FRESHLY MINTED: BABY ANNOUNCEMENTS

I'm so excited to announce that my Introduced by Infographic design was picked to be sold on Minted!

There are some designs that I struggle to pull together and others that just come together magically. This was one of those that just came together magically.  It all started after I scribbled this idea in my notebook after receiving in a PowerPoint presentation about retirement statistics. Go figure.

I also designed a fun pattern as a backer and a bold address label to welcome the new addition home.

Along with the fun pattern for the backer, Minted also offers other options for the new parents to give more details of the new arrival in both words and pictures.  I love the washi taped photo look.  So fresh and fun.

In addition to the grass color above, the design comes in two other modern and not too gender specific colors: Golden & Ash.

If you know anyone in the market for a cute baby announcement - I know where you can find one! Don't forget to use the discount code you'll see on right.

FEATURED: CHRISTMAS TAGS ON DESIGN CRUSH

I'm super excited that my printable gift tags were featured on Design Crush today!  My little guys have some wonderful company - check out the post here.

PHOTO VIA DESIGN CRUSH

PHOTO VIA DESIGN CRUSH

FEATURED: HOLIDAY PATTERN on NICOLE'S CLASSES

Happy Friday!

I'm always so excited when Alma Loveland (of Nicole's Classes) asks to feature one of my homework pieces and this week was no exception.  It truly is an honor.  Check out the blog post here.

In this week's class, we worked on random repeat patterns.  Oh the fun I had!  I think random repeat patterns are my new favorite thing (I also think I say that what I learned in my previous week's lesson is my new favorite thing a lot - but it is totally true! I heart all I learn in my Ai classes).

You can probably tell that I was in a holiday mood when I put together this one.

One of my fellow students commented that the design would look cute on some snuggly flannel PJ's and I couldn't agree more.  If my sewing didn't look like a 5 year old did it I would be tempted to place a custom fabric order with Spoonflower!  Instead, maybe I'll put some wrapping paper together.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend.  So many things to do! Can you believe it is already the last day of November? I'm getting so excited to kick off Do It Yourself December next week!  I have so many fun things in store for you.  Here's another sneak peek.  Enjoy the weekend!

FEATURED: LET IT SNOW on NICOLE'S CLASSES

So excited to have one of my invitation designs featured on the Nicole's Classes Blog today!  I created this design as a homework assignment to practice my random patterns (the snowflakes) and ribbon creating skills.  I was going for a mid-century modern look for this one and I think the Mission Script Typeface I used for the "Parker Holiday Party" and the RSVP details nails it.  If you're interested, you can grab it from Lost Type Co here.

FEATURED: BIKE DESIGN on NICOLE'S CLASSES

I can't tell you how happy I am to have been featured again on the Nicole's Classes blog last week! It is truly an honor to be part of such a great group of students and my teacher, Alma Loveland, is the absolute best.

For this homework assignment, I decided to take another stab at a bike drawing I did for the Stationery & Journal challenge submitted for Minted many months ago.  While I was really proud of the original effort, I knew I could improve it.  I reached into my toolkit and reworked the whole thing from scratch using the techniques I've been learning in class.

Before:

After:

What do you think? I'm pretty excited to see these side by side.  I can see the improvement in so many areas (just being able to add those wheel spokes - whew, that was worth taking the class on its own!)

So, I guess the message for today is - it's important to revisit the past and see how far you've come. Obviously, this also applies to so many areas in life besides design.  

I'd love to hear how you've come a long way, baby!  Wait, was that seriously from a cigarette ad? Boy, things have come a long way! J

FEATURED: INVITATION DESIGNS ON NICOLE'S CLASSES

Just returned from a wonderful trip to Memphis {more on that later} to find that my homework was featured again on Nicole's Classes Blog!  

As promised, my first piece was my own personal ode to Shark Week.  I think Mr. Squareview and I will be putting this invite to good use next year when we throw a party to honor my favorite week's 26th anniversary!  I love how creepy the shark looks - like it is emerging from the deep.  Tell me you're not hearing the Jaws theme song right now! 

The next invitation may seem a bit premature, but I say you can never be too early with your Halloween planning!  I had an idea to use a black background and wanted to see how that would turn out.  I like it but I think I may try to use a chalkboard effect to soften it up a bit. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I can't rave enough about this class.  I've learned so much in the past few weeks and I'm sad that it is coming to an end.  So sad, that I decided that I can't live without them for long - I just signed up for the 102 class last week!  Not sure I can wait until October though - good thing I have my Typography design class to hold me over until then J

FEATURED: NICOLE'S CLASSES - Week 1

You may remember that I recently started a class through Nicole's Classes.  I just finished the second week and I can't tell you how much I've learned already.  I've been a big fan of them for awhile and now I'm super excited to say, they are a fan of me too!

Nicole's Classes does a regular post where they feature student work on their blog and I was so honored when they asked to feature my homework assignment from week one!  The assignment was to create a poster using just (or mainly just) type to highlight the tools covered in that week's lesson. Mr. Squareview's cousin had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl so I used that for inspiration for my assignment.

Check out my and my classmate's work on Nicole's Classes Blog found { here }

It just occurred to me that I've set the bar pretty high right out of the gate... Better get to work on my homework to make sure I keep it up. J