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12/05

NY here we come!

Well, this morning I am headed out to NY with my daughter Maggie, and my good friend Alma Loveland (and amazing graphic designer herself) and her daughter. We are headed to a few art shows- Surtex and the New York stationery show. I am excited to learn a lot and relax a little!

Here is what my little artist and I did yesterday in preparation for the show:

This is a great kid art project- I took plain yogurt, and mixed it with food coloring. Cheap and easy art project- and Maggie loved it!

Have a great weekend!!

personal work
09/05

Motherhood Matters

(I designed this print for KSL Motherhood Matters, this print is available to download for free here, along with lots of other goodies)

I wanted to post this yesterday in honor of Mother’s Day, but I spent the whole weekend helping out my little daughter Maggie, who was sick with the flu. That meant that Sunday I had the flu myself… it was a day that I was a little out of it. Thankfully my husband took care of me and let me sleep- so it was still a nice Mother’s day. But I didn’t really get the chance to honor the Mother’s in my life.

My mother has been such a great example to me in my life. From my earliest memory she was always sacrificing her time, sleep, and energy for us. She taught us how to work, pray, get along, read, and have fun. She was really good about helping us have fun.. I remember so many special days- she let us imagine and build forts, paint our rooms, and create just about anything we wanted. I truly would never have become an artist without her guidance and love.  Another distinct memory I have of my mother is from my teenage years. At that time I had suffered from some major health problems, and had 6 surgerires on my knee. My mother was so supportive and there for me during all of those surgeries- she helped me bathe, get dressed, eat, and basically took care of me in all of these “basic” needs that I couldn’t do for myself. It was a very difficult time for me, but I remember it with fondness because it was a time that her and I especially became very close.  Now, as I have become a mother like her we have became good friends. I look on her not only as a mother, but as a best friend, and I call her almost every day… I am so grateful for her.

I am also very grateful for my mother in law; she is another great women. She raised 6 kids with love and determination, taught them all how to work hard, and raised them with great love and faith.  She has one of the greatest laughs, and she laughs easily at all that happens around her.  She is kind and thoughtful, and is always reaching out to those around her. I know that my husband and his goodness is just a reflection of my mother in law, and the person she is. I love visiting with her, and she has taught me so much.

How wonderful it is to be a mother, and how wonderful it is to have such great women around us- not only in our mothers, but from all the women around us who nurture and teach us. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you great women!

campaign, recent
06/05

etcetera etcetera

Well last night was an extremely successful creative collaborative. It went even better then I could have imagined! I will be blogging about who was there and what was said later today- the speakers were phenominal, and I am so excited that it is going to be a monthly thing, yay!

Anyhow, I am guest posting at Collected today. Go and check out what I collect…. (typefaces… duh.) It will make you realize just how nerdy I am!

And here is the answer key for the typeface quiz over on that blog: (Can you recognize any of these typefaces?)


creative collaborative
05/05

Creative Collaborative

About a year ago I remember working late one night, and looking at some other graphic designers blogs, after awhile I began to feel well… jealous. I felt like my work wasn’t as good, and that these other artists were doing a better job. After wallowing in self pity and discouragement for a few minutes I Suddenly realized that I needed snap out of it. I spent a lot of time wondering why I did this, and what I could do to NEVER do that again. I decided to think of these designers as people, and as my friends. This changed everything! I diligently started trying to reach out to other artists around me, and you know what? That changed everything.

These artists around me became friends. And soon instead of feeling jealous when I looked through other blogs- I started to think- Good for them! I started to learn from other artists. Then, I started to collaborate with them. And when I started collaborating- I started getting better as an artist. And then I started getting more business.

I think this is a success story for any artist. Oftentimes as artists we work too much alone. I have found that as I work with other artists, as I collaborate, I learn and grow. I find answers to my questions, and my quality of art increases. And not only do I improve, but I can give back and help others around me. And as I help others, they help me… its a never ending circle.

The past year has become the best “art year” for me. I owe all of that to collaboration.

For this reason I have started, with the help of some other dear artists- Alma Loveland, Sarah Jane, and Justin Hackworth, the Creative Collaborative. This is an effort to help our artistic community here in Utah come together and network and collaborate. The artistic community is unbelievable talented: we have renown photographers, interior designers, graphic designers, bloggers, seamstress, illustrators, painters, sculptors, etc. . . And we need to come together- I am sure that there are untapped partnerships that could really reap some great benefits.

So here is the plan: once a month, the first or second Thursday of each month, we will meet as an artistic community. It is free. We will have some short speakers that talk about topics that can inspire and help all artists. Then we will have Q&A and discussion time, and an opportunity to talk and get to know other artists.

So please come, and please spread the word- the first one is tonight at 7. Kirsten Krason, Dave Broberg, and Diana Palmer are speaking. It will be on 1 East Center Street #214 here in Provo, Utah. (same buidling as Gondolfos) Bring a chair, bring a friend. But come ready to collaborate.

I can’t wait to meet you!

collaborate, creative collaborative
04/05

2 exciting developments

It has been a wild past 6 months. I feel like since November I have been in survival mode. Does that ever happen to you?

Anyways, several of my projects I have had to keep quite about- but now I can announce and show one of them:

It’s called Motherhood matters, and it is a campaign I helped design for KSL Studio 5. They were absolutely a dream to work with, and it was a really fabulous project to be apart of for a few reasons- 1. I have a fantastic mother who taught me so much of what I know. 2. I have so many other women in my life who have been like mothers to me and 3. I am a mother myself to a cute little 18 month old, who keeps me busy!

So without further ado, here are just a few of the pieces I designed that are available to download here. More will be coming in the next few days, and be sure to check out the 10 day challenge and all of the other wonderful things that Studio 5 has worked to create. so fun!

Download the pie box here:

Download 4 prints here:

*Both photos courtesy Lindsey Briggs Photography

campaign, graphic design
03/05

A love poem

Wow. I have so much work that I have been doing, and there is some really exciting things to post this week. A lot of the work I have been doing I haven’t been able to post- its all works that have been tightly in the wraps. But I am finally able to reveal a bunch this week. Yay!

But I wanted to start the week out right- so here is a lovely love poem a friend sent me. To find out more about the author and read his poem here

personal work, Poem