I love these birds found in Gennine's Big Cartel Shop. They are just so sweet. I previously posted about her birds here. Any one of her bird illustrations would look perfect on my bird artwork wall in my dining room...that I have yet to hang!
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Daily Reads
Blog Love
Blog Love :: Lemons and Anchovies
My husband and I both like to cook, but we have a tendency to get into a "recipe rut". We tend to make the same dishes all the time, so I am always on the look out for new and exciting food websites. I stumbled onto Lemons and Anchovies from this soup link on Mint. This site has some very interesting and different recipes that I am looking forward to trying. I am feeling a brussels sprouts phase coming on {they are tasty when done right!} and this is the first recipe I am going to make. You can also follow L&A on Twitter and Facebook.
{image credits Lemons and Anchovies}
Blog Love :: TasteSpotting
Swimming through to visually gorgeous TasteSpotting and linking onto a ton of websites looking for new and exciting vegetarian recipes. Wishing now that I did not give up simple sugars. Check out all of those baked goods...
{image credits TasteSpotting}
Blog Love :: Design to Inspire
It is no secret that I have been on a home design kick lately. {click here and here} So it was only a matter of time before I stumbled onto Design to Inspire, ranked #4 on the London Times Top 5o of the World's Best Design Blogs. This site is run by Jo and Kim and features some of the most gorgeous home shots I have ever seen. There is inspiration on this site for everyone.
Through my baby step re-designs I have been doing around my home, I have noticed that I gravitate toward the classic, warm and rustic rooms. I am not a "modern, white walls" girl. The Italian in me screams for warmth, cozy settings and natural elements. I love exposed brick, raw woods and plants sprinkled in for extra green {my favorite color} and texture.
The more I learn about myself, the more I see those life experiences translate themselves into my home. It has been a lovely journey so far and I am looking forward to my next steps! Thank you to all the creatives who share all of their hard work and inspiration with the rest of us...especially those of us who are allergic to interior design.
{image credits Design to Inspire}
Blog Love :: Young House Love
It is no secret that I am allergic to decorating my house. Hives. Panic attacks. Do they make a pill for that? I am on a mad mission this year to rectify this problem. {master bedroom/bathroom painted. hardwood flooring bought and paid for this weekend!}
John and Sherry Petersik run Young House Love, a site BURSTING with home inspiration, tutorials and resources. Plain and simple, this site is amazing. I know I am late to this table, but again, allergic. In a short amount of time, this site has inspired me to set home remodel goals, both big and small, and somehow it has begun to alleviate that fear of messing those projects up. They may even inspire me to hang something on my walls. {can you say phobia?} A MUST bookmark site! Make sure to check out their lovely design dilemma inspiration boards.
{image credits Young House Love}
Vale Design Work :: Moonbug Photography Blog Design Revisions
One of my freelance clients, photographer Sonja Clark of Moonbug Photography, was happy with the blog she had designed and set-up, but she was looking for that little something extra. We had a quick brainstorming session on strengthening the look of her brand, visual organization and legibility. Then I went to work!
I designed a new blog header showcasing her logo {with its sparkly new ® registration! Congrats!} and used the bug as a subliminal arrow to help move the viewer across the top of the site and down the right side to the newly created quick buttons. The side buttons emphasize the brand color and utilize the playful lightening bug graphic to highlight main information. Make sure to check out the reference section with Sonja's helpful hints when preparing yourself or your family for a professional photoshoot. Pop over to check out the new design!
**Note :: Indianapolis Locals :: Her schedule is quickly filling up with school pictures, mini sessions and early holiday card shoots. Be sure to book asap!
{image credits Vale Design and Moonbug Photography}
Blog Love :: Grain Edit
If you are a graphic designer, Grain Edit is a must bookmark reference site. I check this site on a weekly basis. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook. Visit their Etsy shop.
"Grain Edit is focused on classic design work from the 1950s-1970s and contemporary designers that draw inspiration from that time period. Site content includes interviews, articles, designers' libraries as well as examples of rare design annuals, type specimens, Ephmera, posters and vintage kids books from our bookshelves." ~ Grain Edit
{image credits Grain Edit}
Blog Love :: Sunday Suppers
Recipes and gorgeous food photography...two things I absolutely love! {ps I love their logo too} Sunday Suppers is a beautiful site run by stylist and wedding and food photographer Karen Mordechai and Lizzy Sall. As quoted from SS, "Sunday Suppers are class-cooking-dining experiences, pairing friends and food. The classes are held in a waterfront loft in Brooklyn, NY and are taught by local Chefs. The food is market fresh, local and organic and the approach is to create seasonal and fresh meals together."
Definitely check out the recipe section and their store featuring Karen's lovely photographs. Check out Sunday Suppers on Facebook and Twitter.
{image credits Sunday Suppers}
Blog Love :: Flights of Fancy
Flights of Fancy is the gorgeous wedding blog of Betsy White Stationery Boutique. BWSB provides lovely wedding stationery, monogram logos, personal stationery, baby and party designs. I particularly love the Color Palettes section on Flights of Fancy. It would be a nice inspiring color or wedding reference to bookmark.
{image credits Betsy White Stationery Boutique}
Blog Love :: Mrs Lilien - Styling House
Truth: I am not a super fashonista and I hate to shop for clothes. Yep. I said it. I am the Gap slash Anthropologie girl and I am ok with that. The designer in me likes to dress in neutrals {black, white, gray and brown} and accent with bright primary colored accessories. {my house looks much the same!} But somewhere inside of me, in some dark little space lurks a tiny desire to wear something bold, patterned, bright and screams "Check me out!" I always tell people I would pay big bucks to hire a stylist, someone to just hand you the right outfit every morning. If you also need some color intervention, than wander onto Mrs Lilien Styling House Blog.
This site is run by Kelley Lilien and is eye candy and inspiration for your body, your liquor cabinet, closet and home. I love the graphics and colorful image round-ups, the site copy is cheeky and sophisticated and her fashion taste is immaculate. She just looks like the coolest chick to hang out with! Check out her design work here, Pink Dot Press custom invitations and announcements, her photo styling site here and follow Mrs. L on Twitter.
{image credits Mrs. Lilien Styling House}
Blog Love :: Daily Drop Cap
Daily Drop Cap is a blog by the letterform wizard that is typographer/illustrator Jessica Hische. Each work day, DDC features a new letterform for you to download and use {usage limitations} on your blog. Code included. If you are a designer, this site is a breathe of fresh air. Clean white space and letterforms at their best! Visit Jessica's site, her blog, her store and Twitter.
{image credits Jessica Hische and Daily Drop Cap}
Creature Comforts & Design*Sponge Blogging Tips
Ez at Creature Comforts has started a free Guide to Better Blogging Series. As a huge fan of her site, you can bet I will be checking in often.
Grace at Design*Sponge is now offering one-on-one blog consulting. This service is not free, but judging from her site, experience and knowledge, I am guessing it will be worth every penny!
{image credits Creature Comforts and Design*Sponge}
Blog Love: Pioneer Woman + Tasty Kitchen
I have been a fan of the Pioneer Woman website, run by Ree Drummond, every since I stumbled onto it looking for Photoshop actions a couple of years ago. Ree's personality and voice are quite funny and her life sounds so interesting. This site is heavy with Cooking and Photography {beautiful photos + tutorials + great tips + actions} with a little Home & Garden and Homeschooling mixed in! Don't forget to check out her sister site, the Tasty Kitchen. I can never have enough recipe sites.
{image credits Pioneer Woman and Tasty Kitchen}
+ side note :: There will be no freelance101 this week. I am still gathering the results from the survey and I have a freelance project due this week. Thank you for your patience! Freelance101 will return next week.
Blog Love: Giverslog
Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a lovely weekend/holiday and gave and received gifts of time and talent. I stumbled onto Giverslog gift guides recently while researching crafty gifts to make for Valentine's Day. This site is run by AmberLee Fawson and is chalked full of gift giving ideas. There is a plethora of gift categories to choose from. Giverslog also has a blog and a great free printables section.
{ps I was super excited to see that our Take-Along Treats No 2: Grandma's Caponata is currently being featured on the home page. Thanks Amber!}
{image credits Giverlog}
Blog Love: fresh365
I recently stumbled onto fresh365. This site is a collection of vegetarian recipes, gorgeous food photography and general photography. This site is also run by a designer named Erin, but a Boston based one! I am always looking for more vegetarian recipes to add to my arsenal and I love shots of fresh vegetables. The colors are so beautiful. {found via Mint}
{image credit fresh365}
Blog Love: Farm Fresh Creative
There are logos and then there are great logos. If you are a lover of design, logos and branding like myself, then you must check out Northern California designer Cathe Holden's Farm Fresh Creative. This site shows some of her latest work and work in progress. Her logos and typography are clean and clever. You can check out her full portfolio here. ps Somehow along with creating these stunning logos, she manages to be the wife of a fireman and a stay-at-home mother of three! {I am always in awe of women who can juggle being a mother, designer and business owner. I am not a mom and I can barely handle my husband, small dog and two businesses!}
You may also be familiar with Cathe's other site, Just Something I Made. This site is a plethora of DIY tutorials, vintage design items, and design resources. You can also check out her new offering of custom vintage monograms.
{image credits Farm Fresh Creative and Just Something I Made}
Blog Love: Esty Storque
In early 2009, I opened an Etsy shop, Vale Design Paper Goods. I currently offer packaging and paper good printables and two notepads designs. I walked the brick n' mortar and online retail markets to research similar offerings and product pricing before I opened my shop. I wanted to have fair prices, be competitive and offer unique products that I am passionate about.
It has been a bit of an adjustment to switch from my "service" based freelance design business to a "product" based business. So many new things to take into consideration, taxes, wholesale certificates, etc. I was very happy to stumble onto the Etsy Storque site. It is a plethora of information for online retail business owners and definitely worth a bookmark.
I focus mainly on the How-To section, subcategory, Selling. There are helpful tips from selling 101, packaging suggestions, pricing and advertising. I really like the Quit Your Day Job section which is focused on owners who have been successful with their Etsy stores and have been able to translate that into a steady income. I love to read their different approaches and techniques.
I have some big goals for my Etsy shop and products in 2010 which I will share tomorrow {along with a free printable} in my business goals post. Thank you to everyone who has purchased one of my products or has sent me a lovely email or convo. I appreciate it very much!
{image credits Etsy}
**UPDATE*** A must read how Etsy will make changes this year. Thank you to Julie at Up Up Creative and Smidgebox. Found via Twitter.
Eat Drink Chic Borders Holiday Window
I am a very big fan of the website Eat Drink Chic, run by graphic designer Amy Moss out of Australia. Her site is loaded with amazing free packaging and print DIY downloads. Her work is stunning and apparently Borders has realized this as well. They gave her a much deserved holiday window in one of their stores! Congratulations Amy, the window is gorgeous. Continued success in 2010. I can not wait to see what you design next!
{image credits Eat Drink Chic}
Blog Love: Geninne's Art Blog
I can not seem to get enough DIY tutorials and creative e-commerce hints and helpful tips lately. In my pursuit of learning new techniques and information, I have stumbled onto some lovely new sites, Geninne's Art Blog being one of them. Geninne is a stay at home mom, artist and I believe is currently in the process of re-locating to Mexico! Her style is fabulous and the more I wander through her work, the more I fall in love. She seems to love birds as much as I do!
I found this site through an easy hand carved stamp tutorial that Ez at Creature Comforts mentioned on Twitter. I have always been interested in stamping and block printing. Any time someone mentions "easy" in the same sentence, well, you have my attention. I can not wait to make some time to try these eraser techniques. Thanks Geninne for sharing and good luck with your move!
{image credits Geninne's Art Blog}
Paper Crave site re-design
I am a huge fan of the Paper Crave site. I check it everyday, multiple times a day. I am also very fortunate and blessed to call Kristen, proprietor of this site, Domestifluff and Craftig, a good friend. I was excited when she told me she was working on a Paper Crave re-design and I was even more excited when I saw it! Lovely, clean and fresh layout. If you are not aware, Kristen is quite the web designer! Her whimsical illustrations can also be seen scattered throughout.
This site also has a new feature that I as a designer I am already obsessed with. The Fontly Five. Designers love fonts. Plain and simple. We love the serif of an "a" and how a lowercase "g" looks in multiple forms. I am always on the hunt for new fonts for freelance projects and for personal projects. I trust Kristen's design style and I can not wait to see what fonts she will start featuring.
Gorgeous paper finds, product reviews and resource links, this is definitely a site to book mark if you have not done it already! Well done K!
{image credits Paper Crave}
Blog Love: Bakerella
Ahh the super sweet goodness of Bakerella! I first found this site through Kathleen at Twig and Thistle. If you have a sweet tooth, love design, branding and beautiful stunning food photography, than this site is for you! Cakes, pies, cupcakes, cute little baking projects, holiday and wedding projects and recipes are illustrated step by step through some seriously amazing food photography. You will wish you could reach through the screen!
I am always fascinated by photography and styling tricks, especially food shots. They are SO difficult. There are some great photography tips on this site. If you have some time, definitely pop over and wander around. I am sure there will be some amazing holiday projects, recipes and photos coming up!
**You can also purchase some cute t-shirts and aprons from Bake Love for the bakers in your life! Follow Bakerella on Twitter here.
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!
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}
Blog Love: Designer Jots
As we know, I am a big advocate of illustration and patterns. I was very happy to stumble onto Designer Jots by Carolyn Gavin. Designer Jots is her blog from her main site, Ecojots, her brother sister run company that makes eco-friendly paper goods. Both websites show off their modern, bright patterned style on a variety of products. Notebooks, folders, cards, e-cards, agendas and journals. They even have wrapping paper! What a great coordinated gift for a fellow paper lover.
{image credits Carolyn Gavin, Designer Jots}
found via Twig & Thistle
Designer Illustrator Jessica Hische
My friend Lori emailed me a couple of links this week that she thought I might be interested in. One in particular caught my eye. If you love and appreciate scroll work, hand lettering typography and book cover design, then you must check out designer/illustrator Jessica Hische. To me, her style seems very whimsical and has a bit of a vintage feel. Please stop by her blog and her portfolio site to check out her amazing work. Have a great weekend!
{image credits Jessica Hische}
Blog Out Loud interview
Want to learn a little more about me, my blog and my company? Then head to Blog Out Loud for my interview with Rebecca Orlov of Loving Living Small. {Click here to see pictures of the Blog Out Loud event!}
- Thanks Rebecca!
Stay up to speed with all of our DIYs, FREE Printables, Recipes, Inspirations and Personal Design Work. Click here to follow Vale Design. See you all back here tomorrow!
The Inspired Bride Color Cards
I was turned on to The Inspired Bride through a feature on one of my morning reads, Paper Crave. Maddy Hague, a graphic designer living in Minneapolis {who is cool as h-e-double hockey sticks!}, is the mastermind behind this beautiful wedding site. Every nook and cranny is loaded with beautiful photography and resources. However, that is not the part that kept me on this site for over an hour yesterday. It was her color cards. Being a designer, I stare at color all day long. This site was like being in a color candy store! I spent time admiring the sophisticated groupings and photos that inspired them. If you are working on a logo or a brand, definitely stop on over. {Catch her on Twitter.}
{image credits The Inspired Bride}
Blog Love: How About Orange
Run by Chicago based graphic designer Jennifer Jones, How About Orange is one of my daily reads. This site is chalked full of DIYs, lists great design resources, and offers lots of freebies. The site even features a "Time Wasters" section. Too funny! As a bonus, she designs fabric which means lots of beautiful modern patterns. You can find her fabric selection here. I would recommend this site to designers for great links to bookmark for your reference files and non-designers for some great craft projects and easy tutorials. Definitely worth a pop over!
Blog Love: Making It Lovely
Pink Loves Brown. Their home on Apartment Therapy. She and her husband just won the Better Homes and Gardens 48 hour challenge. She runs two creative businesses and she just had a baby. She is Nicole Balch, a Chicago native, who runs Making It Lovely and Smart & Lovely. The Making It Lovely site has it all. Home, design, and baby to name just a few. She has very easy to follow crafty DIY projects and she shares how and what items she uses to make her house a home. I love to look at her resource boards. So organized. She is a creative force. Check her out! Have a great weekend everyone!
Blog Love: One Pretty Thing
With my package design background, my comfort zone is creating two and three dimensional paper projects. That was before I wandered onto Rachel Klein's site, One Pretty Thing. This site features beginner to advanced DIY projects from all over the internet using different types of materials for any skill set. It features resource links and it is a great way to link to other creative people. There is something here for everyone. Did I mention that it is updated constantly?! Thank you Rachel for your commitment to introducing us all to some really outstanding crafts and crafters. {I am humbled and honored that you have featured some Vale Design as well.} Please visit her site to get inspired for your next project. Have a great weekend everyone!
Blog Love: Paper Crave & Domestifluff
If you are obsessed with stationery and paper goods, then you must be aware of Paper Crave. This site is one of my few morning reads. Kristen, a freelance graphic designer {and someone I now call friend} is so great at finding the latest in the world of letterpress, stationery, and design freebies. Even some of her own creations pop up from time to time. Find Paper Crave on Twitter here.
Another favorite site of mine is called Domestifluff. I came across this site via iDiY and knew it was a must read. I mean come on, food recipes, crafts, and great design freebies. Imagine my surprise after emailing Kristen a couple of times to find out that she ran both! Where does she find the time?! So much eye candy. Make sure to visit both!
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!
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}.
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- © 2008-2011 Vale Design. Do not use or reproduce any image or graphic without the permission of Vale Design.
