"A Good Friend Knows Your Best Life Stories....

...a best friend has lived them with you."

This quote couldn't be more true for me.   

Kellie, Me, Angie--Halloween, Sophmore year.

 

And this is where I get all sappy about my best friends. Meet Angie and Kellie.  We've been through it all together.  Through elementary school to highschool we were practically joined at the hips. We were there for each other through everything, together we experienced all of the fun and trials of growing up.  Many, many of my fondest memories involve them and I love these girls like family--always have, always will.  One of the best parts is that not only were they examples to me growing up (some good, some bad--but hey, we had fun and have great memories!) they've grown up to be incredible women that I truly admire.  I'm so grateful to have them in my life.





While time and "adult life" has allowed less time for us to be as inseparable as we once were, do you want to know what I love most?  I love that when we get together it was as if I just saw them yesterday...like we never missed a moment.  We still get each other.  Even after not seeing one another for months, it seems like we always pick up right where we left off. The second best part? That somewhere inbetween all of that, Kellie always ends up laughing so hard that she cries, and we get odd looks from by-standers.  Everytime.





Angie, Me, Kellie--YW Camp 2000 (ish?)

 Kellie and I are now married, and tomorrow it's Angie's turn...which brings me to the reason for this post (aside from my nagging need to be sappy about my awesome friends).

 Angie deserves the best ( I would know, I was joined at her hip for the majority of her life, remember?) & I'm so glad she's found someone to give her that and make her happy.
 

I was so excited to get to design Angie's wedding announcement and get to be a part of her big day in that way.  Of course, having beautiful wedding colors--purple, green and ivory--makes my job easy.

So, with no further a-do, here it is.  Best wishes to Angie and Clay as they start their new journey together!

A Quick Catch-Up

It's been quite a long time since I've blogged. Since starting my full-time job doing graphic design it seems time flies by quicker than ever before. I am really loving my job --who knew you could LIKE a job?!--and have been learning so much in just the few short months that I have been there. It's been crazy busy there and already I have designed 30-ish book covers, a cookbook, and currently working on a party ideas book...among others.

Even with being so busy at work I have found some time on the side to continue a few freelance projects, which is fun because the creativity is entirely up to me.

I recently designed a logo for "Yakity-Yack", an online company that advertises local business. The company owner, Laurie, was great to work with and had great ideas to use in getting the logo design started. I love the retro-like feel of the logo. The colors are eye-catchingly bold and definitely have an "advertising" appeal to them.

Another project was a baby shower invite. The shower was for my friend Heather's sister-in-law. We did a blue, green, and brown color scheme to match the party details, and threw in a couple of fun zoo animals.

A t-shirt design has been in the works for an LDS Stake in Colorado. It's based on the poster design I did for 2012 YW theme, and the stake young women will be using them for their Camp shirts this year.

The other t-shirt design I've been working on was for Easter Fest 2012. Easter Fest happened this past weekend and was an ATV riding shin-dig put on by some of my family in Blanding. It was a ton of fun and we're hoping to make it an annual thing. Of course, no event is official without a t-shirt. (Back of shirt shown).

Also in the works is a wedding invite for one of my very best friends, but it deserves a post all of it's own...to come soon.

Big News by the Bundle!

I have had so many amazing things happen in the last few weeks & wanted to give a brief update!

First of all,

My Etsy shop reached 65 sales and has been booming in the last month or two! Quite the milestone for little ol' me. Thanks to everyone who has supported me & purchased my artwork!

Secondly

I am super excited to have been asked to be featured on simplyut.com on February 15th. If you don't know what simplyut.com is, you should definitely check it out. These girls had a wonderful idea to feature & write about small local business in Utah. The website is put together so well & allows you to explore tons of fun local businesses by putting them at your fingertips.

(stay tuned for a link up to my feature on February 15th)

And last of all, but CERTAINLY not least....

I was offered & have accepted a job position as a graphic designer for a book publishing company, Cedar Fort. I am SO SO excited. (Yay for a professional career!) I am excited to be able to have a job doing what I love, I think that is something everyone dreams for and I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity.

(Because of my need & desire for personal creativity, I will still be doing my freelance work on the side)

What an amazing year this has started out to be! I have had the opportunity to already put into practice some of my goals set forth for this year & can't wait to see what else is in store!

Welcome to 2012

I am so excited for this new year, there is nothing better than a fresh start to give you some motivation for the next 12 months....that is, if you're really that ambitious & dedicated. But if you're like me, those ginormous "go get 'em tiger!" ambitions sometimes only last til February...Spring if you're lucky.

And because of that, this year I didn't want to "overwhelm" myself with things that I may never accomplish, so I decided to create just a few small goals that are easily attainable. Nothing extremely life-changing. Just a few simple things to look forward to & to help better myself. Both as a person & creatively.

CREATIVELY

*Learn how to make macaroons

*Make more cakes
(2011 brought cakes to the creative table for me & I LOVED it. Must do more!)

*Experiment more with typography
(I love love love typography--need to do more w/it)

*Hit at least 100 sales in my Etsy shop
-almost at 50 right now

*Put more items in the Etsy shop
(depending on how busy I am, maybe one per month?)

*Perhaps learn HTML
(either self-teach or take a class)

*Embrace simplicity
(simplicity is clean, modern, & beautiful)


PERSONALLY

*Potential. Live up to it.
(Learn more, be more, do more)

*Strengthen my relationships w/loved ones
(don't take it for granted. build it, better it.)

* "Don't let yesterday take up too much of today"
(today is a new day, live in it)

*Follow through on those "big ideas"
(rather than idle my brain thinking about them for months & hindering other possibilities/ideas)

*Listen more closely.
(To others, myself, & spiritually)

* Be sure that those who matter to me know it
(by words & actions)

*More dates planned dates!

(with my hubby, of course)

Cristie + RJ: The Wedding Announcement

While this post has been a while coming, I am no less excited to share it! As with most brides, Cristie wanted her invite to reflect her wedding color scheme of silve, blue & white--in conjunction with her & her fiance's love for BYU, of course! I think it's always fun for the couple to throw in some personality into their invitations.

After a few color re-arrangements we came up with the final design, and I absolutely love it. I particularly love the wording in which Cristie's son, Kole, announces the marriage of his mom, and they have included them in their photos. What a cute and fun way to make a child feel a part of their parent's special day!

Thanks so much for allowing me to add something to your special day Cristie! I wish you and RJ the best of luck & the happiness you deserve!

Becca + Sam: The Wedding Cake

I am so excited to post about this wedding cake. I absolutely love it & had so much fun creating it. With this being my most elaborate cake thus far, I must say I am pretty proud of it!

I love the simplicity, yet textural details, of the white on white design. Becca was so great to work with & aside from knowing she wanted 3 round tiers in white fondant, she pretty much left the cake design open for me to do as I pleased. I really hope she ended up liking it as much as I did. Congrats to the newlyweds & best wishes to them in starting their life together!

Etsy Shop: 2012 Young Women Theme w/ Full Scripture

Check out the newest Etsy shop addition! I have had quite a few buyers for my original 2012 YW Theme poster (here), and because I have recently been receiving requests for a similar poster which would include the full scripture, rather than just the reference as in the original I am now offering one in my shop.

This would be a great addition to any Young Women classroom, framed and placed where they can see it every week; or even as a personal gift to a young woman herself. This newest poster can be purchased here