Behind the collection · Acorns

From nature to paper.

This collection started with a little twig carrying tiny acorns.
Here’s how gathering them led to the drawings and designs.

The original oak twig with green leaves and tiny acorns — 01 / The inspiration

Jamie’s hand-drawn interpretation of the leafy acorn twig — 02 / The illustration it inspired

01 / Notice & gather

It started with
something small.

The ideas for this collection started with a twig carrying tiny acorns. I looked at the leaves, the stems, and those little caps, then started gathering more acorns to use in the mailing and as references for my drawings.

Tiny acorns and caps nestled among twigs on the ground — Looking for acorns and caps on the ground.

More acorn finds among green blades and fallen leaves — More acorns to gather and look at.

A hand holding a dated bag of collected acorns against the sky — Some of the acorns I gathered for the collection.

Another dried twig showing leaf undersides and acorn caps

A few more twigs to draw from.

I gathered a few different twigs so I could look at the leaves, branching stems, and little clusters of acorns while I drew.

Getting the acorns ready for the mail

The collected acorns being placed into the freezer

I put the gathered acorns in the freezer to help eliminate any tiny insects hiding inside before adding them to the mailing.

02 / Draw & explore

From real acorns
to my drawings.

I drew the acorns, leaves, and stems as separate pieces, using what I had gathered as a reference. Those individual drawings gave me the pieces to arrange into repeating patterns.

Three original acorn illustrations in brown and green

My acorn drawings

Trying different acorn shapes and shades of brown and green.

Colors drawn from the collection

Original leaf pairs, individual leaves, sprigs, dots and scattered acorn motifs

Leaves, lines & little marks

The individual drawings I used to build the patterns.

03 / Bring it together

One discovery.
Many possibilities.

Using the acorn theme, I created patterns with leafy branches and tiny acorns, then added dots and stripes to bring the colors together into a cohesive collection that could be used for fabric, clothing, home décor, and other surfaces. Do you recognize any of these patterns or designs from your envelope of treasures?

The mockup photos below show how these patterns would look on different products. These are examples of possible uses for the designs.

A sunlit kitchen with coordinated textiles

Gift wrap, stationery & everyday objects

A little something to look forward to

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mail magic.

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