CHRISTMAS is almost here!

I'm going over my calender and looking at the date, and i realize...
there is only NINE days till Christmas!!






AHHHHHHHHHH!





I feel like this year has been a whirlwind of things, and nothing ever giving me that "accomplished" feeling.
Even though there was some awesome things that happened this year!

so i leave with you...
even if there are 5 or so parties that you must attend in the next week or so,
and even if you still have shopping to do,
and you never did get to make any Christmas cookies
or decorate the way you wanted to...

DON'T PANIC!!

it will all work out :)



photo from here

my sister-in-law is getting married!

Many don't know it but I'm not the original Heather Brennan... my sis-in-law had the name first, fair and square! ... and tomorrow she's getting married! I'm super pumped! not only to watch a gorgeous couple tie the knot and that I'm obsessed with anything "wedding", but that I'm psyched to be a part of such a loving family at such and important event.

This has stirred up all these fancy emotions inside me :)

I have one sibling, Patrick, my favorite brother in the whole world. Don't get me wrong, I love him to death, but I have still always wanted a sister. I have Girlfriends who come SO CLOSE to filling that role that it scares me, but there is till that piece missing that all true blood sisters have; a physical bond that goes beyond flesh and bone.

I ADORE that bond.

Now I'm not trying to have a pitty party from wittle me: "Ooooh poor HB with no sister!"

No, quite the contrary: I want to celebrate the fact that I LOVE ELI'S FAMILY :)

Granted, I love my own family but I cant help but love the dynamic between himself and his siblings and parents :)

So with that I want to say HAPPY WEDDING DAY

to HEATHER and STEVE!!

I'm so happy to share in your day and your future. :) I'm looking forward to family gatherings with munchkins running around and growing closer, perhaps getting to that line where sisterhood lies and blurring the edges... just a little :)

Designer's High

I'm on a design high, buzzing with the thick, intoxicating beauty of the letter form...

I attended a AIGA free event at RIT last night, I went on a whim and I'm so glad I did!

more info on the event here

The Speaker was Richard Kegler, senior partner and founder of P22 Type Foundry.

He spoke about the history of P22, his inspirations and what drove him to start P22, and of course all things typefaces. there was a list of things I found intriguing. First was the early floppy disc packaging of fonts, and their marketing of them. Second was the inspiration of the fonts them selves derived from found letter forms, such as Leonardo Da Vinci's hand writing, or the hand lettering of John Cage. with the hand lettering of John cage came a composition on CD he had written called 4 1/2 minuets ... at least I'm pretty sure that's what it was called, my notes weren't to clear.

I loved that with many of the fonts they sold came a special little "gift" varying form mugs to a musical CD. The variety of fonts that P22 offers makes it one of my favorite places to go and look at typefaces. (that and Veer.. hehe)

I never realized how intriguing history is and the art of something that already exist. its romantic in a way to find something with so much history and make it available for others to use as inspiration for great design. For example a student taking a type face that was originally designed in Buffalo NY ( one of the only ones before P22) and making it into a wooden type set. all of his work is documented here.

The last thing that he talked about was a project they are working on, concerning the actual construction of a metal typeface, it will be documented in a film to be released this spring, watch the teaser here.

more info at the P22 blog...

The best part of all of this is the refection I had on myself as a designer and how I use typefaces.

Wedding Invitations are very heavy in typography as an informational printed piece. I extremely enjoy the letter form and have a new appreciation for the tools I use. I have a new wish list of typefaces to purchase and as Mr Kegler said... "good tools are worth paying for"

:)

BORN TO BE WILD

Uncle Mike is 50!

Shhhh its a surprise!!!

I designed this surprise birthday party invitation for my aunt.

My uncles favorite colors are black and orange and he loves his harley :)

so it was an obvious choice what his

50th birthday party theme was going to be!

Enjoy!

Snazzy labels created for ivory envelopes,

I'm loving the white ivory contrast these days!

on the back of the envelope i hand drew flames

and colored them with orange and yellow markers,

adding a "biker" look, the back of the invite also

bears my logo, i know, i know... lame self promotion :)

this photo is of my cousins on their dad's harley HOW CUTE!!!

my aunt has some pics of them on their wedding day on the harley

but it seemed neat to show the kids... :)

I loved adding the small flourish detail mixing ornate and rugged,

mostly because i wanted an element other than flames!

Hope you enjoyed these!

I really enjoy doing party themes and invitations

they are fun because they are simple

yet have allot of small details that make them special.

'Tis The Season

Happy Holidays everyone!

well...

the Christmas bug has bitten me ... hard :)

here is my latest creation

enjoy!!

Invite Front

Inside

then...

I REALLY wanted RED envelopes

so i used my handy template skills

and whipped up 7 beautifuly lined red christmas envelopes!

then it was time for labels and stamps :)

in the same type of course!

sigh i should do this for a living or something ;)

Crayon/FALL Inspired Look

FINALLY!! my crayon look is here it took allot longer than I wanted but :P hey it works right?
Colors - Deep Navy, Rust, Brown, Plumb

Crayon Challenge

I challenge myself to make a invitation inspired by crayons

ready set GO!