Categories Archive
Red, white and black are perfect colors for any party. You can dress it up or down. It is the perfect vibrant color combination and makes a bold statement. Invitation Cake Bunting Table Setting Mason...
The Licensing Expo in Las Vegas started yesterday. Erin and I are not attending this year but our agent is there, Jewel Branding, Booth 7716. If you are attending stop by and say hi to Julie and Tiffany and pick up one of our cute notepads. We whipped up some cute bedding sets just in time for the show and a few other new items, here are a few of them. Hope you like them! Erin just got back from her dream vacation to Italy and Greece so I am sure we will be designing some new collections inspired by her trip, can’t...
We recently designed a Circus party invitation for SimplytoImpress.com. We designed a girl version, boy version and also a black and white adult version (not up on the site just yet). We had designed a Circus collection quite a while ago but when I was reading the Night Circus, I got inspired to design some birthday cards as well. It’s a fun theme, especially for little ones and you can do so much with it. Depending on how old your child is turning you could include a little petting zoo, a popcorn machine, a bubble maker, tickets for various circus games, animal cracker favors, etc. The cookies above are from BabyCakes Bakery, a vegan and gluten free bakery that I’ve been dying to try out for my daughter. I hope they open one up in Northern California soon! Invitation, Straws, Cookies, TableWare and...
We just got a big package in our office today. I love getting stuff in the mail, especially when it’s product we’ve designed. So fun! Licensing your artwork is a long process and we usually don’t see samples for at least a year after a collection has been chosen for licensing. These greeting cards were selected last year by Leanin’ Tree. When we first started our licensing business it was designing custom cards with TinyPrints.com. We were one of their first artists. We are currently working with one of the TinyPrints founders on a fun new project that just launched called Obsesuhn. It’s still in the beginning stages but I am sure it will be a hit as well. Lots of great custom pieces for your home, like pillows and wall art. My pictures don’t do them justice, they are much brighter and cuter in person, but having some picture taking issues today! Hope you have a great...
I’m working on a new collection today that includes a bunch of doodles we did for a corporate client. The client didn’t end up using them so why let them go to waste. I’ve just started tweaking them for licensing. I think I will bring this one home to show my girls, I am sure they can add a bunch of fun stuff. I know I am missing some hash tags and yolos in there. What else should I add? I’ll show you the final version when I finish it but here’s a sneak peek of where I am now. We did design another doodle collection called Rockin Rainbow that is on lots of fun products at Frecklebox.com, check them out or see my previous post about the...
SURTEX is just around the corner, May 19-21, 2013. We have lots of new stuff that we are getting ready for our agent to show, including an updated Brand Book, home decor, dishes, new design collections and greeting cards. Sea Breeze, is a new coastal collection that we’ve designed and here is a sneak peek to get your week started. I think these would look perfect on pillows and other home decor. If you are in New York for the Stationery Show or SURTEX be sure to stop by Jewel Branding at Booth 412 and say hi and check out our new stuff! PS – If you are going to SURTEX or NSS leave a comment on our blog and we’ll have a sassy gift waiting for you at Booth...
Nesting Design Collection Since we are licensed artists we always have to be aware of the trends and what new trends will be hot. But we always have to be a year or two ahead of the game since most of our artwork will take a year or two to be licensed, manufactured and then sold at stores. It’s a long process and you must be very patient. Birds have been trending for quite a while now. It seems like it should be over and then a new bird becomes popular! We have several birds in our design collections, love birds, owls, peacocks, quails, etc. Erin is ready for the owl trend to be over and she wishes she never has to illustrate another owl! But I think birds are here to stay, for a while anyway. Maybe birds will be to our kids what avocado green counters and refrigerators were to our parents. What were they thinking?! If so I will have to remind my daughter of the giant vinyl owl decoration she has in her room. Above is our original Nesting Design Collection and below you can see how it was applied in fabric, dishes, greeting cards, etc. Here’s my take on the bird trend and what it says about you: Love Birds – You are really romantic and crafty and your house is probably decorated shabby chic. Owls – Smart, hip, quirky and fun. Your house is eclectic and your a hipster with black frame glasses. Peacocks – Sophisticated, modern and rich. You are a socialite and have a modern mostly white house with touches of...
Our newest fabric, Let it Rain, is now available. For this collection we combined rain boots and umbrellas in bright and sassy colors. Here is a link to the quilt pattern seen above. I’ve always loved patterned rain boots, unfortunately I’ve never needed a pair living in California. But they are so cute! You could say this is the perfect rainy day project to do. Have a fire going and a cup of hot chocolate and you’re set. Have a great...
As an artist and designer, color is one of my favorite things. The right color combinations make all the difference in a design collection, a room in your house and even your clothing. Today is Holi, the festival of colors. It is mostly celebrated in India and Nepal and celebrates the beginning of Spring. I can not think of a more beautiful holiday celebration. The main day, Holi, is celebrated by people throwing vibrant colored and scented powder and perfume at each other. Bonfires are lit on the eve of the festival, prayers are said and praise is offered. The pictures are amazing and I suggest you take a look at some of these links; Poras Chaudhary a photographer and Google image search, so pretty. What a beautiful way to usher in Spring! Happy Holi Day!...
One of my favorite design collections is Mediterranean Dreams. I love the colors and the feeling I get when I see it. We have fabric that is out now in this pattern but we are also developing home decor products using the collection for Surtex and the Licensing Show. I would love to see pillows and sheets in this design. For home decor we softened up the tones a bit, the fabric collection is brighter. You can also currently purchase wall murals from MuralsYourWay. Below are the original design collection we did and also two color variations. Hope you like them! If you are attending either show, swing by our agent’s (Jewel Branding) booth and say hello. Surtex, May 19-21, 2013 in New York City, Booth 408 Licensing Expo, June 18-20, 2013 in Las Vegas, Booth...
I was doing some research last week, I can’t even remember what it was for but I stumbled across the most amazing artists. They are called Pip & Pop. The Australian artist duo Nicole Andrijevic and Tanya Schultz, create the most magical art installations. They use neon dyed sugar, glitter, and plastic toys. They create them in a manner similar to Buddhist Sand Mandalas. I think if there is a Heaven this is what mine would look like. Cotton candy, glitter, and neon sugar in all it’s glory! I felt like a kid at Disneyland, I could not look away. It was like my first time on the Peter Pan ride and all the sparkling stars and little houses below me, I was amazed. I hope you are amazed as well. If you like what you see just Google their name and you can see a bunch of additional images. I hope that they do a show in California! The title We Miss You Magic Land is the name of the art installation they did for the Gallery of Modern Art in Australia....
We have several new fabric lines coming out this month. We are expecting a big box of fabric today. It may include our Owl Friends fabric. We knew that the bird trend was not going away. Owls are super hot and have been for the last couple of years. My daughter has a vinyl owl applique on her bedroom wall that we got several years ago. We also have some designs that involve peacocks, quails and bluebirds because we know those are everywhere, especially in home decor. I bet almost half the people in the US have a bird pillow in their house, I know I do!! If you haven’t seen the Portlandia video “Put a Bird on It” do it now, so funny! Below is the original design collection and above you can see how it was used for fabric. We’ve also used it on greeting cards, canvas wall art, wall murals and...
One of my daughters’ favorite past time is doing their nails. They sit and watch Pretty Little Liars or one of their other favorite shows and come up with crazy nail designs to try. Their latest is to paint all of their nails one color and then ad glitter to one nail. It looks really pretty. I told them they should start a Pinterest account and collect looks they like and pin their own creations. So far that hasn’t happened. I never polish my nails because I have no patience when it comes to chipped nails but I do love all of the new looks and creative ideas. Here are a few of my favorites from Pinterest for Spring. Maybe this is going too...
We have a new collection available on Frecklebox. We designed it with tweens in mind. Sometimes tweens are like crows, they just want something shiny and colorful! We tried to pattern our design collection off of the old PeeChee folders that we used to carry around in the olden days. Because they had zero personality, us students had to go crazy and doodle and personalize them ourselves. Now a days you can buy folders with all sort of designs on them. But ordering personalized folders is pretty cool. Hope your kids like the designs and you get a warm fuzzy feeling as we bring you back to your junior high...
We’ve been really busy the last couple of weeks getting new collections designed in time for Surtex in May. Surtex is a big licensing show in New York that we attend with our agent every year. It is next door to the Stationery Show also a fun and inspiring show to walk. A couple of weeks after that our agent goes to Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. Both shows are a great place for manufacturers to see the S+K brand and to also set up any meetings with manufacturers. Plus it always inspiring for us to see so many amazing artists in one place. Right now we are working on new home decor collections. We designed this collection, Floral Abundance, specifically for home decor. We thought it would be great on fabric and bedding. I can even picture it as a beautiful rug. What do you think? We have some new collections specifically aimed at tweens that I will showcase next. We also have a really exciting deal in the works that I can’t talk about yet don’t want to jinx it but as soon as papers are signed I will spill the...
Our new collection, Multi-Modern Monograms is now available on Frecklebox.com. We got a lot of requests for a design that could be used with monograms and that could also be for both kids and adults. We thought this was a great collection for tweens and it also makes the perfect gift for your child’s teacher. We combined super hot colors and the always popular chevron in a design that is sure to please. What do you think? Next up for us in May, is the Stationery Show and Surtex where our agent has a booth and shows our design collections. We are working on a bunch of new stuff for that. We are hoping to have some new kitchen patterns, a home decor catalog and some coastal collections done by then. It’s always busy getting ready for shows. We will be posting sneak peeks along the way so keep an eye...
Since temperatures are supposed to hit 72° todayI thought we should celebrate by showing one of our spring collections. This collection we called Front Porch. Who wouldn’t want to chill out in a colorful adirondack chair with a glass of lemonade? We used parts of this pattern for a greeting card that was sold in Trader Joe’s. Many years ago when Erin and I were trying to come up with a name for our company we spent hours brainstorming. We came up with some great ones including Front Porch. In the end we settled on Simon+Kabuki (Simon was Erin’s cat and Kabuki was my rat) and that fit just right. That day was warm and sunny and we were at a design conference in Arizona, I guess we do our best thinking and designing when the weather is nice. If the weather keeps up be on the look out for some sneak peeks of our beachy collections! Have a great...
Even though it is raining outside and there are a bunch of dead leaves on my lawn, I am dreaming about spring and summer when I can be outside enjoying my yard. I love when all of the flowers are blooming and the vegetable garden is overflowing. I have a lot of work to do in my yard but with the cold weather I have a hard time motivating my lazy ass to get out there. But I definitely like to collect inspiring pictures of what I hope my yard will look like in a couple of months! I love using both Houzz.com and Pinterest to collect ideas. Here are some of my favorites from both sites and you can tell that I love the whole cottage garden concept and who wouldn’t love to have a pond a little boat in their yard?! What I really want is the house above, garden, picket fence, bike and all! And if it is a block from the beach, bonus...
We are currently working on a new collection for Frecklebox.com. We are aiming at the tween and teen market with this one. It includes fun flowers, polka dots and chevrons in a mix of popular colors. It should be up on Frecklebox shortly and we’ve also submitted it as a possible fabric collection. I love the summery colors mixed with gray. We’ve added a monogram for personalization on items like journals, lunch boxes, folders, etc. It’s a lot simpler than most of our design collections but I can totally see this mix on bedding and room decor. Simon+Kabuki Multi-Modern Notebook Simon+Kabuki Multi-Modern...
We got to the office today and there was a huge box at our doorstep. Our Mediterranean Dream fabric through Quilting Treasures is now on sale in stores and online and we just got all of our sample fabrics. It’s like Christmas all over again! If you’d like to make the quilt shown above click here for the pattern from Quilting Treasures. Here’s another great take on a quilt using the fabric by FatQuarterShop. Here is a link to the Dream On Quilt Kit designed by Jocelyn Ueng. The quilt is also featured in the March/April issue of QuiltMaker magazine. I think both quilts are beautiful, I love the addition of lots of white in Jocelyn’s quilt and think it would look great in this room that was just featured on Houzz.com. We’d love to see how you use our Mediterranean Dream fabric, send us a picture of your finished...
I love adding pops of color and bold graphics to a home. The key to achieving the perfect balance is to keep it balanced. If you are looking for an easy way to add a graphic pop, try painting a wall with chalkboard paint. It allows you to change it up whenever you want, like with the seasons or holidays. Another great idea, add a large letter or monogram to the wall. You could even take a sharpie to a kids room, just make sure they don’t see you doing it or you’re in trouble! Have an all white room? Adding a few bright colors will make it come to life. If you’re still not sure about what to add or afraid to make a commitment with paint or furniture go for a big graphic canvas. You can find tons of great ideas on Houzz.com and...
I thought it might be interesting to show how we design our collections and then incorporate those designs into licensed artwork for manufacturers. We usually start with a main idea. We always design a focal or highlight pattern and then design 5-6 additional patterns to coordinate with the focal. Having coordinating patterns is especially important for fabric and some other manufacturers. We get requests from manufacturers that we work with for certain types of occasions or things they are looking for. In this case, the manufacturer was looking for baby shower ideas. I really love this Jungle theme and hope it gets picked up for fabric or party ware. We are working on some vinyl wall decals, for a new site right now using a version of this collection. We also have this collection in blues for a baby boy. Hope you like it as much as I...
We’ve been busy here at Simon+Kabuki designing for next year. We are always a year or more ahead of the game. The licensing/manufacturing route takes a really long time. After we submit designs we usually don’t hear back for several months. If a design or collection is chosen it can take an additional 6 months to a year to see any product. We must be very patient, not easy for us Silicon Valley girls where everything happens at the speed of light! Our corporate design business, E and I Design, gives us the instant gratification and payday that we crave but it is so much more rewarding to see something you’ve designed at a store that you shop at! Check out our latest greeting card designs for next Valentine’s Day and Easter. Hope they make it into a store near...
“Emerald, a vivid verdant green, enhances our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight as well as promoting balance and harmony.” Sounds good to me. I love that Pantone has picked bright, fun, full of energy colors over the last few years. Emerald green is the most abundant hue in nature, we see more green than any other color. It brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation. So it only makes sense that in the year 2013 as we try to move forward into a better economy and greener, healthier lifestyle we choose the best color to represent that! Purse, iPhone Case, House, Kitchen,...
One of the things I did over Christmas break was to go through closets and drawers and get rid of things that I don’t wear, or are stained, torn or shrunk. I had my kids also do the same thing (they needed to make room for all of the clothes their grandparents bought them!). I found lots of cute things (especially in my youngest child’s pile) that had a hole or a stain but otherwise was okay. I had them make two piles, throw away and give away. It seemed a shame to throw away some of the things we had so I thought we should upcycle them instead. I did some searching online and on Pinterest and found lots of fun projects we can do. Here are a few that you might like as well. They all seem pretty easy. I don’t sew but I think my mom could help if we get stuck. I hope to have time this weekend to try a few out, if I do you’ll be the first to see them. Pink Gloves, Heart Scarf, Sweater Boots, Fabric...
