elephant baby

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great weekend. Mine was just fine thank you. My poor husband is terribly sick with a super-cold. Well, it's not SUPER, it's BIG. He's home from work today and I'm hoping he feels better soon! He's not having much fun. Meanwhile, I've been busy in my little office working away. I designed the birth announcement shown above recently for a client...it was letterpressed by a friend of hers. She was kind enough to send me one and I'm so pleased with the way it came out. (it's always a thrill to see the finished product after your hard work) This new mom was a great art director and knew just what she wanted. That made the project so easy.
My tip for anyone out there thinking about ordering a custom product from a designer: brainstorm in advance and think about what it is you would love to have. Think of your favorite colors, your favorite subject matter, and consider what sort of feeling you want the piece to have (fun, classy, preppy, traditional, cute, sophisticated, etc.) It even helps to find ideas you like online and other places to show the designer the types of things that you love. No, the designer cannot copy an idea already out there, but this will help the designer by giving a specific direction of style to go on rather than flailing all over the map for an idea.

An apple a day...

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was fine, thanks! I relaxed...I was going to do a little work and decided "enough is enough...I deserve weekends too." It is so hard when you work for yourself...your mind is always going and you feel like you always "just can do this one thing..." and the next thing you know, you've worked the whole weekend through. It's a bad habit. So, I decided to stop and give myself my weekends back no matter what. It's important to unplug and I always forget that. I spent my free time watching tv movies and playing with the pup since it has been so snowy outside. It was nice to peruse magazines that I haven't been able to give much attention to...and nice to just lounge on the couch with hot chocolate. Now, it's back to the grind. I've got a lot of printing to do this week for weddings and for some custom stationery projects...and design for some other things I won't mention yet. The pictures shown here are of another design I did a while back and have flat printed...up for sale on my shop. This is a more modern card design/pattern using apples as the motif. It's very colorful and different.Have a great Monday everyone...I know Monday is never all that fun, but let's try to make this next hour the best it can be...or this next five minutes...whatever it takes to make the day a better one! My thought today is to smile, even if an obstacle faces me...and it will put me in a better mood even if I don't feel like it.

Happy MLK Day!

Today is Martin Luther King Day...many people have the day off. My husband doesn't, so I am working as well. Although I'm updating my 2007 tax spreadsheets (FUN!!!!) and filing papers from a huge stack (a mini Mount Everest of receipts and paid bill stubs). Ah, the glamorous life of self-employment...where every scrap of paper is scrutinized with the question: Can I write this off?
I've managed to complete a stack of work for my greeting card/stationery company client by today's deadline. The next deadline is coming up quick, so I'm catching my breath. I spent the weekend working on that and printing envelopes for a bride-to-be. A good portion of Sunday found me watching the NFL playoff games. Go Patriots!!! No, I'm not a football fan. But I was determined to sit still on the overstuffed chair for a long period of time...my husband had the games on and I was determined to be lazy. It worked out.
Today's images are from a Save the Date folded card I designed last summer...it was digitally flat printed with a local vendor. The bride-to-be wanted something very preppy and beach-y since she is getting married on The Cape. She wanted to include a message to her guests and also the hotel options in the area, so I thought a folded card would be a good way to fit all of her requirements in and still be easy to save in a drawer or tack to the fridge. She sent the card in a bright green envelope that coordinated perfectly. A fun project for what will be a fun wedding! See y'all in this space later!

In dreams...

Hello everyone! Things are still busy over here. For the past while I've been working on some exciting projects. A major stationery/card company had approached me and asked me to do some freelance design work for them. Of course, I jumped at the chance. So, I've spent lots of time brainstorming, sketching, and trying to articulate what my brain sees into actual designs. This has always been my dream and its actually happening. I keep having to pinch myself. Sometimes I worry that a lot of what I like, the company might not want since it may not be right for their brand. But I know that all I can do is my best and just see what happens. In the meantime, I'm loving it! I've also got work of my own in regards to birth announcements and weddings so I find I'm having to juggle lots of little things...and that's a great way to keep my mind focused and off the roller-coaster of my journey to have a child. One thing I've learned though: never let work become your respite or focus of distraction. It turns work into more stress than it already is. And soon, you wonder where the fun in your life went. This is particularly true for those who work for themselves doing their passion. While it is ok to have fun with your job or hobby, remember to take time out for just plain non-hobby or non-job-related fun. (sledding, movies, shopping, dancing, dinner, sewing lessons, singing lessons just for fun...whatever...)It will revive you and refresh you when it matters...and keeps life from becoming the same ol' thing day in and day out. I need to remember this all the time, and want to make this concept a bigger priority this year (once I get through these deadlines I have).

For today's pic I thought I'd show you a few inspiration wires that hang in the corner of my office. I'm making use of a little corner behind a chair...thought it would be more interesting than just hanging one framed picture. And this way, I get to easily change it whenever I want. Hope everyone is having a great day...I'll be back tomorrow with some more design-y things I've been up to.