Tag Archives: gift

New gallery, New exhibit!

Posted on October 27, 2017 by | Comments Off on New gallery, New exhibit!

At the end of the summer, I secured a spot in a local co-op gallery, Carolyn Seiler & Friends in Cocoa Village.


So now some of my original paintings and giclee prints are available for sale, and you can come see my stuff in person if you're in the area! I also have an upcoming exhibition at the local library, the Merritt Island Library starting November 2nd! 
I'm very excited to show my latest paintings!



If you're further away, I'm currently working on an online shop so you can see my work and buy it if you would like a print! I'll post once it's open. In the meantime, though, if you'd like to buy my cards, I now have two retailers where you can always find them here: Blow! Birthday Cards (an online card shop that ships from the U.S.) 
CardIsle (various kiosk locations around the U.S.)

And lastly, I'll be moving my blog to my website just as soon as I figure out how! In the meantime, have a great week and Happy Halloween!

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Process: Advent Calendar Noel Image

Posted on December 1, 2015 by | Comments Off on Process: Advent Calendar Noel Image
Hello! I just wanted to introduce myself in case you hadn't met me before.  I'm Adriana Hernandez-Bergstrom!  I go by Adriprints on my work, and  you can find me really easily with that moniker.  I'm the founder of the Finch & Foxglove art collective, and I did the first illustration on our digital Advent Calendar.

I am a really process-oriented person and I love learning how others get to the images they do.  I hope you can learn a little bit from my process too!

The "Noel Peppermint Bark" illustration started off as a doodle that I did in August or September.  I was at my mom's house playing around with an old watercolor set that I had left at her house in case all my luggage was lost.  In my mind, I was working on a tropical-Christmas kind of theme...



In between then and now, our group came up with a wonderful color palette for our advent calendar.  We looked at vintage Christmas postcards to get us started.  These colors were rich and wonderful, but not really tropical... and I really wanted to use the "Noel" lettering.  So I traced the lettering in Adobe Illustrator with the pen tool, used a color from our palette, and started working on composition with the other illustration assets that matched the palette a bit better.  I had created these assets or icons a few weeks ago by painting in watered down gouache.  They were extras from the greeting card project I did in October, and I did a direct "live trace" using Adobe Illustrator to capture them...


Once I had a composition that I liked, I brought each element separately into Photoshop, converted them to Vector Smart Objects and began to add texture and depth...


I really wanted a rich feeling like chocolate in the background, and at first I tried mint + chocolate with the lettering...


But, as you can see it looked a bit too cold in this version.  It read like mold or marble or something unappetizing.  So, next I tried peppermint, and that is what you see in the final image.  A little bit tastier, I think!



This is just one of the many illustrations in our wonderful digital advent calendar.  Follow along on our Finch & Foxglove Advent Calendar page!

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Giveaway Winner: Ambah O’Brien pattern

Posted on December 23, 2013 by | Comments Off on Giveaway Winner: Ambah O’Brien pattern
Last week after Ambah O' Brien's interview we held a giveaway for one her patterns, and we have a winner!

Sonya, entry #8, was chosen as the winner!


Sonya, you should hear from Ambah in the next week or so, please contact me if you have any questions!  Have a great holiday season, everyone!

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My First Knitting Machine

Posted on March 18, 2013 by | Comments Off on My First Knitting Machine
Thank you super-much, Victor.


A friend of mine was generous enough to give me his knitting machine.  Yes, he gave it to me!  So generous!!

Turns out he never got the chance to run it.  The machine's history is somewhat blurry, as it was given as a gift, and handed over from one person to the next until it landed in my studio.  My hands still hurt from carrying the heavy case, but in my excitement, I didn't feel it.  The only hitch- Empisal Knitmaster 324 came without a manual.

I found lots of great resources that probably didn't exist a few years back, and I found the manual for the 326 which is basically the same.  It's adorable!  It's really easy to put together, and it's incredibly dusty.  I'll have to take it apart and clean it, then put it back together.  But, before I invested time into doing that, I couldn't help myself.  I knit a swatch.

Here it is.  My first knitting machine swatch.


So excited!  Do any of you have knitting machines?  Do you have any tips on how to clean it?

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Christmas Knitting

Posted on December 10, 2012 by | Comments Off on Christmas Knitting

You all know that I am basically only capable of expressing my love in one way.

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But did you also know that, when I knit, I’m strong enough to bend steel needles? I didn’t.


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Post #200, a Giveaway, a Sale!

Posted on November 27, 2012 by | Comments Off on Post #200, a Giveaway, a Sale!
This post is #200!  Can you believe it?  I started blogging back in February of 2009.  Time flies!  You've seen me progress from aspiring designer and illustrator, to actually doing it.  Thanks for reading along.

So, in honor of a bit of blogosphere longevity, I'm giving away a sewing pattern, and creating a special coupon code for any knitting fans which will be valid for the rest of the week!


As for the giveaway,  I'm giving away the pattern for the Edie, 1967 Coat (Vogue 7239).  The pattern is for Size 14, Bust 36, and is for a dress version or a coat.



If you'd like to enter, just leave a comment below, and please include a valid e-mail address so I can contact you and mail you the pattern.  Giveaway entries will be accepted until the end of the week, as long as your comment gives you a time-stamp on or before Sunday, December 2, 2012.



As for the knitting pattern sale, all the patterns from my Ravelry shop are 20% off with the coupon code: BLOGLOVE1 also until December 2, 2012.  Enjoy!

You can check out the eligible patterns via this link.

Thanks for reading along!

ETA: Winners were announced!  Floralwhirl & Ruth's names were picked out together.  Floralwhirl took the pattern since hers was on top, and Ruth won a consolation prize fat quarter from my stash.

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Working On: Ben’s Mittens, A Red Hat

Posted on November 14, 2012 by | Comments Off on Working On: Ben’s Mittens, A Red Hat

Well, it’s been a while since I showed you what I’ve been knitting on.

I made this nice little red beret over four days in October, using some really beautiful Rowan Fine Tweed I bought at this summer at Knitting Sisters.

And for my friend Ben, I worked on a pair of mittens from a pattern book from the 1940′s, provided scanned by the V&A (WWII era; Essentials for the Forces). I guess this comes as no surprise, but I took them for a test drive (well, bike-ride) in the cold the other night, and was very impressed with how warm they were. Hands are still pretty much the same, 60 years later.


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Winter Accessories!

Posted on October 23, 2012 by | Comments Off on Winter Accessories!

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Working On: Estonian Socks

Posted on October 10, 2012 by | Comments Off on Working On: Estonian Socks

I’m not sure how it happened, once I finished my self-assigned interminable sock knitting, that I immediately turned around and started knitting more socks.

Because that’s exactly what’s happened.

These are even Nancy Bushes– they’re the Estonian Socks from Folk Socks (a 1994 classic that was just re-released last year). I’m working in Shepherd Sock, which I’ve never used before. I’m coming to terms with the superwash merino & nylon content.

Namely: is the environmental effect of eschewing superwash wool really worth it if the socks you make wear out in less than a year?

Anyway, it’s fun colorwork & a fun pattern, and I have less than two weeks to make the pair (and on US sz. 0 needles!).


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Working On: Fuzzy Pink Mittens

Posted on October 3, 2012 by | Comments Off on Working On: Fuzzy Pink Mittens

Nevermind all that I said about spending time sewing this month. I’m knitting something so cartoonishly knitterly that I feel like a look-at-how-kooky-this-girl-is sitcom actress:

CAROLINE sits down at the café table across from NIC, pulls a fuzzy pink half-knit mitten from her bag, and begins working.

CAROLINE: So, how was the show last night?

I mean, this actually is what I did on Saturday afternoon.

Anyway, I’ve stumbled into a newfound but very real love for angora. I haven’t ever worked with it, since it always seemed to be too much for me. It’s not my taste. But I think the qualities I used to find so jarring– it is undeniably fuzzy– are now maybe what draw me to it. Angora cannot be ignored. It does not apologize for itself.

I will leave you with this shocking thought: I’m thinking a good bit about a day-of-the-week set of angora-lined pulse warmers. Lord have mercy.


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