February Desktop calendar is now available!

Two designs to choose from for this month- hope you enjoy!
visit the little treasures page to download your desktop calendar for the month of February.

hand drawn note cards

there is something that makes me very happy when I get an actual handwritten note - and nothing more gratifying when I get the chance to write out a few of my own to send to friends. These are simple little paneled note cards with little hand drawn sprouts along the bottom edge, with matching envelopes that I've sprouted along the flap edge.

take out a black pen or marker and make your own note cards from blank paper and envelopes - they make a perfect last minute gift.

Deer Run Farm book

sneak peek! hot off the presses. Deer Run Farm is a 20 page saddle-stitched soft cover book I just completed design on.

Highlighting the beautiful deer of the Deer Run Farm, this book is a limited edition run of 100 - all copies are in private collection.

A photo of the cover is above, and a page from the interior is below.

Illustration Friday - Infinite

hand drawn in pen & ink.

The power of imagination makes us infinite.

John Muir (1838 - 1914)

Graphic Design 1 class this Fall!

I'm so very excited to be teaching this Fall semester at Community College of Vermont in Rutland - if you want to learn more, visit CCV's website - classes start September 8th!

idle - illustration friday

illustration friday's word of the week is "idle"
this is one of my sister's favorite sayings...



what is it they say about idle hands?

double cocoa sugar scrub - nibs to tags

Handmade, from the sugar scrub to the packaging! it feels so good to be able to do it all, nibs to tags. i'm doing a new monthly sugar scrub at the shop - first out is double cocoa...this sugar scrub batch is rich in powdered Dominican Republic cocoa blended with sugar and organic ground raw cocoa nibs- add in a bit of sweet almond oil, and frankly, I'd rather eat it- but it really does a fantastic job of lightly exfoliating your skin without too much oil left over for the steamy midsummer nights.






Each tag is hand drawn, the labels too!


contact or visit delishdesign to order
{quarter pints $10, half pints $20, +shipping}

hope, wish, dream greeting card

an oversized custom greeting card and print - he is such a sweetie pie.



combining photography and illustration always makes me smile!

new card designs

strawberry heaven & farm baby......two new over-sized custom greeting card designs from a photo shoot i did a few weeks ago...

20th anniversary magnet design

Sweet friends let me play with their 20th anniversary magnet design,
I really enjoyed incorporating some of my illustration with it.

puddle ducks for spring!

Mud, rain, ducks, sprouting plants all about. I'm in love with Spring. To commemorate my happiness during this most hopeful of seasons and in tribute to one of my favorite authors, Beatrix Potter, I've designed & created a very cute leetle French puddle duck hand knit toy.


This particular series of ducks are very special! This yarn is a pure 100% cotton bouclé yarn from France - in the softest sweetest spring colors. Each puddle duck averages 12" wingspan, and also 12" from head to webbed toe. I use multiple strands of yarn to knit each duck, then stuff them with more of the same matching yarn... 100% cotton toys make me happy! These techniques allow for each duck to feel like soft terrycloth.

Each duck is a very limited edition, one-of-a-kind hand knit toy with vintage yarns- once each yarn(color) is gone, it is gone. If I cannot meet your first color choice, I will be in touch for a second choice. Every single toy is handmade by me here in Vermont.

So far I've made one color puddle ducks and two-color puddle ducks.
The colors currently available are butter yellow & mint green, or all butter yellow, or all mint green. Contact me if you would like a custom color/size.


My leetle French Puddle Ducks can be bought for $50 each, with shipping included to anywhere in the US. Need yours in time for Easter Basket delivery? Please be sure to order by April 1st so I can whip it up for you in plenty of time.

Color options

Butter Yellow $50.00 Mint green $50.00 Butter yellow & Mint green $50.00

NEW TOY: handknit mermaid art doll

Madame Mermaid is 100% hand knit and felted wool -
Her hair has been hand dyed and hand spun by me on my spinning wheel.
This doll has a lots of hair - I like being sure every doll I make has tons!

This Mermaid art doll comes with a 100% wool, free form crocheted mermaid tail, a 100% wool skirt to match her hair, glass bead bathing top, and a little seaweed boa.


She also has a hand decorated box she travels in - you can check her out in person at Manchester Hot Glass studio & Gallery starting this weekend - or feel free to email me for more details on the Mermaid, or how to get a doll made of your very own!

NEW designs on cafepress!

I've been working on these designs for a month or so now - starting with my dear sister's request of a gardening tshirt. Most are combinations of my illustration and text - Take a gander over at my place on cafepress, I'd love to know your thoughts!

Vacation poster - custom design

A very sweet friend of mine saw the Fox Hollow Farm poster I designed and shot last year - and asked if I would be willing to perhaps take her pictures from her European vacation and make a similar large poster out of her favorites. What fun it was getting to design a permanent poster memory of her vacation for her.

its only time

Give me a wildness whose glance
only time can withstand.

my favorite Handmade dress Makers

All courtesy of etsy! This handful of artists are just a sample of the amazingly talented independent clothing designers out there that I love, particularly for dresses. These are all handcrafted clothing shops, perhaps offering new product with your custom measurements, or inventively re- and up-cycled from vintage pieces galore! Many of these products are very eco and environmentally friendly too!

gaiaconceptions.etsy.com
ArmoursansAnguish.etsy.com
CrowsCloth.etsy.com
econica.etsy.com
kimenna.etsy.com
hollystalder.etsy.com
malphi.etsy.com
trapperjane.etsy.com
missbrache.etsy.com

find designers who's taste and style you love, but also keep in mind your body type. We all have our own unique figures - show it off the best way you know how! Dresses are so much more forgiving than pants - you will never have the dreaded muffin top with a dress, I assure you. Also, ask yourself if the frock you pick out can be used in more than one season- whether it is seasonless, or through layering! I like trends as much as the next girl, but when it comes to clothes, I like to keep 'em simple, stylish and modular. I find working trends with layers or accessories tends to be a little less painful on the wallet.

Bees ordered!

2009's bees are ordered!

Two hives in this case equals six pounds of bees - 25,000 honeybees and two Italian Queen Bees.
One hive for me, one for my Dad - bees are a great christmas gift, what can I say.
my Dad really is very excited for his first hive ever - on the farm there are tons of berry brambles, hay fields to preside over, along with the orchard of pears, apples and grapes - oh and the vegetable garden too! We can't pick the bees up until May, it needs to be warm enough and have stable weather over a period of time for the bees to travel this far North from Georgia.

a new day!

I've been in a "designer cage" the past few weeks with my trusty laptop not able to handle all the design I've been throwing its way. Love my powerbook, but it is just not enough power for my needs. As any designer or artist knows, nothing is more frustrating than having ideas, but not being able to flesh them out to your desires! SO I bit the bullet last week and ordered a new laptop - the macbook pro - which is better able to handle the processing needed for photoshop, illustrator and indesign.
It arrived late Tuesday - the computer switch took a few days. A few more glitches than expected in the transfer and cloning(isnt it always?), but I am now fully back up and running - at a whole new level of speed. Indesign flies!
I can design again at my own speed again,
I'm a very happy camper, dear friends.

Happy Thursday - I hope you Enjoy Your Day!

writing patterns - giraffe

I have finally begun my pursuit of writing down the knitting patterns for each of my different toys and creatures. So many to write- the task is certainly daunting. I want to be sure to create patterns that allow for the most creative leeway for each knitter, but still give specific details and guidance on the process of making a creature precisely like mine.

First up, my giraffe twiglet. the giraffe is super cute, I have knit it in a variety of sizes, shapes, yarns... each have been successful and unique!
I really thought it would be a simple writeup.

A few realizations:
Writing a giraffe pattern takes WAY longer than knitting one. WAY LONGER.
I was shocked how much I wrote. {4 pages- on a little KNIT creature?}


After dictating it back to myself twice, I updated and fixed the first draft for test knitters. And off it went. Only a few small fixes to start, and the knitters were knitting!

Another realization: It is SO cool to have someone else knit your pattern! Even better is to SEE someone's interpretation of your pattern! I was pretty awestruck, to be honest. Another knitter totally understood and followed how I create! odd concept I know, but so very cool for me.

I have a couple more patterns in progress, nearly set to try out - anybody want to be a knitting guinea pig?
If you have a real confidence in DPN's, you will love these!

Fairy angels


bunny rabbits

ticket design - 87 racing team dinner

this was a fun little project. the car's colors are black, blue and orange, so wanted to be sure to use them in a nice contrast...i liked the idea of using barcode lines, reflecting speed...kachow!