stationery
Very excited and honored to say that courtney khail watercolors (more specifically my wildflower stationery) is in the newest issue of Stationery Trends Magazine. Thank you so much to the Stationery Trends team for including me! It's an honor to be among such talent.
I know a bunch of people aren't fans of today- some think it's overly commercialized, puts unrealistic expectations of couples to be overly romantic, and as for all my single ladies out there (and guys) it can pretty much make you feel like you're all by your lonesome. But personally, I love Valentine's Day. An entire day devoted to being sentimental and sappy? A day devoted to celebrating love for the sake of love? A day that ENCOURAGES the use of glitter?! Come on McScrooges. That's a beautiful thing. Of course that said, I'm not a red roses kind of gal, I prefer to stay in on Valentine's night, and as for presents? A handmade card is more than enough for me. (Though this year J. gave me a gold iPhone. Not so much of a Valentine's Day present as a "seriously, Courtney, your phone won't even accept text messages anymore you need this" purchase. It just happened to fall near Valentine's so he insisted it was a present so I couldn't refuse. And because he deserves the recognition for being awesome, he also brought me a Chickfila chicken biscuit for breakfast, woke me up with Atlanta style with Outkast's "Happy Valentine's Day," and made me a card. He's a winner, ladies.)
The only thing I wish would be different about Valentine's Day, is how much we stress romantic love. Of course that's amazing and I wish true love for everyone, but the love we have for family and friends is special too and deserves to be celebrated. Wednesday, I had some of my girl friends over for cookie decorating (well more a lot of talking, eating, and champagne with a side of cookie decorating) and couldn't get over how blessed I am to have such amazing, supportive women as my friends. And not just my Denver friends, but all my East (and West!) coasts friends too. And then there are my parents and my sister who are so amazing and I have so much love for, as well as my awesome in laws, my aunts, my uncles and my cousins. And then my best friend who doesn't think it's weird at all when I send her long emails about the dream I had predicting the sex of her baby or send texts that only consist of completely random thoughts that pop into my head, or my other bestie who without a doubt always has flowers in her guest room when we visit and makes sure to schedule "phone dates" so we're always caught up on each others lives. And there there are all of you who have supported my work and me - from taking my classes, buying my stationery, or simply just liking what I post on Instagram- you're all so wonderful.
It's almost overwhelming to think of how much love I'm fortunate to have in my life. And not just me, but all of us. Whether you're in a relationship or not, we're all surrounded by so much love. And THAT is what I think Valentine's Day is all about. To celebrate the love of our everyday lives.
Well that and chocolate. Because come on. Everything is better with chocolate.
Oh! Also wanted to invite you all over to read the piece I did for Clementine Daily. If you have the perfect Valentine's Day card but have absolutely no clue what to put inside it, this one's for you. (Also, my funny card example is for everyone who has ever had to sit through one of my stories. I am the longest story teller ever and I love you all for still listening to them.)
And on that note, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! Whether it's getting dressed up and going out, making dinner at home, or simply curling up with a stack of your favorite magazines- I hope it's a day filled with love.
You can buy these over in my shop!
Well hello again! I can't believe it's been two months already. Okay, that's technically a lie. I can believe it because SO much has been going on these past two months. Before we get to the big news (spoiler alert, the title gives it away) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I kept meaning to stop in and wish you those when they were a little more relevant, but then... well to be honest, I forgot. Between making cookies with friends, hosting our first annual Christmas Costume Pub Crawl (J dressed as Ralphie from A Christmas Story- pink bunny footsie pajamas and all), and traveling back east to visit friends and family for Christmas (which was so wonderful! in addition to getting to spend quality time with family and see some of our very best friends, my dad picked up our favorite desserts from this one special bakery so I pretty much ate my weight in fritters, doughnuts, and danishes. It was glorious.) well, between all that I just didn't really remember to stop by here. I did get some reading done though, so now I don't feel so bad when I think about how long it's been since I've read a real (well kindle, but thats going to have to count) book. What about you? Get to do anything fun? Hoping so! Even if that "something fun" meant getting some time off of work and lounging in pajamas all day. Lounging in pajamas is one of my favorite activities.
Now that we're all caught up... time for the big news! Remember how I kept alluding to "something big in the works" and posting photos on Instagram with sneak peeks? Well now I can finally tell you!
photo via my instagram feed
Over the past few months (well more like last 6 months) I've been really busy trying to make a dream become a reality. From narrowing down my designs, painting, inking, painting again, meeting with printers, cursing printers, meeting with more printers, finally finding a printer who understood my vision and was willing to take a chance on my vision, to researching paper, sourcing paper, running press stops to check colors, tweaking the illustrations, designing a catalog, shooting the finished products, and updating all of my branding stuff (did you see my new logo over on Facebook, etc? I love it. It'll be on the site soon!) it's been a crazy ride. But it's been SO worth it.
Now, five years after launching my company, I am finally offering printed note card sets!!
And I am so stoked/excited/amped. (And a little shocked five years has passed so quickly!)
photo via my instagram feed
So if you're thinking "but Courtney, I thought you already had a stationery line?" Well you're right. I did. Well, I do. But before, I hand painted EACH and EVERY card. And while I loved them (and y'all seemed to love them which made my day every single day) I realized they cost more than I wanted them to (but I couldn't lower it due to the time and materials necessary) and you all kept telling me how "you save them and only send them to very very special people."
Which was awesome. Kind of. I loved that you all cherished them, but my whole mission is to provide a touch of beauty and luxury to your lives, while nurturing connections and memories through letter writing.
And, well, if you never SENT them, I was actually providing you pretty art that stayed wrapped up beautifully in your drawer. Which is not exactly the same thing.
So I started asking and realized that as long as I kept painting them, you'd keep squirreling them away. So that's when I shared my thought of printing them with the hubs. (I find it helps keep me on track if I tell people my goals. Mostly because then they ask how it's going and I feel like I better have something to say haha) He encouraged me to go for it and soon after I started trying to find a printer.
photo via my instagram feed
The problem? I had very high expectations. If I was going to do this, I wanted them to be amazing.
The best paper (a luxurious, super thick, 100% cotton paper to be exact) and I wanted the printing to look JUST like my painted ones. Which wasn't easy. But I was determined, and that paid off. Eventually I came up with a two stage printing process that would not only capture the subtle variations in the watercolor, but also capture the bold, raised (this was key) line work of my illustrations. So yea, each card is actually printed TWICE. It's definitely more work, and a little pricier, but it is so worth it. I kid you not, they look JUST like my hand painted ones.
photo via my instagram feed
Which of course, is exactly what I wanted.
So there is my big news! (Yay!) My note cards are officially available in printed versions, and you can buy them from my shop (and if all goes well, from brick and mortar stores in the near future.)
I'd love to hear what you think about them (and would really really love if you could help spread the word about the line!) And on that note, I also want to say a big thank you to everyone who has encouraged me and believed in me- that includes you. I wouldn't have been able to do this without your love and support. So again, thank you. Thank you so so much.
Now let's go write some letters.
via here
A few weeks back I was contacted by Manner & Lane about having my work featured in their premier issue. I knew if it was anything like their brother site Bearings (a really cool lifestyle guide for Southern men), it was going to be amazing so I jumped right on board. Well the issue just launched this past Thursday and I thought I'd take today to share it with y'all! Here is the link.
A little bit of what Manner & Lane has to say about themselves: Today’s Southern woman wants to enjoy a full life, but one with fewer distractions that is defined by meaning and her own unique identity—a less complicated, richer existence, rooted in the place and with the people she loves. Manner & Lane aims to curate and celebrate this perspective. We’re on a search for uncommon quality, intriguing culture and enriching stories.
Isn't that beautiful? I can name many women (both Southern and not) that would agree to wanting that life.
A huge thanks goes out to Manner & Lane for the amazing feature, as well as the lovely Jennifer who introduced us. And if you haven't taken a look at Manner & Lane yet, (what are you waiting for?!) do that right away. Not only is the site is absolutely beautiful, but the writing is superb as well. If you like what you see, I know they'd love to have you sign up for their newsletter. Happy Monday everyone; I hope it's a lovely one.