Lumpy Space Princess Plush & Wallpaper!

If you haven't heard of Adventure Time, it's a cartoon show on Cartoon Network and I love it. It's silly, the drawing style is simple, and it has a wacky cast of characters, cupcakes and candy, rainbows and SCIENCE! Basically a lot of things that I like.

Photo via Fred Seibert - Flickr

Sometimes when I feel like I need a new desktop wallpaper, I decide to sit down and my make my own. My wallpaper at work is a cartoon of myself of course but my home computer is the character Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time.

I created the illustration in Illustrator and finished it up in Photoshop. I feel like me and Lumpy Space Princess have a lot of common. We're both lumpy, have a temper, love purple, and talk with deep mono-toned valley girl voices.

I am also a big fan of the a store we have in the states here called, "Hot Topic." So you'd better believe I was excited find a Lumpy Space Princess Plush now in their shop!!

Photo via "Hot Topic"

It is 14" and about 32 dollars and you can get your own by visiting their webstore. I would love to purchase one and use it as a pillow! Also, I by no means, own Adventure Time or it's characters so feel free to use my desktop wallpaper on your own computer!! Hope everyone has a good weekend and catch Adventure Time sometime on Cartoon Network!!

Whitney's Birthday and Puppy Themed Cake!

Hey everyone! We all know I love designing, drawing and just art in general but did you know, I also love to bake? I've posted a few entries on here before about baking like my Little Mermaid Cake and Blueberry Cupcakes. It's a fun activity to do. Plus it is a great way to de-stress and put a smile on your face! Who doesn't love receiving cookies and cakes?

So when Whitney's birthday came up what better gift to give then a custom cake, that looks just like her!! I am no way a professional baker, nor have I had ANY sort of formal training so I searched all over the web for tips on decorating cakes for dogs and found a cute design on SweetArtFactory.com:

Image via Sweet Art Factory Cakes

I took a stab at it with a dog-friendly Carrot Cake recipe and here was the result:

I know it's not perfect, but Whitney was quite excited to receive her cake and we dug right in to eat it!!

It was quite the occasion!! She even got dressed up with some fancy bows so we could match!!

For more great decorating tips and to learn how to make your own little puppy cakes be sure to check out the step-by-step instructions on the Sweet Art Facotyr Website: http://www.sweetartfactory.com/a_5/Cakes-your-Kids-Can-Make.htm

HOLLYWOOD TANS Event Flier

This was a quick freelance project I did last month. I had the task of creating a flier to be posted online for HOLLYWOOD TANS in Rockaway in NJ. The flier was for an event featuing appearances from Tracy DiMarco and her boyfriend Corey Eps.

I don't do fliers too often so it was something different. The photos were already provided for me; it was just a matter of making all the text work! I always love to challenge myself and I think it turned out really fabulous!

Creating Automotive Ads

Hey everyone!! Just wanted to post on my blog about some updates I made to my site!! As you may or may not know, I got a fulltime job working at the newspaper. I get to create ads all day for advertisers, still have fun illustration work to do and I'm learning a lot about page layout and programs I never used before like Xpance.

I started out doing classified ads which include automotive. Although it may not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, especially to a fellow graphic designer, I have to say it is both challenging and fun.

You get ample room for space, some ads run as long as 21.5 inches. Wow! And full color.

Sure it's no cupcakes or rainbows or cute little fuzzy animals, it's something different. The difference it has from my usual work is what makes it challenging.

I posted two of my favorite ads in the Graphic Design section of my portfolio on my website (violet-ink.com).

Nurse Cookie says "Donate Blood!"

Hey everyone! If you did not know, today is World Blood Donor Day. This day began first in 2005 to celebrate all the people who voluntarily donate their blood. Donating blood is an important act of kindness. People all over the world need blood for transfusions.

To help raise awareness of today, I decided to create my own little silly illustration.

Even though World Blood Donor day always has a specific theme, the first thing I think of when thinking about donating blood is chocolate chip cookies. Around where I live, cookies and orange juice are handed out after your donation, which is where my concept was born.

If you want more information about World Blood Donor Day visit their website at: http://www.who.int/worldblooddonorday/en/ Hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

Laura Loves Dresses!

Hey everyone!! Incase you didn't know I recently made my freelance gig into a career by getting a job at a newspaper!

I work as a graphic designer and create print ads, web ads, as well as special sections and outsourced publications. I get to design everyday!

But one of my favorite parts about my new job is I also get to dress up everyday! And I love dresses.

So I couldn't resist making a cute doodle of myself in one of my favorite jumpers and my Hello Kitty Shoes and of course, a bow!!

I'm really starting to explore my style of illustration more. This is the first self portrait I did of myself since 2009 and if I compare them side by side there is a BIG difference.

I really hope everyone enjoys their weekend!!

National Donut Day 2012!

There's still time to celebrate National Donut Day here in the States!!

Drew a cute little donut day in honor of the festivities! Heard some stories about good discounts, free donuts all over the USA!! If you missed out on the fun don't forget to mark it on your calendar for next year!!