Some parents claim that their child is a true ‘artist’, sure that the random drawings they create reflect natural talent and ability. Now for them it may be true, but for my daughter and many other young kiddies out there this is simply not the case. If you are anything like me though, ever the proud parent, you still love the scribbles and want to keep as many as is realistically possible, but what to do with them? Keep the ever growing pile in a folder? Occasionally stick one on the fridge? Let me give you a much better option by introducing you to Marisa from Elegant Snobbery with her latest art adventure. A mother and daughter collaborative Etsy store, Tootsie and Grace.

I have been a fan of Marisa’s bright, sweet and occasionally quirky illustrations for some time (we bonded over a love of cute cloth diapers). As well as her main Etsy store Elegant Snobbery, I would often check out her blog, cleverly named ‘Elegant Bloggery‘ where she often regals readers with hilarious tales of her little girls, Gracie and Annelie. One such story told of how the adorable and slightly precocious Gracie, aged 3, would talk about her own Etsy shop and what she would put in it. Marisa, a mother who is definitely one to encourage rather than stifle her daughters vibrant, spirited ways was eventually inspired to create Tootsie and Grace as a result. The store sells works of art hand drawn by the amazing Gracie and illustrated by her very talented mumma. Illustrations available include Maguire the Monkey, Barrington the Beaver, Bobble the Blue Bird and many others. These cuties are the perfect way to brighten up a child’s room and cost $13 US each.

More recently Marisa has introduced to Tootsie and Grace the Custom Cuteness Illustration Package in which she creates a custom illustration from your child’s very own artwork. Marisa’s goal as an illustrator, is to capture the spirit of your child’s imagination, and turn it into a finished piece of art. What a incredibly unique idea this is! We are currently waiting on an illustration of Malia’s artwork as we speak and I just can’t wait to have it framed for her room. What would have normally become ‘just another scribble’ to add to the collection of scribbles will instead now become a gorgeous and priceless work of art to keep forever.

Be warned though that what your child draws may not be what it becomes in the end. Malia’s ‘pirate mouse’ (her words, not mine) became a cute duck and her ‘butterfly’ has made a much better bee apparently (I will have to wait and see), but you can trust that Marisa’s illustration ‘hunch’ will be the right one. My favourite examples of this are the drawing of Gracie’s that Marisa illustrated to give to her daddy for Father’s day (It was a gorgeous picture of daddy himself that started out life as a hedgehog) and the sweet ‘Little Lily Lemonade’ girl that originated from Gracie’s drawing of a ‘happy pair of scissors‘.

Custom Cuteness Illustration Packages come in standard and deluxe versions. The standard package ($50 US) includes the time spent illustrating the artwork, 1 professional print in either 8x 8 in or 8 x 10 in and one notecard. The deluxe package ($65 US) includes the time spent illustrating the artwork, 2 professional prints in either 8 x 8 in or 8 x 10 in, 1 note card, 1 large gift tag and 1 set of 8 gift tags.

To have Marisa create your very own ‘Custom Cuteness’ please visit her and Gracie’s Etsy store, Tootsie and Grace.