Shop Update : Illustrative Monogram Frames

I am a bargain shopper. I confess. (But I feel like I'm really not alone these days, eh?)

I never pay full-price for anything if I can help it (I feel this is a good rule for a small business owner - unless, of course, you're supporting another small business!) So when I had a special 25% off my whole purchase (including sale items WHAT!) at my craft store, I grabbed my little sister Grace and rocked that place top to bottom. We walked in with me saying, "Now Grace, we're not going to spend a lot of money..." and then spent most of the time listening to me say, "Grace, drag me away! Grab my arm and pull me away!" She's a good sport.

But I saw these gorgeous little frames, and I couldn't resist.

I was smitten. I instantly had my idea: I love those moments, where you know exactly what you're gonna do with something, and you're so excited to start you can barely wait in line to check out (I have them a lot, hah!)


I've been diggin' on all of the monograms floating around out there... I was super-inspired to make my own. I've been neck-deep in my grad school portfolio, so as a fun refresher as I was waiting for some critique online to come back, I set down with my watercolours and just let my brush do what it wanted. Watercolour is so relaxing to work with, in my opinion, because it's so organic - and I feel like no matter what it does, it's beautiful (unless you mix all the colours into brown... gross). It's been a favourite medium of mine lately.

After the watercolour dried, I took some of my special Micron ink pens (they're fantastic - non-fading & archival!) and added some designs adapted from some doodles in my sketchbook over the washes of colour.

Once I popped them into their frames, I just had that gasp moment;
where it just looks so lovely you kind of want to squeal really loud, and show everyone and their mama how great you are. You know what I'm talking about, right? Right?

Of course you do ;)

If you'd like to see more frames, they are for sale in 

{ My Etsy Shop, The Little Bird }

- just in time for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday! Watch for a special coupon code this week, or 

{ Like The Little Bird on Facebook }

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Do you have big plans for this shopping weekend? My mom has already got most of her shopping done! I can't believe it!

{ all images in this post (c) erin mcmanness 2011 }