial on seamless website backgrounds.