My entry for this week’s Illustration Friday–sometimes, love is brave. I know, I know, it’s sentimental, but that’s why I enjoy children’s art. It allows me to tap into my sweet and sappy side, guilt-free! This happy pair will soon be available as a print-a-doodle in the shop.

You may have noticed a “new arrival” in the Calobee Doodles shop: birth announcements!

I started thinking about this when I had my daughter and was looking for birth announcements myself. I found several cute cards online, but to be honest, the prices were outrageous. I realized that, even in my postpartum haze, I could easily design something just as cute (and have it printed for much less!)

So, I came up with this, and I liked it enough that I thought others might be looking for attractive, affordable designs, too. I made a mental note to try my hand at some templates when I was slightly less frazzled by new motherhood. Hey, it only took a year.

There are currently three designs to choose from in three different colorways. I’ll be adding more as I go, so if there’s a particular style of design you’d like to see, let me know! I’m also available to do custom party invitations, wedding or engagement announcements, and I may add some designs for those in the future, too.

It’s that time again! I’ll admit this one isn’t particularly inspired, but March is not exactly an inspired month in Maine. It’s rainy. It’s gray. It’s not particularly warm when you factor in 40 mph winds. I’ll have something more exciting to offer come April, I’m sure. Until then, here you go:

One popular custom request is scenes or portraits drawn from photos. Rachel of Koukla Mou Designs asked for a custom doodle based on a photo of her sitting in front of a pretty water landscape.  These doodles are somewhat challenging for me because I’m obviously not a “realistic” illustrator, but I like to stay true to the original while maintaining my style. Rachel’s portrait came out really well, and working on it inspired me to try my hand at another landscape–more on that one later!

New to the shop: Print-a-Doodles!  Printable illustrations you can use for scrapbooking, buttons, magnets, party invitations, wall art, and more.

This is my first foray into selling digital products (that aren’t custom) and something of an experiment. I’ve purchased a few printable products on Etsy before with great success, so I thought, “Why not try downloadable doodles?”

I’ll be adding more of these to the newly minted Print-a-Doodles section of the shop over the next few days!

This is my first entry to Illustration Friday. *blushes and waves tentatively* I’ve watched TGIF from afar for a while now, but when I saw this week’s theme, “perspective,” I thought my favorite “sea” print was perfect:

Looking down on their world as they look up at yours.

Next week I’ll try my hand at something brand spankin’ new.

Soon to be added to the shop: this sweet numbers and fruits poster!

It took me longer than you’d think to decide which fruits would stay and which ones wouldn’t. I wanted a good color balance and a variety of shapes and sizes. Fruits that I doodled but did not make the cut: starfruit, grapefruit, pomegranate, raspberries and coconut!

My friend Emily and her husband Scott are having a baby soon, and I was flattered and thrilled when Em wanted to hang two of my prints in their nursery. One of those prints is “sea,” but the awkward 12×36 didn’t work very well in their cozy space. Emily asked if I could rework the seascape into a slightly different size, and I was so pleased with the result that I’m offering the alternate version to others as well. It’s now available in the Posters section of the shop in 12×18 or 16×24–it might be easier to find frames and/or mats to fit these prints.

I am the queen of the unfinished project. It comes with the territory–I have a short attention span and I’m prone to “ooh, shiny” moments. Lots of them. My husband once noted that my “ooh, shiny” moments have “ooh, shiny” moments, and I would have argued, but… hey, lookit that over there!

So I thought if I posted some of my favorite “works-in-progress” it might motivate me to, well, work on them!

This is a doodle I started for my daughter, Ellie. It’s “Ellie on her Ellie-phant,” and someday I hope it will hang in her room.

This started with a series of quick icons for my Web site, and because I enjoyed working in such a small scale, it turned into tiny drawings of random things. I’ve yet to decide if this will eventually become a print or if these will be broken up and used elsewhere.

This is a former work-in-progress that’s soon to be finished! My awesome printing company offers large-format, banner-style sizes, and I thought they’d be perfect for growth charts–children’s designs that are both artsy and functional. A version of this particular design had been sitting in my illustrations folder for months and now it’s finally going to see the light. Hurrah!

One thing I’m going to work on this year is making some doodles that are slightly less, shall we say, girly. I have a tendency to trend toward pinks and purples, but I wanted to try my hand at some doodles for the boys, too.

To start, I’ll be offering the numbers poster in two new colorways–one that’s mostly blues, greens, and browns, and another that’s more neutral, with pastel greens, yellows, and oranges.

Watch for them in the shop!