September & Such

by Caroline Hutchison for Lina Lulu Paperie

For many, September marks the end - the end of Summer, the end of warmth, and the end of carefree schedule. When growing up it meant the start of school, new pens and pencils, volleyball season, and homework.  In high school it meant homecoming float building, bonfires, and figuring out how I would balance class and social life. In college it meant the reuniting with sweet friends, returning to an actual art studio, and getting to participate in all the new school year rituals while watching the Freshmen navigate what I knew to be so familiar.

Now, a few years out of school, September holds a new meaning of promise. September now marks a new beginning. It marks when I first met my husband. It holds the day we married. It marks our "new year" together.

This September in particular has so many things I'm looking forward to. A handful of trips, our two year wedding anniversary, and the unspoken promise of a sweet season ahead.

September, I'm glad you are here.

Portfolio: All Creatures Great and Small

This past summer we celebrated the coming birth of my sweet cousin Laura's third baby and third little boy - Crosby Thomas. We found out she was decorating the nursery in a Noah's Ark theme and then asked if she had a quote, verse, or lyrics she wanted framed.

This project was so fun for me to work on! I loved combining my illustrations of all the happy creatures (great and small) with calligraphy. I used a premixed ink and regulated the pressure and amount of ink on the nib to give the letters an ocean feel of dark and light blue. As well, I added a little more swashes then I usually would for a "masculine" print to help give it that moving water look.

I loved working on this piece and I love that sweet Crosby and his brothers will see it everyday reminding them of all the great things our Lord has created.

Color Companions: Summer Neutrals

August is already here - how did that happen? I love this month, especially in the Midwest. The mornings are a cool preview of the fall weather to come, but the days seem hazy and dreamy with soft sunshine, and warm (sometimes blistering hot) days. With the old adage of not wearing white after Labor day, these dreamy August days are perfect for fitting summer neutrals and floral in every part of your life.

Clockwise: Plates | Botanical Prints | Pitcher | Cardigan

Links to Love: July, vol. 4

In honor of  National Geographic 125th anniversary, last year N.G. released Found, a curated collection of photography from their archives.  It is a beautiful completion of photos showing an every day perspective through the lat century and a quarter.

Have you seen this stunning short, Duet, by Glen Keane? It took my breath away the first time. An animator for Disney for over 38 years, he wanted to draw again- and this is the final result. Here is also a short video about the making of Duet.

The typography for Rio Olympic 2016 games is so full of life - and no wonder, the beautiful type was based off of the vibrant city of Rio, as well as the movements of the athletes themselves.

DesignStudio has helped Airbnb launch a new logo, and a new way of looking at this great service. Check out more of both here.

I'm in love with this space! Designer and renovator, Sarah Brown does a great job mixing sultry blues, crisp blacks and whites, and a handful of colors to create a relaxing apartment.

Some cool ideas for a designer on the go - I really love that dopp kit for designers. Would be a great addition to clean up any carry on.

Portfolio: Hand Done Type

A few friends recently put together a weekly, collaborative type challenge called Type Club 2014. They passed the link on to a handful of creatives they know, and the results have been really beautiful to see.

The premise: Each week a new quote is posted. You can interpret this quote any way you like, using any medium you like. There is a time "constraint" of one week. This "constraint" creates a deadline and a push for you to share the "final" piece with everyone else with out belaboring your work through social media.

It's a great exercise, and fun to see the interpretations and beautiful design from everyone.

Original art by Caroline Hutchison for Linalulu Paperie

Portfolio: Baby Berge Shower

A few weeks ago a group of ladies and myself threw a sweet baby shower for our friend and mama-to-be, Heather! This is Heather and husband, Daniel, first baby - and they are waiting to find out the sex of the child! SO brave but very fun!

We picked up on their nursery theme, Jungle Animals, and chose gender neutral colors of yellow and mint to compliment the fun animals. Heather is only a week away from her due date and we all can't wait to meet this newest little one!

See more of Heather's invite in our gallery.

Color Companion: Independence Day

Clockwise: Kate Spade | Dessert | Hair Bow | Garland

Links to Love: June, vol. 3

Well, June, you have been a sweet month; hello July.

- Sam Smith's "Stay with Me" has become a quick favorite for me since I heard it back in early the Spring - his voice is gorgeous! I have been anticipating his album (out now) and I love the rendition he did for David Letterman. Just wow.

- This lovely lady, Jessica Pezalla, of Bramble workshop is so talented! Her installations are incredible! Here are a few of my favorites: hermès artemis windows, oh joy! studio, wall hangings

- Adobe recently updated their Creative Cloud with more great features, and announced the arrival of this tool, the Adobe Ink and Slide. When can I get mine?

- Nothing says "summer" like being poolside with a good drink! Strong contenders include Tropical Pineapple smoothie, Italian sodas, or a good summer cocktail.

- The Chicago Design Museum has a permanent home.

- A friends passed this on to me,  the Arrels Foundation  is collaborating with men and women who live on the streets to help their voices and stories to be heard through their hand writing by helping them turn it into a font. You have to watch the video.

- Last minute July 4th Party? Add a little sparkle to your party with these cute downloads by Lovely Indeed.

Portfolio: Longyne/Smies Wedding

A few months back I had the pleasure of illustrating a beautiful, city inspired wedding suite for Cindy, and husband-to-be, Tyler. You can see the mini moodboard here I created when beginning this project.

I loved hearing the passion that Cindy and Tyler have for the city of Grand Rapids, MI and how it has played a role in their relationship - and now in their wedding! We went with dark green and a grey metallic inks to bring out the scheme of their wedding. I love how the metallic ink shimmers and makes the city feel alive in the background.

Best of luck you two - I know the Lord has much in-store for you in marriage!

Links to Love: May, vol. 2

Original Image  by Jenny Causey for Sara Saipua

Well, May is almost finished - and it has been a good month. Birthdays, graduations, and all kinds of celebrations in between. I'm sad May went by so quickly, but I'm looking forward to a sunny June.

Here are some links I have been loving this last month:

- The National Stationery Show posts have been filling up all my feeds this past month, and I couldn't get enough! To see some of the beautiful new stationery, check out Oh So Beautiful Papers great reviews. Make sure you don't miss their Paper Party post - I just love that garland!

- With a recent inspiration from my sister redoing her apartment - I have been obsessed with  "IKEA hacks" on Pinterest - especially this bar cart one!

- In need of a good read this summer? Check out these lists here , here, & here
My favorite reads right now include Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand,  and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

- Rifle Paper Co. launched their wallpaper line at NNS this year, and officially to the public today. So much beauty - I'm in love!

-Think you can tell a persons age off of their first name? Maybe you can - read more about it here

- Long summer nights call for quick but delicious meals. The girls over at The Daily May have the perfect fix for this with 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta. They are also giving away the cookbook the recipe comes from, The Oh She Glows Cookbook, so check it out!

Color Companions: Spring Greens

This post may be a few days late, as June is almost here and we (finally) have a heat wave here in the Midwest. I'm loving the sunshine and the beautiful outdoors! Never the less, you can't go wrong with a beautiful green and white combo!

This stunning dress | This simple but attractive wall art | This inspiring flower arrangement | This elegant, but casual top

Portfolio: Forever Young Print

When my sister-in-law, Lindsay, was still pregnant we had talked about doing a calligraphy print for the nursery for baby to be. She brought up the song "Forever Young" by Bob Dylan. A personal favorite of mine, and such a sweet sentiment to hang in a nursery. Fast forward to February, and baby to be is the beautiful Olivia Mae!

My favorite line in the song reads "May you build a ladder to the stars | and climb on every rung", and thus I chose the night sky theme. (Plus it gives me an excuse to work in gold ink). I love how it turned out, and love that these words will bless Olivia for years to come!

Interesting Pinteresting: Ampersand

First Column : 1 /2  Second Column: 3 / 4 / 5 Third Column: 6 / 7 / 8 /

I can't resist a beautiful ampersand. I have a small collection now that you can spot around both my work desk and apartment. You can also see a few in my shop. There are so many more out there, I wish I could share them all with you! 

Here are a few more of my favorite unexpected ampersands:

Ampersand Cheese Board

The ampersand can be tracked all the to the first century AD. It was originally a ligature of the letters E and T (“et” is Latin for and). You are still  able to see the E and T separately in some of the modern ampersand. Read more on the ampersand here and here.

Ampersand Book Ends, Arrow Ampersand, Coffee and Cigarettes Poster

Sketeches: Spring Flowers | 02

Original Art by Caroline Hutchison for Lina Lulu Paperie

It has been a rainy week here in the Midwest. (Easter weekend was such a tease with the 80 degree weather.)  I purchased my own spot of sunshine in the form of the lovely Campanula house plant this week for my work desk.

How sweet are all the tiny little trumpet flowers that seem to be bursting forth? I really enjoy the natural purple of the plant, but for this weeks sketch decided to make the colors muted to match the weather we have been having. I am really happy with how it turned out.

Original Art by Caroline Hutchison for Lina Lulu Paperie

Easter Bunny Downloadable

Happy Easter weekend! If you are going over to see family or friends this Sunday, and have seemed to forget a gift - don't fret! Download our simple bag Easter Bunny Bag topper. All you need is a handful of your favorite Easter candy, a plastic bag and a stapler!

Materials:  
-Scissors
-Stapler or Glue
-Small Plastic bag
-Favorite Easter Candy

Step 1. Download our Easter Bunny Bag topper here.

Step 2. Cut out topper and add your message 

Step 3. Fill bag with candy. Lay bag top flat and attached Easter Bunny bag topper to bag with stapler or glue.

Step 4. GIve to family or friend!

You can  us it also as a mini card and attach it to some spring flowers or small gift!

All art original work by Caroline Hutchison for Lina Lulu Paperie

Whatever you do this weekend for Easter, I hope it is relaxing and out in the sunshine! Happy Friday!

Collaboration: Desktop Wallpaper

I had the pleasure of working with Chelsea on a new desktop wallpaper series for her blog, Lovely Indeed. I found the blog through my typical route - looking through other bloggers list of blogs they follow, and boom - instantly fell in love!

Chelsea has such a fun and vibrant style, I couldn't stop looking through her pages of wonderful DIY's and fun photo's. I follow her on both her blog and instagram, and when she called for calligraphers to work with I just had to follow up with her.

I used a Nikko G Nib with Dr Martin's Bombay Ink to create this quote.

She gave me a few quotes to choose from and I felt  connected to this one by Susan Polis Schutz. With a forever winter and only a glimpse of spring around here - I have longed for the days of warm sunshine. My calligraphy seems to sing paired with the stunning original photo by Chelsea.  Thanks Chelsea for such a fun project!

To download the desktop wallpaper visit Lovely Indeed, here.

Links to Love: April, vol. 1

Photo from Anthroplogie Blog. Photo taken by Anthroplogie.

This week has been full of appointments, a handful of work, and an unnecessary interruption of being down for the count yesterday with a terrible cold. Thank goodness it is Friday! Everyday seems a little closer to true spring and out of the winter woods.

Here are a few links to interest and inspire you this weekend:

-Check out the stunning Earth Day displays by Anthropologie promoting the awareness of the monarch butterfly here! See more of the window displays with #AnthroEarthDay on Instagram.

- Did you know April is National Card and Letter Writing Month? It's not too late to start writing! Join Egg Press and Hello!Lucky as they promote this great month with the #Write_On campaign.

- Hopefully this new take on the font Comic Sans, Comic Neue, will bring a positive light to this much loved to be hated font.

-This yummy Thai Frappe recipe from the ladies over at A Beautiful Mess would make a great brunch addition this weekend!

- I really enjoyed this article, 4 Reasons You Should Always Pay Designers & Developers by Jon Acuff. It had some oh so familiar truths.

-Check out these beautiful photos of Washington D.C. cherry blossoms by the talented Erica Baker of Erica Baker Photography. Does isn't make you wish these beauties were planted everywhere?

Portfolio: Bridal Shower Invitations

Do you remember a few weeks back I posted these mooboards? I'm excited to share with you one of the finished projects!

I learned from the client that the shower would be an afternoon tea, and the bride had chosen the color palette of black and creme with gold accents for their wedding. This time I stayed on the side elegance and a little bit sophisticated - but couldn't resist choosing a slightly whimsical font to be the centerpiece.

After sending the client three choices, they chose a combination of two. I blended them together and Voila! - we have the beautiful finished product.

Color Companions: Spring Blues

It's a wet introduction to April here in Chicago, but at least it's not snowing, right? With the absence of Spring greens and abundance of moody skies, I have a found a particular beauty in the different blues peaking out of the clouds these days.

Clockwise: Room | Lettering | Beach Blanket | Painting

Links to Love

I'm desperately desiring spring  - but for now I will have to just dream and draw the beautiful green plants and bright flowers that will come.

Beautiful portraits of New York City by Anne Street Studio. Makes me want to go even more to see the city that never sleeps.

With new babies in my life by both friends and family, I cam across these sweet little shoes that would look great on any one of the new little ladies we have welcomed to the world this past February. I wouldn't mind a pair myself, if only they came in my size.

Came across these beauties this week by Jessica Hische. How stunning is that gold lettering?

I love what Caroline Kelso of Made Vibrant had to say here. We do need each other.

 Anandamayi Arnold created these wonderful realistic crepe paper botanical creations. The colors are so lush, I thought they were real!

Have you seen this series yet with Jerry Seinfeld? Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is a brilliant series with so many funny men and women. It will always brighten your day.

Finally, with my obsession with flowers (and a deep need for spring) - I was gaga over this post of editable flowers by Design Love Fest.