{holiday collection 2013}

Don't let the holidays sneak up on you this year. Let us take the stress out of your December and order your holiday cards now. Here is a look into our 2013 collection. We will be adding more in the next few days as well. Give us a shout to set up your consultation. 

see the rest of our collection under paperie/holiday! We look forward to hearing from you soon! Cheers! 

{its a wrap}

Wrap it up and put a bow on it. inkSpotts holiday gift wrap and tags are here! In this case what is on the outside of the package is just as important as what is on the inside. Make your gift giving even more merrier with our hand-illustrated paper, tags or stickers. Personalize them and make it that much easier on yourself! These are a few of our favorites from this year's collection. 

 {bustling snowmen with matching tag}

 

{bear and the bird with round sticker}

 

{button tree - with do not open tag}

{throw back thursday}

I love hearing from former clients. Especially the ones that ordered something 8 years ago and have searched high and low for our specific design to re-order. I received an email from a lady yesterday asking her if I could help her find her lost dog.

This lost dog? "That's the one!!!!" she exclaimed.  Even though we may have changed our looks and have gotten ourselves a new website, doesn't mean that we don't have all of the same designs from years gone by. Can't find something your looking for? Give us a shout we would be more than happy to open up the archives for you. 

{then and now}

After going live with our new website yesterday, we were all hit with a moment of nostalgia. 5 minutes around the coffee pot reflecting on the past 12 years and how far we have come turned into scouring our files for the past. I have to admit it is almost as embarrassing as showing your boy friend that  " awkward baby photo" or your friends posting the hideous 7th grade pic on facebook - nice hair!!! We wont go into the gory details of all of the blood, sweat and tears that  inkSpotts has brought to us. Instead we will embrace this wild and crazy road that we have been on and simply celebrate how far we have come. 

our new sleek make-over. 

inkspotts 2004 - nice hair! 

{Día de Muertos}

I love it when my creative juices are pushed the limit and I must think outside my comfort zone. The upcoming ZaPow member artist group show "Día de Muertos" certainly did just that. For this piece, I went back to the basics.  No editing in photoshop, tweaking in illustrator. Just me, the pen, paper and a whole lot of mexican food for inspiration! It could be worse, right? I'm kinda sad to see it end. 

The show opens Saturday October 5, 2013 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM EDT at ZaPow 21 Battery Park Ave Suite 101 Asheville, NC 28801. Live music and local brew. 

{lunch notes revisited}

Remember this post?

When my three year old headed off to school last year, it quickly became a habit of putting a little note in her lunch box to get her over the first days of school jitters. Of course, I couldn't just jot her a line, I had to quickly sketch her a little character. Somedays the picture reflected something going on in our lives, others it was simply what happened when the pen met the paper. Over the months, I learned that it became a "thing" for everyone at school. The older kids would read her the note and they all enjoyed seeing what I had drawn. I would get grief from the teachers if the morning was a bit hectic and the note didn't happen at all. (yes, we have mornings like that in our house too!) Then the other mothers caught wind of it, they wanted their own lunch notes. Well ladies, you asked.... and now,  you shall receive. Lunch notes are now available and they come packaged in a cute little brown paper bag, ready for you to jot your little one a line. Just stop on by our etsy shop.

* * *

Fast forward to today: Not even 5 days after posting, somebody did stop by my Etsy shop. And that someone just happened to be the buyer for Food52's new market site, Provisions. For the past month I have been working with her on an exclusive line of lunch box notes and lunch boxes for there "Weekday Warrior" Collection. It has been a bit surreal taking those little doodles for my daughter and turning them into something for the world to enjoy. Even Eliza asked, "Mommy, why do people want to buy my lunch notes?" Check how far our little sentiments have gone. What a fun and wonderful trip it has been. 

 Check out the collection here. 

{lets do lunch!}

We spent the last dog days of summer vacation putting together a collection of Lunch Box designs for Food52's new shop, Provisions. Here is just a sample of what we put in front of them. We can't wait to reveal what they chose to feature on their site!!! Coming September 19th! 

The following are available now at our etsy store. 

{A Summer Essay}

Remember the essays on the first day of school, in 500 words describe, "The Best Part of Your Summer"? Well, we are not going to just let this summer slip through the cracks and we are not going to go down without a battle. Don't get me wrong, fall is my favorite time of year. As tempted as I may be to rush out and get that Pumpkin Latte or anything else pumpkin for that matter, as long as the temps are still in the high 80's and the humidity lying thick in the air, it is still summer to me. 

So, this week on our blog, we are going to look back at our months of freedom, travel and laid back attitude and share with you what has inspired us! As we are busy remembering the days gone by, hopefully the weather will turn without us even realizing and that fall crispness will be upon us. 

First stop: Northeast Harbor Maine:

I am obsessed with the blue mussels!!! I can't eat them, so I'll just enjoy their outer beauty. 

feeling like a little water color this morning and doing something just for the heck of it, not for a deadline. 

{a family trip}

Happy Friday everyone! WOW! What a crazy and fun week it has been around here. From back to school, weddings, booking our santa sessions, licensing deadlines, things have been all over the place in the studio. It seems a little crazy that just as we are getting back in to the swing of things and holding down some normal studio hours, that we just pick up and out head out on vacation. Well, call us crazy kids, 'cause thats just what we are doing. Bar Harbor, watch out, the Spotts family is invading! I used to spend a lot of time on the New England coast as a kid and my bones are just aching to get back. It's been far too long. One of the things that I am most excited about other than some good family time is spending a lot of time with my sketch book, just me and the pen and paper.  One of my favorite artists is Lowell Herrero. Now, I am not saying that any of my work is going to look nearly as good as his but I can only hope that I am just as inspired by my surroundings. 

this will be our family portrait next week. 

"cape ann"

my heart is always on cape ann! 

my sister and joke that this is us when we get older. 

 brings back memories of my summers in rockport. 

{back to school}

When my three year old headed off to school last year, it quickly became a habit of putting a little note in her lunch box to get her over the first days of school jitters. Of course, I couldn't just jot her a line, I had to quickly sketch her a little character. Somedays the picture reflected something going on in our lives, others it was simply what happened when the pen met the paper. Over the months, I learned that it became a "thing" for everyone at school. The older kids would read her the note and they all enjoyed seeing what I had drawn. I would get grief from the teachers if the morning was a bit hectic and the note didn't happen at all. (yes, we have mornings like that in our house too!) Then the other mothers caught wind of it, they wanted their own lunch notes. Well ladies, you asked.... and now,  you shall receive. Lunch notes are now available and they come packaged in a cute little brown paper bag, ready for you to jot your little one a line. Just stop on by our etsy shop. 

Happy Back to School for everyone!!! Yes, I am still coming to terms with the fact that summer is over.  It is our last day of summer break around here and it is only August 2nd. I guess that means for us in the studio that it's time to buckle down - Christmas will be here before we know it! And for those of you who don't head back until September, enjoy your month - it will be gone before you know it. You still have plenty of time to stock up on all of our back to school supplies. Be sure to scroll down to see what else we have to offer. 

{ to market, to market}

Doing a little market research for my next project. Grabbing a coffee and a little brunch at The Bakers Table, in Lancaster Pennsylvania = not a bad gig! I'm excited to jump right into this project. Can't wait to share but, for now I have to keep it all under wraps. 

{a vintage travel wedding}

There is nothing better than starting a wedding invitation project with a bride that you have never met and by the time you ship off the final product, you are good friends! So much so, that I almost hand delivered them to NYC. I guess we will just have to save our meeting until the wedding day. 

When my old and dear friend Bo emailed me saying "Angie meet Itzy. Itzy meet Angie, we want you to do our wedding invitations", I was over the moon with excitement! Itzy wanted something fun. Something different. Something vintage. She knew what she wanted but she was wanted me to be creative and think outside the box. The couple is getting married in Tulum Mexico in November.  For the invite Bo specifically requested something that resembled a retro travel poster and something that didn't say typical wedding invitation. I think we accomplished that! For the RSVP,  we chose to do a postcard with a vintage inspired map of the area. "Wish you were here!", beckons the guests to join them at the beautiful destination. Being world travelers, Itzy and Bo both wanted the information card to have a passport feel. I found some fun travel stamps and created a personalized one just for the couple to add dimension to the back of the card. We added a small loop of chocolate bakers twine to the top for a little extra detail.  Instead of using an innner envelope we chose a cotton muslin bag. I cant wait to see the final, final product after Itzy adds another stamp to the bags for a little extra personal touch. 

{envelope liner}

{the invitation suite}

{the invitation}

{envelope detail}

{addressing}

{handwritten envelopes, makes it personal}

{RSVP}

{info card}

{wrapping it all up}

Thanks Itzy and Bo for making this a super fun project to create! Congratulations and best wishes. Hope to see you in Mexico!!!!