The best thing about my job is how many great people I get to meet (and the occasional free vinyl... and my coworkers... I digress.) I met Leela Robinson, the talented artist/biz lady behind Native Bear, through her hubs, John, from ATL band Turf War. I've drooled over her designs for some time, from bear teeth, to animal skulls, to the cutest little beer can stamp you ever did see (the only beer can stamp I've seen, actually!)
She's been kind enough to give away a set of the sugar skull cards above to a lucky commenter! See below for details, and Leela's story:
"I have always been an illustrator and designer. My mother is an oil painter and my father is a musician, so I’ve always been surrounded by artistic energy. NATIVE BEAR was literally created after I decided that I wanted an image of my dog to stamp on hand fans for my wedding last spring. It came out so cute, and I’ve been hooked ever since!"
"When I create a rubber stamp, it all starts with an image. Whether I design it myself, or the client provides the artwork themselves, I hand trace the entire thing. Next, I press and rub the tracing paper (for real) into a wonderfully soft, pink carving rubber made by Speedball (it’s like buttah, y’all), and then I proceed to carve out the image with traditional carving tools."
"NATIVE BEAR designs are inspired by nature, tribal patterns, living locally, universal love, and fun times. I love the immediate satisfaction of carving a custom rubber stamp, and I love that I’m creating something that can be used over and over again. Hand stamping stationery is a tedious but fun process, and it makes giving a card that much more special, which I love. As the world continues to get faster and faster, I can speak for myself when I say that it’s important for everyone to take a moment to write a ‘thank you’ card, or a ‘thinking of you’ card."
I couldn't agree more... Which reminds me to get out a few thank you notes of my own!
Thanks, Leela!
To enter:
1. Like Native Bear on Facebook.2. Leave me a comment with your email address, so we can contact you and know where to ship these!
For extra entries: share this giveaway (shortened link: http://bit.ly/IJphV8) on Facebook or Twitter, and leave an extra comment letting me know you did.
Giveaway closes one week from today, the morning of Friday, May 18 (my birthday!)
Congrats, second commenter!
Thank you for the giveaway - I like Native Bear of FB... and I love all the designs. If should win, I would request Leela to kindly give me Colorful Hawk Feather notecards, as Skulls depress me - :) hoping to win and hoping Leela will understand! Advance birthday wishes to you Alyssa!
ReplyDeletemubinster at gmail dot com
Great stuff! The design vibes feel like something straight out of the curiosity shoppe or paxton's gate here in san francisco!
ReplyDeletetrippgobble at gmail dot com