Around the studio

I made these fun zippy bags for Patchwork and Maker Faire and wanted to share them here. These aren't a standard item that I stock and I only have a couple left, so if you're interested, head over to my Etsy to snag one while you can! Mini bags are available in red and yellow.



These bags featuring my Retro Ranch print are extra special because I screen printed the fabric myself! Available in a bright coral and teal.



I've also been working on a few new designs.  Here's a sneak peek at one: a new papercut based on my own succulent collection.

Happy Friday to you! As if that wasn't enough of a reason to celebrate, today is National Donut Day! Treat yo'self.

New products!

I'm kicking off the new year with a few new products in the Etsy shops!

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I made these cute cards for the occasion. "Love in Tow" available in kraft brown and white.


These Happy Birthday cards are new, too! A MINI pulling a giant cupcake? Sounds like a party to me!

Everyone knows Minis are British, but we Americans love them, too! Brand new Stars and Stripes coasters available in white and red.

I'm working on boosting up the inventory in my Vitamodern shop, too! First off I have a new fabric print, "Tiki." Remember when I made this card design out of paper shapes? Now it's on fabric! It goes great with my "Retro Vases" fabric print. I think I need to make some potholders out of these two. Two colorways available in the shop.

I'm hoping to kick this cold for good this weekend and jump back into my other to-do list items. I also have a fun DIY in the works! Have a nice weekend!

New Boot and Bonnet totes in the shop!

Just popping in to share my new and improved Boot and Bonnet tote bags! These are made from sturdy 100% cotton canvas and are made in the USA! They're roomier than the last model. So far I only have them in the new MINI design, but I'm hoping to get the other designs printed soon!


Check them out in my shop! And you can use your 10% off coupon code, too. It's still valid through tomorrow! Happy holiday shopping!

From my sketchbook: Holiday Card

All of my design work starts with sketches. I often sketch and idea multiple times to work out design elements and refine proportions. Here's a little glimpse at the preliminary design work for this year's holiday card.


I ended up drawing the background landscape and stars by hand, but I made a papercut of the Mini to place into the scene. I just love how papercut edges look, and having to work within the constraints of something I could cut in a nice challenge and lends a little more interest to the design.


All of this (and a little more behind the scenes work) combined to create this!

These and my other cards are available in my Etsy shop.

New Fabric Ornaments for Vitamini

I'm excited to share my newest item in the shop - new Mini fabric ornaments!



I've been busy getting the shop and my inventory ready for the holidays and I thought it would be fun to make a new fabric ornament. I printed these in red, black, and deep navy and sewed them together with fun contrasting prints on the back. I think my favorite is the black with pink polkadots.



You can find all three in my Etsy shop (along with the last two ornaments that I have left from last year). Happy Friday!

Oh, what fun! New Vitamini Holiday Cards

And just like that, it's November and I can already feel the holidays barreling towards us! So on that note, I'd like to introduce my new holiday cards for 2013! I've been hard at work on these for a few months now and I'm so pleased to have them in my shop!


Go on, try not to sing that song after checking out my new "Oh, what fun!" cards! While I've never done it myself, I can imagine how exciting it would be to go dashing through the snow in my MINI. This card features a woodsy scene with a windy mountain road. Some stars and a evergreen trees make it a very merry holiday setting!


The cards are all hand screen printed by me with a two color process. I use water-based acrylic inks and thick 100lb stock from French Paper. They are currently available in three different colorways - silver and deep blue on speckled white, bright gold and forest green on speckled white, and bright gold and forest green on kraft brown. I'm hoping to print another color combo on the kraft brown this weekend, so keep an eye out for that.

I used a few different artistic methods to create this design - I'll share a few behind the scenes glimpses into my process next week! Have a wonderful weekend.

UPDATE: I couldn't resist trying out a couple other colorways over the weekend and I think they are my favorites, yet! Now available in kraft brown, black and white, and kraft brown, black and metallic gold. All are now listed in the shop!

7 years.

Seven years ago today I went out and picked up my sweet little MINI. It may seem silly that a car would mean so much to me, but getting that car symbolized me reaching a long time goal and it sparked many positive changes in my life. It was my first big adult purchase that I did on my own (yay for independence!), the good feelings motivated me to end a difficult relationship, and it even inspired me to start the creative business that put me where I am today. For that I'm so thankful for that little car. Happy 7 years, Max. To many more!

New: Mini tees in the shop!

I'm so excited to have tshirts for sale in the shop!

Available for little kids sizes 2-6 and adult unisex sizes XS to XL. All hand screen printed by me on nice American Apparel tees. Cool gray and white stripes for adults, heather gray for kids.


Thanks to my sister Annie for taking the photos of me. And thanks to my little niece Madeleine for being such a good model for the kids shirts. She's a Mini lover, too.



Have a wonderful weekend!

Popping up with Etsy and West Elm

If you're in the California Bay Area don't forget to stop by West Elm in Palo Alto today from 1-6pm for the Etsy Pop-Up Shop! I've whipped up a few special items that will make their debut today, like these colorful zippy! I hope to see you there.

New stamps in the shop!

Happy Friday! I've been busy working on restocking the Etsy shop over the past couple weeks. I've been sold out of many of my popular items, like the Union Jack Coasters, so I've been working hard ordering supplies and getting products restocked. If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen some of my process shots for printing what felt like hundreds of coasters. In addition to working on some of the old favorites, I've also got some brand new stamps for sale that I'm really excited about:


Classic Mini Cooper Thanks stamp! I've had this design drawn since the very beginning of my shop (2008). I even drew it digitally in Illustrator way back when, but could never find the right application for it, so there it sat until the right situation came along... I'm glad I remembered it because it's absolutely perfect on a stamp! Use it to stamp up thank you notes, cards, heck, even your rent check envelope. Coming soon in a new MINI style as well.


As a variation on my Classic Mini and Trailer print, I have a new "Let's go camping!" set of stamps. It features a Classic Mini, a teardrop trailer, and a pine tree. I had so much fun stamping up little scenes with this trio. This set coordinates with my trailer fabric print. You can find and purchase these and the rest of my Mini Cooper stamps in my Etsy shop.

Have a wonderful weekend.

That's a MINI of a different color...

I received a new fabric shipment today and couldn't resist color coding my new stack!



My Little MINIs fabric print, available in (almost) every color of the rainbow! Red, pink, orange, yellow, green, teal, bright blue, dark blue, and black. If you've been interested in a larger piece of fabric from my Etsy shop, send me a convo. I have all the colors in stock and ready to ship! No pesky wait times! :) Check out the fabric section in my Vitamini shop.

If you're looking for an idea for how to use your new Little MINIs fabric, check this out. I made a couple of these fun color blocked zippy bags this weekend with a scrap of the black pattern and a bright blue solid.




The great thing: each bag only uses 2, 3" x 8" strips of the MINI print fabric. So you could make a few with just one fat quarter. So fun! Solids fabrics are a natural choice to pair with the prints, but I'm excited to experiment with a few other print combinations. Stripes, dots, plaids... I can't wait to sew up a few more!

London: MINI Factory

Ok, well it's not IN London, but it's close by! During my trip to the UK I am so excited that I'll be able to stop off in Oxford to take a tour of the MINI factory!


It's something I knew I always wanted to do, to see the place where my MINI (Max) and so many others were built. When I was planning my trip, I knew I had to book the tour in advance. So I checked out the MINI UK online booking calendar and was horrified to see that tours were unavailable the ENTIRE time I was in the UK. What?! I was so disappointed and even joked (maybe) with my friend that I would scale the factory fence if I needed to, James Bond style.

The first New MINI rolls off the assembly line in 2001.
My Max would come through just a little while later!

Thankfully that won't be necessary, as a tour spot opened up for us! Yay! Even though photography is prohibited inside, I will definitely share my experience with you here. I'm very excited as I've heard nothing but good things about this tour from other MINI peeps.

Sophisticated robots do most of the work building MINIs now.

The paint room won't be a stop on the tour, as it's under strict dust regulations!

I did a little research and learned that the Oxford plant just celebrated it's 100th anniversary in March!




Inside the Oxford Plant in building Morris Minors around 1950.

Check out this great article to read more about Oxford's car building history and to see more great images. I'm really looking forward to my tour! Have you ever been to the MINI factory? Or another car

All photos via press.bmwgroup.com from the article referenced above.