#OOTDsketches (12)

On and off for the past few years I have drawn a quick sketch of what I was wearing on a particular day, usually just throwing the little sketch away shortly after I finished.  However, after I posted one on my instagram in January, I began to post a series of these sketches each Wednesday—both as continued exercise for me, and to share a little of what I love to do with you!

Here are my #OOTDsketches from this past week.  Enjoy!

Left: Easter Sunday! Beautiful day—blue pencil, lace top and nude pumps.

Right: Still enjoying the warm weather in a thrifted skirt and plain white Tshirt.  Mint leather jacket (fake) was added when the sun was hiding his beautiful warmth!

Left: Last day of work—just now noticing that I've worn blue all week (gasp!)... I promise, I wore pink on Wednesday, just didn't draw it!

Right: My cousin got married!  And I wore more blue... oops.  This is my standard "winter wedding attire" that I wore in March to another wedding.  I did end up wearing my hair in an updo, but... I lied in my drawing.

Here's an instagram of my handsome hubby and me!

 

Like what you see? Get your own custom, illustrative portrait for your home or blog here! 

  All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission This week I teamed up with The Pleated Poppy and her "What I Wore Wednesday" link-up!

Blog Stalking: Dressed Up Deniz

I found this blog yesterday (via) and instantly caught up pencil and paper!  "Dressed Up Deniz" is apparently an established instagram sensation with her feminine and preppy style though her blog is recent and rather limited at this time (only a few posts every month of this calendar year).  Despite this, I am seriously crushing on her style and wardrobe (and I'm now an "instagram stalker" too!).

The sketch is a quicky—but I loved this cape (and the outfit she's hiding underneath!) and couldn't resist sharing her site with all of you

  All illustrations and opinions are mine, "Daniz" does not even know that I'm doing this!

Sketchbook: Dancing and Free

Warm weather makes me jump and dance, glide (hah, not that graceful, but I try) and smile.  On the first warm(ish) day this spring, I drew this dancer—though the freak snowstorm that followed caused me to pause and I haven't touched it since...
ah well, here's to lemonade, sunscreen, warm breezes and frolicking in the sun (pretending to be ballerinas, of course)

   

  All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission

OOTDsketches (11)

On and off for the past few years I have drawn a quick sketch of what I was wearing on a particular day, usually just throwing the little sketch away shortly after I finished.  However, after I posted one on my instagram in January, I began to post a series of these sketches each Wednesday—both as continued exercise for me, and to share a little of what I love to do with you!

Here are my #OOTDsketches from this past week.  Enjoy!

Left: I know, I know, I wear this outfit all the time.  But honestly, I wasn't kidding when I said that I wanted to wear it every day!  And now that I can wear the nude pumps and bare legs??

Right: Freak snow-storm had me back in the layers. I did wear black sweater tights again on this day, though I didn't draw it that way.

Left: Feeling the spring "warmth" come back into the air encouraged me to don my pastels again.  I was tempted to wear my coral earrings, but didn't want to be mistaken as an Easter egg ;)

Right: Good Friday at home, working on this custom portrait.  Headed to stay with family, so skinnies and a lace sweater seemed just about perfect.

Like what you see? Get your own custom, illustrative portrait for your home or blog here!  

  All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission This week I teamed up with The Pleated Poppy and her "What I Wore Wednesday" link-up!

Custom Stationery: Willow Trees

About a month or two ago I was asked to design and paint some custom stationery for a friend of mine:

 

 

 

It was really fun for me to get a chance to work with someone I know personally—since at more than half of my "business" dealings are with people that I have never personally met, it was a special treat to be able to talk to this client in person :)
 

Request your own custom stationery (or the design you see above) by contacting me via Email or through my Etsy shop!

 

All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission

OOTDsketches (10)

On and off for the past few years I have drawn a quick sketch of what I was wearing on a particular day, usually just throwing the little sketch away shortly after I finished.  However, after I posted one on my instagram in January, I began to post a series of these sketches each Wednesday—both as continued exercise for me, and to share a little of what I love to do with you!

Here are my #OOTDsketches from this past week.  Enjoy!

Left: Wore black pants, but I don't like to color in black pants... so, there you go ;)  Worked in the nursery and enjoyed a chili-cook-off after the Sunday service!  Sooo goood
Right: Went to visit my baby sister at the "Arborshire" and was able to wear my "new" $3 jacket that I got at a school garage sale a few weeks ago.

Left: Enjoyed some time back coaching next to my main man!  His track team needed some help this week so I got to tag along in some of my favorite work out gear (Albion Fit)
Right: Feeling fresh and girly with the spring weather that has finally shown up this week!  Gray dress and blue cardigan.  I tried to get away without wearing tights... but no such luck.  Maybe this weekend ;)

Like what you see? Get your own custom, illustrative portrait for your home or blog here!   

  All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission This week I teamed up with The Pleated Poppy and her WIWW link-up!

Typography Style "Save the Date"

I am in the process of spring cleaning.

Unfortunately, not the house...

At least, not yet.

I just finished cleaning out the "Organize Me" file on my desktop that has not been cleaned out since Fall of 2010.
 

Yeah, it was time!

Anyway, I found the files containing my beginning thoughts on wedding fun, shortly after our engagement.  Among those files was my first "save the date" design that, I realized, never made it past the eyes of my roommates, fiance and mom since I went with a different design

 

I had tons of fun with the typography, which I drew out by hand before scanning it and converting it to the digital state that you find it in now.  So here it is, in all of it's unfinished, cast off, unused glory.

 

I still kind of like it... maybe I should have sent both versions out, haha

 

  All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission

Sketchbook: A Frozen Summer Scene

Ideally, the above sketch would be featured on a quilt in the fresh green grass, with a glass of ice lemonade and a light snack close by.  But my toes were still cold while I sketched this out last week, causing my imagination to freeze a little bit too.
And since it's raining out today, I think I will just keep this scene inside for now...

   

All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission

High Five for Friday

Every Friday, some of my favorite bloggers participate in a link-up called "High Five for Friday".

I've decided to join them again this week!  It's just a great way to look back and remember what a good week it has been!  (Find the original "link-er" here)

 

1. Opened up our "spring break" this week with a coupon on top of a sale at Micheal's!  For the two art teachers in our family of two (our entire family if you didn't catch that), it was like Christmas shopping.
 

2. Visited my baby sister at Spring Arbor University.  Miss this tall girl a whole lot (though we both agree that it's best when we don't share a room ;) )

3. Stopped by one of our favorite ice cream locations and were able to see this adorable elderly couple.  Only had a chance to sketch out the Mr before they finished their treat and left.

4.  The wonderful world of freelance slowed down this week (which was nice timing since my hubby is off this week!), and I had a chance to clean up around the house as well as get some little side DIY projects started (if not finished).

5.  This week has just been extra special for spending time with some friends—our entire weekend was packed with social "events" (it's a big deal for an extravert who works from home half the time!) and then with my husband's schedule being more relaxed this week, I am feeling super spoiled! 
     

  All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission

OOTDsketches (9)

 

Left: Favorite blush pink sweater paired with some teal accessories from the Italian flea markets.

Right: It was finally warm enough to wear some lighter material to work—and I couldn't help but include the teal accessories once again!

   

Left: Love this blue pencil skirt—nothing screams "I AM THE ART TEACHER" like a bright blue skirt in the sea of student uniforms and neutral business wear.  Add a lace top and coral statement necklace? Oh yes.

Right: Well, more lies—I didn't really wear this last one... HOWEVER! I did go see Captain America 2 and thought it was great!  And I was super excited to see it, so the stance is about right, hah!

    Like what you see? Get your own custom, illustrative portrait for your home or blog here!   

  All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission

Blog Stalking: Ruby Girl

Photo on right taken by Jaimee Morse

Another fashion blog that I stumbled across recently—actually I found this blog through "Jeans & a Teacup" that I posted about a few weeks ago.
Ruby Girl is the founder of a blogger group called "Fashion&Faith", and after stalking the various members, I thought I might as well follow the creator for a while!

Ruby Girl, or "Lindsey" is the queen of layering and pattern mixing.  Again, like many of the bloggers I have mentioned already, she is much braver that I am in her clothing choices and her budget is higher than mine.  While I don't read her blog religiously, her detail shots on instagram are always pretty.

The best part about her blog, however, is the locations she finds—always somewhere fun and aesthetically beautiful.  Go check it out!!!

   

  All opinions and illustrations are mine, "Ruby Girl" does not even know that I'm doing this!

High Five for Friday

Every Friday, some of my favorite bloggers participate in a link-up called "High Five for Friday".

I've decided to join this week—a great way to look back and remember what a good week it has been!  (Find the original "link-er" here)

1.  The week started off right with a great morning at Church and a lazy Sunday afternoon.  After a working Saturday, it was nice to be able to take a nap in the sunshine and not worry about waking up "in time"

2. The younger students started their Easter projects this week!  This is always fun—bright colors, lots of energy from the students, and the promise that Spring Summer isn't too far away.

 

3. Going through my first Liz Curtis Higgs book and I am loving it!  This woman is hilarious, but also has some great insight and gets you thinking.  I'm reading it with a group and I am struggling to stay at the designated pace—I want to keep reading!

4. The photo above is not from this week, but I've been feeling the love a little extra this week.  Not for any special reason, but I was just reminded of what a blessing it is to be married to this handsome, talented man!

5.  Lots of wedding themed work the past few weeks, and this week was no exception!  Really loving this recent rendition of a custom print that I did a while ago—now also available as note cards! (great for "thank you" cards)

   

All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission

OOTDsketches (8)

Another week has come and gone—here are the little outfit sketches I did this week
 

Obviously, the best part of this was the necklace.  Gotta love a coral and gold statement piece!

 

 

 

Extra warm sweater was extra helpful during our 30* fire drill..

Student asked me if I thought pink and gray looked okay together...

I just looked down at my clothes, paused, and then looked at her.  She laughed ;)

 

 

One of those days where the clothes I wore during the day were more comfy than the clothes I wore to bed.  Another advantage of working from home on Fridays!

        Like what you see? Get your own custom, illustrative portrait for your home or blog here!  

  All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission