Vale Design : Freelance Package Design & Branding

Happy Halloween

Is it Halloween already?! I hope everyone has a safe and festive holiday! I will see you all back here on Tuesday! {ps my Leo could not figure out what costume he wanted to wear...so he decided to dress up like a lion!}

Favorite Font: Cezanne

I am just in love with the P22 font Cezanne right now. I can not seem to get enough! It looks so great paired with a modern sans serif font. It would also look lovely on any homemade tags that you are designing for holiday gifts. Have fun!

The Il Fornaio Baking Book

I am part Italian and as an Italian I feel like cooking and baking should come easy. Most of the time it does...until the latest incident. Yep, I would call it an incident. Cooking, no problem. Baking anything sweet, piece of cake. Bread...enter the incident.

The husband and I have been looking for and practicing up on some recipes that we would like to give away as homemade holiday gifts this season. {DIY's and recipes to come in the next couple of weeks!} I decided that I would attempt to make my Grandmother's rolls. They are humble simple rolls to look at, but when you bite in, my word, they are something special. We fight over these things at holiday family gatherings! She knows this recipe by heart. It is not written down. So we made them once together and I wrote each step as we went along. It was a great memory I will always cherish.

That was a couple of years ago. The next thing I know I am calling my mother swearing, up to my elbows in the stickiest dough ever, and asking how smelly it would be if I threw the entire dough ball out! After laughing at me for a good two minutes, she came over to rescue me and the rolls. After she convinced me to keep going and we figured out from my Grandmother what I had done wrong, they actually turned out pretty tasty, not as good as hers, but a valiant effort.

Now, enter my Italian uncle. This man can do amazing things with bread! It seems to come so easy for him. My mom and I visited him this weekend and while out for an hour, we returned to fresh baked scones! I have seen this book, Il Fornaio Baking Book, around him many times. I believe it is one of his favorites. Il Fornaio is an Italian restaurant and bakery with many locations and they are known for their baked goods. You can read about their amazing history here. Ironically, I am very eager to get back into the kitchen to attempt some more bread and you can bet this book will be on my counter very soon!

{image credits amazon.com}

Inspired Bride: Winter Wonderland Dessert Buffet

I had the wonderful privilege of being able to meet and spend some time with Maddy of Inspired Bride this past weekend. It was an absolute treat! She is smart, funny, and super talented! She shared a little bit about the joint project that she was working on with Bake It Pretty and today she let all of us into their Winter Wonderland! All aspects of this display buffet are laid out and she walks you through every step. These beautiful shots were done by an amazing team. Maddy did the food styling, Michael Haug was the photographer, and Kirki Schultz did the prop styling. Amazing work guys and thank you again Maddy for breakfast! Go Huevos Rancheros!

{image credits, Michael Haug, Maddy Hague of Inspired Bride and Kirki Schultz}

Pattern + Palette 2 book

I was at a Paper Source in Chicago when I stumbled upon this book, Pattern + Palette 2 by Heidi Arrizabalaga. This is a Rockport design book and it does not disappoint. It is filled with great patterns designs and suggested color palette groupings. If you appreciate and love to create patterns or need a new color grouping for a project, this book is a great way to be inspired! Don't forget to check out Pattern + Palette and Pattern + Palette 3.

The Notepads are here!

 

After much love, design and assistance from some great vendors, the FreakinToDo and the PainInTheGroceries list notepads are now available in the Vale Design Paper Goods shop! I am so excited and could not be happier with how they turned out.

There will be three notepad offerings. FreakinToDo list notepad - 3 pack, PainInTheGroceries list notepad - 2 pack, and the FreakinToDo & PainInTheGroceries list notepads - multi-pack.

**Please note that supplies are limited***

~ Thank you all for your support and patience! I hope you love them as much as I do! ~ erin

Happy Anniversary {to us!}

Eight years ago today, at seven o'clock in the evening, on a bright crispy fall day, I married my best friend and love of my life. I am honored to be called his wife and I am a better person for having known him. Thank you J for all of your love, patience and support these past eight years. Here is to a lifetime more!

{sis-in-law} Cornflake Cookie recipe

Ingredients:

2 pkg butterscotch chips

1/2 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 T. peanut butter

1 box Kelloggs Cornflakes {small box}

Directions:

Melt the above and pour over 7 cups cornflakes. Drop by teaspoon on wax paper. Cool and let set.

**This is a recipe that I received from my new sister-in-law. They have a tradition in her family around Christmas time where the women get together and bake up a storm! They call it "Cookie Weekend" and the rest of us reap the benefits. This recipe is one of their little jewels that she shared with me. I begged her for it the first Christmas my brother brought some of these over and I inhaled them all in a matter of hours! The recipe is so easy and the end results are quite tasty! Enjoy!

Blog Love: Oh So Beautiful Paper

I have been a fan of Oh So Beautiful Paper for quite some time now. If you are passionate about paper goods, calligraphy, printable freebies, letterpress, patterns and wedding invitations, then Nole's site is one you must check out! You can also find her on twitter and on facebook. Take some time to wander around her beautiful site!

2009 Pentaward winners

I finally had some time to view the 2009 Pentaward winners. I love to see which packaging won. The winners are shown by level, by category or by country. {The Kimberly-Clark Kleenex box won Best in Show.} I usually have the site bookmarked as a quick reference guide to all the latest and greatest design. It is also a very good way to start noticing design trends. If you have a chance, stop over and see what amazing work other designers have been up to!

{image credit Pentawards}

UPDATE

Good morning everyone! I have a bit of an update for all of you. I have been approached by my favorite boss to work on-site for the next couple of weeks. I am very excited and will need to do some prep work. I am going to be taking Monday and Friday off from posting for the next couple of weeks to finish up some "real job" projects. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I will post normally.

The Vale Design Paper Goods Shop will remain OPEN. I will be adding new items and the FreakinToDo™ list and the PainInTheGroceries™ list have been printed and are almost ready to go into the shop! I am so excited. {I went on a press check for them and they look really great!}

Thank you all for your understanding and patience. I have some of the kindest readers! I will see you all again full time in November! ~ Erin

Craftig - Sea Glass Candy Tutorial

As you know, I am a huge fan of the Craftig site. The creator, Kristen, is a friend of mine and I have been fortunate enough to have seen the site grow from the beginning stages. I had some time to go wandering around the site and was amazed at the crafts that everyone has been submitting. The Sea Glass Candy Tutorial found on Intimate Weddings caught my eye. Imagine the possibilities! You can change the flavor and color for any of the upcoming holidays or for any wedding or personal event. Orange and black, orange and brown, red and green or even a wintery blue mix. Place in cute packaging and give these away as homemade gifts, spruce up a holiday party, or use as party favors. The possibilities are endless! My husband is already asking if we can make some root beer candy. Keep sharing your great ideas everyone!

{image credits Craftig and Intimate Weddings}

Unplugged - recharging your creativity

Good morning everyone! I am back from my project revisions and a mini four day trip. I have to be honest. I did not miss my computer, not one little bit! I had my crackberry and caught up when I wanted to, but it was so nice to give my brain and my creative side a much needed break. I LOVE working, please do not get me wrong. Packaging and design are my passions and are like breathing for me. However, the older I get, the more I appreciate those three to four quiet days that pop up just when I need them. I try to make them count. Sometimes I want to just be a wife. Get our home in order, run some errands for my husband. Bake and cook amazing things. Sometimes I want to be a daughter. Help my parents with any chores they do not have time for on an aging house. Eat lunches with my dad. Spend time catching up with my mom. Sometimes I want to be a sister. Learn what my brother is up to. Where he has been flying lately. What his new hobbies are. Sometimes, I want it to be quiet. Watch old movies in my pajamas. Walk the dog. Visit some type of art exhibit by myself or with a close friend. I let my mind wander to creative projects that I would like to try. Designs I would like to work out just for me. Below is a list of what I do on my creative vacations. They may be simple, but there is beauty in simplicity. All creatives work differently and I would love to hear your tricks or activities. You never know who you may inspire! What do you guys do to unwind and recharge your creative juices?

• sleep as much as I can
• watch old black and white movies on TCM {only from the 20's - 40's}
• run errands
• read as many books as I can get my hands on
• word searches
• watch the History channel to exercise the left side of my brain {obsessed with anything Einstein}
• make lists of creative projects that I would like to explore
• research new designers, firms, design books
• catch up with old and new friends {preferably handwritten letters}
• take as many trips as I can, both by car and by plane
• walk my dog
• create little surprise gifts or events for loved ones
• play as many practical jokes on people as I can
• color with my crayolas
• schedule lunches with friends
• design crazy "designy" letters to send to my nieces just like my designer uncle did for me
• visit book stores and plant myself in the middle of the art section for hours
• go for drives out in the country
• visit farmstands
• test out my new camera
• plan my next trip to Chicago {I start planning my next trip on my way home from the city!}
• let myself enjoy the silence
• cook and partake in big Italian family gatherings
• get far far away from my computer
• art projects that involve my hands {cutting, pasting, creating new dielines, creating anything 3D}
• planning my October and December festivities {my two favorite months}
• researching new freelance trends
• laugh as hard as I can at anything
• sit with the dog and some coffee and homemade soup and watch it rain

These are just some of the small activities I do to recharge. As any creative knows, you are not inspired all the time. You do not have anything to say verbally and visually all the time. When you do come back though, you are usually refreshed and inspired and begin to create your next batch of amazing designs. Thanks for letting me recharge. I hope to be back up and running with some new designs that have been floating around in my head very soon!