Jess Creates: Graphic Design & Stationery BoutiqueInvitation Love: Cheer up Cherup
Hi there! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is refreshed after the long weekend. This weekend here was a little on the chilly side, but I still spend Saturday at one of my favorite vineyards.
Two things today . . . first, I have to share an adorable invitation I saw the other day:
Aren’t the yellow bikes and the salt & pepper shakers the cutest things you’ve ever seen? You can find these great designs and many more at Cheer Up Cherup on Etsy.
I also wanted to thank Namesakes Designs for showing off (and purchsasing) my “Day in the Park” invitation. You can find the post over here. Thanks!!
For those of you who don’t know, one of my invitations is available for buy on the amazing stationary store, Minted.
Have a great day!
Happy Friday!
Where did the week go? I can’t believe that it’s already Friday. Tonight I hope to make a final decision about my car, after 3 weeks of indecisiveness. Can’t wait for Saturday! Wine festival at Breaux!!
Happy Weekend!
Recent Work: Invitations, Announcements & More
Over the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to work with a handful of amazing people to create custom wedding invitations, birth announcements and more via my Etsy shop. Here are a few recent projects. Enjoy!
Take Me Here: The Surf Lodge, Montauk, NY
Although I love this time of the year, I can help but sometimes wish that I’m sitting beside a lakeside bonfire, listening to Bob Marley and watching the sunset. Somehow I ran across this quaint hotel, nessled about 125 miles from New York City in Montauk, NY and had to share. The Surf Lodge seems to be just the place for the laid back atmosphere I love (if only it was summer). Check out this awesome hotel. The slideshow is to die for.
{images via The Surf Lodge}
Etsy: Zelaya
Check out these beautiful items from Zelaya! What a great line of clothes, handbags, and accessories (that embraces fair trade values)! Their designs are traditional and classic with a contemporary sensibility. Check out their shop!
{images via Zelaya}
Great Shop: Shabby Apple
Hello Everyone! I’m back from Florida!! What an amazing weekend. The wedding and weather were absolutely beautiful, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect weekend. This was a great way to end the summer (or start the fall, haha).
When I was catching up on my Google Reader this morning, I came across Shabby Apple, an awesome online boutique. They have really adorable dresses for all different occasions, as well as shoes, bags and accessories. The best part is that everything is adorable and affordable!
{images via shabby apple}
Mini Vacay . . .
Heading to Tampa for a good friends wedding and some much needed R & R! After being sick for almost two weeks, this vacation can’t come soon enough. When I get back, it’s time to finish up my website and get it up and running!!! (Why do designers always design for themselves last??) I’ll be back to the blogging world next week!
Recent Work: Blog Header
Here is the final color scheme for Natalie’s logo! Last night I started working on her website and blog (so exciting!!). Here is her blog header.
Decisions, decisions.
Good morning! Happy Monday! This morning I’m posting about a big decision I’m about to make this week. I’m about to purchase a new car and for the life of me, I can’t make a decision. Here are my choices:
2010 VW Jetta
2010 Honda Civic
Both are white with tan leather interior, have the same warranty and are fairly the same price. Thoughts anyone?
Shop Updates: Baby Announcements
I am stilllll sick, so today I’m just sharing some new additions to my Etsy shop. Enjoy!
Pretty Things: Amy Butler Rugs
If you aren’t familiar with Amy Butler, you have to check out her website. She makes everything; rugs, bedding, stationary, tableware and so much more! Everything is amazing, but I think her rugs might be my favorite!
{ images via amy butler }
Piccadilly Posh Photography
Being a designer, one of my favorite things to do is use my skills to help out my friends. Whether it’s creating an identity for their small business, designing wedding invitations or just helping build their website – it’s just something I love to do. I recently had a chance to work with Molly from Piccadilly Posh Photography - I can’t tell you how amazing and talented she is. Here are a few of my favorite recent photographs. You can also check out her websites here: Piccadilly Posh.
Enjoy! Oh and again, sorry for the slow posting, I’m still sooo sick. 
Under the Weather
I hate being sick, ugh. Especially when the summer days are almost out of sight. Oh well. Sooo, I was thinking that today might be a nice day to post a little more about me. Here goes:
Five things I can’t live without in my closet:
Scarves
Ugg Boots in the winter
Flip flops in the summer
Skinny Jeans
Summer Dresses
Three things I do before hitting the sack:
Watch a little tube
Wash my face
Kiss my lovely boyfriend goodnight
What tempts me?
Anthropologie
Good food.
Five things in my purse:
iPhone
Lip Gloss
Random Business Cards
Lotion
Glasses
Two gadgets I must have:
iPhone
Macbook Pro
What I had to drink today:
Tea (substitution for coffee because I’ m sick)
How many hours I usually sleep:
Honestly, I love to sleep. I try to go to bed around 10, but usually it’s closer to midnight. My alarm goes off around 6ish every morning.
Somethings on my Fall radar:
Go on a nice hike.
Visit the beach one more time before it gets too cold.
Visit a new place.
Make lots of Fall comfort food.
New Blog: Cravings
I can’t express to you how much I love food, besides design of course. One of my favorite parts of traveling to new places is reasearching all the wondeful restaurants that I can visit. Even if it’s new neightborhoods around my house, dining at a new restaurant is just so exciting to me!
Last night I was catching up the two latest issues of Print Magazine, where I noticed blog that caught my eye, Cravings. This blog is the work of two sisters who review New York City food & wine. But that’s not all, once I checked out the blog myself, I was pleased to see that they had other destinations as well, including Washington, DC! Not only are there reviews, but the sisters also break down the blog into different “cravings”; tasting, sipping, happenings, baking fridays and much more. You have to check it out yourself.
Logo: Sneak Peek
Below is a glimpse of a new logo I’m working on. All Buttoned-Up is an event planning and design boutique in the making. The color schemes are still in process, so check back for the final logo!
The Yellow Button: Business Cards
This morning the business cards I designed for The Yellow Button were highlighted on the amazing, Oh So Beautiful Paper blog. Be sure to check it out! Below are a few images. The entire set can be found here.
Thank you Nole!
Wedding!!
As I’ve mentioned before, one of my dearest girlfriends is getting married this weekend! I cannot explain how happy and excited I am for today and tomorrow’s activities. Anyway, just so you know, I’ll be taking a break from blogging and will return next week. Hopefully I will have some awesome pics to show you!!
Happy Friday!
Recent Work: Birth Announcement
My friend Larissa had her first baby, Corinne (isn’t she so adorable), a few months ago. Here’s the birth announcement I designed for her. Congrats Larissa and Doug!
For more invitations, visit my shop!
Awesome Find: Eat Drink Chic
Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed the long weekend! I could not resist sharing this since I love ice cream (a little too much)!!
Amy from Eat Drink Chic is so talented. Her design, styling, photography and, well everything, is amazing. Check out this awesome ice cream bar she posted. She’s even blogged all her templates and resources! Check out the entire post here. What a great idea for a wedding or get together. Love this.
via twig & thistle
Fall is here
It’s official, fall is on its way. I have to admit, this is probably one of my favorite times of the year. The mornings and evenings are just cool enough, but its still nice and warm during the day.
Things that make me so excited for fall:
Pumpkin Spice Lattes
Sweaters and Boots
and last but not least . . . Scarves!!
images via anthro
Have a great holiday weekend!!
Big Cartel: Invitations
I’m back! The mini-vacation/bachelorette party was great. I wish I could go back. Only a little less than 2 weeks until the wedding! So exciting!!
Ok, back to blogging. 
One of my new favorite finds, Big Cartel, has some great paper products available. Here is a small showcase of what you can find.
Bon Voyage!
Just wanted to wish everyone a happy weekend! I will be heading to the beach today for a bachelorette party, I couldn’t be more excited! Have a great weekend.
Poster Love
My office (ok…cubicle) is in desperate need of some artwork. Browsing online I stumbled across Poster Cabaret and fell in love. Not only are these silkscreen posters awesome, but they’re affordable too! I need these:
Heavy Rotation: Awesome T’s
At the Grand Opening of The Yellow Button months ago, I fell in love with the t-shirts from Heavy Rotation. The are cool, soft and have awesome graphics. Here are some of my favs:
Recent Work: Wedding Invites
Below are some snapshots of a recent wedding suite I designed. The lovely bride and her soon-to-be hubby were amazing to work with. The wedding takes place this September and I cannot be more honored to have my designs be a part of this couple’s special day. Enjoy!
Big Cartel: More Great Finds
Happy Friday!! Here are a few more great finds from Big Cartel.
Printspace (I want everything!!)
Have a great weekend!
Invitation Love: “Will you be my bridesmaid?”
When I ran across this post today, I thought it was the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen – I could not resist to post. I’m not married or engaged, but who wouldn’t fall in love with this adorable invitation?! What a great way to ask your friends to share your special day.
Detailed instructions here: Once Wed
Girl of All Work
Adjusting to cublicle life the past few weeks has been very fun. You know why? Because this gives me an excuse to buy cool office supplies. Like this:
![L9780811868914[1]](http://sublimedesign.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/l97808118689141.jpg "L9780811868914[1]")
And these great finds from Girl of All Work:
![GWJ809ab[1]](http://sublimedesign.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/gwj809ab1.jpg "GWJ809ab[1]")
![GWA719[1]](http://sublimedesign.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/gwa7191.jpg "GWA719[1]")
![GWD804[2]](http://sublimedesign.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/gwd8042.jpg "GWD804[2]")
![GWD801[1]](http://sublimedesign.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/gwd80111.jpg "GWD801[1]")
Big Cartel
Happy Monday! What a great weekend it was. Great party in DC, z-pizza (which is amazing if you’ve never had before) and The Yellow Button’s letter pressed business cards came in! (Pics to come this week). To start off the week I wanted to share a few great items from Big Cartel, a new site I came across recently.
12 Fifteen Design and Letterpress
Bird Dog Press Letterpress Goods
I’m back
I know I’ve been missing in action lately, but the last month has been crazy for me! Between all the weddings, vacations, parties, weekend getaways, etc. I’m finally able to concentrate on more fun things! I started a new job two weeks ago, so I took some time to adjust to that – and so far I love it! The next few weeks I plan to dedicate to finishing up some freelance projects, focusing on promoting my blog and Etsy shop more and (finally) sharing some recent work with you! In the meantime, this was in my inbox this morning. I think my friends are trying to tell me something, haha. Enjoy!
25 Reasons You Might Be A Hardcore Graphic/Web Designer
(In no particular order)
- You’ve almost rear-ended the car in front of you because you were analyzing a font on a billboard.
- You get pissed when a free Photoshop brush you download is less than 1000px in size.
- You’d rather study the paisley pattern on your boyfriend/girlfriend’s shirt than listen to what he/she has to say.
- You can use keyboard shortcuts at light speed, blindfolded, but you can’t type a paragraph of text without staring at the keyboard.
- You’ve had “Software Nightmares,” when you’ve been working way too much.
- You consider meals interruptions.
- You’ve learned your lesson and stopped using the word “final” in any file name when saving.
- You clean your keyboard more often than you wash your car.
- You’ve intentionally given up trying to explain your projects to non-designers.
- You see CMYK and RGB like Neo sees the Matrix.
- You’d rather organize your desktop than your sock drawer.
- When you heard that Adobe was acquiring Macromedia, you had a Design Orgasm.
- When you look at Album art all you see are grunge Photoshop Brushes. (Then you see the album art a couple minutes later)
- You’ve Photoshopped out a watermark for a comp or mock-up.
- You’ve actually $paid for a font.
- You’ve totally slaughtered a great design concept because the client thinks he/she knows best. (everyone thinks they are a designer)
- The amount of words you’ve written with a sharpie labeling burned discs total more than the amount of words you’ve read in novels.
- You’ve had to explain to a client that a layered file wasn’t part of the deal.
- You’ve kept a ragged concert ticket just so you could scan it.
- You’ve nicknamed the OSX spinning wheel. (and not affectionately)
- You bookmark a resource more often than you have a fun night out on the town.
- You’ve intentionally overbid a project because you can sniff out a bad client from a mile away.
- You can’t go to a restaurant without secretly critiquing the menu design.
- You have an amazingly huge font collection, and an amazingly short temper.
- If you had a penny for every mouse click, you would have been a trillionaire 3 years ago.
New Wedding Invitations
The sunshine has steered me away from my computer lately, but I did have a chance to add a few new listings to my Etsy shop! Here is a sneak peak:
Visit my Etsy shop for more invitations and announcements.
Best Bridal Shower Ever
Last weekend I attended a bridal shower for one of my dearest friends, Arielle. Here is a glimpse of the evening. I designed her shower & bachelorette invites which I will be posting soon.
{favor tags designed by me}
{the perfect setting}
{more to come…}
The Yellow Button: Grand Opening
Here are a few snapshots I took at the grand opening of The Yellow Button in Harrisonburg, VA. The store turned out so amazing, I am so happy for Mandy!
{my logo on the window!}
{tags turned out adorable}
{all the clothing is absolutely adorable….I want everything!}
Celebrate!
I love this banner that was highlighted on Once Wed. I need a reason to make one of these!
The directions are simple too!
Step 1: Making your templates
Print out the letters needed for your sign (this is purely if you need help with the shape of the letter!). If you are confident in your own handwriting, draw your own letters, as this makes the sign more unique to you! You will need to cut out the letter
templates to trace as well.
Step 2: Make your letters
On the printed paper, trace the letter templates you have made or draw your ownletters. Mix and match the patterned paper and lettering, and you can also combine upper and lower case lettering! Cut out each letter and erase any left over pencil
markings.
Step 3: Hanging your sign
Hang the string, you can tie it on to a pre-existing feature, or you can push two small pins into the wall. Clip the letters to the twine with the mini clothespins and you’re finished!
Great Find: Oh, hello friend
I had to take a second and share a new amazing blog I found. Oh, hello friend. I love the style, I love the content and I especially love the Etsy Shop.
Check it out!
Letterpress
Letterpress is a dream come true. Recently, a client of mine is open to exploring this printing process and I cannot tell you how happy I am!! To start off, I researched tons of companies on the web and through Etsy. In doing so, I found some really great companies that I wanted to share!
I am officially obsessed with letterpress :)
Lovely Paper
A few weeks ago, I saw these adorable wedding program & direction cards that I had to share. They belong to the creative Ellie!
images via: mint
Packaging Finds
Here are a few great packing designs I found recently. 
images via lovely package and the dieline
and Happy Mothers Day!
Etsy: Recent Custom Designs
I just wanted to showcase a few custom invitation designs I have done recently. Check out my Etsy shop for more details and designs!
Logo: The Yellow Button
I feel like 50% of my weekend was spent in the car. I don’t really mind though, because I had the chance to spend the day in one of my favorite cities, Charlottesville. Although it was cloudy & rainy, who can beat walking around the downtown mall, coffee in hand, checking out the art, shops and farmers market!?
After we left C-ville, my last stop was Harrisonburg, VA to meet with a client and friend of mine. The Yellow Button is a women’s boutique opening my a friend of mine, Mandy. Set to open this summer, she plans to carry shoes, clothes, gifts and jewelry. Check out her final logo:
I have returned.
I’m finally back and settled from Charleston. It’s a miracle I even came home! Last night I had some time to add a few cards to my Etsy shop. Here’s a little peak.
Charleston Bound
For the next few days I will be away from my computer . . . the long awaited trip to Charleston, SC has finally arrived! I have wanted to visit this town for so long – I can’t wait!
Catching up . . .
I have been such a bad blogger lately, I really need to step it up. Between work, freelance jobs, launching my Etsy shop and still trying to keep my sanity – the past few weeks have been nuts! Not to mention the next weekends will be spend traveling for weddings and other fun things. I guess busy isn’t a bad thing right? I made a promise to myself that I would try to still take “me time” and tear myself away from the computer. Last weekend my boyfriend Bob and I took advantage of the beautiful weekend and took a hike. 
Great Find: Fresh365
This morning while I was simultaneously working and visiting my daily blogs, I came across this amazing food blog, fresh365, on Lovely Morning. How amazing does all this food look? I’m scratching dinner plans tonight and making the angel hair with asparagus and sun dried tomatoes. Yum!
photos via fresh 365
Philly Bound! (Terrain at Styers)
It’s not you, it’s me. Haha. Seriously though, lately I have been cramming my schedule so tightly I haven’t made room for blogging time. This weekend I am taking a break from the computer and visiting some friends in Philadephia. I have promised myself I would stop here: Terrain!
For those of you who don’t know, Terrain is the fourth brand owned and operated by Urban Outfitters, Inc. They purchased a full scale nursery in Glen Mills, PA expanding their already wildly successful family of brands like Anthropologie/Urban Outfitters/Free People.
I can only image how beautiful this place will be in person. Hopefully the rain will hold off just enough on Sunday for me to “ooh and ahh” over this place.
Happy Weekend!
pics via: oh joy
Buckle Up.
I have to admit, I am OBSESSED with invitations. Wedding, Parties, you name it . . . I love them all. The other day I came across this posting from Studio on Fire. This by far, is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
images via: studio on fire
It’s Official!
My design, A Day in the Park, is officially for sale on Minted.com!
Click here and here to purchase the customized children’s birthday announcement!
Hi friends, I'm Jess - graphic designer, wife, and pet momma to the cutest miniature dachshund around. I'm a lover of anything mint or teal, beautiful brands, and pretty paper! So glad you stopped by, grab a cup of coffee and take a look around!
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