In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

I finally caught the Instagram bug (@oliviakanaley), so I thought I'd share a little recap of what I've been up to this month. Early in March I headed to NYC to style a PR brunch for Minted. I got to explore the city a little while there, walking from the Chelsea Market to Times Square by way of the High Line. Back in San Francisco things have been mostly quiet. This week, I helped out at photo shoots styled by Viola Sutanto for the next Minted catalog, and today I spent the afternoon at the Cal Academy, nerding out over botany specimens.

Woodland Creature Valentines

Hi friends, I hope you had a happy Valentine's Day! I just wanted to share the mini cards I made featuring some woodland animal illustrations and corny little sayings. Click the image above for a closer look.

Hand Lettered Holiday

This week, as I was working on some Valentine card ideas, I realized I never shared my 2012 Christmas card with you. I suppose it's quite off topic in February, but I didn't want to let it slip by unposted.




O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) is one of my favorite Christmas carols, and I especially love the older recordings that use the original Latin, so I let that inspire the text for my card. I created the design by hand, first with pencil and paper to work out the lettering, and then with gouache paints on drawing paper. I took the scan and had it printed on Minted's Triple Thick Paper, then finished off the edges with some gold gouache, for a DIY gold-foil effect. I paired up the cards with some green envelopes, and a set of closure stickers I made to coordinate (see them larger here). Now, perhaps I should get back to my Valentines in hopes of getting them posted sometime before March!

DIY Photo Ornaments

This is the final holiday project I created for Julep. I think it's a great way to repurpose photo holiday cards at the end of the season — set some aside now, and turn them into keepsake ornaments next year. Get the full tutorial over at Julep.

Handmade Christmas

Dear friends, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas day and have been enjoying the holiday season. I am happy to be home visiting my family until New Year's and enjoying some free time. December of last year I was working on this gingerbread house for, Handmade Christmas. The book was released by Penguin Books Australia over the summer and I've been meaning to share this project with you. The house is made of cardboard and trimmed with all kinds of craft store findings — beads that look like lollipops, peppermint-twist ribbon, sugary crystal glitter and plenty of colorful paper. Just in case you'd like to do a little post-Christmas crafting, I'm going to post the template here.