"It is through remembering that we again look for signs of Christ’s coming in Advent. In hope, courage, and faith dare to speak with the psalmist: 'Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.' ” Rev. Anna Fulmer
Moodboard: Christmas Wish List
This year I found myself not exactly knowing what to answer when family and friends asked "What do you want for Christmas?" I tried to prepare a list through out the year of things that I truly wanted - now out of school and grown, I feel the same anticipation for the Christmas season, but not as much for the Christmas presents. Nonetheless, these beautiful treasures caught my eye in traveling. Isn't that coat the loveliest? SO here are seven things I wouldn't mind finding under the tree this year:
1. Ampersand Necklace - so delicate and understated, who can resist a great ampersand?
2. Socialite Bow Detail Coat - the buttons and the cute collar detail would make this coat a perfect compliment to any date night or a holiday outfit.
3. Victorian Whale Bookends - the perfect whimsical addition to any bookcase, or office cubicle!
4. Oblique Calligraphy Starter Kit - With a growing love for calligraphy, this starter kit is a great way to continue to grow and learn in the beautiful art!
5. Pillows - these fun throw pillows would add a great touch of color to any room!
6. Darling Magazine - This unique quarterly magazine continues to produce amazing articles and beautiful imagery - a must read, and not a bad coffee table display!
7. Back Up iPhone 5 charger - Any girl on the go would love this handy back up if her battery were low, I know I would love one!
Calligraphy Sketches
I loved getting to practice my calligraphy at work today for a project with a fellow designer, Mark Lane. What a beautiful reminder to pen this time of year!
Color Companion: Black and Gold
Now that the Turkey has been served, and the glow of Thanksgiving has settled into ushering in the warmth of winter, the Christmas season has begun! I have had a fond love for gold for quite sometime, and with all the twinkling lights around this time of year, the gold always seems more magical. Two classy colors themselves, black and gold make a beautiful, unconventional pairing for the holidays - even if it just a is a small splash of the two in your ensemble or on your table.
Clockwise: Mirabelle Top, Beeswax Candles, Geometric Coasters, Table Decor
Advent : Hope
With December coming so rapidly upon us, we leave Thanksgiving behind for the season of Advent. Advent derives its meaning from the Latin meaning word for "coming". In the weeks before Christmas we prepare, we wait, we long for the coming of the new born Christ
Color Companion: Brown & Orange
Being the week of Thanksgiving, I find that with the fall, the warm colors are everywhere! Orange being the strongest of the warm colors, showcasing itself in the holidays from Halloween to trading in it's shocking companion, black, to be a softer companion to brown, red, and yellow alike. I have never openly admitted to loving the color orange, but somehow it always stays on my color radar, and I love it most as it dances on the trees in the fall. It reminds me to be thankful for the sweet warmth of summer that is passing, and the cool time of winter that once again will bring a full blushing springtime. As Thanksgiving draws near, what are you thankful for most?
Clockwise:
Find this beautiful Calligraphy print by Lindsay Letters,
See how to arrange a great Thanksgiving day table of Flowers from BHG,
A Guide to Take Thanksgiving Meal by Kate Wolfson,
A little Thanksgiving table Decoration Inspiration
For decor inspiration check out this article here: https://morningchores.com/thanksgiving-decorations/
Interesting Pinteresting: Doors
Though I am not a home owner yet, I love the idea of one day having a pop of color on my front door, don't you? I have been adoring these fun colors, and beautiful statement doors that have been popping up on my Pinterest home page lately. Doors are an easy fix to change the color or style with, as the real estate is small and doable in a few hours. I keep dreaming if I could paint my apartment door, what color would it be?
Clockwise: Garden, Teal/White, Pink, Lime Green, Circle, Royal Blue, Green, Slim Teal, Yellow
Aristist Admiration: Elsa Mora
I recently found this stunning art work by the artist, Elsa Mora. A Cuban multi-disiplinary artist who creates illustrations, sculptures, jewellery, and paper cut outs. Explore her wonderful blog, and see the gorgeous worlds she has created.
Portfolio: Aagaard Wedding | Sketches
A few weeks back I shared this mood board with you from the lovely Aggaard wedding. You can see how the Mood board dictated the inspiration for the three comps I ended up showing the client. With details of a muted palette and a vintage but classic feel to the suits to match the rustic wedding she was planning, each suite captured a different mood we had talked about. The first having a contemporary look and a splash of watercolor to create color; the second being more straight cut classic, with modern vibes, and the third being a clean pallet of grey and white with a mix of patterns and vintage fonts. In the end we mixed and matched pieces from each set to create the final suite she had envisioned from the beginning. I can't wait to show you how it ended up!
Moodboard: Christmas Season
Top: 1 / 2 / 3 Middle: 4 / 5 / 6 Bottom: 7 / 8 / 9
Though the snow today was not a totally unwelcomed (cold) surprise in Chicago, it feels as if it is officially been proclaimed winter! With later months come Thanksgiving, and of course the season of Christmas. I know it is somewhat scandalous to think about Christmas before the Thanksgiving turkey is even plucked for the table, but it is with snow that the warm feelings of Christmas and winter come sweeping in to my mind – and of course designing our Christmas/Holiday card! I pulled some photos I have seen that remind me of how Christmas season past have felt and looked like for me, and what I want to convey in our card this year. (Plus, how cute is that snow covered fox!) The large snowflakes, the cozy lights and coco, and the steady stream of red from decorations to car lights on their way to and fro. And how about that great typeface, Frosted by Molly Jaques. It felt like a perfect cherry on top to start thinking about this years holiday season.
Creative Quotes
Minted Style Board
Christmas Sparkle board by Caroline. See more unique stationery
The holidays are upon us, and though Thanksgiving should never be overlooked - I instantly was in the Christmas mood with Minted's Holiday Inspiration Board Challenge!
I was inspired by the warmth of light that the season brings by the beautiful card by artist Griffinbell Paper Co. you can see on the lower left. Though it becomes dark more quickly in the evening, there is something to those twinkly lights everywhere and the burst of bold stars on a crisp snowy night sky that take me back to my childhood playing in the snow at night as my father shoveled our driveway, and seeing the warm glow of our home. Even better was coming in rosie-cheeked to my mother, who always seemed to be waiting with the hot coco and a sweet snack for us to snuggle up on the couch with.
View my board here, and go create one of your own to try to win $100 to Minted!
Sketches and Suprises: Coming Soon
Over the last few days I have been inspired, but I am not quite ready to reveal the whole of my thoughts. I was just too excited not to capture a rough glimpse of what is to come!
Interesting Pinteresting: Jessica Senti
I recently came across this lovely blog, Serendipitous Things, by Jessica Senti as I was looking for a new background for my desktop. A sweet space created for her creative endeavors, Jessica's style is whimsical and colorful - and it is reflected in her collection of Pinterest boards.
Check out her beautiful desktop backgrounds here.
Sketches and Suprises: With All My Heart
Earlier this year, I created this sketch entitled "With All My Heart, Love" and found it recently among my piles of sketches. Look out for an updated version of this little guy soon!
Color Companions: Black and Orange
I have never loved Halloween as a holiday, but I do love that season and colors that surround it. In lieu of the spooky holiday coming upon us in a few days, I couldn't help but post these color companion. I have a sweet spot for orange in my life - but not the orange cone or hunting orange. Rather, I like oranges on the extremes of the spectrum, the muted and almost peach looking oranges and then the rustic burnt oranges.
Orange was the base color in my wedding, and I have been pleased with the variations of this color that have been popping up in not only fashion, but home goods, and prints more and more. With the fall and Halloween season going on, I love seeing the bold color combo of black and orange, and the variations with the shades these two color lend.
Clockwise: Wedges, Hand-Lettering, Pattern, Pumpkins
Creative Quotes
Sketches and Suprises: B is for Beauty
I have the amazing privileged to work along side a talented group of designers at my full time job. They constantly are introducing trends, smarter design solutions, pushing one another to create stunning design solutions.
One of those instances is what the team calls Infused Inspiration Fridays: Challenges.Started by a small pool of our design team, about a handful of us on the team gather and execute a predetermined design challenge once a month on Friday afternoon. Someone on the team creates a "challenge", in which we are given a set of guide lines, and a set time limit. The challenges have ranged so far from creating a pattern inspired by fall decor to creating a music album cover with only a set of words and images.
This past week our challenge was to use one image and the word "beauty" to create something that we believed represented beauty.
My interpretation of our teams Infused Inspiration Friday Challenge - read below to see the guidelines!
Here is an example of the rules:
1. Download assets. Link sent in email.
2. Create your interpretation of “beauty” only using:
—the word “beauty” — this image
3.
You have the one image and one word. In addition you can use any color,
any font, any size, any medium (on or off the computer), and anything
you can create using the word “beauty” and this image.
4. You CANNOT add any other images or textures.
5. Your final piece must use this image and have the word “beauty” written somewhere on it.
6. You have 25 minutes to design and print your piece.
7. Present your piece to the team at the round table.
8. Have fun!
Each time it is incredible to see not only what myself and my teammates produced in a short time, but how wide of a range of thoughts and talents are represented in this fun exercise.
Artist Admiration: Dear Hancock
Image by Dear Hancock, Lookbook 2013
My humor has always had two strong hitting points: 1. Literal takes of a phrase and 2. animals being personified in prints and drawings. The artists behind Dear Hancock nail both of these on the head for me. Among their stationary you find whimsical and quirky interpretations of the world around them. My favorites of their work include the literal desk calendar for 2013, big happy birthday truck card, and their bunny cards (seen above). You can find this fabulous chubby bunny feature on almost a dozen different of their greeting cards. Among my favorite : Ski Bunny, Dad Bunny, and my all time favorite, Love Bunny. Doesn't he just steal your heart?
I admire Dear Hancock for the variety of simple and whimsical stationary products they offer, while continuing to update and adding to popular concepts. To me, each piece tells a loving and somewhat goofy story of these two talented artists behind the brand, and the way they see the world.
Go take a look at their new look book or follow their blog !
Image by Dear Hancock, Lookbook 2013
Creative Quote
Kyle Steed is a recent find for me and quickly becoming an artist I admire. Reading through his blog posts have certainly inspired me to continue to work hard at what I do, as well as continue to place the Lord at the center of my work - regardless of what it is.
You can find his work here kylesteed.com and then go check out his blog post here .