Seasonal Snowman "Light"

Good afternoon everyone! Hope the Holiday season is treating you well! I haven’t participated in an “Illustration Friday,” challenge in a while. This week’s theme was “Light.” I wasn’t struck with an idea until I noticed one reoccurring Christmas decoration I spied around everyone’s block.

The shining “light” of those bizarre plastic Snowmen! In driveways, on porches, on roofs and outside businesses, these jolly, vintage, hard plastic Snowmen are a classic sign of the Holiday season where I’m from. It doesn’t stop at just Snowmen either, I’ve spotted giant plastic characters ranging from jolly lighted Santa Claus’ to entire Na displays!! It makes me wonder what other king of wacky and tacky decorations are staples of neighborhoods around the USA. I’d love if you’d share some in the comments section!! Have a super weekend everyone!!

"We are the PERFECT Pear" Illustration

Hey everyone!! Valentine's day is right around the corner; another one of my favorite Holidays!! As I'm busy working on my Valentine's cards for all my friends and fans I nearly forgot about an illustration I created as a gift recently! Some people like puppies, some people like rainbows and then there are just some people who like pears. Yep, pears. Don't think I'm being serious?

 
Exihibit A, the pear cake, made especially for my friend's birthday last year. She's not obsessed with pears but she DOES have a pear themed kitchen so I couldn't resist creating and framing a pear-themed illustration as a gift. One of my brain storms from last year was a valentine card that said, "You're the perfect pear!" I recycled the idea to create this illustration:

A cute little girl pear and a handsome boy pear falling in love. She loved it and it hangs in her kitchen to this day! I also announced on the Facebook page that our 200 post will be a "give away!" Something this blog hasn't seen in probably 2 years or so haha! So stay tuned for all the details, this is post #194; 200 will be here before we know it!!

2012 Facebook Cover-Illustrations!!

Hello everyone!! It is almost the weekend, yay! I wanted to update the blog with another one of my 2012 projects. Ever since Facebook made me make the official switch to timeline I challenged myself to create a different illustrated cover photo with my name and title. I am an artist afterall and wish to show off my skills and remind all my friends what I do, graphic design and illustration!!

The first month I created for was August. I started out with my favorite thing, cupcakes!! The cupcakes are an original illustration against a stock background.

Next was September. This was an official premier of my NerdyCupcakes characters. We have strawberry on the left and cherry chocolate chip on the right both original illustrations of my creation on a stock swirly vector background.

October was next and I am such a huge fan of Halloween!! The little NerdyCupcakes were such a cute concept I couldn't resist dressing some up for the season! Pumpkin spice is on the left with a spooky little black cat cupcake on a stock background.

Even though it's plenty cold out in November I couldn't keep the idea of a sweet little couple of Ice Cream cone kids in love!! The illustration is based off of a sketch I created on some notebook paper on some downtown at my job at the time. The background is a stock photo of a chocolate swirl mmmm!

And last but not least my cover photo for December!! This little kitten character was inspired by a pair of pajamas I saw while Christmas shopping. This entire illustration is original with no stock elements this time.

I had such a fun time creating my different cover photos and already have a new one up for the month of January on my personal Facebook page!! If Facebook keeps timeline for the year 2013 I will make sure to make a review post of all the ones I create this year!!  Hope everyone has a great day and a safe weekend!!

"Thor Walrus" Acrylic Painting

Hey everyone! Time to play catch up and post some of the projects I worked on in 2012 that were made especially for the Holidays! A great perk of being artistically talented is that you can give gifts that you can BE SURE no one else got, because you made them yourself!!

One of my friends, if I haven't mentioned before, is a big fan of both the aquatic animal the "Walrus" and of the Marvel hero "Thor." In my head the only option for a gift was creating a Thor-Walrus. I found some source images of Walruses on the computer as well as of Thor's helmet used in the Avenger's film and combined them for something truly unique!

I created the painting with just white, black, brown and red acrylic paints. The paints weren't any special brand, just the craft paint you can pick up at Michael's Arts and Crafts. She really loved it!! Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend!!

Gingerbread Cocoa Christmas Card!

Hey everyone!! Just wanted to update the blog with another Holiday design / illustration project I completed this month!! Just like any other family my family sends out Christmas cards! But why would they just run down to Wal-Mart and buy some when they were blessed with such a wonderful, talented and artistic
daughter??

I pitched them some thumbnails just like I would any other client and they decided on a cup of hot cocoa with a candy cane stirrer jammed in the top of a mound of whipped cream. They decided on a green mug over clear glass or other colors and I added a little gingerbread guy to the front. Here is the final design:

Cute right??? I created the background lattice with some fancy Illustrator brushes over a gradient background. The design was then all pulled together in Photoshop and sent to a printer. We also added a graphic to the inside as well: 

They were printed as 5"x7" cards with a glossy finish on the front. They just arrived today and everyone is overjoyed with how they came out!! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Holiday Helper 2012 Cover Design

Hey everyone just wanted to update the blog with another Holiday themed post! Back in November, Thanksgiving Day in the states to be exact, the newspaper distributed a full cover Holiday magazine inserted in their Thanksgiving issue. I got the opportunity to design the cover for it.

 

I created about 8 different sketches and the publisher decided on a Christmas theme with two children gazing into a snow globe. The amount of time I got to spend creating it wasn't a lot but being the master artist and multitask-er that I am I cranked it out before the deadline. Full color illustration, title design AND ALL! Whew!

 

Sadly this was the last thing I had worked on for the newspaper. Due to circumstances out of my control, changes were made to the ad design process that no longer included room for in-house designers. I appreciate the opportunity I had though and hope to find another full time Graphic Design position soon :) Here are some detailed closeups of Holiday Helper:

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!! I will be baking and crafting for the Holidays!

Happy Ice Cream Day!!

Hey everyone!! Man I am still REALLY busy with all the Holiday projects I am working on but I couldn't forget about an important moment in history. Back in 1903 on this day the Ice Cream cone was patented making it officially ICE CREAM DAY!

I know it may be a little chilly outside but who can say no to an ice cream cone?? (besides lactose intolerant people). Our little chocolate ice cream cone is wrapped up in a cozy little pom pom hat and scarf to stay toasty!! So while you're busy wrapping, shopping, caroling or gazing at Christmas lights, don't forget to stop for some ice cream!!

Batman the Animated Series Gift Tags!

Hey everyone!! Hope everyone is having a merry AND safe Holiday this season! The Christmas season is a busy time for me creating gifts, cards and other printed goodies. Some things I even have to WAIT to post until after the Holidays since they are gifts for my friends and family and I can't ruin the surprise :)

For the past couple of years I have been creating free Holiday gift tags for all my friends and fans and posting them on my blog. This year's tags are finally done!! Since this was a GREAT year for Batman might as well have my favorite comic hero "wrap up" the Holiday season on his own gifttags! Last year I had Batman wrapping paper and this year I picked up some general DC wrapping paper and couldn't find any Batman gift tags to go with them :( So I drew my own interpretations of some of my six FAVORITE Batman characters from the Animated Series I and added some Holiday cheer to each of them!!

Here are just a few samples:

The full set is available to download from the Violet Ink Design website by clicking this link: http://violet-ink.com/Printables/BatmanHolidayGiftTags Be sure to make sure your printer is set on "Landscape" mode to print them. And be sure to share them with all your friends and family!! Although I did design the tags and create the illustrations I do not claim ownership of Batman the Animated Series, the characters, etc those are all © DC COMICS.

Not into Batman? We also have "Jersey Shore" Gift Tags and Cupcake Holiday Gift Tags from previous years. Hope everyone has a great Holiday and stay tuned for more blog updates :)

Inspiration Post: Retro Holiday Cards!

Hey everyone!! Well, it is time for my FIRST Holiday related post of 2012. If you celebrate Christmas or love gift giving, decorating, baking, etc I want to get you into the Holiday spirit!! And what better a time for artists to get some exposure then sending around their own custom cards for the Holidays!! So that's why this month's inspiration post is all about "Retro Holiday Cards!!"

 

Who doesn't love getting a card in the mail?? I have always love commercial art since I was a young child. Christmas cards like these are the kind that I grew up being mesmerized and inspired by. In fact when I was little I loved picking out what cards to give to people in our family but hated seeing them go in the post; I wanted to keep them all!! Keep scrolling for some of my favorite Holiday imagery on cards of yesterday!

"A Pair of Warm Wishes" Greeting Card sold by poshtottydesignz on Etsy

Cats love getting into decorations and these two kittens are just too cute!! Their giant heads and teeny tiny eyes and noses are just darling. If I tried to stick my own cat into a stocking and photograph him I'm sure the result wouldn't come out nearly as pleasant. But that's the beauty of this illustration, it is the perfect picture of curious kittens ready for the holidays!! Although I am unsure of the original artist's name it is dated 1950 according to it's Esty listing.

I stumbled across this card on Pinterest looking for inspiration for the Holiday Helper magazine cover. It immediately became one of my favorites with it's sweeping style of illustration. The bright pink sparkling figure skating dress is so glamorous!! And you got to love the scared little bunny sliding across the ice. The added glitter as an embellishment really makes it shimmer and shine!! I especially like the fact that it's more of a winter wonderland with no glaring reference to CHRISTMAS. If I received this card from my mother I would treasure it for ages!! No idea who the original artist is though :(

Strawberry Shortcake Holiday Card sold by PinkCarnivale on Etsy

This card is from 1983 and if you are an 80s kid then you should recognize that pint sized little ginger girl on the front; it's Strawberry Shortcake!! Not only am a fan of this card because I grew up with Strawberry Shortcake but because it involves baked goods!! Looks like Strawberry and Custard, her pet cat have stopped on their stroll to eye up some cakes, cookies and cupcakes through the shop's window!! The attention to detail on this illustration is impeccable!! Even the border is filled with Holiday sweets like candy canes and gingerbread!! 

 

Vintage Christmas Card photographed by Neato Coolville on Flickr

This cute little snowman is in touch with his feminine side sporting a striped pink scarf as he lets his little birdy friend perch on his top hat! What I like most about this card is it's simplicity; the simple stylized pupils, the little tree with simple ornament balls and the small sprinkling of snow surrounding the outside of his portrait.It shows you do not have to go all crazy with details to execute a card design.

Rainbow Brite Holiday Card by PinkCarnivale on Etsy

And the best for last!! Since I featured Strawberry Shortcake, I can't forget my absolute FAVORITE 80s girl, Rainbow Brite on her Holiday card!! These cards were printed as one single sheet and can be split apart by tearing along the perforated edge. I always wanted to be Rainbow Brite when I was little, riding around on Rainbow Horse spreading cheer and color to everyone with magical star sprinkles!! Here Rainbow Brite and her friends are getting ready for the Holidays, wrapping gifts, trimming the tree and just throwing and candy around for no reason.

That's all for this month everyone!! I hope these images inspired you to get a jump-start on the holidays. If you have never tried making your own cards before, why not give it a shot?? They don't have to be perfect remember this Holiday season, it is the THOUGHT that counts!! Hope everyone has a super weekend and stay tuned for next month's inspiration post!

Jersey Shore Chirstmas Gift Tags!!

Hello and hope everyone is having a good and safe Holiday this season! The posts have been few and far inbetween. I have been just so busy working on stuff for client's and friends as gifts! Some of the stuff I am just going to wait until after Christmas to post just because they ARE gifts :) don't want to ruin any surprises.

But I did finish something I want to share with everyone. My friend Ashley asked me if I could create for her Jersey Shore Gift Tags for all her Christmas presents. Of course I said yes!

Here are some samples of the tags I came up with:

First I sat down and thought of a list of phrases to put on the tags. Then I used the power of Google Images to search for "Large" size photos of cast members and Christmas themed items. I also downloaded tons of Photoshop brushes from Best Design Options. They have a post that specifically lists over 500+ Christmas Brushes all for free! Wow!

I have one for each cast member. You can download them all on two separate pages:

Page one can be found at http://www.violet-ink.com/Printables/VioletInkJerseyShoreTags1.pdf

Page two can be found at http://www.violet-ink.com/Printables/VioletInkJerseyShoreTags2.pdf

They're completely free to download. I do not claim ownership of the Jersey Shore show or any of it's characters etc etc. Hope everyone has a great Holiday!

Holiday Baking Boxes!!

Hey everyone I know I have not been posting a lot but the holidays have been so freaking busy.

I was working on a lot of little holiday projects here and there. For the entire staff at my work I wanted to make them cute little character boxes filled with a baked good!! I first hit my sketch book and worked out some sketches and ideas for things that involved Christmas and just the chilly Holiday season!!

I narrowed it down to three characters, a penguin with a bow tie, an angel and an elf. I rendered them digitally in illustrator to sit on top of a cupcake. They came out super!

Next I had to figure out how to make the right type and size box.

Yikes! This took an exceedingly long time!! I was never really great at working with paper, origami or any of that jazz. My folding skills just aren't there. So I went through a lot of different templates and dummys until I found THE one!!

It was a candy box! But I figured I could use the lid of the box as a tray to hold what I was planning on baking. This template is great because there is very little scoring and cutting that you have to do compared to OTHER templates.

I then measured and figured out that I could include 4 on each page. I printed them on 65 lb packs of card stock I purchased at Michael's Arts and Crafts for $2.50 in Christmas colors.

Next was the boring part cutting out all the templates. Luckily I still had the Always Sunny in Philadelphia Christmas episode on DVR and enjoyed watching it with my dad while cutting out all the templates.

The rest of the scoring, folding and gluing was also done in front of the tv. I used tacky glue just because I had a teeny tiny bottle of it I needed to get rid of. My tower of boxes slowly increased.

I was in the home stretch, time to measure the finished pieces and print out my little characters. I could fit six characters on each page on the white card stock that came in the Holiday stack.That was super easy and I reused the Tacky Glue to glue the characters to the front of the boxes.

I deicded to bake everyone muffins. It took me about an hour to make them all, but I was cranking them out like a machine thanks to my cupcake maker. Each batch took about eight minutes and while I was waiting for the next batch to bake, I was busy whipping up another batch. As I waited for that batch to bake, I wrapped the cooled muffins in treat bags I also purchased at Michaels.

Here was the finished the product, sitting on the break room table! They were a complete hit!! I was so glad that everyone enjoyed them (and no one got food poisoning either, go me!!). Merry Christmas everyone!!

Holiday Gift Tags!

Hey everyone I have been so busy illustrating and shopping and crafting, etc I still had time for a project I had wanted to do both this year and last, create my own Holiday gift tags!! I could easily pick some up at the dollar stores (last year I bought Disney Princess ones) but then again I am an artist and create my own for free.

I wanted to make Holiday and Winter cupcakes. Cupcakes are of course, one my most favorite things on the planet, so why not??? I did a couple of sketches on a napkin at work:

Hey, I didn't say they would be pretty, they are just sketches :P My sketches are always super rough...

And I came up with this sheet of simple vector illustrations:

I just cut them out with a regular pair of scissors leaving a little bit of a white border around them so they can still POP against the colorful wrapping paper I was using.

Here are some photos of what they look like on my gifts:

This is on a gift for my brother, he loves the penguin one!!

And as a treat, I want to share them with you all!! Feel free to download and print the PDF by clicking here: http://violet-ink.com/VioletInkChristmasTag.pdf

Enjoy!!