Tuesday (Midwest)

First, as I transition back into the working design world, I'm going to start posting things I see that I find interesting or inspiring. Laurie, this will help to motivate us, right? Here is a photo of the cover to the latest Veer catalog. I like that the texture is created from overlapping font dingbats and flourishes. The title type is embossed. The overall feel is very clean and organized even though the imagery is kinda messy.

Next, after my long weekend in Door County (I'll post on that some other time), I returned to hear that I was accepted into another Holiday Craft Fair. I applied for 3 fairs, and was accepted to all of them. Yay! and Ohmygod! and Crap!
I'm going to have a table at these venues:

The DIY Trunk Show Chicago (Nov 17th)
The High Noon Craftacular (Nov 24th & 25th)
ArtvsCraft (Dec 8th)





So, now I go into production mode. I figure I have one month to crank out oodles of cards. I'm shooting to have 3 Gocco card designs, 2 to 3 letterpress designs, and if possible some holiday necklaces.

Today I started printing. Above is card number 1. When I first set up shop on Etsy I sold a couple block prints with a puppy image. I think there is a large audience for pet related stuff. Therefore, I illustrated a new puppy that has gotten into the Christmas trimmings and done some damage. He's loosely inspired by my dog nephew, Rayfield. He's Brian's very large, clumsy yellow lab. The ink looks really pretty on the kraft card stock. I should've printed more than I did. Most of what I printed was on boring old white stock. Oh well. My next card idea will be the kitty. Also, my letterpress plates arrived today. That may have to wait until the weekend.

New Friends (West Coast)

Meet the latest in our family of stuffed toys. I have been a fan of Wee Wonderful's stuffed creations for some time. Last weekend we had a free day to craft, and went to town on some wee friends of our own. Katie wanted a Kitty. These are all made out of a bag of the kids old clothes!


This is Ethan's design. He sketch three versions, then picked his favorite. He picked out all fabrics and directed me on the sewing! Our littlest designer!

A Contest

Ok. Doesn't this sound like a fun contest? It's a car accessory design contest. The winner gets a new car. I just love the whole vibe they have going on the website. Very crafty. Go to craftmyride.com

Laurie, should we enter something? A knitted steering wheel cover? A letterpressed license plate? It's not like we have kids and other things to do. Oh wait, we do.

The Sad End to Summer (Midwest)

Today is the first time ever that all three of my kids are at school. It's a bittersweet feeling. I find myself sad that summer has ended and they are gone, yet excited at the possibility of steady (part time) work. I'm going to need to keep busy to not feel empty. I swear Joey wants to slap me to my senses. He reminds me this is what we wanted.



We were up north this last weekend doing lake stuff to celebrate the end of the summer. The weather was great, no rain for once and it was a nice closure to the season. The kids collected rocks and seashells for their "shop" which was set up on a bench seat on the pontoon boat. They had no customers. They paddled around the lake on assorted blow up toys and swung in the sky chair. Freedom will come for them now in short weekend bursts and holiday vacations until next summer.
Big sigh.


So, I spent my morning blasting my music, spraying windex, filing piles, and cleaning off my desk. I have about 3 or 4 feet of empty desk just waiting for a project. Hopefully, it will soon be active with pantone swatches, mechanical pencils and computer printouts. Anyone need a graphic designer?