January Desktop Art Free Download!

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My new motto while on my laptop, stay focused!

Download the friendly reminder for your desktop by enlarging the image above and saving to your desktop (or iphone). 

If you are anything like me suddenly you notice you have 12,345 tabs open, one too many programs running, a chat etc. Whenever I happen to see my desktop it will be a reminder to #stayfocused on what I came on my computer to do in the first place.

It is actually a proven fact multitasking can hinder your ability to get sh*t done...

Multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully. Research also shows that, in addition to slowing you down, multitasking lowers your IQ.           -Forbes

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2018 Resolutions for a Creative and Happy New Year

Happy New Year ladyfolk!

Let's talk New Years vibes...Feeling the motivation of the New Year? Are you someone who makes New Year's Resolutions? How about intention or goal setting? I like to think of resolutions similar to goals or intention setting.

I really like to set my intention at the start of every day, because really every day is a fresh start not just January 1st. New Years resolutions end up becoming more my over arching themes for the whole year and a little less specific. I use my daily/weekly/monthly intentions to really narrow down the details of what I want to accomplish to feel my best. What follows are resolutions to help you make 2018 creative and happy.. Let's make this the best year ever!

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2018 RESOLUTIONS

For 2018 my resolutions are aimed at making this my year the best year ever, with a focus on health, creativity and family/friends. This year if I am feeling creatively or personally drained i am going to reflect on these resolutions...

CONTINUE TO LEARN.

SPEND TIME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

TAKE TIME FOR SELF CARE.

STAY ACTIVE.

EXPLORE AND GET CREATIVE.

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CONTINUE TO LEARN.

This could be taking a class or workshop. I am personally thinking a couple cooking classes (in particular knife skills and pasta making), a macrame workshop and possibly audited an art class at my alma mater. You could also always join me at a Watercolor and Wine workshop, their are always new subjects we paint. Continuing to learn could also be as simple as reading a book, taking a class online or watching an educational documentary on Netflix. 

SPEND TIME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

I definitely find that friends and family encourage my creativity. It used to be easier to run into friends and family when everyone was closer but now I find I do really have to put in the effort to make plans. That's it, every week I am just trying to connect with someone to go for a hike, grab lunch, come over to the studio... it is lonely working from home so any social interaction I can have during the day keeps the creativity and happiness going. 

TAKE TIME FOR SELF CARE.

It's the latest buzz word, but so essential, self care. Whether a weekly face mask, meditation, taking vitamins, eating healthy food full of fruits and veggies, journaling, de-cluttering and cleaning, organizing, drinking warm lemon water first thing in the morning... all things I have the intention of remembering to implement.

STAY ACTIVE.

My personal Ideas include hiking, golfing, bowling, dance classes, walking to the farmers market saturdays, walking on the beach, walking my dog, signing up for a fun marathon. The goal here is for you to either find one thing or variety of things you love to keep you active. I still want to get my gym workouts in 3-4x a week but also want to just have fun being active as well with hobbies and friends. 

EXPLORE AND GET CREATIVE.

My husband and I are always trying to go explore new places by going camping. The problem is we go a couple times at the start of the year and then get so busy with work, holidays etc. we never go again for the rest of the year. This year I want to schedule and plan it so it actually happens. This will also help me have a happier year by giving me trips to look forward to. my goal is to mainly use these trips to relax and collect inspiration through photos, visiting new places and sketching. 

I think I'm actually going to hand-letter my resolutions in watercolor and hang them on my mood board as a daily visual reminder of my intentions for the year. I will be sharing more with you this  month to continue the inspiration and creativity throughout the New Year. Tell me in the comments what are some of your resolutions or intentions for the new year??? Let us connect and inspire each other!

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Reflecting on a Beautifully Creative 2017

It has been a great year for Ladyfolk Studio! Thank you to all those who commissioned original art, got creative with me at a workshop or joined me for a a live art event. 

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Workshops I hosted...

(from most recent to beginning on 2017)

Shibori Watercolor Pop-up workshop at Gorjana, Laguna Beach

Holiday Cards Watercolor and Wine at The Soul Project, Laguna Beach

Paint, Sip and Print Pineapples at The Soul Project, Laguna Beach

Painting Palms Pop-up workshop at Gorjana, Laguna Beach

Painting Palms Watercolor and Wine at West Elm South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa

Watercolor Lavendar and Essential Oils in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

Succulents Watercolor and Wine at West Elm South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa

Roses and Rosé Watercolor and Wine workshop with blogger Sivan Ayla in Los Angeles, CA

Watercolor Wildflowers at Anthropologie Fashion Island, Newport Beach, CA

Plus, 5 custom private watercolor workshops! They included a baby shower in Laguna Hills, a bachlorette party on the beach in Dana Point, a girls night at a La Jolla home, a champagne and cards birthday party, and an employee appreciation night with the girls from The Shop Laguna.

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Live art events I painted at...

Hand-Lettering at Bailey 44 in Lido Marina Village and the Westfield Century City

Hand-Lettering for the Bloomingdales Outlet One Year Anniversary, The Outlets at Orange

Live watercolor fashion illustration at The Great Park Neighborhood in Irvine, CA

Live large scale watercolor landscape painting of the swing dancing scene at Friday Night Happenings at The Great Park Neighborhood in Irvine, CA

Live large scale watercolor landscape painting of the picnic party scene at Friday Night Happenings at The Great Park Neighborhood in Irvine, CA

Live watercolor fashion illustration for Modern Luxury OC's Women to Watch event at Winstons Crown Jewelers in Newport Beach, CA

Live watercolor fashion illustration for Mother's Day at the Chloe Boutique South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, CA

Live Hand-Lettering for Mother's Day at the Chino Spectrum, Chino, CA

Easter Eggstreme live Watercolor Lettering Event

Live Hand-Lettering on fashion illustrations for the Bloomingdales Outlet yelp event at The Outlets at Orange, CA

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Clients I worked with...

Gorjana, Bailey 44, Modern Luxury OC, Chloe, The Outlets at Orange

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Press, As seen in...

The Skinny Confidential

Modern Luxury California Weddings and Modern Luxury OC

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Plus, a few personal moments...

My Honeymoon (post coming soon!)

My Wedding

My Bridal Shower

My Bachelorette Party (post coming soon!)

Shibori Watercolor Workshop at Gorjana Laguna Beach

Have you heard of Shibori?

Shibori is a Japanese manual resist dyeing technique, which produces beautiful patterns on fabric.  It has recently picked up popularity and can be spotted in home decor on pillows, bedding, clothing and kitchen linens.

When Gorjana reached out to me about hosting a workshop inspired by Shibori, one of the brands signature patterns, I knew it would be fun! I immediately started mocking up the patterns with indigo watercolor you can see above.

This watercolor workshop was setup a little different than my typical Watercolor and Wine workshops. First off, there was no wine, it was 11am after all and maaaaaybe that's too early for wine? But no judgement here. The other aspect that was different about this watercolor workshop is that it was a pop-up workshop. What does that mean exactly you ask? The watercolor workshop station was setup for two hours while guest came to the store to shop. Many guests took a break from their day for a quick 15 minute tutorial on watercolor painting in the Shibori style. Meanwhile, some guest just painted for a moment while their gifts were wrapped up or their jewelry was custom engraved.

The pop-up workshop was also perfect to keep children occupied who were accompanying their parents shopping.

Since Shibori typically involves folding fabric I had to figure out a way around this without folding the paper. I decided to give guests to options. One using a resist technique using white crayons, which would resist the watercolor paint similar to the way the folded fabric would resit dye. The other option involved some basic pattern making techniques, replicating what you do on one side immediately to the other.

The workshop was a huge success and I hope to do more pop-up watercolor workshops in the future. Interested in hosting a pop-up DIY Watercolor workshop at your home or business? Contact me here for more information.