Tag Archives: flowers

All things that remind me of spring 🌸

May 5, 2019My Thoughts, Shopflowers, Greeting Cards, springYuko

It’s finally warming up a bit in Seattle.

Truth be told, I’m not a biggest fan of summer 😬 Mostly because our apartment heats up so much that this homebody gets pretty miserable staying indoors. I’m sticky and tired by late afternoon.

But spring.

Especially late spring when you don’t need a down jacket any more but you’re not sweating profusely walking around in the sun.

65F°, lightly cloudy, gentle breeze… That’s heaven for me.

You know, if I were a vegetable, I would be a lettuce. Not a tomato or cucumber. Just plant me in a cool shaded area. I’ll get bitter and go to seed as soon as the temperature goes above 75F°.

I often browse my website just to enjoy the cheerful artwork and daydream for a few minutes (that’s not weird, is it? 😝).

These are some of my cards that reaffirm my love of spring!

May the spring be always in your heart 🌸

My Hawaiian vacation pics!

February 11, 2018Mini Sabbaticlas, Self-Helpbeach, flowers, Hawaii, nature, Oahu, vacationYuko

I love Hawaii!

Oh the sunshine and the warm, plumeria-scented breeze… I could feel every cell in my body relax as soon as we landed.

My mom and I met in Oahu, HI (it’s about the same distance from Japan and Seattle) and spent a week hanging out, eating, shopping, and sightseeing during the last week of January.

Enjoy some snapshots from our vacation 🌴🌺🌈

We went on a dolphin watching tour. We’re holding a fake dolphin skull 😂 We did see dolphins and a humpback whale! It was amazing.

Bishop Museum. Stunning exhibits & buildings.

Beauty of the building itself is worth a visit!

Waimea Valley & Falls

In the hibiscus garden

Waimea Fall. No we didn’t go swimming 😉

Beautiful flowers everywhere at the Waimea Valley Botanical Garden

Ladies on the beach in North Shore. There are lots of wild chickens and roosters roaming around once you’re outside of Waikiki.

Kitty chilling in old Haleiwa town

We watched a beautiful sunset in North Shore. My favorite sight in Hawaii ❤

I made a couple of art inspired by the beauty on the island.

I’ve only been back for a few days, but I miss it SO MUCH 😢 I wish I could’ve stayed there a little longer. Sigh.

I hope I’m lucky enough to visit the paradise many more times. If you go (or live there, jealous!!), soak up the sun for me 😉

Aloha,

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!