Vale Design : Freelance Package Design & Branding

Amy Atlas Events

Every now and again, I stop over to Style Me Pretty. It is a great site featuring beautiful weddings, wedding resources and DIYs. I love to look at the photography. I popped over the other day and was introduced to Amy Atlas. She is an event planner in New York City who runs Amy Atlas Events. She specializes in dessert bars. What is that you ask? Instead of just a cake or one or two desserts at an event, it is an extravaganza of candy and coordinated baked goods to reinforce the events theme. So now you have design, style, candy, sweet treats and color. What is not to love?! Visit her site and get some "eye candy" in her portfolio section. It is always inspiring to see someone's truly unique gift and passion. Have a great weekend!  {Look! Desserts in my favorite color!}

{image credits Amy Atlas}

DIY Teacher's Gift: Chalkboard Pot & Scrapbook Paper Seed Packets

My mom is a first grade teacher and she is close to being done with school. This year we came up with a cute, easy and inexpensive solution for her workshop mom gifts. We made chalkboard paint pot kits including two scrapbook paper seed packets and one piece of chalk. All 18 of them turned out super cute! We finished them off with the kraft paper plant information tags. {All design elements sized for the 3 inch diameter pots that were used.}

1. Pick your scrapbook paper. We chose two kid school inspired designs.

2. Make your seed packets from this free downloadable PDF {1 packet per 8.5x11 page} or this reduced in size free downloadable PDF { 2 packets per 8.5x11 page}.

3. Pick your seeds. We chose Four O'clocks and Sweet Pea. {Be aware of the final plant height!}

4. Spray paint Chalkboard Paint on the pots. Can be found at a craft or home improvement store. One can covered all 18 pots easily. 

5. Optional: We used sisal to tie all the elements together and finished them off with a corner rounder.

**Bonus because I am feeling good today! Here is a free downloadable PDF version of the kraft paper tags to include in your kit. {May take a minute to load} There are 8 tags per 8.5x11 page. Tie the tag in with the seed packets or punch a hole in the top and tie with some ribbon or sisal. Have fun and get creative! 

COMMON SENSE RULE: PLEASE DO NOT COPY, REPRODUCE, MODIFY OR PROFIT FROM THIS DESIGN IN ANYWAY. {Cheating means we have to stop sharing. Please don't be that person.}

Bella Rustica Burlap Pillows

I just received our new June Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I always seek out the last page that usually has their "I Did It" feature. I am always amazed by other people's creativity {and courage}. This issue featured Kim Kelly, a Federal Agent in San Diego, and her side passion slash business named Bella Rustica. She sells handmade burlap pillows with vintage artwork transfers. I love natural textures as decoration. {wish I had more of a chance to use them in suburbia!} An exposed brick wall. Wood beams or wood floors. Plain green grass. Burlap as an accessory seems to fit right in!

{image credits Better Homes and Gardens and Bella Rustica}

Paperwink

I was wandering around one of my favorite sites the other day, iDiY, when I stumbled onto Paperwink. They specialize in stationery, invites, address labels and very cool custom rubber stamps. Their look is simple and sophisticated. Paperwink is the brainchild of owners and designers, Tara and Darcy, who worked together at the infamous Knock Knock company. Please check out their site. I am headed there now to figure out what rubber stamp I would like!

{image credits Paperwink}

DIY: FREE stamp inspired notecards & address label

The new postage stamps that are all over the internet {seen here and here} are just too cute! I was inspired to design a free printable A2 flat notecard and front address label set for everyone to use with their new stamps. Print them out on cardstock. Trim. Mail them to your friends. Support your local Post Office! Have a great weekend!

Download FlatLabel here.

COMMON SENSE RULE: PLEASE DO NOT COPY, REPRODUCE, MODIFY OR PROFIT FROM THIS DESIGN IN ANYWAY. {Cheating means we have to stop sharing. Please don't be that person.}

How to make a Favicon tutorial

Ever wonder what those little icons next to the web address in the address bar are called? They are called Favicons and they are very easy to make. Now I am not a computer programmer or web designer who speaks in code, but I spend a fair amount of time digging through code and online tutorials to figure out how to do what I am after. Once I figure it out, I will try to make it easier for someone else. Now that you know the trick, you could change out your favicon depending on your mood, new logo, or even the season! Have fun!  {original tutorial found here. This was a Typepad tutorial, but process should hopefully work for anyone.} 

Step One: Design 16x16 pxl desired favicon art

Step Two: Save art as a .gif file

Step Three: Upload art to third party software site to produce an .ico file

Step Four: Upload .ico file in your website's HOME folder

{Troubleshooting info from Photoshop Support.} I had to do the Safari for the Mac part. Then my favicon worked.

Browser Issues: Microsoft IE 6 for Windows will not display the favicon until the URL has been added to the favorites. Or try this trick: go up to the address bar, click on the existing (usually the IE default) favicon, then "jiggle" it a bit and let go. That will reload the page and should get the new favicon to show up. 

Safari for the MAC will not display an updated favicon until the browser cache has been cleared. But choosing ‘empty cache’ from the menu won't help because Safari stores favicons in a separate cache. Go to Edit > Reset Safari, and check “Remove all website icons”. If you can’t find that, you must empty the icon cache yourself. Look for it in User>Library>Safari>Icons. On the Windows version of Safari, find C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\Safari\WebpageIcons.db. Quit Safari, delete the file, restart Safari. (Sometimes you need to restart the computer too.)

On FireFox, clear the cache and restart the browser. On Opera, just refresh.

Windows can actually be the most beligerent about not updating favicons for Internet shortcuts (on your desktop, for instance). This tip from www.vistax64.com/tutorials: 

1. Right-click on the Desktop.
2. Select Personalize and select Display Settings (or simply Settings on XP).
3. Change the Color from 32 bit to 16 bit and click Apply.
4. Change the Color back to 32 bit and click Apply. 

File Format Not Available: The Windows Icon (ICO) file format will not be available until you have downloaded and installed the plugin, and then Quit and Restarted Photoshop.

Troubleshooting Update
One person who had trouble with Internet Explorer 7 has sent us a little tip:
I had some trouble with IE 7 — but the addition of these 2 lines of code solved the problem:
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico"> 
<link rel="icon" type="image/ico" href="favicon.ico">
 I found the info here:
www.webmasterworld.com/html/3251565.htm 

Mexican Wedding Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter or margarine

2 {heaping} T. powdered sugar

1 c. flour

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. pecans - chopped fine

Directions:

Preheat oven to between 250° - 275°. Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and flour and mix together. Add pecans. Roll into small balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake about 35-45 minutes or until the bottoms are light brown. Roll in powdered sugar while warm. {Optional - roll in powdered sugar again after the cookies have cooled.}  Makes 40 small cookies.

**These were super easy and super delicious favors at my brother's wedding reception. Enjoy! 

Blog love: Twig and Thistle

From one graphic designer about another, Kathleen of Twig and Thistle is the real deal. Twig and Thistle is a very simple, clean, easy to navigate website that leads you through what Kathleen loves and what inspires her. She fills her readers in on stylish home, wedding, and life internet finds and she provides uber-creative DIY projects. After winning the Style Me Pretty {one of the internets best wedding blogs} DIY contest with projects from her own wedding, she became their contributing DIY editor. T&T is one of my few daily morning internet reads. Her site with a cup of coffee is an inspiring way for any person to start the day. Check it out!

DIY Scrapbook Paper Favor Bag Topper

I can not seem to get out of the scrapbook paper aisle! First it was the DIY Scrapbook Paper Seed Packet project and now Scrapbook Paper Favor Bag Toppers. I just love all the patterns and the ability to mix and match and "brand" your event. I also love the fact that I am using very little printer ink, but still making a big impact with the design.

I just made some favor bags for my brother's delayed wedding reception this weekend. {see pictures} They had a gorgeous destination wedding in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico in December. We wanted to use the laid back Mexican theme throughout the reception. The MOB and the MOG baked Mexican Wedding Cookies {get it?!} as favors from the Bride's Grandmother's recipe. They were personal, delicious and easy to make. {Please let me know if you would like the recipe.}

I was so excited with the way they turned out and their simplicity that I thought I would share 2 free downloadable favor bag topper templates with you. The toppers were designed to fit onto a 3.75" x 6" favor bag found at Hobby Lobby.

• 4 topper cards per page
• Print onto text weight, cardstock or vellum and trim along black lines. 
• Using a bone folder {or your finger} fold in half and staple onto filled favor bags.

Download SweetsFromTheSweethearts here.

Download MintToBe here.

My design advice if you are considering this project:

• when choosing paper, keep it simple. That way the design will look cohesive with the paper and not just like you printed something onto something else.
• when choosing paper, consider the orientation of the paper's design. {i.e. stripes. Would you prefer them horizontal or vertical?} The Mexican design did not have the same feel when the stripes were running horizontal.
• use your candy as a design element. Have the candy compliment your event colors and the paper itself. 
• I prefer to use text weight paper. It is easier to fold and it doubles when you fold it so the thickness and strength are just fine. I used text weight paper for our Mexican favor toppers and they held up very well.

The Grass Whisperer

My brother's delayed wedding reception is tomorrow. This week has been a blur of checking things off someone's to-do list. Today is no exception so I am going to keep this simple. I thought I would let everyone in the blogiverse know that yes, I am married to the grass whisperer. He went out the other day to mow the backyard and hours later, as I can still hear the mower, I looked outside and this is what I saw. {each quadrant is mowed in a diagonal pattern}. Looks like we are British now...

The wedding reception favors turned out ADORABLE! I can not wait to share them {and some FREEBIES} on Monday so make sure you check back! Have a wonderful weekend from me...and the foreman of Fescue.

Gocco printing how-to-video

Curious about gocco printing? Excited? Nervous? Intimidated? I know I am. I have books about it, but I could not find a good video on how to actually use the Japanese machine. Until now. Just found a cute educational YouTube video. There is also a very good explanation on DIY Life. {image from M.E. Williams on DIY Life}

Paper Source online reference chart

Everyone who adores paper should have the pleasure of at least once in their lifetime wandering through a Paper Source store. I was so lucky in Chicago to have one 3 blocks away from where I worked. I would be creatively stumped and wander down the street into this magical place. I still have envelopes and mismatched paper from them in a plethora of colors. I learned about grommets and how to make wedding invitations. I knew nothing back then. What the heck is a 4-Bar?! They helped me understand the basic sizing of stationery and how to appreciate stamps, ribbons and wax seals. I was inspired by their amazing invitation samples on display. I also took full advantage of all their free printouts {I have 10 total so far in my design reference binder} showing DIY invitation, booklet, and program sizing and instructions. Of course they are printed on the most beautiful assortment of colored paper! Please check out their website for a download of their Stationery Components Size Guide. A must for any stationery designer or DIY-er.  {preview image of download from Paper Source website}

Orange Beautiful Etsy Sale!

One of my favorite blogs, the SCOOP, run by the Chicago ladies of Orange Beautiful, has announced something wonderful. Their Etsy shop is having a huge sale for the rest of May! Run, don't walk over for some lovely letterpress. The typography is stunning! {images from the SCOOP}.

DIY Free Printable Address Labels

Do not forget that the postage rates have changed again! Click here to see the new rates. I was watching my local news last night and they were interviewing people on the street about their thoughts on the current situation of the Post Office. It amazed me how many people thought the Post Office was going to die out completely! What about all the beautiful stationery in the world? The gorgeous paper to write little handwritten notes on?! The letterpress to run your fingers over and ooh and ahh about?! So in support of the Post Office, I have added some DIY FREE PRINTABLE ADDRESS LABELS. Each sheet has 5 front labels and coordinating return labels. There are 3 different designs. Print them out on either full sheet adhesive labels or on regular text weight paper, trim along gray lines and adhere to the envelope. Mail your family and friends sweet little notes. Buy stamps! Save the Post Office!  :)

I will be in and out this week. My brother's delayed wedding reception {due to the destination wedding in Mexico in December} is happening this weekend. As you can imagine, there are some loose ends and I am helping tie them up, including the favors. They are so cute! I can not wait to show you a finished product. {They taste great too!} Thank you for your support and patience and for reading Vale Design.

Download ADDRESSLABELS here.

Humbled...

I am fairly new to the blogiverse, but this week has been humbling. There are so many talented and kind people out there who have featured and spoken kind words about some of my work this week. I want everyone to know I am truly humbled and I am a fan of all of your work. I have been a graphic designer for almost 10 years and in the past couple of months, I have seen and been in awe of many websites. It has revitalized my love, drive and passion for design. For that, I thank all of you! {Personal thanks to iDiY and PaperCrave.}

My family has a Mother's Day tradition. All the women get together and spend the day at an enormous greenhouse. My husband has a green thumb and sometimes he gets roped in to hanging out with all of us. Good man. In preparing for Mother's Day, he and I went on a research trip to a local greenhouse. Nature truly is humbling. Have a wonderful weekend! Happy Mother's Day!

 

Method Marine Naturals Body Wash

Who doesn't love Method?! I stumbled onto this product a couple of months ago and I love it! [If you are fond of the ocean, try the blue one, Sea Minerals. It's my favorite.] I love the way the bottle seems to be shaped like a wave and how easy it is to hold around the neck. Perfect for a female hand. The graphics are simple and clean in true Method style. {lovely image found on Methodlust}

CHEERS

Blog Love: Creature Comforts

I think that once you stumble onto something you love, you must share it with others. That is the beauty of blogs on the internet. I have wandered onto a site that many creatives have already known about and love. The site is Creature Comforts. It is run by Heather "Ez" Pudewa. Trust me, stumble around on her site once and you will be hooked for good, especially if you love great design freebies! I have been a graphic designer for almost ten years. I bleed Pantone colors. This site got my creative mind overflowing with new and exciting projects and ideas. Enjoy!

CHEERS

VOTE FOR ME! {again}

Looks like one of my logos was accepted to printspiration.com. Vote for me! Click on the image or the link to get to the voting! Click on the VOTE section in the upper right near the hero shot. Don't forget to vote for the DIY Seed packets also. I am in second place on that one! Remember, you can vote numerous times! Thanks everyone!

CHEERS

DIY Favorite Stamp to a Vector Image

Can't find that perfect image? Try looking in the stamp section at your local craft store for inspiration! This technique was taught to me early in my career and I am passing it on to other designers. I have used this for wedding invitations, baby announcements, gift tags and for background patterns on some packaging projects. Get creative! 

**This tutorial uses Photoshop and Illustrator

Materials Needed - Favorite stamp and a dark ink pad

Stamp a couple of options to see which version you would like to use.

Scan. I usually scan the images in at 1200 dpi. Ridiculously high, but it will catch all the detail.

Open in Photoshop and choose which version you would like to use for your final. I chose the first leaf on the left.

Adjust the brightness contrast and levels to get the image to a desired darkness. Use the magic wand tool and select the dark section. Then in Photoshop under the Select option, choose select similar. This will grab onto all the dark areas with the "dancing ants." Go to the path palette and select the make work path from selection option. Save this work path to Path 1. Pull down File and go to Export. Now Export paths to Illustrator. Open Path in Illustrator.

The image is usually in the crop marks, but I have also seen instances where I have had to zoom way out to find the image. Select the image. Under Pathfinder, select the exclude overlapping shape areas tool. Expand. All the areas should knock out.

Now you have a vector image that you are free to change the colors to and use in any way your imagination sees fit!

CHEERS