Love is Love Ornaments

My art fair season ended with a whirlwind of other developments on the home front, which put the blog in hibernation mode. This snow inscription on my January 1 walk was a lovely intention setter for 2020.

Now I am slowly getting adjusted to a new schedule, which gives me a moment to share my collaboration with the fabulous Matthew LaFleur. Known as Doodlematt on Instagram and Lafleur Illustration on Facebook, Matt is a gifted artist with a knack for wonderful character illustrations.

I have been making wedding ornaments ever since my cousin gifted me with a pack of her wedding napkins in 2009. I love the stick figure illustrations, and they resonate with customers too, both as wedding gifts and paper anniversary gifts.

I also have a stack of Delft Blue napkins and the Dutch Kissy Couple has its own following too.

However, with so many of my friends being part of the LGBTQ community, I felt the hetero bias of my ornaments needed a reality check. I thought about drawing stick figures myself, but with the holiday season in full swing I decided to outsource this task, since I have so many fabulous illustrator friends. Matt was the first I contacted, and after a few back and forth messages, he came up with some concepts.

I gave my feedback, and we settled on this adorable trio.

I formatted the designs into a document and then printed it on tissue paper.

I sized wire shapes around them and started making the ornaments.

I also printed some on confetti paper, but that effect was not foolproof.

I had found some Alphabet beads at the store and decided to sort out some love-related letters.

Then I put those on the ornaments. They have a swinging effect so as the ornament moves the beads also shift around, which adds a touch of whimsy.

The first set made their debut at DANK Haus Weihnachtsmarkt in December.

I sold the first brides during my trunk show at Artem Pop Up Gallery.

I hope my other new friends get adopted as well over time. For Valentine’s Day I have a trio at Artem Pop Up Gallery.

The beaded ones are in my own stash, so you’ll have to contact me to snap one or more of those up. Happy Valentine’s day, however you celebrate love this week and any other time of the year!