There’s something about spring that always feels like a reset, like the world is softly opening again. Colors come back, light lingers a little longer, and everything feels more delicate and intentional. That feeling became the starting point for what eventually turned into The Gilded Garden Collection.
I wanted to create a world that felt like stepping into a romantic, slightly surreal version of spring. Not just florals, but something more layered. I kept thinking about Versailles, about ornate interiors and gardens that feel almost too perfect to be real. The Gilded Age came into it too, that sense of decoration for the sake of beauty, of details that don’t need to exist but do anyway.
From there, the motifs started to take shape. Roses, bows, hummingbirds, swans, vintage frames. Each element felt like a small piece of a larger story. Instead of designing one-off illustrations, I started thinking in systems. How would these elements live together? How would they repeat, overlap, and build into something more immersive?
That’s where surface pattern design became such a central part of the process. Using Photoshop to build seamless repeats completely changed how I approached the work. A single motif could be multiplied, shifted, mirrored, and refined until it became a full pattern. It’s technical, but it also feels a bit like magic. You’re taking something small and turning it into a world.
What I love most about pattern design is how scalable it is. The same design can live on a notebook, a tote bag, a phone case, or a Kindle cover. It creates consistency, but also flexibility. It allows a collection like The Gilded Garden to feel cohesive across different products, while still letting each piece stand on its own.
Lately, I’ve been especially drawn to applying these patterns to objects I use every day. Things like Kindle covers, small accessories, pieces that become part of a daily ritual. I love reading, and there’s something really meaningful about holding something beautiful while you’re immersed in a story. It makes the experience feel more intentional.
That idea of ritual has become more important to me. Designing not just for aesthetics, but for moments. Quiet mornings, slow afternoons, the feeling of sitting down with a book and a cup of coffee and letting yourself pause for a second. The work starts to feel less like output and more like something integrated into real life.
The Gilded Garden Collection is really about all of that. Spring, softness, ornament, repetition, storytelling. It’s about taking inspiration from historical beauty and translating it into something modern and usable. It’s about building a visual world that feels romantic, a little nostalgic, and slightly dreamlike.
And it’s also just the beginning.