stardustsoul

Robin Williams as Peter Pan

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 19:20:00 +0000

My favorite portrait to date because if what it means to me. He touched so many lives. May he rest in peace.

Free Download: Painting Water eGuide

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 22:14:00 +0000

In the busy whirlwind of things, it completely slipped my mind to blog about a really cool and free(!) e-guide that I created a few months back for and with the lovely people of Craftsy.

This free downloadable pdf file contains 4 step-by-step tutorials with photos where I show you how to draw and paint different types of waterscapes with mixed media. We cover how to paint flowing water, water drops, ponds, waterfalls and my personal favorite, waves!

You can download this free e-guide here. I really hope you enjoy it!

Sew Along Starts Today!

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 20:46:00 +0000

So, we are off! Today is the first day of my dress sew along for Jolie Marie Louise. In this post we go over style inspiration and design ideas for this dress pattern. I have a bunch of tutorials and sew along surprises lined up for the month of October. Follow the Jolie Marie Louise Patterns blog through Bloglovin to stay up to date on all the sewing fun.

You still have some time to join and purchase your pattern since we won't start using the actual pattern until October 3rd.

And, keep an eye on the store because the Léa dress will be on sale for the whole duration of the sew along starting October 1st!

Elie Saab Ilustration

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 16:14:00 +0000

Elie Saab Prints available here

I finally had some free time this weekend to catch up with my favorite sewing blogs, do some prep work for some selfish sewing, blog about that bra I sewed 4 months ago (I know! I'm such a bad blogger. But I'm trying to do better, promise), and scan this drawing I made a few months ago.

I took some time this weekend to gather my thoughts and figure out how I wanted to move forward with my blog set up. You might remember I babbled on about this a while ago here. Well, I have decided split the content between my two blogs.

This one will remain my illustration blog and I will be blogging about my sewing projects, knitting, fashion design, etc on my new sewing blog. So, if you are more interested in my sewing you might want to follow there.

Sewing Patterns Update and Sew Along!

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 16:15:00 +0000

Currently, I have been going full steam ahead with my new pattern business. This has, of course, meant a silent lull on this blog - but really? I've never been that great at keeping up to date with the blog anyway.

I thought I'd update you on what's going on at the moment and clue you in on something really exciting coming up on September 29th:

THE LÉA DRESS SEW ALONG!

Yup, I'm hosting my first ever sew along over on the Jolie Marie Louise blog. You can visit the link above to get all the deets and follow the blog to stay in the loop. I'd love it if you'd join us!

I recently got a new table for my work space which is exclusively meant for sewing. You have no idea how great this has been! Before this, I was sewing on a small desk that barely had any space to hold the whole garment while sewing it - it would just hang from EVERY edge. It was very uncomfortable. It was also very useful when taking photographs for the sew along, which is coming up very soon!

Also, on the social media front, I have now streamlined my Twitter and Instagram accounts with a name change. I don't tweet much really, but if you still want you can now follow me: @JMLPatterns. Usually where you'll find me most often is instagram: @joliemarielouise

And, last but not least, I have opened an etsy shop for the patterns! It's been my dream for years to have an etsy shop so it was pretty monumental and symbolic when I created it last week. There's only one pattern at the moment but I plan on stocking it up a bit more with some new releases throughout next year. You can go show it some love here: JML Etsy Shop.

I hope to see you guys at the sew along. Happy Friday!

ILLUSTRATION // Kitty

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 13:49:00 +0000

I love how cute and sassy cats are, so naturally I had to create an illustration inspired by them. It's been a really busy week but I was able to put together this print yesterday from a kitty cat drawing I created last week. I had so much fun! It's definitely my favorite one so far. I want to get one for my desk and one as a gift to my sister.

This print is available here

ILLUSTRATION // Sketch

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 01:02:00 +0000

This is a sketch I first shared a glimpse of in this post. I ended up developing it further and finished it a few weeks ago but couldn't find the time to blog about it until today. I have another illustration finished that I need to scan and upload.

Jolie Marie Louise Lea Dress Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 11:38:00 +0000

I promise I'll keep this post short and sweet since you can read all about the new pattern on the JML blog. I just want to say that I am so thrilled to let you guys know that the shop is now open with the first pattern: the Léa dress. It's available as PDF download so you can receive it instantly! I really hope you'll like it!

It's Official!

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 15:58:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Today I can finally share with you some pretty huge news I have -sort of- been keeping to myself (but have hinted to here and there). For over the past year I have been hard at work designing and producing my own line of sewing patterns, called Jolie Marie Louise. This is the reason why I suddenly went radio silent on this blog for months last year.

The fist blog post is already up here, where you can read a little about the journey so far and the story behind the name. The shop is still closed and will be opening on Monday with the first release.

The first pattern will be released this Monday, July 28th, and it is the Léa dress.

From now on you will find all of my sewing related content on the Jolie Marie Louise blog. I hope you will join me. All of my usual illustration and art work will still be found here.

I will be doing this on that blog in the coming weeks, but I still want to take this opportunity to thank from the bottom of my heart everyone who has been so incredibly supportive and encouraging both in real life and in this wonderful online community. Your help and support has touched and pushed me in ways you can't imagine. So, thank you!

W.I.P. // Elie Saab Fall Couture 2014

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 21:54:00 +0000

Have you seen the Fall Couture 2014 collection of Elie Saab? I'm completely head over heels for it. Hands down, this has been one of my favorite designers for years. Some might say it's boring and everything is the same season after season. To that I say: "Shhh, it's perfect ♥"

I finished this illustration about two weeks ago but haven't had time to scan it yet, so I thought I'd share with you some work in progress photos in the mean time.

This week is kicking off as one of those where all the little things seem to be going wrong and things start to snowball, but hopefully I can turn it around right now! I hope you are having a lovely one.

Sunday Sketching + Much Confusion

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 17:54:00 +0000

One of my favorite things to do on the weekends is find some time to practice drawing and spend a few mindless hours sketching away. This past Sunday morning I spent it jamming to taylor swift while drawing this quick portrait (you already know by now that with me a "quick sketch" usually takes hours!) - which, by the way, you'll soon be able to see a step by step guide of how it came to be on Craftsy's blog. There's a lot of shadows left to draw but, as I did it solely for practice, I don't think I'll be going back to it. I don't know yet, maybe?

___

On a different note, I have been wanting a change on this blog for over a year now, and I really crave a brand new look (I had been working on a new design from scratch last year but then I got really busy and I don't even remember were those files went!).

These days I'm not quite sure if all I want is a new look for it or a complete overhaul of the whole thing and a brand new direction. I think it might be a manifestation from the instability and need for change in other areas of my life right now; and wanting to recreate this space into something that feels more familiar, personal and steady, but I'm not very sure exactly what I want to do about it right now. I'm so busy that I don't think I'll even have the time to sit and decide where I want to go with this and then so something about it, but I at least wanted to put it in writing to try to sort out my thoughts, I don't think it helped much tough - I'm still indecisive about it. Ha!

Actually... I think I might be closer to knowing how I want to move forward with this than I thought. I'm thinking I'd like to take my sewing to a different blog along with another project of mine and reassess this space (or maybe a completely new one? again, so indecisive right now!) just for illustrations and try to dedicate more time to drawing to get some commercial work - which I could really use at the moment!

This has been more longwinded that I anticipated (and longer than usual!) but it turns out it has helped me put my thought in order a little bit after all. I don't know where this will al go but what I do know is that i need some change, either here or elsewhere.

ILLUSTRATION // Skin Care

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 20:29:00 +0000

I was very happy today to carve out some time to work on this illustration. I really wanted to practice product drawings and add a little something different to my portfolio. I suddenly have found myself very inspired this week - I hope it lasts very, very long. ;)

I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of you new followers and also the lovely ones who have been following for a while and sticking with me through very long periods of radio silence. I always appreciate your wonderful support and kindness.

If you'd like a print of this illustration you can find it here.

ILLUSTRATION // Léa Seydoux

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 20:37:00 +0000

A while ago I shared a photo on instagram of a sketch I was drawing as a present for a lovely friend. Since then it had sadly been sitting on my desk waiting for me to find some time to finish it up.

Late nights and Saturday mornings are my favorite moments to draw and paint. I got up real early today and had the whole morning to finish and scan this illustration. You'll also be seeing it pop up on the Craftsy blog soon with tips on how to draw portraits.

You can find this print in my shop here. Happy Saturday lovelies!

ILLUSTRATION // Bridal Robes

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Sat, 24 May 2014 20:12:00 +0000

I am very excited to share with you guys a project I worked on for Anita, the brilliant designer behind Girl With A Serious Dream.

I illustrated some of her most popular styles and she later created a beautiful dressing room feature on the website. I love it, it's so cool! You should check it out here, it's so much fun!

We also worked on designing some promotional banners for the website, which were recently revealed with the release of her gorgeous new spring collection.

The World of Watercolor on Craftsy

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Thu, 01 May 2014 01:54:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have recently began writing about art for Craftsy's blog. I'm having a blast, especially with the current series which is all about watercolor and color theory. There is a lot of information on there along with tips and techniques useful if you are just starting out or if you want to experiment more with color.

Here's a peek of this watercolor series. You can click on the titles to be redirected to the original post.

Types Of Watercolor Paper:

Basic Watercolor Palette Colors:

Color Transparency in Art:

Color Value in Art:

Color Temperature in Art:

Color Intensity In Art:

Lately 08

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:06:00 +0000

Aloha, lovelies! I am back with a couple of updates and peeks at some new illustrations.

Last month I had the wonderful pleasure of working with Anita from the stunning brand of bridal robes Girl With A Serious Dream. How amazing is it that she makes all of these lace and silk beauties herself in her studio? What a dream! I can't wait to share the illustrations we came up with for her website. These are some sneak peeks of the work in progress. After spending hours drawing these pieces, I now know those lace patterns better than I know the back of my own hand!

I am also very happy to share a post that I recently wrote for Crafty's blog with some fabric drawing tips inspired by that project. Check it out here.

It feels great to be blogging again. I've missed it so much! I wish I had more time for it because I have so many ideas and things I would love to share on the blog. We'll see what makes the cut.

Update + new download links

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 23:55:00 +0000

Hey there! Long time no see, huh? A few months have passed since I started my blogging hiatus to focus on a "secret" project. Well, the hiatus is not over just yet but I wanted to check in and also update the paper doll's download links while I'm at it.

Some of you have been able to download the files, but a lot of you have had problems with the links. I have a couple of theories, but I'm not exactly sure what the problem is. In an attempt to fix it, I re-uploaded the paper doll and all the clothes sets. So, if you have been unable to download them yet, you can go give the new links a try. Hopefully, they will work better this time.

I started drawing a fall/winter set of clothes a few months ago but things have been so busy that I haven't made much progress with that so far. I hope I can at least finish it before winter comes and goes!

Just in case I don't pop in during the next few weeks, I want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!

Below are the links to all downloadable paper dolls and clothes.

• Ronnie: doll + first set
• Ronnie: second set
• Ronnie: third set
• Ronnie: fourth set

Paper Doll Clothes Printables III

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:17:00 +0000

Here you have a new sheet of printable clothes for your paper doll, Ronnie.

I wanted to get it up today to thank you for bearing with me while I neglect my blog for a while - but it's all for a great project so it's quite alright. I appreciate all of the comments and kindness you've shown towards me and my work.

Thank you! ♥

I also want to say that some of you have mentioned how you are having issues downloading the files correctly. I've looked into it, the original files are all ok and I have no idea what the problem might be. I'm so sorry for any inconvenience. If you are trying to download any of the paper doll PDFs at any moment and you encounter problems you can just leave me a comment with your email and I'll send the file straight to your inbox as soon as possible.

You can start downloading the printable A4 file immediately by clicking HERE, and you can see all previous paper doll printables here. Have fun!

A little update + a knitting work in progress

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 20:28:00 +0000

Happy Monday ! This past weekend was a bit unusual for me. Not because I spent the whole time working on a project - I always do that and with a smile on my face, might I add - but because said project is something that I hadn't imagined I would be doing. I mentioned it in a few comments before so it might not be a huge surprise, but I will still ask for a drum roll anyway .... I am creating a downloadable pdf pattern of the Chloe Jacket.

Right off the bat, I knew that making a pdf pattern wasn't going to be something I would dislike, so I was eager to get started and learn all about the process. But I never anticipated how much I was going to enjoy it! There is still a long way to go but I am loving every delicious second of sewing toiles, doing fittings, digitizing the pattern, making adjustments, designing layouts, and so on.

You must be asking yourself "what does this have to do with the knitting photos?". The connection is that I am knitting a pair of gloves for the first time (as in: fingersss!) during the little breaks that I am taking from working on the pattern.

So, if the blog posts start becoming scarce around here, you'll know that it's precisely because I am hard at work behind the scenes.

I also mentioned in a previous post that I was redesigning the whole blog and was almost finished. Well, it's still almost finished but there is a little coding problem that I haven't been able to figure out. After I decided I was going to make the Chloe pattern I knew that I was close to having too much on my plate so I've put the redesign plans on hold for now. Who knows, maybe I might have it ready around the time I release the pattern -- but don't hold me to that, pretty please.

I wish you a great start to the week!

Illustration: The Great Gatsby

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 16:35:00 +0000

A few days before The Great Gatsby premiered I watched the trailer and, not only did it make me want to watch the film right away, it also got me really inspired and so I started drawing this piece. I have been working on it on the side on and off since then. After doing some major tweaking in a few areas a couple of weeks ago, I was done.

Then, I got busy working on sewing patterns so this illustration sat on my shelf un-scanned for a while until this morning.

My favorite parts are definitely the chandelier and Daisy's sparkly head piece. The set and wardrobe design in this movie are ridiculously stunning. How could I have not been inspired?

As always, this piece in up on my web shop so if you'd like to make this one your own, you can snatch a print here.

Paper Doll Clothes Printables II

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 14:22:00 +0000

Here's a new set of clothes for Ronnie. This set contains one of my favorites yet, that pink lace dress from Modcloth. The red trousers are from Topshop. Remember to share you paper dolls on Instagram and Twitter by tagging it #stardustsoulpaperdoll.

You can download the printable A4 file by clicking HERE. Enjoy!

Chloe Jacket: Finished!

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 22:03:00 +0000

I've been pretty bad about posting my sewing projects on time lately. I have a bit of a backlog of things I have made, like that corset that made a quick and fleeting appearance on the blog once, and this jacket. Last weekend I decided enough was enough! and I finally photographed it.

Sure, there are a few things that could be better but, as a recovering perfectionist, I am changing the way in which I take in my finished creations. I used to focus and dwell a lot on mistakes (tiny or big ones alike) or things that were not perfect. Now, you can imagine how this mentality can suck the fun right out of just about anything.

Therefore, this year, one of my goals has been to change this approach into a better one. I'm not throwing my meticulousness and perfectionism out the window -- I'm stuck with those, for better or worse. But I am now reminding myself to consciously acknowledge not only what I wish I had done better but what I've improved and done well too.

What I am most proud of and happy about with this jacket is that I made everything myself, starting with the initial idea ans sketch for the design, to the pattern and, of course, sewing it. This project helped me build confidence with designing and drafting patterns. I have been practicing pattern making a lot behind the scenes since I finished this jacket last June.

All in all, I really enjoyed making this jacket despite - or maybe because of - the fact that it was a lot of detailed work. You must know by now that I am nothing if not obsessed about details.

After this big and very time consuming project, turning my attention to making lingerie and swimwear patterns has been a welcomed change. I'm really excited about those and I can't wait to start sewing a few of them in the next few months.

{ You can see the creation of this jacket documented throughout time here }

Illustration: You'll Find What You Need

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 00:24:00 +0000

I had forgotten about this variation that I made of an illustration I showed some time ago (this one). I really like the feeling conveyed by the pink colors combined with the pose. I have found that this version of the illustration relaxes me whenever I look at it. It really calms me down whenever I'm rushing around, nervous or anxious.

The effect that this piece has on me gave me the idea of having this print hanging in my work space. It will come in handy during those moments of stress or doubt.

{ "You'll Find What You Need" Print Available here }

Paper Doll Clothes Printables I

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 15:33:00 +0000

I've received wonderful feedback on the printable paper doll I released last week, thank you for that! Today I bring to you a new set of clothes for her. This mix includes an Ohhh Lulu bra, Urban Outfitters top and shorts, all set to fit Ronnie. Remember to share you Paper dolls on Instagram and Twitter by tagging it #stardustsoulpaperdoll.

You can start downloading the printable A4 file immediately by clicking HERE. Have fun!

A little reminder...

noreply@blogger.com (anto) — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 23:17:00 +0000

I am sure that, by now, you must know all about Google Reader's imminent demise. I feel like the blogging world has been scrambling ever since it was announced. I was comfortably accustomed to having everything in the same place, but now Google decides to stir the pot for some reason. I still use Google Reader daily, but I have switched over to Bloglovin and I'm trying to get used to the change.

So, if you follow me of GFC and receiving updates from me every once in a while after July 1st doesn't sound so bad, you can now find me here.

I hope you are having a lovely week!