Refreshed and Refocused

Inspiration leads to design for me.  So, I have been taking this summer to refresh and refocus.  Many hours have been spent walking through gardens, forests, sandy beaches, and my own backyard just observing the flowers, leaves, bugs, and critters around me.  I have really enjoyed watching my children discover new things in old places.  Nature always inspires me.  I naturally look for patterns and designs in everything I see. Organic shapes and patterns seem to jump out of the woodwork...literally at times.  I have been sketching like crazy, and tonight I sat down at my computer for the first time in over 2 months.  It felt so good to create again.  I felt inspired...and this is what I designed.

Butterflies for Lupus Showcase 2015

For the third year now, a fellow designer friend, Dawn Clarkson, has organized a "Butterflies for Lupus Showcase" to help increase awareness about the chronic autoimmune disease Lupus. Lupus can attack your tissues and organs causing a multitude of symptoms.  A rash on the cheeks in the form of a butterfly is a common symptom of Lupus, which is the reason Dawn chose the butterfly to showcase.  She will feature the butterflies on World Lupus Day, Sunday, May 10th on her blog NiceandFancy.  

This year Ruby and I collaborated on our butterfly designs. We both created our own butterflies and then colored them with the same color palette.  It was great to do this together and explain to Ruby the reason behind the showcase.  Here are our entries for Dawn's "Butterflies for Lupus Showcase".

Sunday, May 10th is World Lupus Day.  Please check out Dawn's blog, Nice & Fancy to learn more about Lupus, and to view the incredible "Butterfly Showcase" that she has assembled. 

My First LOOK BOOK!!

Here it is...FINALLY!!!  My very first LOOK BOOK on ISSUU!!  I am super EXCITED and doing a little HAPPY DANCE right now!!  My LOOK BOOK has 8 different collections of patterns that I have designed and am thrilled to share with everyone.  Just click on the photo to view my LOOK BOOK.  I hope you enjoy looking.  :) xo

"MY" Secret Garden

I just can't wait to dig in my garden.  I love to start flowers and vegetables from seed and watch them sprout.  Gardening is really a true passion of mine, and I tell my husband that it is my "therapy" after a long days work.  Tending to and nurturing all of my little plants truly brings me joy.  This collection of prints was inspired by many of the flowers I enjoy caring for.  My hope is that they will bring you joy.  Happy Gardening!

My "seedling" sketch

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue...

My beautiful city of St. Cloud is home to six absolutely gorgeous gardens.  Nestled along the banks of the Mississippi, the Munsinger Gardens explode with color all throughout the spring, summer, and fall.  I eagerly await the opening of the gardens as Spring is now here.  Soon, the very talented gardeners and caretakers will begin to prepare the planting beds for new annuals.  The perennial gardens will fill with exquisite colors from every part of the spectrum.  And, the Virginia Clemens Rose Garden will bloom with over a thousand delicately fragrant roses.  I could literally spend the entire day walking through all the lovely pathways around the gardens...it is ever changing.

My newest collection of patterns was inspired by the stunning roses found in the Virginia Clemens Rose Garden.  If you ever find yourself in St. Cloud, you must stop at the gardens.  You don't want to miss them!

NEW Summer Designs Added to my Society6 Store

I am FEELING THE HEAT ALREADY!!!  I am looking forward to the hot summer days when I can kick back, put my feet up and have a nice, cold, refreshing glass of lemonade while the sun beats down on my face.  Aren't we all?!?!

BUT....in the meantime...while we all wait PATIENTLY for summer to arrive...we can grab one...or two...of my new summer inspired designs in my Society6 store to help us keep focused.  It can be our daily reminder of the many wonderful things coming...very soon!!  Hope you like them!

From my sketchbook....

These long dreary winter days seem to go on and on and on...BUT, coffee, music, and positive thinking have me gearing up for warmer days!  I have been sketching lots and lots of flowers and all kinds of spring and summer elements.  Recently, I sketched these sweet little flowers and berries and quickly had to add color to them.  Pinterest is my go to place for color collections.  I have a board of my favorite palettes that I draw inspiration from.  I ended up pulling colors from about 5 inspiration palette collections and I LOVE the results! Please let me know which one is your favorite?

Dreaming of warmer days

It is February, so the COLD and SNOWY forecast that so many people are experiencing is not a surprise.  However, today I was dreaming of warmer days and looking forward to the sweet birdies song and the feel of lush grass between my toes.  I started sketching trees and birds and quickly turned my drawings into a fun little summertime scene. I added this great quote from Henry David Thoreau as a reminder of the beauty all around us.  Happy Sunday Everyone!

Need a last minute Christmas gift?

Need a last minute Christmas gift? Check out my shop and save $5 OFF everything PLUS get FREE worldwide shipping. Sale runs 12/7-12/14. Click on the following for the promo link. http://bit.ly/1yukDr5
Happy Shopping!

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

There is nothing better on a HOT and HUMID July SUMMER DAY than an ICE COLD glass of LEMONADE!!  REALLY!!  REFRESHING!!  YUMMMMMMMMM!!!  Go ahead, go grab a glass....you know you want to!  Then, take a peek at my new collection inspired by the refreshing taste of ICE COLD LEMONADE.

HAPPY SIPPING!!

Refreshing Sketching...

Cold lemonade on a hot day?  YES PLEASE!!  Guess what I was sketching today!

Sassafrass

I love cats!  I have always loved cats!  For over 16 years, my husband and I had three lovable, frisky kitties that brought much joy to our lives.   They will always be fondly remembered.   Now, we have a dog.  Her name is Sally.  She too is very lovable and frisky.  However, at 50 lbs, she thinks she is a lap dog.  I beg to differ.  Still, we love her...even with all of her shedding.  But this post is about cats.  Someday we will have another cat...or two.  They are just so cuddly and quiet.  Cats can be sneaky, sly, frisky and playful...all at the same time.  They are self sufficient and smart.  I thoroughly enjoy watching their sassy, carefree personalities emerge.  Thus, my inspiration for my new collection of patterns is the sweet, loving, curious creature we call CATS.

Crazy for Maisy

Oh my, it has been way too long since my last post!  Running kids, summer sun, swimming, golf, soccer, vacation.....so much to do...so little summer!  I have been trying to squeeze every bit of the sunshine out of summer which has taken me outdoors most days.  However, recently we had a cold snap and I was able to sit, sketch, and design at my computer.  Ahhhh.....so WONDERFUL!!  Oh how I have missed that!  Well, this is my new collection that I have quickly fallen head over heels for.  I pondered and searched several days for just the right name, and basically the name found me.  I LOVE IT!  I would love to know what you all think of it too.  Please feel free to leave me a comment.  Thanks so much!!

THE GREAT BIG STITCHED POSTCARD SWAP

This week, I took part in the Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap for the first time.  You can learn more about this by clicking on the picture above.  The theme for the swap was "Create", and the only rule was that the postcard had to contain some sort of stitching on it.  

I decided to "Create" a postcard with hidden surprises.  I first sketched my house and some surprise hidden elements that would go inside.  I then scanned my sketches into Illustrator and traced my images.  Finally, I organized and colored the sketches into the final postcard design using Photoshop. 

Sketch of elements in postcard

Sketch to Finished Postcard

I created two layers to my postcard that I stitched together.  On the top layer, I cut flaps that would reveal the surprise hidden elements from the second layer. 

Inside of Postcard

Outside of Postcard

The flaps open up to reveal the hidden surprise elements.  

I really enjoyed participating in this swap, and love the idea of receiving a beautifully handcrafted piece of art from another artist!  I hope my swap partner enjoys my postcard!

From story books...to comic strips...to paper dolls

Ever since I can remember, I have had a LOVE for PAPER!  Some of my first and fondest memories of childhood involved paper....reading, writing, drawing, cutting, folding, and creating.  

When I was a little girl, I had a pretty typical bedtime routine...bath, books, bed.  Almost every night after bath time, I would grab a stack of storybooks to read.  I distinctly remember the joy I felt looking at the beautifully hand drawn illustrations and the wonderful feeling of the crisp pages in my fingers.  Many hours were spent flipping through the pages, reading and dreaming about the places and people in my books.  

My love of hand drawn illustrations and stories was not limited to children's books.  I loved comics too!  Every Sunday morning my Dad would get the newspaper and read it at breakfast.  I can recall the wonderful inky smell of the paper, and how I would quickly flip through the pages to find the comics section.  Some of my favorite comics were Peanuts, Garfield, and Frank & Ernest.  I would practice drawing these characters over and over again until I could finally draw them from memory.  To this day, my Dad has kept many of my first comic strip drawings.    

As I grew older, I developed a real love for paper dolls.  I had many different types of paper dolls...Barbie, The Ginghams and Holly Hobbie to name a few.  I also loved making my own paper dolls.    Each season, my mom used to get the big JCPenney and Sears catalogs.  I eagerly anticipated the arrival of those catalogs, because I would page through them and find models that I could cut out and create fashions for.  I spent hours drawing and designing outfits and prints for those models...thus began my lifelong passion for creating paper dolls and patterns.

Pretty Changes Barbie Paper Dolls

The Ginghams Paper Doll Sets

Holly Hobbie Paper Dolls

 These days I have a sweet little girl named Ruby that I can share my love of paper dolls with.  When Ruby was two, I decided that I would design a set of paper dolls that we could play with together.  I developed a set called "Mommy and Me" that has two dolls...one for me and one for Ruby.  Now that she is five, we have lots of fun dressing up our dolls and changing the clothes.  Ruby has even begun to draw her own dolls and clothes.  I am over the moon that my little girl loves paper dolls as much as me!

So, for all of you fantastic readers out there hopping through this super fun blog hop, I wanted to personally share a bit of my paper doll passion with you.  So, I designed a sweet paper doll named Ginger that has a bit of vintage flare.  Her outfits are patterned with designs that I developed too.  I have made her available as a free download, so just click on the link below, download file, and print off on heavy card stock paper at home.  I hope you enjoy her as much as I do!

Click HERE for free download of my Ginger paper dolls.

My Ginger paper dolls are for personal use only.  Please no selling, copying, or profiting from it.
Copyright 2014 Holly Helgeson Designs.  Please link back to my page when possible. Thank you. 

In addition, I have compiled several of my favorite paper dolls on my Pinterest board.  Click HERE to take a peek at my paper doll pins.  

Thanks so much for stopping by to read about why I love paper!  I would love to know why you love paper too, so please feel free to leave a comment below.  Please hop on over to Claudine Hellmuth for more paper love! 

Here is a list of all the wonderful bloggers participating in the Paperlove Blog Hop.  Please click on each bloggers link below to discover why they all love paper!

Majo Bautista / Tona Bell / Louise Best / Cathy Bluteau / Jennifer Bomgardner / Giova Brusa / Lindsay Buck / Beka Buckley / Joanna Caskie / Jonathan Chapman (Mr Yen) / Halle Cisco / Sarah Clare / Cathryn Clarge / Dawn Clarkson / Rhiannon Connelly / Jenny D'Fuego / Molly Dhiman / Ian Dudley / Ayisatu Emore / Akmal Farid / Monika Forsberg / Claire Fritz-Domeney / Louise Gale / Chrissy Gaskell / Julie Hamilton / Emma Hawman / Rachel Hazell / Holly Helgeson / Claudine Hellmuth / Kim Henkel / Sarah Hoffman / Joanne Hus / Paula Joerling / Beth Kempton / Julie Kirk / Eos Koch / Katie LaClair / Kristy Lankford / Michelle Manolov / Doreen Marts / Rosie Martinez-Dekker / Tori Mears / Maria Mederios / Lise Meijer / Debbie Miller / MaryJane Mitchell / Suzy Naidoo / Grace Noel / Hannah Nunn / Camilla Olsson / Jo Packham / Rachelle Panagarry / Monette Pangan / Melanie Paul / Nicole Piar / Jen Pitta / Liz Plummer / Julie Reed / Michelle Reynolds / Lisa Rivas / Angee Robertson / Natalie Ryan / Aisling Ryan / Elisabet Sapena / Kyrrha Sevco / Jamie Sprague / Elizabeth Steele / Terri Stephens / Juniper Stokes / Mary Tanana / Maike Thoma / Linda Tieu / Gabrielle Treanor / Tammy Tutterow / Deborah Velasquez / Jordan Vinograd Kim / Cat Whipple / Brooke Witt / Katie Wood / Amelia Woodbridge

The PaperLove Blog Hop is a celebration of all things paper! Follow the links to discover more bloggers who love paper and use it to inspire and delight. And if you want to explore a whole world of paper, and stretch your paper passion further with a host of creative projects, why not join the innovative new online course PaperLove (starts March 31). Led by book artist Rachel Hazell, PaperLove is a five week creative adventure for paper lovers. Find out more HERE.

I'm in PaperLove Blog Hop Teaser...

On March 10th, over 80 bloggers from all over the world will join in a collective virtual celebration of paper in the PaperLove Blog Hop.  I am super excited to be one of those bloggers sharing my love of paper!  Please save this date, March 10th, and make sure to check back to discover some fabulous blogs and learn why so many people LOVE PAPER.  Until then...go create something yummy with paper!  

 I would love to hear why you love paper too!  Please feel free to comment or post a link to your fun paper creations.

Journals....hmmm Maybe

So...I really love these little illustrations, and I have been playing around to see how they could be used.  I love to journal and thought the illustrations added a sweet touch.  They could also adorn notebooks and sketchbooks.  Aside from a little framed print, what would you like to see the illustrations applied to?  Hmmm...guess I will have to experiment some more.  :)  Too be continued....

Pen Pals and Design Block

Do you ever have days where you just don't feel like you have a creative bone in your body, days that you just can't come up with any new designs, or the things you do create are just so so?  Well, lately I have had a bit of a block with pattern design.   So, to get my creativity flowing again I grabbed my sketch book and  started drawing and creating some adorable little characters.  

When I was a kid I used to create my own paper dolls, comic strips and cartoons all the time.  I would practice my technique by copying "Frank & Ernest" and "Garfield" comics from the Sunday newspaper.  And, from that practice I started developing my own characters and my own style.  

These sweet little friends have been playing around in my head for some time.  So, I grabbed a pen, decided to push through my design block, and gave life to them.  I have given each one of them a "colorful" name and collectively named them "Pen Pals".  I am thrilled with my new little friends and can't wait to draw more.  I have several more colors to add to this little group.  It seems my design block has taken a playful detour...and I am loving it!  

A Wise Person Never Stops Learning

Each day holds new possibilities.  I challenge you to learn something new everyday.

Bite Sized Happiness

  

Need I say more?  Go share a cupcake with someone special!