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Monica Karlstein and DIY Interior Book: “99 Hacks”

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Happy Mother’s Day

SWEDEN + TRAVEL

5 Things you might not know about Swedish Easter

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15 Ice Projects to make with kids

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10 Snowman Projects to make with kids

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Winter Wonderland Wishes

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DAILY Christmas Countdown Calendar: Invitation to join us in the 5th Annual

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24 Days of Scandinavian Creativity | Year 4 ROUND UP + YEAR 5 WARM UP

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Floral Bunnies

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  • I feel like we’re currently living in a “leaf snow globe!” and just wanted to share a wish to play. . . I hope you’ve been able to get out to enjoy the beauty of the season & in that spirit felt like bookending the weekend with a portion of Friday’s “film” as play: “Sunday Cinema” 🙄 reprise of Friday Films... ☺️🍂🌾🍁. . Enjoy! Share! Create! Imagine. . ......................................................... . (FILM) Friday Night Films Adventures + Tales N0 3: Marshmallow Adventures .. MATERIAL: hydrangea, fir, pine, roses, grass, pine cones, bark and leaves . . . I wish you a wonderful weekend of Fall Adventures! (And Spring to my Southern Hemisphere friends) .. . Illustrating with flower petals is almost a lifestyle. Every illustration begins with a walk and an adventure to find just the right leaves, petals and pods for a particular project. . . My own work with this medium grew from walks and talks with my own kids + projects we’d conjure up together & I love creating these little films for you and your kids, too! . The art that’s inspired all three in this a Friday Film Series, are pieces from an “Adventures and Tales” Print series for kids. . Wishing you weekend of adventures! . .. Find the first 2 in my feed: 1: Little Miss Muffet . 2: Little Red Riding Hood or by checking out this hashtag #willowdayfilm -. . If your kids would like more: Here are a few from my ABC Flower Safari book: #willowdayfoxtales #abcflowersafari . More Flora and foliage illustrations: #willowdayflowerprojectbygina . . . #stopmotion #photoshop . . .
  • Early morning light . . What would you do if you had the kitchen to yourself this morning? . . Friends never believe me that’s I’m not a morning person because I’m always up early. Maybe that’s exactly why I love being the first one up whenever I can —- my mind is clear. It’s super hard for me to wake up (my family can attest to this) but my thoughts are my own at this moment in the day. . . If it’s the weekend, I love to light candles, make coffee & set a scene... I love early morning baking... and to prepare something for everyone to enjoy later in the day; while I luxuriously wrap in a blanket and dive into whatever I’m currently passionate about: painting, working with a floral piece; writing ... etc. .. . Today, I’m listening to the rain fall while sketching with a peach crumble in the oven (peaches from a visit yesterday to a dear friends’s farm. Freshly picked!) )... I know every extra minute is golden as I hear a thump and a creak on the floor above... . I once heard an interview with Francis Ford Coppola who said that he , too, liked to write early in the morning “before anyone had hurt his feelings.” I thought that was a great way to relate creative process and voice. Are you also creative in the morning? Or night or something in between? . ..
  • (FILM) Friday Night Films Adventures + Tales N0 3: Marshmallow Adventures . I wish you a wonderful weekend of Fall Adventures! (And Spring to my Southern Hemisphere friends) .. . Illustrating with flower petals is almost a lifestyle. Every illustration begins with a walk and an adventure to find just the right leaves, petals and pods for a particular project. . . My own work with this medium grew from walks and talks with my own kids + projects we’d conjure up together & I love creating these little films for you and your kids, too! . The art that’s inspired all three in this a Friday Film Series, are pieces from an “Adventures and Tales” Print series for kids. . Wishing you weekend of adventures! . .. Find the first 2 in my feed: 1: Little Miss Muffet . 2: Little Red Riding Hood or by checking out this hashtag #willowdayfilm -. . If your kids would like more: Here are a few from my ABC Flower Safari book: #willowdayfoxtales #abcflowersafari . More Flora and foliage illustrations: #willowdayflowerprojectbygina . . . #stopmotion #photoshop . . .
  • Just a sweater weather kind of day: one over my shoulders and another on my table. . 🍁 🍂 .. . Materials: whirlybirds, grass, hydrangeas, arbor vitra .—- %100 nature & me ☺️ ... 🍁 🍂 Tap —- or just shimmy — if you love sweater weather too! . . #willowdayflowerprojectbygina .. . . . . . . . #carveouttimeforarthistory
  • Fall Fern 💛. . . Hi. I could barely get my dogs outside this morning for their morning walk after the kids left for school because we all need rain boots and umbrellas*; but that didn’t matter: I had all I needed and this table did not stay this clean for long. Trying to get two days into one, every day this week, before the kids two week Fall break starts on friday. #carpediem . .. *QUESTION: Do you have a hard time getting your pets outside on a rainy day? Ours will sit down in protest when it rains. (On the flip side: they love the snow. Good thing they’re Swedish dogs!” . #willowdayflowerprojectbygina .
  • Falling fall leaves ... . .............................. . [Friday night Film]* . . A week ago, Friday, playing into the cozy tradition of Friday night movies; I wanted to (attempt) to establish sharing Friday night movies . #willowdayfilm #sketch . Although it’s Saturday morning in Sweden, it’s still Friday night in another time zone and I decided to post this. . (—- As an ex-pat, time can be a little fluid in my mind —- conversations spread in different time zones really can expand the day —- thank you for indulging me ) . and ... hope this little sketch brings a little entertainment and sparks weekend inspiration! . .. . Happy weekend! ... . . . • PS: and yes, if you’re an old friend, I created this little film earlier and your déjà-vu is right! Thank for meeting me here and enjoying the simple beauty of the season. #alwaysastudent . . . . #myeverydaymagic #playmatters #sgiew_InspireAndCreate #sgiew #sgiew_autumn #autumnmood #photoshop
  • Just a typical Fall work table ... .. How can it already be Friday? This period between September 1 & the kid’s Fall break, coming soon in October, is an intense period of work for me. . . I have a nice, neat, desk work space that I haven’t even used since summer break. My work can get so “spacious” that it’s like I swim in a project and thought this work space might be fun to see. I have many new flora and fauna projects in the works... but, that’s a conversation for another day. .. I remembered that I had been photographed while working in the same spot the Spring (slide right) . . At that time, I was working on the ABC Flower Safari. #abcflowersafari . It’s really fun for me to see the flowers and colors to remember which exact pieces of work I was working on. Do you enjoy this process, too? . 2 down and maybe 2 to go? Could it be fun to add a Winter and Summer work life scene, too? .. #willowdayflowerprojectbygina . #abcflower . . #flowersmakemehappy #flowerflatlay #floral_simple_play #ginavideillustration
  • Nothing is ordinary . .. This is the hook for me when working with foliage. .. For every piece of street art I found this morning (stories), I saw an equal number of trees that looked like someone I knew or halted my cherished walk & talk time with my daughter to stuff my pockets with pine cones and leaves.... . There’s no sneezing, working by an open window on a breezy day or fast, broad, movements when I’m working with foliage; even clean up takes attention. ... . I’m trying to remember to take a video of an illustration in progress rather than taking one apart; but, I’m always feeling like it can look like grass growing & I tend to really get lost in the moment when I’m creating. Portraits, in particular, take time....and that puzzle is the fun for me. I think you can see a bit of the process here. . . Petal by petal. Blade of grass by blade of grass, placed one by one. . . #willowdayflowerprojectbygina .. . . ................... . . SIDE NOTE | PS: . “Tech” My husband was giving me a hard time this morning for working sooooo old school when I animate (yesterday’s “Red”) I basically use “flip book” technology and create every motion as a new page. I know... it’s slow. It’s cumbersome... (But, then again... I also made handmade paper that included petals from our wedding bouquets for the thank you notes for our wedding—- he knows..😅) . . So, I’m super curious. . if you animate or use iPad/computer for art —- and especially animate objets —- what programs do you use? . I’d love to hear what works for you? . I use @photoshop . . and “own” @procreate & have an Apple Pencil but rarely use them even though I Sketch (old school) daily. . I’d really like to experiment & to get comfortable with a tech solution this this winter. Have you ever taken a @skillshare class in animation? . . Enjoy the weekend!

gina @willowdaygram

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