Moving My Blog

It's with mixed feelings today that I'm sharing that my blog is moving over to blog.michellebaron.com. The sad part is that this is going to be my last post on Sweet Musings. The exciting part is that I have so much more to share with you in my new location and a few exciting announcements coming up so it will feel very much the same!

This has been a really hard decision to make and I kept going back and fourth if this was the right move for me and my company/brand. I started Sweet Musings as a way to maintain inspiration and work on my own art while working for someone else. It also is partially responsible for pushing me to start my company, open my etsy shop, and put my work out there. And for those things I am so grateful. But over the last few years, as my company has evolved and grew, I realized that Sweet Musings changed and I don't think it fits quite right for my business anymore.

Ultimately my goal is to make my work easier to find. I want to get away from my blog having it's own title and make it work a little better with my existing brand. With these changes I'm hoping to reach an even broader audience, and, of course, to continue to share my work and inspiration with you. I would absolutely LOVE and even more importantly appreciate it if you could follow me over at MichelleBaron.com .

For now though I want to thank you for following me here and I hope to see you soon at my new location.

Spring Shoe Loves

Sneakers: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Heels: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

I think it's because I'm pregnant that clothes don't have the same pull for me right now. I haven't quite figured out how to dress the bump and I'm still in that not quite showing so just look like I ate to much at dinner stage. But I am having fun with shoes. So here are the shoe style I'm loving right now.

I love love love that sneakers are in! It adds a sporty, casual, and unexpected vibe even to a sundress. Here are my favorite sneakers:

• Superga classics - I just bought these in white and am in love!
• Tretorn Canvase T56 Sneakers from JCrew in Navy
• Love Toms, not only are they ridiculously comfortable but their One for One company mission means every purchase is also benefiting someone in need. Cute shoes, and doing good, that's a win for me! 
• Converse Classics in Black

And basically as a polar opposite to the sneakers I'm loving these simple, elegant, strappy sandals. I especially love how they look good with anything from boyfriend jeans to an evening gown. Most of my favorites were 4.5 inches high though, and that's just a little to high for me at the moment, so the pair I purchased was from ASOS with a heel height of 3 inches. They still give me the same look without killing my feet. Here are my favorite picks for these shoes:

• ASOS Headlight Heeled Sandals
• Steve Madden 'Stecy' Sandal
• Stuart Weitzman Nudist Single Band Sandal

What shoe trends are you looking at right now?

Illustration Reveal: book illustrations for We Are Better After 50 Because..

Cover for We Are Better After 50 Because...

Look that's me! LOL

Two page spread from We Are Better After 50 Because… 

Two page spread from We Are Better After 50 Because… 

One of my favorite illustrations from We Are Better After 50 Because...

Another one of my favorite illustrations from We Are Better After 50 Because… to see the rest purchase here!

Today I’m excited to share a new book, available on Amazon, I got to illustrate. 

During my little hiatus from blogging one of the things I worked on was illustrating a book by the online magazine Better After 50. The book, We Are Better After 50 Because… includes fifty illustrated reasons why life is better after 50. It’s silly and endearing and would be a great gift for any and every lovely lady you know over fifty.

You can purchase this humorous book on here.

Exciting News from the Baron House!

Hi Everyone, as I'm slowly jumping back into blogging and getting back on a normal schedule I wanted to take this time to share some personal news. I've been dying to tell you and was trying to figure out how I wanted to do it and then it seemed obvious... of course I would draw something special in honor of the news.

My husband and I are so happy and can't wait to meet our new addition!

I'll be back to blogging as usual next week including a new project reveal and some other fun posts but for now I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

New Petite Chic Illustration From Concept to Reality

see more options here! Available in five hair shades and two skin tones.

If you follow me on Instagram you already got a peek at this new illustration but I wanted to share more here, especially the process of how she was created. This is a new addition to my Petite Chic series that has been added to my shop. I really loved the process with this one and wanted to show you a little more then just the finished product. Also I've come up with cute names for all of my other Petite Chic illustrations and this one is sadly missing a title. Any ideas? I'd love to hear them! 

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

So this illustration started with the images above. There was just something I loved about them individually but especially as a whole they really took on a new life. The color, style, patterns, and playfulness of these made me want to jump into illustrating something fun and to create something unique from them. I wanted to showcase the whimsical and feminine quality but still have some sporty or unexpected elements so that it wasn't overly girly. 

The sketch above was my first pass at the illustration based on these images. I just thought it was a bit to girly and to obvious. I've used cute handbags and other fashion accessories in the past and I really wanted this one to stand on it's own. So when moving onto the final illustration I switched from the cute bag to the puppy and the melting ice cream. I just felt like they added more to give her a life and personality that the purse did not. I love the finished product and think the changes from the black and white sketch are great. 

What do you think? Do you like the final? Or do you prefer the original sketch? I'd love to know your thoughts!