Thriller in the Streets of L.A.

I love Halloween Week!

Beth's Custom Invitation Suite

Beth contacted me about designing a whole wedding invitation suite so she could print the pieces on her own. Using her inspiration images and style preferences I drafted about five different invitation versions for her to look at and tell me which direction she wanted to go in.

She decided she would use a gold 5"x7" petal enclosure for the invite backing. She picked pink to accent the gold and a clean, swirl graphic and a circular monogram. This is her final design.



Once we established the invitation the rest was easy! These are her invitation inserts.


Thank you Beth!

New Blog Discovery & Packaging

I just found what may be my most favorite blog to date. It's called The Dieline and it's all about package design which is something that I find utterly fascinating. It wasn't until working at Impact Confections that I ever really thought about package design. Now I can't ignore it and I love finding beautiful designs as well as functional. There is something about pairing a great product with great design, both form and ornament, that excites me.

Here are some tasty image snippets from The Dieline blog.

If you've ever been in a liquor store, you'll recognize these labels.
I quite like the simplicity, they're also very memorable. I've never
had the wine but hear it is quite good for the price point.

This is one of the concepts for Mockingbird Lager. I would buy it just for the bottle!


Pretty bottles from the Belvoir Fruit Farms

While I'm on the topic I should give a shout out to my brother-in-law at Wink for this super sweet design.

Look! A new flavor!
Not only are these containers attractive and made of
recycled plastic, the stuff in them smells awesome too!
Daub & Bauble

While we're on packaging, these are packages that I designed ... not as hip as the examples above but they fit into the brand's identity.

[Melster Candies, Inc.]

Take Your Spouse to Work Day

So Friday the 10th was the T38 pilots' Spouse Taxi Day. We wore our husbands' flight suits, took tours of the main tower and an axillary tower, flew in a flight simulator and went to the aerophysiology building to practice strapping into and out of the jet seat. This was in-case of an emergency so we could get out if there was a fire or other emergency. We then got fitted for flight helmets and masks.

Once we got to the jet we strapped in, learned how to use the radio, learned how to operate the canopy and then we were off to make radio calls and taxi down the runway where we reached a maximum speed of ... I don't remember. It felt like an airliner taking off, only stronger. Kind of along the lines of a roller coaster. Sadly, there was no way in hell we could actually take off :(

But I am still thankful that I got to do it. I managed to mangle a ton of radio calls, which is cool, because I like to think I made the people in the tower smile. My best was something like this "Steer 01 to Laughlin ground ... uh ... I totally lost it." No, I didn't release the radio call button, it didn't occur to me. My pilot laughed.

I learned that Mr. has a pretty sweet job and I would totally do it too. Sitting in the jet made the whole pilot thing seem like a real, tangible, job; not some mystical calling.

It's not hard to wear pajamas to work ... it just gets a little hot.

Apparently, I did well.

And then the narcolepsy hit ...

Just kidding.
This is my "how to pull down the canopy" lesson.

If I was a fighter pilot, I would do this every time I got in or out of a jet.

And now for the video:
1. I am in the first jet and this is my taxi

2. This is how you park a jet (watch for the wave from the backseat, that is me)

I ended the day with a new appreciation for the smell of jet fuel, ear plugs and helmet hair. I also got my own name patch with wings ... after all, my heart does fly for a living.

Chocolate and Cake

It's that time again when all I want to do is stuff my face in a giant chocolate cake and inhale! My mind slipped back to wedding cake because it tasted soooo good and I cannot wait to get our free anniversary cake in only 270 days!!!

I want to eat it all over again!
[gaston photography]

Knit Wig Hat Thing

This is brilliant! A perfect substitution in a Halloween costume when you live in Colorado, where it always seems to snow and you have to ruin your costume with a winter coat.

So ... who wants to make me one??

[knitty.com]

Inspiration: Jermaine Rogers

Jermaine Rogers is known for his rock posters. He's done an incredible amount of show posters for more bands than I could list. What I love about them, aside from the semi-creepy nature, is the great use of color. It's almost acidic but the strong blacks and whites help to balance out the "neon-ness."

I've had a hard time finding good images to post but here are some. Check his site for more.

[Summer]

[I Am Not Lost ...]

[source]

I saw a print of this at the gallery I used to work at and planned on buying it. When I returned the show was gone. I really, really wish I had been a little faster to get back and purchase it!
In the future with my big bucks ...

Etsy: Pet Portraits

These are not your standard "pet portraits!" If I had the money and a pet, I'd totally get one.

[Pomopets]

How awesome is this embroidered portrait? [BadBird]

[colormutts]

[PaintYourPooch]

[pidgepidge]

[RoseThistleArtworks]

[lovingclementine]

[kat4526]

Design Your Own Fabric!

I just found this site called Spoonflower where you upload your own designs and they will print them on fabric for you! HOW COOL IS THAT?! If only I had found this before I ordered fabric for our chairs I could have made my chair project 100% custom. (I am definitely considering it still)

In order to participate you have to fill out a form to be invited to join the site, but once you get your invitation you are free to upload your own designs and order up to three yards of your very own custom fabric. So far they are only offering regular weight cotton but say new fabric options are in the works. Check out the Spoonflower Flickr image pool to see what other people have created from their own fabrics.

I am so excited to find resources like this, I really look forward to putting them to use!

Project: Dining Room Chairs - Cushions

I finally did some more on the chairs today. I bought some foam from Wal-mart (I know, Wal-mart is the devil, but the only craft place for 150 miles). The foam was only big enough for the two matching chairs. Ignore the red color of the wood since they've not been stained yet.