Let the Fun Begin

Summer.
It's Officially Unofficially Here!
Starting with Memorial Day weekend, it's as if confetti has been
shot into the air to gently fall to the ground all during the months of
June, July and August in celebration.

And celebrate I DO!
If you follow me, you know by now that I'm definitely a
SUMMER GIRL.
Nothing is better to me than:
the scent of sweet summer air from an open window in the morning,
days purposefully planned to contain NO plans other than the spontaneous,
spreading out a blanket in the sun, closing my eyes and seeing the shadows
of the leaves of the tree above me as they gently move in the breeze,
barbecues and bonfires,
lemonade on the porch,
trips to farm stands and farmer's markets,
the feel of sand under my feet,
the sound of soft waves lapping the shore,
long weekend trips & summer vacations,
early morning walks admiring beautifully landscaped homes,
sultry nightwalks past the golden-lit houses,
dinners alfresco,
outdoor soirees and pastel sundresses,
days and days of beach time and boating,
walks along wooded hiking trails,
bicycling, badminton, croquet,
good summer reads,
firefly watching and night cricket sounds ...
just to name a few.

You get the drift ... I feel strongly about summer ...

  

If you should walk past my home during the summer,
you would probably hear soft tunes wafting through the air
of some summer favorites like
this, this or  this.
My love of summer

is often reflected in my illustrations, as well.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that
during the summer months,
I will be on a "non-schedule" schedule here at the blog.
In other words, there will essentially be no set blog schedule
for June, July and August.
Rather than a weekly post every Monday during these months,
I'll probably be popping in only a couple of times a month
(on no particular day) to keep you posted on anything new
 and to say hello and hear what's new with you!
I'll always announce one of these laid-back posts
on Twitter, Instagram, Vine and Facebook,
so, if you follow me there (please do!), you won't miss a thing!

I did much the same thing schedule-wise last summer
and it was very restoring and highly recommended ...
(Remember how we felt in school with the summer off to play? Uh-huh.).
Along with having the time to enjoy the pleasures of summer,
it also gives me time to let inspiration soak in,
and to plan future illustrations and exciting projects.
During the summer, I'll still be busy with commissioned illustrations,
as usual, so if there's something you'd like, just drop me a line here.

In the meantime ...
as of now you can consider me for the summer ...
"Gone Fishin' for Fun!"

P.S.

One of my wonderful blog readers said that
the following photo from last week's post
(where I mentioned that the photo makes you wonder where
the girl in the floral dress is going
and what the storyline would be that would accompany this image),
made her crave one of my stories (thanks so much, Teri) ...
so maybe I'll have to create an accompanying story
 for it sometime this summer ...
what do you think?
After all ... we all like a beach read ;)


Hope you all had a marvelous weekend!
I'll be chatting with you sometime soon!

Summer Vacation

Hi Lovies!

When you were a child in school,

did your teacher ever ask you

what you did on your summer vacation?

If a teacher should ask me today

what I PLANNED to do

on my upcoming summer vacation,

I'd have the answer.

I could pretty much hold up

my Summer Girl illustration above!

So, I thought I'd take today to announce

Ooh La Frou Frou's

upcoming summer schedule

so you'll have a little head's up!

I've mentioned a few times recently

how full my custom illustration schedule

has been since the beginning of the year.

More and more new and exciting requests

are coming in every week.

It's all so wonderful ... but a bit exhausting!

Also ...

before I even knew my illustration schedule would

be going from BUSY to SUPER BUSY this year,

I decided to take the blog

from one day a week to three

for the first time ever.
Crazeeeee girl.

My
SUPER BUSY

schedule then zoomed up to

 EXTREMELY SUPER BUSY.

Now I know why television shows

show run reruns in the summer.

A fellow blogger friend and fabulous hat designer

 with a blog named

"Couture Milinery Atelier"

takes each summer off in order to plan and create

for the next season.

With my current schedule,

that sounds like a perfect plan to me.

SO ...

here's what I'm going to do:

Beginning next week through the end of May,

this illustrated blog will go back to
one day per week, on Mondays.

Then, from June through August

I'll be taking the summer off from the blog.
I may pop in now and again throughout the summer to say hey
with a photo of something I've been doing
but no "real" posts will be happening for the summer.

This much needed time will not only:

(1) give me time to enjoy this precious summer before it's gone

(I really am a summer girl, you know, and as an artist
I'm normally inside in the studio A LOT); and,

(2) have time to take a deep breath in the sunshine

which equals inspiration.  Inspiration to create
future illustrations for YOU.
You see, along with all of the custom work,

I also have a zillion ideas floating around

every day and night ...
ideas of illustrations I want to create

to place on items for purchase.
But with my current schedule ...
I. just. haven't. had. the. time.
This will let me come back after the summer,
in September, with a bang.

During the summer, I will still be taking

custom illustration commissions ...

drop me a line here

if you're interested in getting on my calendar.
And I ALWAYS read all comments
my fabulous readers leave for me here.

So that's it, guys!

Does that make you want to take the summer off too?
Believe me, if it wasn't necessary, I wouldn't be doing it.
But great work requires time for inspiration.

So, I'll be back this Friday with a post,
and next week and through May it will be Mondays only
and then I'll be on:
Summer Vacation.
You'll be able keep up with me during the summer months
of June through August
and see what I'm up to via Instagram ...
(if you don't follow, please do so before then ...
I post photos of what I'm doing daily there)
You'll will also be able to
 keep up with me on Twitter and Facebook.

See you Friday, everyone!

OOH LA FROU FROU

is the blog of illustrator

SANDY M

Summer Girl illustration by SANDY M

Photos via my Pinterest "Summer" board.