Just wanted you to know, you light up my life. But, really though.

With the wonderful little fireflies that were finished last week, I knew they needed some accompaniment. 

So what else but matching stationery, of course!

Just ordered 30 to see how they sell at my first shows. I'm thinking that I can do a deal with them maybe, $5 a card or buy two bugs and get a card for free... still trying to figure that out.

I'm a little bummed I had to keep the zazzle logo on the back of the card, but then again I got to put my logo on there too, so no big.

ALSO- while antiquing today, found the most perfect stand to put my cards in during the show. It's amazing once you put something out there in the universe that is needed, it presents itself, but in this case it was within a half an hour span! I'm choosing to believe that when you are on the right path or connected to a higher power, things fall into place.

                     

It's creeping me out how all of this is falling into place, and I'm actually quite happy I am documenting my journey. I have been sitting on this concept of "Lucchiola" and my endless obsession with staying in the light, it's amazing to me that it's finally coming to fruition. 


I'm going to keep plugging, and keep faith in what I am doing. Because after all, if I don't believe in myself than who will?


Love and Light, Sarah Anne.

The Firefly series.

So because of the name Lucchiola, which means firefly in italian, I decided to start creating some items to fit the brand.

Here was the preliminary sketches relating to this idea.

(sorry about he quality, my scanner doesn't like my 10x10 sketchbook)

So here you can see that I wanted to have my tent surrounded by christmas lights that were converted into fireflies. Novel idea, except most of the venues I will be selling at this year do not provide electricity.

Bummer.

So plan B.

Try to create individual fireflies that appear to be glowing due to coloration, but make the butts out of recycled bulbs. I have collected and purchased bulbs of all shapes and size to create these cute bulbs, and I've created a series of three characters... although the third will be finished by tomorrow-monday I hope.

That's a lot of butts.

These characters are meant to be purchased for someone that

"Lights up your Life..."

(matching stationary to come).

Anyways, this is Lucy. She is the lowest price point, $15.

She is created from recycled christmas bulbs, wire, clay, tissue paper and beads.

With her size and personality, she is created to be either a hanging fixture from your car's rearview, hanging in front of a sunny window or even a christmas ornament. 

Next, and my personal favorite is Bertha.

                                                

Bertha was created with a larger, more round bulb that I believe to be more suitable for either or window hanging or ideally a christmas ornament.

Bertha will be sold at $25 a piece.

I love this character because it's the most true to the illustrations I draw of fireflies, similar to the ones found in my logo.

The last character is Dexter. He will be appearing in the near future, so stay tuned.

Love and Light y'all,

Sarah Anne.

The Wonderful World of Tape.

So here are some other projects I have been chipping away at.

To further carry on the light theme, you should see the beautiful contrast of these babies when they have a strong light source. 

         Stunning.

Below is the 8.5x11 shadow box.                                                  

Here is a picture of all of my smaller scaled sculptures waiting for a home. Appox 6x6 inches.

My boyfriend was amazing enough to help me create 20 shadow boxes for each one to go into, if only I could just get the energy to finish them all! Stare at it long enough, you'll go cross eyed.

I promise.

Well you have seen the lower price points, I believe each sculpture will go for about $50. But my antiquing bug is where the higher price points come into play. Some are listed on my ETSY sight, but they are much better to purchase and experience in person.

I like to find old boxes, whether they be old typographer drawers, old planters or even soda boxes to hold my tape rolls. I had tried for years to figure out where these belonged until I found the typographers drawers. Time consuming, but simply stunning when hung.

All are sprayed with a polyurethane and protective sealant to protect from dust.

Learned that the hard way.

To clean over time, just use one of those computer cleaners, you know, the ones that rocket air out. That will get the job done.

Hope you enjoyed tape-mania.

Love and Light,

Sarah Anne.

A glimpse of what's to come.

So now you all know I have a problem. I'm addicted to collecting buttons.

Everywhere I go (I'm always antiquing), I'm buying buttons. I have jars upon jars of vintage buttons that have been just sitting in my studio, while I have pondered a use for them in my work. They are all so unique and wonderful, I knew I had to find a way to use them.

One antique store I walked into they had JARS of vintage one of a kind buttons. When I asked the owner why she was as crazy as myself just endlessly collecting buttons, she said that a woman in town had just passed away and she also a button collector.

Jars upon jars I purchased for DIRT CHEAP, and I've been hoarding them like a little squirrel.

So I found a solution.

I've started making flower arrangements out of stacked vintage buttons. I then adhere them to handcrafted and personality filled stems, that are somewhat Tim Burton-esque, but they always make me smile. These vases will be sold at my summer shows for $30 a piece. I think they are a perfect price for such a cute little addition to a room.

Here is a close up.

                                                  

Enjoy this beautiful day, I know I am while I'm working away.

Love and Light,

Sarah Anne.

New Logo and business cards.

So here she is! The new logo, brand and business card!

Ugh, this has been such a great and taxing assignment. I finally have the opportunity to create something great for myself and the possibilities just became limitless. So I decided to determine some keywords for my brand and then afterward see if they image matches up.

I wanted a strong Retro influence on the logo, but also a handmade and fun feel. I wanted the hand drawn font and fireflies to add the feeling of lightheartedness along with the use of complimentary colors. Between the textures and colors I really tried to create a cohesive brand for myself.

Facebook Fan Page and beautiful weather in little rhody.

Hope you are all having as beautiful of a day as we are here in Rhode Island. I'm so excited because Spring has officially sprung! Time to shake off those winter blues. God knows I'm ready.


Because I am finalizing all of my summer show dates, I want to make sure that I have a way to contact all of you that might be interested in that information. So click me! to join my facebook fan page. I'm going to try and get better at updating it more regularly, especially during these next CRAZY summer months. 

For a promotional item, I'm in the process of illustrating a calendar that can be printed out so you can keep it in view as a reminder! Guaranteed to have cute demented looking fireflies, so keep checking in :). Can't wait to see you all there.


Love and Light,
sarahanne.

Good Friday Italian Cookin'

Last summer I decided that videos were a much better way for me to document important times in my life, or more so than a solitary picture. There is so much to a moment, sometimes I feel as if a picture just can't do it justice. This is one of those moments.


Good Friday Italian Cookin' from Sarah Anne DiNardo on Vimeo.

Brickley's Ice Cream Freelance Job. Revision.

Here you can see my second version of the Brickley's Pints and Quarts tops. The client wanted to maintain a more traditional font than some of the others that I had proposed, and also they wanted to add "Rhode Island's Favorite" to the package. I included the original graphic along with two other variations for our meeting tomorrow because you would be surprised how many people like what they originally believed they wanted revised!

Tomorrow I am also going to propose the idea of doing some graphics for some kids tee shirts for the summer. Brickley's gets an amazing amount of traffic during the summer, and I think they could really step up merchandise sales with some fun graphic variations. 

Brickley's Ice Cream Freelance Job.

Here are the 8 finished sketches that were submitted to the client designed for the Pint and Quart covers to their homemade ice cream flavors.

"A Tug Boat Story" Dummy Book Collaboration.

Bringing the Mix CD Back Project.

My Dog Millie Comics

Lovies Product Package Design.

My story of a Love Affair with Fonts.

Set Design Final Layout.

Set Design planning and sketching phase.

Freelance and Self Promotional Work.

Espresso Yourselfo Stationary Set.

Contemporary Theater Company Promotional Items.

Black and White Stationery Set.

Syracuse Poster Project Winner

The Alphabet Book.

Revised Portfolio Spreads.

So here it is! I've been working for weeks on finally getting this together. I'm sending these 15 spreads out to a company tomorrow for a design fellowship. I targeted works of mine that showcased my design, typography and applied illustration skills.