insta-lately: @ataylorstudio

By the looks of these pictures in my phone, all things are either a) flowers, b) calligraphy or c) watercolors. Here's what is not pictured:

• grad school woes: my stats class (final exam was last week, AHH).
• my birthday! yay 26. i'm getting old.
• AMAZING NEWS about S
• some family hardships, sadly - but immediately in my life, all is well
• a sweet birthday gift from my best blogger friend! more on this soon!
• summer planning and travel dreaming
• my 2nd ever newborn session - eeee!!!
• getting hooked on the office (again, from the beginning)
• obsessed over my new favorite snack: organic habanero bacon tortilla chips :) 
• trying to be consistent by working out 5x a week and eating well (ahem, bullet point above...)

So today is awesome because it is Earth Day AND I have the day off. When does this happen!? An entire weekday Earth Day to spend outside? It is almost too good to be true. Being outside and hearing the birds chirp can do wonders for the mood.  I fully plan on doing this today! Everything outside is so refreshed and new. The fields I see on my morning commute are crisp and green, not a deep or rich green but a sprightly and fresh lime colored green that is newly reborn, grown, and springing to life. 

My birthday was good, too. I had some not so fun things to do (like my evening grad class, statistics, gahhh) but I was surprised with so many pleasant gifts and thoughts. S sent me flowers right to work - I love when he does that and how it embarrasses me (but it really doesn't, I love that kind of stuff). It was so sweet - I kept them at my desk all week and they are still kickin! After my class, I came home to a homemade Funfetti cake (my childhood favorite) and a sweet little party complete with party hats, balloons, and all of my favorite things. We had champagne, chips and salsa, and birthday cake all in the same sitting. It was the BEST, and so hilarious! My family and I had a great time being ourselves and laughing about nonsense. My brother will be home in just a few weeks and we'll all be reunited again.

Speaking of reunited: S is coming home!!! I will post more on this later, but I am thrrrrrilleddddd with the news!

As for A. Taylor Studio, I've been enjoying working on some calligraphy and photography projects in the last few weeks. Especially with calligraphy, I've been so pleased with how my practice has developed. An ideal Sunday morning now consists of a hot oolong tea and a clean piece of paper to practice some calligraphy on. I have been SO inspired and helped out by reading this blog,  which is a great resource for those still learning the tricks of the trade and which tools to use. I love the fine, delicate skill of being able to letter an envelope -  a skill that is unfortunately long gone for most of the world!

Right now I am off to do a little light spring cleaning and work out. Happy weekend and Earth Day! 

ciao, xo

fresh cut

Seeing the seed packets in stores all around has me dreaming of all the possibilities of potted plants,  rows and rows of sunflowers, vegetable gardens and herb pots. It's amazing what one little seed pack can do!  So with this exploratory spirit, I bought 2 packs of ranunculus bulbs to plant. Ranunculus are possibly my all-time favorite spring flower. They look like delicate, ornate crepe origami creations. With a color palette quite similar to watercolors, their petals are extremely thin and film like, but dense and layered like a peony.

They like cooler temperatures - 50 to 60 degrees is what I'll venture to say - and I have placed them in a sunny window.  They make beautiful cut flowers and apparently last longer than most.

As for this illustration, I plan on making this a beautiful note card or notepad; one thing I need to work on is creating pieces with more of a layered, splashy background. The angles in the vase are the ooooonly thing I'm not sure about for this illustration. Watercolors are all about that breezy, lightly painted look - working on improving that aspect of my watercolors is one of my creative goals for the time being!

ciao! xo

happy downton day!

My lady crush - Lady Mary Crawley! I meant to publish this happy little piece weeks ago when season 5 of Downton premiered. I suppose creating a whole watercolor on Lady Mary/Downton is a bit obsessive...but I loooooove it!!! So far the four episodes in season 5 have been stellar - they are such a treat for Sundays and make the end of the weekend so much better. I love the clever writing, the careful details, all of it. Sunday nights have actually seemed to turn into a holiday around here..

Okay, first and foremost - I want to be Lady Mary. Scandalous, rebellious characteristics aside, she always holds herself with such an air of grace and decorum. And her dresses!? Absolutely lovely. This particular one is from the Christmas episode when Mary and Matthew got engaged in the snow. That scene breaks my heart every time!! I loved them together...

Do you like Downton!? Better question is, do you like Lady Mary? Who's your favorite?

ciao, xo!

revamped

browse more designs here.

The wind outside is howling and although it is bright and sunny, the cold makes it feel stark and raw outside. It would pretty much be the perfect day for a fresh manicure, a white Olivia Pope-esque white coat, and a cozy turtleneck to frame a head of freshly-trimmed tresses.

I love this design - it's not new - but its a classic favorite of mine because I love the white, clean look of the toggle coat with the dark and wintry background. Can you seriously go wrong with a look like this? The idea of a white coat is so appealing, yet there are so many things that could go wrong...fuzzballs, coffee stains, and dog hair come to mind.

Anyway...my 'creative' page is newly revamped. I don't have much time these days to shamelessly promote my illustrations but I'm really excited to give you peek at most of my collection. I have this lovely gal on a notepad and its just the cutest little way to scribble down a memo (not to mention, the chicest).

happy weekend, stay warm! ciao, xo

real-life closet inspo + a renewal

ta-da! It's meeee! (ha)

But seriously, I have this outfit in real life. The leather jacket from Florence,

the siren red-orange pencil skirt, the sunnies, and the coffee cup is usually accurate.

The only thing that isn't true are those long limbs (I wish)

and that teal clutch inspired from this.

The shoes kind of count because I once had them, and who knows where they are now.

Anyway - I have been getting into my sketches again lately and it is making me SO happy. 

Not only have I been renewing old designs (this one is an oldie included!)

but I am selling stationery at my etsy shop. It has been two years (!???!!!?), where did the time go?

Take a look at some of my designs - click on the image to get directed to the item!

'tuscan hills'

 'floral wreath' / these are personalizable! well, pretty much everything is. :)

'london' for the anglophile in your life!

- - -

there is much more to come, but in the meantime,

happy browsing! thank you for supporting my little shop.

you can visit it here: anticipation designs

ciao, xo!

melon

nothing screams springtime like white jeans and a breezy melon-colored top.

another word that also fits with this: weekend!

have a great one! ciao, xo

thoughts on being unfinished

Everyone knows what it feels like to start something and not finish it. Whether its a chore, a project, a tedious little job, or even if it is something you want to finish but you can't because you're a perfectionist (ding ding ding! that's me). I was so happy when I half-revived this old sketch (and I think I like the undone feel of it all) and it turned out so nice with a pop of color! I find that I like my sketches so much better when they are actually sketches, rather than prim-and-proper pen lines or neatly-dabbed watercolor. I like the shadows and the creases and the rawness that a pencil makes. I like being able to smudge with my finger. But I have so many books - literally, books - of unfinished sketches. I want to bring them to life. I like this clean yet rough draft look, with the emphasis on one or two details. Just another phase I am in, I guess.. :) but look for more soon!

Man, I have missed my sketchbook.

ciao! xo

be mine?

Haaaapppy Valentine's Day! 

I hope you are wearing something pink or red,

or have a little flutter in your heart today.

I myself just went a little overboard with all of the heart emojis as I sent 'happy vday' texts today...

:)

This sketch is from last year's V-day! But I decided to bring it back because it's just perfect for today.

(I'll pretend that it didn't just snow 10+ inches here and

 heels/short dress with a light trench would be weather-appropriate).

Meanwhile I am wearing sweats. Yuck.

But it's nice to dream of warmer weather...

Tonight will definitely be chilly, but I am so excited.

I'll be in the city with S for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants! 

I've been looking forward to it for weeeeeeks. 

How will you be spending your valentine's day?

I hope it involves chocolate.

ciao, xoooo! 

pines and a trench sketch

Sketching by the Christmas tree might be my favorite thing ever…

The smell is so nice, and I have some still life to paint from! 

I sketched and edited these doodles on my much-enjoyed snow day yesterday

It snowed dumped about 4 inches in a whole afternoon. It was beautiful! All white.

I was kept happy with tea and fun snow days snacks,

 but was quite annoyed that the all-day weather forecast

kept me from seeing the cast of Downton Abbey on Good Morning America…grrr.

I even angry-tweeted my dumb local news channel. I don't think they got it :P

Anyway, it was a nice day. As I type this I am crossing my fingers for a delay tomorrow!

anyway…happy Wednesday, all! ciao xo

so fall, even though it's winter

here's a snippet of my last doodle! i've been on a spree lately!

this is totally fall, and we've moved on to winter, right? better late than never.

maybe i'll get to more painting soon.

happy weekend, all! xo

ombre hair & thanksgiving clothes

a good post-thanksgiving outfit always involves baggy clothes…boyfriend jeans, oversized sweaters, etc.

this lovely chica's hair is inspired by my best friend's ombre locks! loving them so much, wish i could rock them.

anyway - I am so relieved and thrilled that it's Thanksgiving break. I am so excited to have some down time

to do some more enjoyable things…like painting! 

I sketched this one up one night last weekend, in a hyper daze (definitely procrastinating) 

about the fact that the quintessential autumn holiday is coming up SO soon.

here's to this happy anticipation! :) ciao, xo

ps. interested in purchasing flat cards with this design?

let me know!