Monthly Archives: July 2017

My new fabric collection on Spoonflower!

July 30, 2017Fabrics, New Products, Sewing, ShopSpoonflowerYuko

I’m super excited to tell you my very first fabric collection just came out on Spoonflower!

I have four new designs in fun cheerful colors. They’re perfect for sewing garments, home decor, bags, and other creative projects.

Eat a Rainbow fabric comes with two background colors: light grey and light blue green.

Rooster Friends fabric is just SO MUCH FUN.

When I shared this design with my followers on Instagram, a lot of people said it would be perfect for a little kid-sized apron. Anyone want to make one and show me?? I think it would be ADORABLE.

Succulent Plants fabric comes with three background colors: light yellow, charcoal grey, and pink.

Last but not least, I love the rainbow colors in this I ❤ Seattle Rainbow Mugs fabric!

What’s cool about shopping your favorite fabrics on Spoonflower is you can choose from so many different fabric types (24 to be precise!) from basic cotton to flowy chiffon to snuggly fleece. The possibilities are truly endless!

Hope you enjoy 🙂

p.s. Be sure to use the hashtag #honeyberryfabric if you post your sewing project with my fabric on social media! I’d love to see what you come up with.

Yuko Miki Honeyberry Studios Headshot

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Summer 2017 Greeting Card Collection Design Process

July 23, 201730-minute daily painting, creative process, Etsy, New Products, ShopAnimals, behind the scenes, flowers, Greeting Cards, paintingYuko

Hey there, friend!

My Summer 2017 Greeting Card Collection launched a few weeks ago, and I wanted to share with you some of the design processes.

I created this Croc & Bird We Belong Together design originally in my pottery class.

I made a mug that turned out really lopsided, so I painted an image that wrapped around the whole mug with underglazes.

Once I painted the croc and bird image on the mug, I loved it so much that I made a small watercolor painting on paper and added the sweet message “We belong together.” with the brush.

For the greeting card (and also art print!) I decided to go with the much simpler handwriting so the text won’t compete with the clean and simple image of the croc and the bird.

It’s a perfect card for a wedding, anniversary, or to send to a good friend you haven’t seen for a while.

You can get the Croc & Bird greeting card here, and the 8×10 art print here.

I painted these cats high-fiving each other on a whim for my daily paining. The image just came in to my head, and I had to put it on the paper 😀

These cats are so excited for your accomplishment and ready to celebrate!

You can send this card to your friend who just got a new job, or anyone who has worked really hard for their goals.

You can order your Cats High Five card here.

I saw these lovely reddish orange flowers on the sidewalk during one of my afternoon walks around the neighborhood.

They were so brilliant and perfect – I had to stop and snap a picture so I could paint them when I got home.

The bright red color screams love and passion to me, so I turned it into a simple love greeting card.

It’ll make a gorgeous companion to your wedding gift, or you can surprise your sweetheart with a love note 🙂

You can shop this Red Flower Love card here.

I don’t know about you, but I pretty much love ALL the flowers! I just can’t get enough of them… sigh.

Poppies are one of my favorite flowers.

I love how they come in so many different colors and sizes. I also love how their paper-like petals sway in the breeze and how their buds slowly come up and turn their face toward the sky as they start to bloom ❤

I swear my heart skipped a beat when I noticed these pink oriental poppies in my neighbor’s sidewalk one afternoon.

It had the warm and gentle, almost pastel-y pink petals that reminded me of the embroideries on vintage French linens, and a stunning, dark, velvety violet center.

I made a couple of paintings inspired by their beauty and created a congratulations card based on my paintings.

I can imagine it’ll work perfectly for the summer garden weddings!

Order your Pink Poppies Wedding Congrats card here.

When I said I love poppies, I really meant it.

While I love the big, showy oriental poppies, I also love the understated, simple beauty of California Poppies. They pop up around our garden and sidewalk every spring and keep feasting our eyes with the bright orange flowers throughout the summer.

If you’ve been thinking about someone you haven’t talked to for a while, instead of texting or emailing, why don’t you send her a handwritten note?

The message will take a little longer to get there, but it’ll make her feel extra special 🙂

Shop your California Poppy Hello card here. It’s also available as an 8×10 art print here.

I loved the simple image of Croc & Bird design a lot and thought “why don’t I draw more reptiles??”

So I created this painting of a simple black and white iguana – since I didn’t know if iguanas had birdie friends like crocs did, I gave him a hot pink flower 🙂

For the greeting card design, I added a simple handwritten message, “For you.” which will make a great love or friendship card.

I never thought reptiles were particularly cute (I’m more of a furry animal lover), but I ended up proving myself wrong 😀

Get your Iguana Flower For You card here.

I hope you enjoyed the before & after look of my Summer 2017 Collection! You can see the entire collection and shop online here!

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My Creative Sabbatical

July 16, 2017Mini Sabbaticlas, Printmaking, self-care, SewingMarimekkoYuko

I took my mini sabbatical during the July 4th week, and it was so refreshing and relaxing.

(In case you are not familiar, I’ve been taking every 7th week off to relax and recharge since 2015. This brilliant concept was inspired by Seanwes.)

Mini sabbaticals are like staycations with intentions, and I try to do things that refuel my creative and spiritual reservoir.

I used to schedule a bunch of lunches and coffee dates with friends during my sabbaticals because I never saw them otherwise. But then I realized it was not very relaxing 😀 (introverts, you feel me.)

Lately, I try to keep my sabbatical weeks open and unscheduled as much as possible and decide what to do when I’m actually on my sabbatical.

It’s also a time for me to pursue things I normally don’t get to do – like spending hours exploring and organizing recipes online (which I’ve done during this sabbatical) and read books on my couch in the middle of the day.

Here are some of the highlights from my most recent mini sabbatical!

1. Marimekko, With Love exhibit at the Nordic Heritage Museum.

I’d been meaning to check out the exhibit for some time, and I’m so glad I went before it ended!

The show was absolutely STUNNING. I loved all the beautiful designs, colors, and art… Sigh.

And, what I appreciated the most about the exhibit was that you know they’re not trying to be like someone else or please everyone – they have a very recognizable style and that’s what makes them so iconic.

I sometimes feel self-couscious about my style, feeling it’s too simplistic. But, after visiting the exhibit, I felt inspired to keep doing “my thing” and be myself creatively!

2. Sewing with my new fabrics

I’m a fabric lover and love spending time at fabric stores ❤ I love examining beautiful fabrics and dreaming of all the things they can turn into.

However, I’m not very good at sewing (yet!) so I have stacks of fabrics I’ve collected over the years in a bin on my craft shelf 😀

I’ve recently created my own fabric designs on Spoonflower and ordered them to see what they look like in person.

I’m very happy with how they turned out, and it’s a special feeling to see your art come to life on fabric 🙂

I’d originally attempted to make zippered pouches with the new fabrics but realized it was a bit beyond my current skill level.

So rather than stressing about it, I sewed a few things that were easy for beginners.

This bag was really easy to sew! I could carry snacks or use it to organize things in my big bags.

Simple coasters with the grey and pink succulent fabrics! ❤

And even made these hoops – no sewing involved 😀

Pssst… If you want to know when my Spoonflower shop opens, be sure to sign up for my newsletter!

3. Block printing

After the Marimekko exhibit, I was inspired to create block print repeat patterns.

I came up with this original design when I was making my daily painting a few weeks ago.

An image of simple blue birds in flight came in to my head and I thought it would make a cute pattern!

I’d love to print this on a simple linen to make a scarf sometime. Or a T-shirt?

And I created this mushroom design – just because.

Wouldn’t it be a cute tea towel or tote bag design for fall?

Most of my sabbaticals go by really fast, but this one felt like it went by slowly.

It was a good combination of staying home to work on my creative projects and going out to see friends and family.

Since I’ve got a pretty busy summer coming up preparing for my very first trade show in August (!!), I really enjoyed this break.

Hope you get to have some creative fun this summer, too!

Yuko Miki Honeyberry Studios Headshot

p.s. Wanna see what else I do during my sabbaticals? You can check out the archive here.

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UPPERCASE Magazine Feature & Design Process

July 9, 2017creative process, Presschicken, Gardening, greeting card, Seattle, UPPERCASEYuko

Hello hello!

I’ve been on my mini sabbatical this week but wanted to share that my “Vintage Chicken Garden Seattle Greeting Card” design was featured in the latest issue of UPPERCASE magazine! Hooray!

UPPERCASE is an internationally distributed publication for art, design, and creativity, and I was so excited when Janine contacted me to say my work was picked!

When I was working on this artwork for the open call, I was thinking of all the things I love about Seattle.

There are so many great things about the city: nature, food, people, and gorgeous weather in summer (although I don’t really mind the rain, either ;))

When I close my eyes and go to my happy place, this is where I go – beautiful gardens with lots of flowers, vegetables, and chickens!

It’s not about the touristy places for me but the people’s backyard gardens and community gardens, where we can get our hands dirty and nurture plants that nurture us in return.

Since the assignment was to create an art for vintage-inspired souvenir postcard, I created a Pinterest board for Japanese vintage postcards for inspiration.

I’m not conscious of it most of the time, but my art is often influenced by Japanese designs (duh!)

They’re so simple and beautiful ❤

I sometimes get insecure that my art is much too simple, but rather than fighting it to make it look like someone else’s art, I decided that’s my strength and embrace it!

After looking at pretty designs I pinned (many of them block printed art), I was inspired to create my piece by block printing.

But I quickly realized I was running out of time 😀 so I went with a very simple line drawing, which I then colored digitally for a flat, crisp look reminiscent of block printed art.