On a Personal Note

I mentioned in an earlier post that August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month.

“This special observance honors minorities who have been donors and encourages others to register as donors as organ, eye and tissue donors. In addition, this observance also encourages the public to take better care of their health in order to reduce the number of people needing a transplant.” ~Donor Alliance website (August 23, 2017)

For information about organ transplant visit:

Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP)

Center for Organ Recovery & Education

 donatelifeamerica.com 

I have a hard time bringing up this topic because it might seem as though I’m using a very important subject for self-promotion. But organ transplant is something very personal to me and my family. Our lives have been significantly impacted by a type of kidney disease known as IGa nephropathy. We were told this is the best kind of kidney disease to have as it is slow progressing and most people who have it don’t even find out they have it until late in life.

Famous last words. Within two years of receiving a diagnosis, the kidney’s failed and dialysis was needed. What followed was five years of dialysis 3-4 times a week for up to 3 to 4 hours a day. Then there are all the other side effects of poor kidney health, medications plus the poor impact on mental health. Not an ideal life for a young person.

My family will be forever grateful to the doctors, nurses, and most of all the family who lost a loved one, but chose to give the gift of life to those in need. ( I believe the family donated other organs and tissues as well.)

I am in no way trying to take attention from the goal of this awareness campaign, but I do want to take this opportunity to encourage you to find out more about kidney health, regardless of your age, learn more about organ donation and mostly not to lose hope.

Perhaps a bag or sticker might prompt someone to ask “why a kidney?” which can lead to a conversation. Once again, there is not yet a way to direct proceeds from sales made on Red Bubble to an organization, but should a sale of these items happen, I will be more than happy to donate the full price to American Kidney Fund.

Thank you for reading.

Luna Moth and Pattern

It’s always a great feeling when you make progress on a project. This gave me a bit of trouble as I kept losing little bits when I’d move the moth around. I usually wouldn’t notice until I had already posted to my shop. Ugh so frustrating! And I find myself wondering why do I even bother at all? But, it’s all part of the learning process and developing a better workflow.

I’ve learned to really utilize isolation mode in Illustrator, rather than ungrouping and regrouping all the parts and pieces. That is how things get left behind when you move stuff around. Plus using isolation mode is so much quicker. Much more efficient than hunting around for it in my layers panel!

I used this reference photo from Unsplash by photographer Paul Crook goldenplover31

I had some fun (and frustrations) uploading to my RedBubble shop on a variety of products. I’m focusing on back-to-school items such as backpacks, notebooks, and as always stickers. Click here to see more. I’ve also uploaded designs to my Society6 shop as well.

In all honestly, I have not ordered all the items from RedBubble to give a review on the quality, the few things I have ordered (art prints, desk mats and stickers) have been pretty good so far. I am working on my wish list though because I really do like how these designs came out on all the products I’ve listed.

I’d like to hear about your experiences selling on print-on-demand sites such as RedBubble, Society6, or others. I’ve been considering a Zazzle shop, but not any time too soon. i’m still trying to get the hang of these two.

Well, have a great day!

Monday Mood Board

I’m getting there.

To get the gradient for this moth I used the blend tool in Adobe Illustrator. With it set to smooth color I was given this beautiful gradient. It’s perfect, however, not easy to work with as there are probably more than 50 colors here. So, I narrowed it down to only seven.

I’ve been on a moth kick lately.

Back to School

I thought I’d share a few items I’ve added to my RedBubble shop before I get overwhelmed with classes that will be starting soon.

I went on a bit of a moth kick. they are so fun to make and there is so much variety. So, after making almost a dozen, I thought they would be perfect to add to my shop. I mean, why not?

I have a hard time activating all the products available because it just seems like so much, but really it’s just a click for me and I guess it can’t hurt to activate all the products I think are a good fit with the art.

Here’s a sampling of a few of the items that are available.

I thought I’d get creative and do a few moths aligned with the body on the spine of the hardcover journal with a half view on the front and back cover. I like that when these are on a bookshelf the body of the moth will be visible. But I’m not so sure this is a design people will like. What do you think?

Of course, there are a lot of stickers too!

If you’ve read this far, thanks so much! Forgive the shameless self-promotion, but it’s tough out here!

Have a great day!

Sneak Peek Part Two

I wasn’t planning on doing a part two, but, here it is!

Originally, the river scene was the hero of the collection, but I didn’t like the way the river looked once the pattern was repeated and scaled. I removed the river completely, which gave me the pattern from yesterday, which also gave me two separate patterns for this collection. That was pretty exciting.

I ended up being pretty happy with the pattern once I removed the river from it, but I also really wanted to capture our river walks as well, so I decided to put the river on a diagonal and I think it works better. And this is how I got the two patterns. (did I mention how exciting this is?). It fits, as there are two spots we frequent for our walks, one being along the river (the other not) and both settings make for very unique experiences. I also wanted to include the many wildflowers that bloom along the river during the spring. Though some of these were left up to my imagination.

It’s coming along, and the next time I share an update on this collection I hope to have it finished and ordered up on a cheater quilt from Spoonflower.

Here are a few detail pictures.

By the way, the geese do have eyes. My png image looks fine on export, not sure what happened here.

Well, as always, if you are reading this – much Thanks!

Happy Kidney Sticker

Sticker available on RedRubble

A couple of years ago as I was learning how to use Illustrator, I thought I’d make this little kidney motif.  I did it as my own personal challenge for Kidney Health Awareness Month. But I recently decided to turn it into a sticker, now available in my RedBubble store.

Mostly, I just wanted to place this here as a reminder that August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month.

“This special observance honors minorities who have been donors and encourages others to register as donors as organ, eye and tissue donors. In addition, this observance also encourages the public to take better care of their health in order to reduce the number of people needing a transplant.” ~Donor Alliance website (August 23, 2017)

For information about organ transplant visit:

Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP)

Center for Organ Recovery & Education

 donatelifeamerica.com 

The Happy Kidney design can also be purchased on phone cases and a few other items too.

I thought this design could be a way to spark a conversation about kidney donation as well as some of the diseases that can cause the kidneys to fail. Currently, there isn’t a way to direct proceeds from sales made on Red Bubbleto to an organization, but it’s something I would like to set up on my own at some point in the future on my website. I just thought I should be transparent about that.

Monday Mood Board

A few sketchy flowers from a couple of years ago. These were some of the first I made in Illustrator. I’ve used them in a simple little design and now I just wanted to pull a few colors from them for another idea I have. Something that has been in the works for a while, but is nowhere close to being finalized. I have a long way to go before I’m close to being ready to move ahead. I just return to it every now and then when my mind needs a little break from patterns.

Did you know August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month, with tomorrow being National Minority Donor Awareness Day?

I have witnessed firsthand the life-changing impact receiving a much-needed organ can have on a person. Though the need for healthy organs far surpasses availability regardless of ethnicity, minorities make up 57% of those on the organ waiting list. But anyone can become a donor to any person in need if they are a match. You may choose to be a living donor to someone in need of a kidney, liver, bone marrow or tissue. You could also consider taking steps now to let those around you know you wish be a deceased donor when the time comes. (Here in the U.S. we have the option of checking the organ donor box when we apply for our drivers license)

Since I am in no way educated on all aspects of organ donation or transplant procedures and protocols, if you want to learn more, I suggest you start by visiting the following websites:

Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP)

Center for Organ Recovery & Education

donatelifeamerica

These sites and others will provide links where you can sign up to be a donor or volunteer your time or services to assist in other areas where there is a need.

To find out more on how to become a bone marrow donor visit bethematch.org.

Thank you so much for reading. Have a wonderful day!

Collection Sneak Peek

This collection has been so much fun and a jumping-off point for a couple of other collections I didn’t even think of until I started working on this. It’s been interesting to venture down these new paths.

I’m really excited to see the original concept begin to take shape and see the story evolve in this way. So here is a little peek at what I am calling for now, Desert Hounds 2023. Still working on the name.

This pattern started out as the hero print, but I think the next design will be more of a hero. If you have been following along, you’ll know this has been in the works for a while. Just another 11 more to go to have a full collection. I’m still working on a few coordinating patterns and blender prints.

I can’t say it is 100 percent good to go, I’ll know better once I have all the patterns complete and have samples printed, but I think this is a pretty good start to calling it done.

Here are a few of the detail shots.

Thank you for reading!