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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Happy Thanksgiving!!

November 24, 2016

Hello! I'm wrapping up the week with this quick little post. I have much to be thankful for and as 2016 is coming to a close, I also have much to reflect upon. This has been what M and I are calling a "life-changing" year and I've had to relearn a lot of lessons...we're dealing with unexpected health issues in our family that I won't go into and it's been topsy turvy all around. Right now, at this very moment, however, we are all well. Thank YOU for continuing to visit my little space, as ... Read more

Filed in: illustration, watercolor • by sanae • 18 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

October 7, 2016

M used to have this phrase he would toss out whenever he wanted me to do something that he could easily do himself but was feeling less than motivated to execute. "Would you be a peach?" he'd say. Usually it was followed by a request to get him a glass of water, or roll up the sleeves of his shirt, or you know, something mildly inconvenient for me. But he'd say it in this jokey cute way, and of course I would do it. Lately I feel like my days are an endless litany of these kinds of mildly ... Read more

Filed in: illustration, watercolor • by sanae • 6 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

August 5, 2016

Happy Friday! Keeping it super duper short today since we're attempting to get out of town this weekend. Above is one of the projects I worked on recently for the Seattle Japanese Garden that I believe is already printed by now. I had a wonderful time painting this, and it will be part of their self walking tour brochure. Fun! I hope to work on more maps in the future. I recently saw this book and this book in a store, and deliberated long and hard about purchasing them, but in the end, I left ... Read more

Filed in: gouache, illustration, watercolor • by sanae • 7 Comments

I am now a minimalist traveler

July 12, 2016

We made it back in one piece! After a soul-nourishing and relaxing week in Michigan, our flight back to Seattle was mysteriously canceled so we had to scramble to Chicago via rental car to make our connecting flight because all the airlines were booked solid (or so I was told). We cut it super close, but cruised through Illinois toll booths, security checks and grumpy child syndrome with surprising ease. Actually, the grumpy child syndrome was non-existent because K was a champ. She hardly ... Read more

Filed in: illustration, life, watercolor • by sanae • 8 Comments

Stay Curious

June 20, 2016

A little behind the scenes of one of the projects I worked on over the weekend. A dear friend of mine commissioned me for an illustration to give to her colleague, and I loved trying out different lettering styles. The colleague's catchphrase is "stay curious," which is a brilliant one. I have two more illustrations, another quick translation assignment (this time I'm learning all about the art of sushi plating and presentation -- so, so cool), and a craft tutorial all due pronto so I am ... Read more

Filed in: black and white, illustration, watercolor • by sanae • 4 Comments

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The holidays are upon us!! 🎄🎁 I’ve posted The holidays are upon us!! 🎄🎁 I’ve posted this year’s free printable holiday tags on my blog - link in bio! Can you believe I’ve been creating these printable tags for over 10 years?? This year I included outtake illustrations from my book SHIBUI so these tags and bookmarks could be used for gifts all year round. I also painted a few holiday-ish ones too! Enjoy, and have a lovely and celebratory season! I’m taking my usual winter social media break, and I’ll see you back here in 2026 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
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