Part of my joy in writing has been my new venture into my other passion: crafts and illustrating. The relaunch of my Etsy store has brought me so much thrill and excitement even if I never make a profit off the work. Creating for myself and sharing those weird or pretty little numbers I put out there is the only self-validation to prove you did– and you still are– trying to make each moment count towards an active, artistic life.
So here I’ll start giving you some fun insight behind the work that goes into creating the featured items at Paris K Studio. This week I’m very happy to show you my latest greeting card, the Floppy Hat Magnolia. It’s for Birthday occasions and influenced by my little piece I wrote regarding my favorite accessory, a wine red floppy hat I have to hold myself back from over wearing too much!
I’ve always been fascinated by hats and the implications behind wearing one for the sake of fashion. Catching your attention first, shielding off the sun second. I can’t pull off hats but somehow the charm of a floppy one makes me feel very confident, weirdly confident and happy. It’s definitely like the glass slippers to pull together the Cinderella look. I was going to draw pretty hat boxes and the original hat onto this design but somehow it didn’t hit me. There would be no symmetrical way to depict them onto the card and I like symmetry at least to round it all off.
That’s how I came up with my usual floral depictions, and in this case I happily decided upon magnolias. Big hats remind me of the South– something I feel that any modern Southern Belle would have in her closet as a staple piece as a nod to the elegant past. So the flower of the south would be accent with my own idea of “bluebells,” literally blue dots! As I created my first card I found myself once again listening to “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show. It was the same song I played in the car when I was driving up the I-95 from Florida to Savannah with my mom last October. First time ever in the South, and honestly I never thought I’d ever go to the Southern states. But I’m glad I did. Glad life just surprises you with adventures you never knew you needed.
And I hope you can now enjoy this dainty little card you can have as a keepsake or to give to a very loving birthday recipient that fits every bit of bloom as its flowers!
A Week by the Bay 