Am I right?  Last week’s arrivals were met with giggles and glee.  So much girlish whimsy!

First, I unpacked a box of bibs and booties, pristinely packaged and crafted by Bink and Boo.  Her bandito bibs are the cutest and have gotten quite a nice reaction already!  All of her creations are made from vintage tea towel fabrics, and backed with chenille.  Love!

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any sweeter in the shop, another box arrived, this one from a eagerly anticipated artist, Katie Lombardo, of The Wheatfield.  Her prints combine hand-lettered, favorite sayings and vintage-inspired floral illustrations.  The are a bit like Holly Hobby meets Anthropologie–doesn’t get much better than that!

I asked Katie to tell me a little about herself and her work.

She writes:

Hi there! My name is Katie Daisy Lombardo and I am a recent grad from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. After graduating, I was offered a 9-5 design job at a very large corporation. I was really excited by this prospect. I thought, “Finally, a sound way to pay off all these student loans!” After careful consideration, I noticed that my heart was being pulled in a different direction. I have always trusted my intuition, and I wasn’t about to turn my back on it this time. I decided to turn down the job and go full swing as an independent artist by relying on boutiques, markets, fairs, online sales, and faith to keep me afloat. I am so thankful for all of the support I’ve gotten thus far, and know it will continue if I keep true to myself.

Having grown up in a rural area, a large majority of my work is inspired by simple country pleasures. My creativity is sparked by the beauty of nature, reading a book in the grass, swimming in the river, camping with my sweetie, and  stargazing on a mountaintop. When it comes to materials, I only use what’s available in the here and now. If it’s in arm’s reach, you can bet that it’ll be in my art. I also like to incorporate found materials such as doilies, butterfly wings and tea leaves into my creations.

I’m so happy to be a new part of Hello Bluebird and hope that through this shop I can inspire others to live a simpler, more creative life!

I think I can safely say that I’m so happy, too, and inspired by both of these talented new additions to the shop!