Gift Guide Inspiration For HER!

These are some of my favorite things to give as gifts this Holiday season from all of my favorite shops for any ladies in your life! And if you still looking for any gift for those guys in your life check out our Gift Guide For Him Inspiration Board! 

Merry Christmas! 

1) Rifle Paper Co. 
2) West Elm
3) Sean Woolsey
4) Typologie & Co. 
5) Darling Magazine

Thorn + Sparrow - An Artist Interview & Look Book

Happy Monday All!

I'm so excited to introduce a good friend of mine: Ashley Rodriguez of Thorn + Sparrow! Before Ashley relocated to Montana and started Thorn + Sparrow, we ran a custom invitation company together (which you can read up on here!). Ash and I pretty much share a brain when it comes to creating and crafting. We both have a passion for paper, graphic design, and fashion, as well as a desire to inspire our communities. I hope you enjoy this artist interview & look book. 

LWF: Little Woodland Friend (a.k.a. Amber Dunstan)
T+S: Thorn + Sparrow (a.k.a. Ashley Rodriguez)

LWF: What Does inspiration mean to you?

T+S: To me, inspiration means stirring up creativity- so whether that's seeing pretty images, reading interviews and articles, hearing moving music or being in a new place and smelling all the different aromas, I soak it all in to stir up new ideas. most of the time I'm on the lookout for inspiration, but I love when inspiration comes when I'm not looking for it, when I'm forced to quickly jot down the unexpected vision when I'm out and about, that's when I feel like a real artist.

LWF: Who Inspires you?

T+S: A lot of people inspire me, too many to list!! all of my friends are inspiring in their own way... I think it comes down to people who beat all odds in their craft - their vision, their determination, their patience, their faith, their passion - people who pursue something because of their love for that thing.

LWF: How do you start your creative process?

T+S: If I'm working on a custom project, I start the creative process by reading all about my client or chatting over coffee with them [though that doesn't happen often since I'm way up in MT haha] so that I glean inspiration directly from the person I'm creating for, then I brainstorm and sketch any and all ideas that come from that. 

if I'm working on a non-custom project, I usually listen to music and sketch things or write down words that keep circling in my mind and i really try not to over think it - I try to paint/draw/write without anything else on my mind... it's tough, but it always ends being some of my favorite work. 

If you like what you see here and would like to contact Ashley from Thorn + Sparrow go Here.

-Team Woodland Friend

Kelli Murray - An Artist Interview & Look Book

Hi Everyone,

So excited to get you pumped this Monday morning by this amazing illustrator, painter, blogger, fashion inspiration, designer, and pretty much everything we here at Inspiration Den adore! 

I first stumbled upon Kelli's work on Pinterest. Everyone at Inspiration Den has a special place our hearts for paper & illustration, and this artist just blew our minds... It was her
LET'S CELEBRATE invitation which caught our attention. I loved this invite so much I needed see more. I was totally inspired by her blog, and found out that Kelli was not only a talented designer, but that she also has a knack for fashion and a super cute daughter! 

So, without further ado, I would like to introduce you to Kelli Murray...

LWF: How would you describe your art in 10 words?

KM: Oh, this is terribly hard.  I would say my art is endearing, sweet and sometimes heart provoking.  Usually composed of dreamy girls and/or their animal friends.  (and that was over ten words!)  

 LWF: What inspires you and how do you start the creative process?  

KM: I am inspired by so many things.  Mainly nature and fashion and people.  I love to draw little animals and have really taken to illustrating female portraits.  All of my artwork starts with just a quick sketch of something I am inspired by.  I try to have a notebook with me all the time for this reason!  Weather it's something I saw in a book or online...or something in my own life.  Lately, I have been really enjoying using pencil and watercolor on paper.  But most of my work is done on wood panels using acrylic paint.    

LWF: Do you have any words of wisdom or encouragement for artists who are just honing their craft?  

KM: Just keep creating.  Defining your style as an artist does not come overnight.  In fact, I think it's a journey that never ends. But just like anything, the more you practice, the better you will get.  Just don't give up.

LWF: I see you're the head designer for Jedediah Clothing Company... Can you tell us a little bit about it?  

KM: I actually am in desperate need of a website update, so my current bio is a bit misleading.  I worked for Jedidiah for 6 years as the head designer, but decided to go full time freelance when I had my daughter in August of last year.  When I was working full time for them, my main roles were in graphic design and merchandising, and I worked with a team of other talented designers to create a full product line each season.  It was an amazing job and there are parts of it I do miss....but going freelance has allowed me to be at home with my daughter and also dive more deeply into my personal art and illustration.  Which is really my passion.

Contact Information & Shop for Kelli Murray

Website

Society6 Store

Blog

A Pair of Pears - An Artist Interview & Look Book

Good Morning All! We have been so eager to share this feature, we are inspired daily by so many artist and things and one of our most favorite pieces of inspiration would have to be graphic design and paper. The idea of being able to send a card or invitation to a dear friend or loved one is so exciting especially when you love the design of the card it makes for sending a piece of mail almost as exciting as receiving it. Anyways, we stumbled upon an invite that Jake & Jamie had created from a Pair of Pears on Pinterest and fell in love with their work and their blog, they have some inspiring DIY's, Inspirational Pieces and Printable Cards/Invites on the Blog! So without further ado check out a Pair of Pears...

Ice Cream Social! 

We want Christmas to come so we can have a Hot Chocolate Party! Awesome Printable Invite!

You can get this adorable Bridal Shower Invite on their ETSY SHOP!

 We are especially loving the Printables on a Pair of Pears! Check them out! We want to throw a party now! 

Letter Press Business Cards!

We LOVE this Things To Do... List Printable! The Design is one of our favorites.

One Word LOVE

An Interview with A Pair of Pears...

LWF-Little Woodland Friend
J&J-Jake & Jamie of a Pair of Pears

LWF: How did you and Jake decide to create A Pair of Pears & have you always been into graphic design?

J&J: We actually started A Pair of Pears the night of our engagement party. We realized from then on we were going to have a lot to share with our family and we weren't living near either one. So at first it was just a place for us to update family and post pictures of what we had been up to. We loved blogging to much that from there it just expanded into the art and design aspects of our lives. Both of us have been into art of all sorts since we were babies. We both had parents that really fostered that in us. It wasn't until high school that we became interested in a more focused area of art: graphic design. I remember "discovering" that graphic design existed. It might sound silly, but I had no idea people actually got to do that for a living. From then on I knew exactly what I wanted to do and I've done it ever since.  

LWF: What inspires you guys and how do you start your creative process? 

J&J: Each other mostly. We do a lot of bouncing ideas off of one another until they develop into something worth designing. Also we love old things. Oh and art books, lots of art books! You can never have too many. As far as process goes, we usually start with a good ol' fashion brain storm session. We just start thinking of things that relate to whatever we are designing until we think we have something good. Sometimes I start with a sketch or if I'm particularly excited about it I'll just jump right on the computer and start laying out what is in my head (shhh don't tell our college professors, they always said sketch first). If we get stuck on a part of the design we probably will flip trough some more books or go online and take a look at other work artists have done. You've got to get those creative juices going.

LWF: Do you have a favorite artist? 

J&J: Hammerpress is our favorite. They do some awesome stuff. We also love Quill & Fox, talk about great designs. 

LWF: I see you have a shared love for the letterpress, what do you like most about the letter press and do you prefer this type of printing over digital? 

J&J: I think we can both say we love the letterpress process because we get to work with our hands and even get a little dirty. For the longest time most of our work was only done on the computer, sent off to the printer and then one day magically appeared on our doorstep. Letterpress is different. We get to mix the ink, feel the texture, and pull each print one at a time by hand. It's a lengthy process but we love every minute of it.

LWF: Any other creative endeavors we should know about? 

J&J: We like to dabble in lots of things. We have a growing collection of cameras and lenses we like to play with. These days, our dalmatian puppy is always in front of the lens. We also love doing DIY projects for our home. Our dream is to someday buy a house we can fix up and have a garage full of tools so we can do lots of projects to make it ours.

If you would like to know more about A Pair of Pears check out the links below. 

Blog/website www.apairofpears.com

Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/apairofpears

Email: hello@apairofpears.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/apairofpears

Instagram: http://followgram.me/apairofpears

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/apairofpears/

-Team Woodland Friend