Blog — gift giving
Kraft floral art prints are here - rustic & cozy farmhouse charm for your home
Darya Karenski antique artist life cozy home everyday flowers gardening gift giving gouache history home inspiration kraft memories nature New England painting rural rustic rustic floral shabby chic slow living small business vintage wall art
As a proud owner of an old New England house built in about 1840s, I have a soft spot for all things rustic farmhouse. We asked a local enthusiast to look into the history of our home and oh the treasures he found - I get to keep the photocopies of all the existing deeds on the house - first written in quill, then created on a typewriter, then the fax-type font from the 1980s and 90s, and finally, your typical Times New Roman of the new era. In this Library of Congress 1878 map of Ashland, our house is present and...
Can you smell it? Introducing my olfactory artwork collection!
Darya Karenski aromatic plants flowers fragrance fragrant plants gardening gift giving gifts home inspiration nature olfactory painting perfume scent small business watercolor
Fragrant flowers, perfume notes, fragrance art - oh my! I'm so excited about all of this. Great smelling things are my passion. I have been meaning to dive into perfume art for a while. It actually, started a few years back when I created my Aromatherapy design and lots of its derivatives. By the way, you can find the main Aromatherapy print as a silk scarf and kitchen towel in the shop, as well as wall art. Back then, I made an elaborate list of all things fragrant including flowers, fruits, nuts and... moved on to my pattern design work and what...
Florals for summer? Groundbreaking!
Darya Karenski flowers gift giving silk scarf slow fashion small business sustainability textile design watercolor
Ahhh... summer! My garden is bursting with new blooms every week. In addition to painting them (and filming quick painting tutorials with voice over - check out my Instagram & Facebook reels and TikTok's), I've decided to bring in something special to my silk scarf shop. It is no secret that my illustrated square silk scarves were painstakingly painted and designed over months - I added them to the shop exactly a year ago. This year I decided to offer something a little more light-hearted! 🌸 In addition to the existing 4 collections (Naturalist Notebook, Legendaria, Not So Junk Journal and In The Dark), I'm...
Let's talk about true inspiration
Darya Karenski antique artist life flowers gift giving gifts inspiration nature painting postal art postal stamps silk scarf slow fashion slow living staying true to yourself sustainability vintage watercolor
I'll tell you a little secret dream of mine: I would really love to illustrate a stamp. I sent my submission over exactly a year ago to USPS (United States Postal Service) art commission and even received a reply from Washington DC that they'd put me on the list. Even though it seems virtually impossible, I'm not losing hope! I draw a lot of inspiration from snail mail (and "the old ways" in general!), vintage ephemera and botanical illustration. I have combined all these things in my Postal Reminiscence design. (It had been completed a couple years before I submitted my art to USPS!) It took a...
7 reasons to buy gifts for yourself (it’s totally normal!)
Darya Karenski everyday gift giving gifts mindfulness self care slow living
I’ve noticed there’s a certain stigma about buying things for yourself, especially the ones on the pricy side. I’ve embarked on a journey to find out why it is this way. It is deeper than we think. Here are 7 reasons to get that pretty thing you want so much or take some time to pamper yourself: Treating yourself is not selfish. Do you believe doing things for you is egoistic? First of all, why is selfish always seen as negative? In the 21st century the word has so many nuances to it. What about self-sufficient? Confident? With healthy boundaries?...