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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Pen Drawings

August 3, 2012

Every day, I whip out my sketchbook and doodle with my new favorite pen (0.4mm is the best). These are the ones I like from the last few days: ... Read more

Filed in: black and white, illustration • by sanae • 1 Comment

Polka dotty

August 2, 2012

At an excruciatingly glacial pace, I am working on customizing WordPress and getting an etsy shop up and running. Perhaps you'd like to see a little cheerful illo I worked on today? I've been a big fan of polka dots before it became the hot trend and combined with sunshine yellow shoes, it's an outfit I want for myself. ... Read more

Filed in: digital, illustration • by sanae • Leave a Comment

Drizzly Summer

July 27, 2012

Rainy Day

Another grey day and another digital drawing. Maybe it's because I live in the Pacific Northwest, but I really enjoy drawing clouds and raindrops. It's chilly and un-summery outside, but I've got my trusty cafe au lait beside me and I'm admiring the many tattooed hipsters flowing in and out of the coffee shop. I've never had any desire to get inked myself but I actually love tattoos. If I were to get one, what would it be? There might have to be some stripes (I do love me some stripes!), and ... Read more

Filed in: digital, illustration • by sanae • Leave a Comment

Lovely client

July 26, 2012

Fall Illustration

I used to create little promotional fliers for a small boutique called Mapel until I went back to work full-time. Because they had a very small budget, they offered trade for my illustrations. This meant that I got fancy designer jeans and cute trendy tops -- totally worth it, in my opinion! It was a sweet and stylish shop and the women who ran the business were fantastic. I found one of my favorite illustrations for a Fall promo they had, and was reminded of how much I enjoyed drawing ... Read more

Filed in: digital, illustration • by sanae • Leave a Comment

Running through Rice Fields

July 24, 2012

Every so often, I would get on an exercise kick while living in Japan. I would don my roomiest t-shirt, snap on my headphones, lug my enormous Sony Walkman and head out the door. The year was 1996. I would run along rice paddies, spotting a heron or two as the sun started to descend. With Natalie Merchant blaring from my headphones, I would start vigorously enough, only to peter out about half a mile into the run. It was peaceful among those rice fields. Crickets and frogs would snicker ... Read more

Filed in: black and white, illustration, life • by sanae • Leave a Comment

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I just realized that this week marks 10 years sinc I just realized that this week marks 10 years since my first craft book Sewing Happiness was published. I’ve sewn literally thousands of garments and other textile projects in the last decade! I included a Sashiko primer in the book, and I’m delighted that this humble Japanese embroidery practice has stood the test of time - if anything, I’ve noticed that there’s an ever growing enthusiasm for hand stitching. Fun news: I’ll be teaching a virtual Sashiko workshop for @tatterbluelibrary on Thursday, April 30th at noon ET. Link in profile! Would love to see you there! 💙💙💙💙💙
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