These outfit photos were from way back in November before the backyard had a foot of snow and when wearing furry Muppet-like clothing was more of a fashion statement than a necessity. But despite the tardiness, I had to share this outfit because it involves a loose tunic top that I seem to be living in these days. Over a pair of skinny jeans, they are beyond comfy and a great way to add color and pattern to your ensemble. And the fact that they allowed for copious consumption of egg nog lattes over the holidays (and subsequently hide the inevitable aftermath of said lattes) wins bonus points in my book.
The faux fur vest was a Target clearance find that I wasn't really sure I'd wear, but I justified the purchase with the low, low price (something that I do a lot at Target!) But I'm happy to say it has proven surprising versatile for layering and I've thrown it on for several occasions. Yes, it looks a little like the Abominable Snowman but it gives me an excuse to roar loudly at small children while wearing it. Which is always fun.
Hoping your Wednesday is warm and wooly!
The holidays are all about celebrating, so why not have a little party on your page with lots of color?! This page doesn't necessarily fit into the traditional Christmas color scheme, but I love how bright and happy it is. And, in fact, I did use a Christmas paper line (BasicGrey's Evergreen) but arranging the papers in rainbow order gave it completely new feel.
Each strip of color is just a tad over 1/2" (I'm not an accurate measurer!) and I stitched between each paper with a zig-zag in coordinating thread color. Atop the stripes, I arranged die cuts, transparencies, tags and embellishments around my photos. I tried to keep the embellishment layers color-coordinated with the stripes underneath, so the rainbow-color scheme would look consistent.
So to continue the celebration theme today, I have a little giveaway for you! The current issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today is available for download now, and it's a virtual wonderland of winter project ideas. From layouts to cards to pocket pages, this issue is packed with an assortment of eye candy any crafter will love!
This week I'm taking a bit of a spring break hiatus from the blog and I'll be featuring some of my more popular posts from years past, like this one from August 2008. Hope you'll enjoy revisiting some of these memories as much as I did!
Let's just say you are a graphic designer who, for the past ten years, has been handling all the print design for a great company. That company has experienced significant growth (due in part to your stellar designs!) and has decided to hire a marketing director to coordinate all their advertising. Your first introduction to this person comes in the form of a lengthy email which outlines his many qualifications and illustrious marketing career. And it comes off a bit pompous, but whatever. The signature of the email, which contains his name, title, and contact info is set in the font Comic Sans (eeek!) and each line is a different color of the rainbow. Which should be the first sign that he may be a bit, um, artistically challenged. But you give him the benefit of the doubt, because you're cool like that.
Over the next few weeks, you begin to work on your first project for Mr. Comic Sans, a tri-fold brochure. He sends you the text for the brochure in a SEVEN-page Word document. And even though fitting this much text into the design is near impossible, you manage to create a fabulous, eye-catching design anyway. You send him the concept. And he replies with another FIVE-page Word document of revisions. What?!?? Included in those revisions are the phrases "too much white space," "need clip art of dancing book here," and "can we use the font Comic Sans for the text?"
You try, really you do, to incorporate some of these horrendous ideas into the design. But you draw the line at canned clip-art of dancing books. With smiley faces. And little bow ties. And the dear client's response? He sends you a clever mock-up he's created in Microsoft Publisher to demonstrate his design ability. And then he is surprised, shocked even, to find out that you don't use Microsoft Publisher and can't open the document. "Oh, you're using a Mac? And InDesign? Is that even a Microsoft product!?"
You decide a phone conversation with Mr. Marketing Director is in order. Maybe then you can persuade him to consider letting you, the graphic artist, have some creative license. After all, YOUR resume actually includes some art education, unlike Señor MBA here. Needless to say, the phone call is unsuccessful. He does toss out the idea of "squishing all the lines of text together to make room for more!" At some point he actually mutters the phrase "white space is overrated."
So, wouldn't you, as a talented graphic designer, feel an overwhelming need to purchase a cross-country plane ticket, march into this guy's office, and kick him squarely in the nads? In the name of white space everywhere?!
See, I knew you blog readers with agree with me. Errrr, I mean some random graphic designer that is definitely NOT me.