lacking inspiration

I seem to be having one of those weeks where it is impossible to get started. I have tons of projects going on and ideas for several more, yet I can't get motivated to work on any of them. I tried giving myself some time off, spending that time out in the sun doing a bit of yard work, but that didn't seem to help. I made a to do list as well, hoping it would help me find a place to start. I think I am just lacking inspiration.

Perhaps next week will be different... I hope.

photography help & new (to me) blog

I was browsing my usual blog reads last night and came across this post that I thought was very helpful. Full of tips about taking photography for online shops. I thought it was a great post and introduced me to a new blog: mint... very fun!

lighted pennant garland

I am loving these pennant lights from once wed. They seem simple to make and would look great in any backyard or porch. Just think of how much fun you could have with different types of paper and fonts punched out. Can't wait to try and make some myself! For complete instructions click here.

bridal shower invitations

I recently had the pleasure of designing some bridal shower invitations for one of my dearest friends. You may recall the silhouette from this post. They will get more use in the wedding invitations, but I was super excited to use them for this "something blue" themed wedding shower!
The invitations consisted of a flat card with all of the particulars, a lined envelope and an envelope seal. All personalized just for Laura! Enjoy.

nature inspired etsy finds

I am feeling a bit outdoorsy today as I sit on my back porch doing a little web programming. So I thought I would poke around etsy and see what I could find to enhance this feeling, as it is such a beautiful day here (even if it is a little on the cool side.) Here's just a few:

a log print by gollybard

some green felt garland by anastasiajaminhome


tree ring paintings by focuslineart

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

my little collection

Well, here is the first peek at my little collection of mail clippings. It is interesting to start seeing the colors and patterns that happen upon my mailbox.

cards

I'm just loving these beautiful cards by A Little Hut—designs by Patricia Zapata! They are so simple and lovely. I love her exploration with projects and how she talks about her process on her blog. Check it out!



P.S. I won't be posting again until Monday because me and the hubby are going on a short weekend trip to Virginia. Happy 4th of July (everyone in the US that is) ; )

new exploration

So this afternoon I was taking a break from all of the design work I have been buried under and decided to take a look through a book I had received for Christmas, but hadn't looked at yet. My parents bought me a copy of "How to be an Explorer of the World" by Keri Smith and somehow I have managed not to even crack the thing open until today. The book is filled with all sorts of ideas and "projects" that are supposed to inspire and allow you to open up and see your surrounding, or at least that is my take. As I was flipping through and reading pages here and there, I decided to start my own exploration. I've decided to collect a small scrap of mail everyday (except Sundays and holidays). Hopefully there will be something interesting everyday, but I think that is part of the exploration, finding the interesting parts of the uninteresting. So here it goes, I'm going to try to do this for at least a month and see what kind of paper scraps I have accumulated. Maybe I'll keep it up for longer, or perhaps I'll come up with a different group of things to collect and study. Maybe at the end I'll come up with something to make out of the scraps... who knows. I'll be sure to scan them in every now and again to share the patterns, colors, etc. that I find.

Letterpress goodies

I found some letterpress cards on etsy today that I thought were fun and beautifully printed. They are handcrafted by a husband and wife team who run the letterpress delicacies shop. I especially liked these 3:

sew crafty card

it's so good card

howdy partner card

Sorry for the absence

Well, it seems like an eternity since I posted. I have been so busy with design work lately that I couldn't seem to find the time to sleep, let alone post.
So I will try to be more regular, but am making no promises : )

Anyway, I found some wonderful desktop wallpapers on kindred. All beautiful and from a variety of artists. I am currently using this one by sugarloop! Enjoy!

I'm back...

After what seems like an eternity, I finally have internet again! It was such a long drawn out mess, but it is all under control now and I should be back to more normal posting as of today! Hooray!!! I'm so excited to be able to join the world again.

In my virtual stroll today I found that Helen Dardick from orange you lucky has posted some free bookplate downloads. So fun, thanks Helen!

still working on it... part 2

Well, I thought I would be back up and running on June 1st and back to regular posting. Unfortunately that is soooo not the case. So, please bear with me for just a bit longer. I hope to be back to normal towards the end of this week, but I guess at this point I can definitely not make any promises. It's quite amazing how phone and cable companies can get away with such poor service and attention to detail. I could never get away with that in my business... but I digress.

Hang with me just a bit longer : )

still working on it...

Well everyone, I'm still fighting with the powers that be to get some internet at my new house. I've been told it will be available by 8:00pm tonight, but we'll see. So my little blogging vacation will have to continue on for a bit longer. I'm hoping to be back in the swing of things by June 1st.

Hope to see you all back here then!

posting will be sparse...

Well everyone, I am just popping in quickly to say that posting around here will be pretty sporadic for the next week or so. On top of trying to get ready for the big move this coming Saturday, the internet at my house is down. Apparently the cable company is rebuilding the network in the city where I live, and when they came to do my street yesterday they completely messed up our signal. Terribly inconvenient timing! I could go on with a bit more ranting, but I'm trying to let it go since I will only have to deal with this company for a couple more days (hooray!). So I'm busy trying to pack everything up and trying to get as much done on the new house as possible before moving in on Saturday.

Wish me luck!

image via veer

Rachel Ann Austin

I found Rachel's lovely paintings via Modish and wanted to share them here too. I love the mixed media quality of the paint and oils over maps. The texture looks amazing and I bet it would be even better in person. Plus you can't beat the vibrant colors! Beautiful!

You can check out more about rachel on her website or purchase some of her lovely yet affordable art from her etsy shop.

illustrator...

Flora Douville is an illustrator living and working in Nantes France. I originally found her on print & pattern and immediately loved the cut paper illustrations (shown below). I visited Flora's site to see what else she has up her sleeve and was pleasantly surprised to find several fun illustrations and some nice photography as well. You can visit her new web site here.

pattern love

I found some new lovely wrapping papers to drool over today. The folks at elum have expanded their letterpress success to include a line of complimentary wrapping papers. Each sheet is 22 x 34 inches. I found it here. The nice thing about paper mojo is you can buy both 8.5 x 11 and 3 x 5 inch samples! Enjoy and try to keep those keyboards dry ; )

mums in orange

interlock

gerber daisies

dots

busy, busy, busy...

Sorry for my absence and random posting lately. Between working on the new house, finishing up my semester of teaching, freelance work and designing new stationery & wedding invitations, I haven't had any spare time to post! Anyway, I thought I would just pop in to wish everyone a good weekend. I'm going to be working hard today doing some grading and planning some final exams. Hopefully I'll get over to the house for a few hours too and that way I can go watch my little brother play some baseball tomorrow for a nice break from it all.

Hope everyone is having a nice spring so far. I'll leave you with a photo of my beautiful lily of the valley. They didn't bloom last year, so I was so excited to see all of the delicate little white flowers bloom this year!

milton glaser...

I recently assigned a project to some of my students where they were supposed to pick an influential designer of the 20th century and write an essay about their lives and work. One of my students chose Milton Glaser and in his research found this video on youtube, which I found to be rather inspiring. Thought I would share.

illustrator...

Paula Sanz Caballero is one of my favorite illustrators, based in Spain, and I thought I would share her work with all of you. She mainly works in fabric and embroidery and I find her use of materials so interesting and refreshing. The intricacy of her work and stitching takes my breath away... such an inspiration. Be sure to click on the images to see them larger, the detail is beautiful. To see more of her work, visit her website.