I have been very busy lately putting the finishing touches on invitation suites — which I love! It’s a great feeling to assemble a suite, tuck it safely in its beautifully calligraphed envelope, and know that someone is going to be pleasantly surprised to receive it.
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{I’m still here! I promise!}
When I visit new blogs, I always look at when the last post date was. Then I judge. I don’t mean to … it’s just that a current blog is like a clean house. You can tell someone cares, and you like being there because it feels fresh and orderly.
That’s why I am appalled that my last post was two months ago! Many apologies to my subscribers for the dusty text of my previous post {blow the dust off and let’s start anew}! I am geared up to offer fun tutorials this month {want to learn how to use a regular calligraphy pen?}, and we are planning on putting a lot of effort toward making the site aesthetic better reflect The Postman’s Knock. That means some hand-drawn illustrations and less computerized-y type stuff. Be looking out for that!
In the meantime, I’d like to take this blog opportunity to get you up to speed on why I haven’t had time to blog. I have been working on so many cool summer projects, and I’ve been having a blast! Check them out to get some ideas, or just quell your curiosity:
I know, I know. I’ve been remiss in posting about how to make a custom envelope! But I’ve been busy, I promise. On Saturday, we made our way across the great void that is eastern Colorado to end up in western Kansas, where we will remain until after Thanksgiving. Honestly, I love being in my hometown of Colby, Kansas because it’s so slow and quiet. You can do everything at your own pace, enjoy life, and never leave the house.
Last night and this morning, I was drawing like a fool. I wanted to come up with a good advertisement for 435 South magazine — they’re promoting their Tasty Tuesday deal, which is a $4.35 meal at a featured restaurant every Tuesday. I wanted to channel the idea of eating with a friendly (and attractive) coworker, so to Facebook I flocked.
For about two years now, my friend Marina has been asking me to draw a picture of her. I did draw one around this time last year, but it didn’t look much like her. I think often the problem with drawing people is you draw what you want to see, and not what’s actually there. This time I tried to be disciplined and draw exactly what I was looking at. I chose a picture of Marina about to dig in to some ice cream (which I turned into a salad), and began an intense session with my pencils. Ultimately, I ended up with this:
This weekend, I had the pleasure of working with Heather at Books for Breakfast. She reached out to me about designing a blog and Etsy banner for her, along with Etsy and Facebook buttons. I was so excited to start on Heather’s materials because her business name opens the door for so many neat artistic possibilities!
I thought my work with Heather would be a good way to outline the custom design process. Initially, she had the idea of depicting an open book with letters spilling out of it. I ran with this concept, ultimately coming up with this design:
Then, thinking that this may be a little too plain, I ran with the “books for breakfast” concept, combining an egg and a book:
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