country charm & CHA

Here is a teaser for my forth collection with GCD! (more images coming as soon as I get them)  I really am excited about this one.  I was inspired by summer picnics.  Think about putting a blanket in a nice bright green grass and eating berries and cherries.  Warm breezes and kids giggling. It is super sweet & very country.

Did I mention I will be at CHA at the end of the month?  I can't wait to meet the GCD team face to face.  I have been working with them for a year now and they have been so great.  So, if you are coming to CHA please swing by the GCD Studio booth and say hello....AND, pick up some free postcards!  I will have 20 sets containing 3 designs each (one of each design).

I hope you have a great weekend.  If your in Seattle, stay warm and dry and try to enjoy the snow.  If your in the DC area, I hope you enjoyed the sunrise this morning.  I am in Virginia for the next few weeks and this was my view this morning from my desk....not too bad.

Project Launch: Bonjour! and Flower Child

OMG!  Where do I begin.....I am so thrilled about the collections GCD is launching!  Last week I told you about Sweet Tooth.  Today I am here to tell you about Bonjour! and Flower Child.

Bonjour! should look familiar as it was also a fabric collection!  Check out the GCD Studio blog from January 13 for more images of the collection.

 

And a brand new collection called Flower Child.  I love this collection mostly because the colors are so bright and cheerful!  Check out the GCD blog here for more images!

It is great to see a year of hard work finally come to fruition.  That is the hardest part of licensing...you work and work but you can't share what you are working on and you don't see the final product for what seems like years!  I worked on these collections last year.  It is great to see them in real life.  I am so happy with them.  I hope you are too.  I would love feedback.  And, if you are a scrapbooker and create anything with my papers, please send me images so I can post them on my blog! You can email me at diane@ dianekappa.com

 Tomorrow I will share my 4th collection...Country Charm!

tangerine tie @ society6

It has been all most a month since my last update to Society6.  So, in celebration of Pantone's 2012 color "Tangerine Tango", I have recolored my top selling print "Black Tie".  Check out "Tangerine Tie" now available at Society6!

I LOVE this color!  What do you think?  Is it sellable?

the joy of books

This was done by my friends neice and her husband.  LOVE IT!  Had to share for a little Tuesday morning eye candy:)

Printsource starts today!

If you are in New York this week and attending Printsource, be sure to stop by the Group Four Design booth and tell Michael I told you to stop by!  I will be there in spirit!

represented by GROUP FOUR DESIGN STUDIO

booth F17-19

January 9,10,11

7 West 34th Street NYC

www.printsourcenewyork.com

Contact info@groupfourdesign.com to schedule an appointment.
Group Four Design Studio
240 West 35th Street, Suit 1001
New York, New York 10001
(212)268.0488http://www.printsourcenewyork.com/

introducing the sweet tooth scrap booking collection!

Introducing....the Sweet Tooth Scrap book Collection with GCD!  You can see images of the papers and embellishments on their blog!  Check it out!!  I am so excited about this collection - especially the embellishments!  Having this launch this month is a great way to start out 2012!  WooHoo!!

Here are a few of my favorite images from their blog.  Check out their blog for more images of the full collection!

I would love feedback!  What do you think?  Any requests for future collections?

reflecting on 2011

2011 is complete and 2012 has begun.  I feel I have to take a minute or two..or three...to sit back and reflect on the past year.

January- inspiration and new beginnings

-spent a week in NYC at Printsource & Direction

-shopped LA and attended my first CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) trade show

-met a new and exciting client - GCD Studios (I can not begin to tell you how excited I am to be working with them!!!)

-became a contributor in Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines 

-reconnected with my dear friend Suzan and her family while in LA

-traveled to Ohio and spent precious time with my family

February- focus, design and produce

-Bonjour!, my third fabric collection shipped

-Otthon magazine used my pillows in their February issue - a great layout!!

March- stepping out and being inspired by the unexpected

-spent a day with 3 very cool Hungarian kids teaching them how to silk paint (I had so much fun, I want to do it again this year!)

-reconnected with an old employer and started consulting with them

-took a guided architectural walking tour of Budapest and learned a ton! I live in an amazing city!

-attended TEDx in Budapest and was totally inspired

April- a month of love & celebration

-traveled to Hungarian wine country with friends, laughing and tasting yummy reds!

-reunited with my hubby after 3+ months apart! It was a romantic rendezvous on my birthday!

-threw a surprise birthday party for my father (with a ton of help from my little sister!)

-focused on painting black and white florals which ended up going to my NYC rep...there are over 100 paintings now...stay tuned for what I will do with the original paintings

-Ipop launched 2 of my magnet collections-Lazy Days and Bonjour!

One of the very many black and white paintings I did this year.

This one framed as a thank you for some very dear friends.

May- travels, inspiration and reconnecting

-I was interviewed by Provence Sun about my "Bonjour!" collection (May/June issue)

-attended Surtex in NYC and worked the Group Four Design booth - very educational and a ton of fun!

-ran into my friends the Gulassa Sisters while at Surtex - I miss you two!

-was inspired at the NYC Folk Art Museum - an exhibit of quilts

-Spent 3 wonderful days in NYC with my hubby (We have been to many places together but never NYC)

-Finally walked the Highline in NYC

June- time to put my nose to the grindstone and focus on designing

-worked on a catalogue for a new client-Europe2You

-redesigned my logo

-created a ton of work for my NY rep

July- juggling work and play

-reached my 500 print for Group Four Designs! (I am now at 630!)

-was interviewed by Xpat Loop

-spent a long weekend in Sumegpraga Hungary with Steven and my good friend Evi. I even saw my first Buddhist meditation center, Béke Sztupa.

-enjoyed a wonderful time with my Estonian friends (they are more like family) who came to visit

-I became an Aunt!!

My beautiful niece Josie and me.

August- being inspired by foreign and familiar places

-spent a wonderful 10 days in Beaucaire, France (this is where my collection "Bonjour!" was born)

-designed "Exotic Bohemian"

September- inspire, design and produce

-Phase 1 of my website redesign launched!  (Phase 2 is coming soon!) 

October- surprises & love

-started designing for Society6!

-felt very loved when Emily from Seattle visited me in Budapest

-visited the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna with Emily

November- hard work pays off with multiple projects launching

-designed a ton of work for Soicety6

-my first scrap booking collection "Home for the Holidays" for GCD Studios launched in Michael's!

-received a precious gift - a quilt made my grandma with my Bonjour! fabrics

-Ipop launches Love Song magnet collection

-enjoyed a lovely hike & hot wine in Normafa with my good friend Erika. (I am sad she is leaving Budapest soon)

-spent my favorite holiday (Thanksgiving) in Cincinnati with family!

-made a visit to the Cincinnati Art Museum and saw a wonderful exhibit!

December- a month to reconnect and plan for 2012...

-Lokalwear t-shirt project launched!

-spent the month in Seattle reconnecting with friends and business contacts!

-had the nice surprise from my NY rep who just happened to be in Seattle- spent the afternoon eating and shopping

-spent time talking about the future with a very dear and wise friend

-saw a fantastic exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum

-partispated in FAM (Fatto a Mano) in Seattle!

-had the best Christmas morning doing what I love the most - painting with a friend in our pj's next to a fire in the mountains while our husbands cooked breakfast (see photos below)

 Artwork by: Bonnie & Diane

Thank you Josephine for inspiring this post.  This is so helpful in planning for next year and for remembering accomplishments and events often forgotten from last year.  

Cheers to a successful, happy and healthy year full of love, laughter and possibilities!