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Yup, it's me... it's not an early April fool's joke... the birdies flew south for the spring :)
Just doing a little spring cleaning + decided I needed a new banner that reflected more of who I – Taylor Made designs – is.
So what do you think? Bring back the birds or keep the ribbon?
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Ever find a store that makes you drool?
I've come across a few sites that offer the best products...where form + function live harmoniously together. Tell me, why do labels in japanese look so great? Is it the simplicity + the beautiful letterforms?
All of the above items can be found at Mujion.
The kids plates (green + red) can be found at Not Neutral.
I'm always looking for great online stores... care to share?
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Me. The BUCK stops here :) Starbucks. without a doubt.
My kids. Dunkin Donuts all the way.
Unfortunately for me, Starbucks is in the opposite direction of my everyday travels, and DD, as everyone knows, is around ever corner. Seriously. I must pass three DDs daily. Luckily for me, right across the street to my kids new school next year is a Starbucks. How awesome is that?
The other day was so nice out we stopped for ice coffee and broke down and got a box of munchkins for William + Davis as a very special treat.
So what's your poison?
Oh, the yellow bird "run birdy run"above is from another favorite Etsy store – tsktsk.etsy.com. Love her illustrations!
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Don't you just love Etsy? Above are a few of my favorite things :)
From top-left-down:
:: Fine Silver and Copper Earrings – Eclipse $26
:: Black Mother-of-Pearl Julia Pendant $15
:: Red and White Polka Dot Hair Band $2.00
I just bought some silkscreened prints from Sugarloop. I'll post them when I receive them. {she's from New Zealand, so I imagine it's going to be a good 2 weeks before I see them, but so worth the wait} One I'll frame for my family room. The other is for Davis's bedroom.
Tell me what you've bought! :)
Who's your favorite seller or what's your favorite store?
There's only so much time I have to explore so anything you'd be willing to share I'd love to hear!
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I've been a busy bee, but have no fun photos of work, swaps, or stuff to show. Later this week I should have some stuff to post. Right now, you'll just have to settle for more photos of my kids :) Yesterday we did a lot drawing + made some cards.
William has discovered the Ninja Mutant Turtles. Looks like a movie is in our future. Hoping Davis is old enough now that she will sit through a show and not make us get up and investigate the theater with her. Will you bring your kids to this movie? I need to learn more about it, does anyone know if it OK for 4 + 2.5 year olds? I don't want another Happy Feet debacle. {my kids wanted to leave during the middle of it}
This weekend I went through our closets and dressers. I did a major purge... and I actually ironed a bunch of clothing. I don't hate ironing. What I I hate, is getting the ironing board out and setting it up. And then once it's out, I feel obligated to iron, everything!
The good thing about ironing, everything... I caught up on a lot of TV while I slaved away :) I didn't realize I was 4 hours behind on 24. Now I'm only 2 episodes behind...but I didn't watch last night, so I guess I'm still three hours behind. I caught up on Top Design. Is anyone watching that show? I was so pleased to see Micheal go. I did not think he was talented at all + surprised that he made it as far as he did. Not sure who I think is going to win. Maybe Goil? I caught an episode of Trading Spaces... do you remember that show? Does anyone watch that show anymore? Wondering whatever happened to Vern. He was my favorite. Who was your favorite?
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The weekend is behind us, and here's hoping the crummy weather is too!
This weekend the kids were forced to play inside again. So we played a modified game of "i spy". I hid a little stuffed birdy in the house, and asked the kids to find it.
Of course, no excursion would be complete without the proper attire. William donned Davis's french chapeau and Davis, ever the creative one, decided her new spring handbag would look lovely on her head :) They grabbed their binoculars + used their Nick JR. magazine as reference. Such great imaginations they have. They pretended the magazine would garner them clues as to the where abouts of the elusive blue bird!
The grumpy photo of Davis was due to the William finding the blue bird first. She's a competitor, she is! Happy Monday everyone!
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Do you all know about Bloglines?
What a time-saver it is! Seriously. Just enter your favorite blogs, {basically you sign-up as a subscriber} and Bloglines will track them and let you know when a new post is up. No more checking to see if your favorite blogger has posted.This has saved me a lot of time. Try it out! Let me know about another other time-saving things you do. God knows I can use any tips about saving time :)
Happy Friday + a terrific weekend to you all!
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For those of you who did not click over to Susan's blog, {...you're really missing out!} Here's what I sent to her. {Susan has much better photos over on her blog.}
I decided not to use my typical TMD wrapping. I designed new wrapping using my dingbat. I used turquoise blue, which is a secondary colour in my company palette. I think the blue looks fabulous with red + orange. I used red wax twine instead of my black ribbon. Again, tying in the red of my brand.
I used the starfish + the sand dollar for shape + contrast. If you look closely, you will notice the starfish and the sand dollar's shapes echo the shape of my dingbat. How great is that? I was really pleased as punch last year when I realized the similarities, and that I could use these elements with my brand.
Though this wrapping is not my traditional wrap, I think it still looks like it came from TMD. I made sure to incorporate enough elements from my brand's visual vocabulary. {graphic shapes, lines + patterns, colour, my dingbat, ribbons/twine, nature}
Even though we agreed to a book + earrings swap, I knew I wanted to make Susan some notecards as well. Susan is a teacher, and I immediately thought of "an apple for the teacher". However, I did not want to be trite, and make a big red apple. I remembered seeing some trim/ribbon with a green apple somewhere, so I drew up a little illustration in Adobe Illustrator. The drawing looked a bit like a cherry, but I still thought it was cute.
I don't stress about the details in card making. It's the handmade quality, the rough illustrations, the off-registration that I find charming. My son William helped a lot. That's the beauty of Gocco, it's not that hard to print once it's all set up.
For the book, Susan wanted black bookcloth + a ribbon closure. I went through my ribbon stash... {and let me tell you, it's quite a stash...i really love ribbon} In the end, I decided I would silkscreen some ribbon with her business name on it, and then send her whatever was left on the roll. For the inside of the book, I chose a black dot pattern because it reminded me of the beads she uses for her jewelry. The overall book was simple, classic, and understated. Which I liked... much like a simple black dress :)
Now I'm getting a book ready for Angelique. {the winner of the last TMD contest} I have a catalog that I created a year ago with all the choices available for my books. Unfortunately, it's a large PDF file. {I used this file for printing.} I need to clean it up, and make it smaller in size so I can email it. So that is next on my long list to do!
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That's what Susan from Sulu-Design called our little swap. And she was so right!
A few weeks back we decided to do a swap. I'd send her a Mini Taylor book in exchange for two pairs of earrings. {I had been stalking her Etsy store + blog trying to decide which earrings I liked... so many that I loved it was hard for me to decide!}
Well, as you can see, she didn't send me one or two pairs of her gorgeous earrings. No. She sent me FOUR pairs! Can you believe it? How lucky am I?
I only wish my photos did justice to her earrings. I went looking on Susan's blog + etsy store hoping I could "lift" some photo of the earrings she sent me, so I could post them here. But guess what? There are no photos because she custom made these for me! I'm floored that she was able to decipher from my wants... {i like the amber, blue, brown, and the garnet colours}
If you have not checked out her awesome blog... you have to. First off, she's has an ongoing project she calls, "Original Intent Project" where she displays an amazing environment photo. Then, inspired by said photo, she creates a pair of earrings. She displays both on her blogs. Really, really creative. She has a wonderful post about her process. And anyone who's creative will appreciate reading it. And, did I mention that her photography is just plain striking? You'll be inspired to take a look outside your door and see what you can find!
So, BIG thanks to Susan! Gosh, this week I feel like I won the lottery :)
Seriously, you need to go here – because you will want to buy :) Sulu-Design's are so fantastically priced + shipping is free. So why are you still here? Go! :)
{I just tried reshooting the images... not sure if they are any better. I really have to find my camera's manual and learn about the damn thing!}
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All the names in Davis's new spring handbag.
William danced and made sure the names were mixed!
Davis picked the name.
There you have it
A N G E L I Q U E
is the winner of a "taylored" MiniBook :)
Congratulations!
Thanks to everyone who left comments. The wonderful thing about leaving comments – I get to find new and fun blogs to visit and wonderful new people to meet. So don't be shy! It's the only way to get to know each other :)
I have tons + tons of stuff to post. But I have been a bit busy with work and now I'm leaving to get my hair cut + coloured. So I'm off to the city today. I've been thinking of going blond, you know, the totally new thing in hollywood. I wear my hair in a pixie now, so going blond would make me, oh, so trendy. But since I live here, and not in hollywood, I think I'll just aim for some nice definition and a gloss and keep my brunette hair :)
More tomorrow! Again, thanks everyone for visiting. Congrats Angelique. I'll be in touch with you!
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I am. Wow. I'm just ovewhelmed with the amount of visitors my site has had in the last 24 hours. I'm so grateful to Typepad for featuring me on their home page. I'm glad I decided to set my blog up with them rather than with someone else. They rock :)
I have to say, I've met the nicest people through this blog + feel incredibly lucky.
Are you feeling lucky? Why?
Leave me a comment and tomorrow @ 5:00pm eastern standard time I will put all the names of everyone who has left me a comment into a hat. I will pull a name out + that
"l u c k y" person will win one of my Mini Taylor Books. I'll "taylor" it just for them. My little way of saying "thank you" to the blogoshere :)
Good luck! And thanks for stopping by!
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Happy Saint Patrick's Day Everyone!
FUN FACT | DID YOU KNOW:
According to legend, each clover leaflet represents something:
the first is
for hope;
the second is for faith;
the third is for love;
and if you're lucky enough to find a four leaf clover,
the
fourth is for luck.
{per Wikipedia}
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Everyone has tons of photos... but where are they kept? On the computer is great, but sometimes it's nice to have them all printed out and organized in a photo album. I mean, really... when you're hanging out in the family room after a great meal with friends, do you really want to say, "hey, come gather by my computer screen so I can show you the latest pictures from our trip." Really? You want to say that? Of course you don't.
So why not take a peek at my photo albums available on Etsy. I'll be uploading more albums this week. So remember to pop on by. Plus, like all my stuff, you can contact me for a "taylored" order. You name it, I can make it :)
Right now I'm making a couple of photo albums, sign-in books etc. for a wedding couple. The design will coordinate with their nautical wedding theme. {I'm doing the invitations as well. I'll post them after the bride approves the design} It's so much fun to work on a long-term project like this where I'm responsible for all the graphics. It's such an important day and I want everything to be as beautiful as the bride :)
Here are two more Mini Taylor Books that I will be uploading to my Etsy store. The top is pink with a pretty heart pewter button. The other is violet with a starfish pewter button. Easter + Mother's day is just around the corner. These books make perfect gifts because who doesn't need a notebook that's sophisticated, but sassy... functional, but stylish!
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The weekend is here and I for one can't be happier! Well, I could be happier if there wasn't a blizzard going on outside, but, I'm inside where it is warm and cozy so I'm' not going to complain :)
Thought I'd show you my Taylor Made design notecard + envelope – I use these whenever I need to write a quick note to a client. The other photo is my business card. I actually have two cards – they look the same, just the wording is different. One is for my handmade books cards + stuff business, and the other one is for my design work.
I'm a big believer in building one's "brand". It's important that everything associated with your business, big or small, share the same visual vocabulary. What do I mean by "visual vocabulary"? Well, it's the fonts, the colours, the size, the graphic elements, and the photography, that you use that become the "vocabulary" of your brand. All the collateral pieces you create for your business are part of your brand: your business cards, your order forms, your correspondance, and your packaging, etc. All of these pieces should share some of the same visual vocabulary… it's what makes your brand strong, recognizable, have a voice, have a presence. Obviously,there are other elements that identify your brand too, such as the style of writing, the use of materials, music, tone, attitude.
When people start making certain associations with you, then you know you're doing good! Hopefully, when you see the dingbat asterisk, you think of me. Even though it's a common element, not everyone uses it the way I do. That's what makes it unique, that's what makes it Taylor Made designs :)
Oh, not sure if I mentioned this... but my blog has been selected to be featured on Typepad's homepage. Cool huh? My big debut is tomorrow, Saturday, March 17th @ 1:00 pm {eastern standard time}. {for 24 hours} I asked them if I could be featured during the week, since a lot of "design + craft" bloggers don't surf on Saturday. {at least that's been my experience} but it looks like a no go. Which is fine. I'm just happy to be featured. I hope to attract more readers that are as wonderful as the ones I currently have :)
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