This past week has been a rush for my little graphic design life! Last week, I had a session where I taught one of my friends the basics of Photoshop and creative design, which I hadn’t done in a long time! I’ve gotten requests for small, medium, and big jobs, and recently I even got to help one of my friends with a creative development project that might just help make a big dream of hers come true! There really is no better feeling as a creative/designer than knowing that you are using your art to bring life to others!
One of the really small projects I’ve done recently was a memorial card for a client who had just lost their mother. She wanted a simple, elegant card with some a border to pass out to those attending the funeral. She wanted it to be fancy but not distracting. This was the finalized design:
Front
Back
One of the things you should know is that in general, I like to design stuff that pops and is bright, bold, and funky. But knowing your audience is key. The client LOVED the cards and said that they were perfect and completely exceeded her expectations! That definitely brought a giant smile to my face!
I’ll continue posting more design stuff, but in the meantime, here are some designs that inspire me, reflect my own style, and have captured my attention lately:
An illustration based upon the book THE LITTLE PRINCE
After reading over all of the beautiful quotes shared by those who left comments on the giveaway post, I decided it was about time to share MY favorite quote with you! My favorite quote comes from the book, THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
I loved it so much that I decided to make it a part of me permanently. So in case you were wondering about the clues from the previous post, the hearts, the book FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD (about slavery and the underground railroad), and the image at the top of this post from THE LITTLE PRINCE, a huge part of my continuing to make this a year one of moving FORWARD.
Last night, my friend Cindy J. joined me in a huge landmark in my life—the day I became a Slave To The Needle!
Slave To The Needle in Ballard
For the past few years, I’ve wanted to get a tattoo SO badly. A lot of them actually. I think they can be such meaningful displays of art. The only thing that had ever really held me back was my incredibly giant fear of needles. I mean, honestly, I still cry when I get shots. With that fear, the dream of getting a tattoo was just that—a dream. Until last night . . .
So much meaning in such a small space. Forever.
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, I have officially become an inked woman!
My friend Cindy J. and I had been talking about getting tattoos together for a LONG time. We talked about our hesitancy to get them done, expressing our fears, doubts, and finally decided that the time to hesitate was through. I knew that if I was going to face this fear and get it done, I COULD NOT do it alone. I needed someone to be there right alongside me, holding my hand, and calming me down so I wouldn’t move and make the artist mess up the permanent art. I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am to have such an amazing friend in my life! She let me squeeze her hand/wrist/arm until she finally had to ask me to ease up because it was starting to cut off the circulation. And after I loosened my grip and calmed down a bit, she kept letting me hold on tight (just not AS tightly). 😉 She talked with me and shared stories as I bawled my eyes out during the shading of the heart. She was my photographer, my videographer, and overall just my perfect friend! I am so glad I got to share such a giant landmark in my life with her!
I really wanted to be more open about it with people in the planning stages, but the more I talked with people, the more I was discouraged. I got every excuse in the book to steer me away from getting the tattoo done, but I knew I needed to do it. I needed to move FORWARD and stop living with that fear. The hour before my appointment, I sat in Cupcake Royale experiencing every emotion known to man. I almost chickened out. Then I remembered a scene from the movie Tangled, that I had watched with Cindy J. and crew the day before and knew I had to do it. I prayed for peace and courage and we headed out for the appointment. After looking that fear in the face and walked away with a beautiful treasure to cherish forever!
The funnest part of it all for me was figuring out what I wanted to communicate and designing the tattoo. I knew I wanted it to be simple and clean, but full of meaning. The tattoo is special to me for so many reasons:
THE ZELDA LIFE HEART
My rendition of the Life Heart from the video game The Legend of Zelda represents all the video games that I used to play with my siblings. I know a LOT of people who grew up with super close, happy, and fun relationships with their siblings. My siblings and I just did not fit that mold. We fought ALL the time, each of us being just as stubborn as the other, UNLESS we were playing video games. When we played video games, we got along so well. Those were our super close, happy, and fun times and I want to treasure those memories for the rest of my life.
THE MUSIC NOTE
The music note represents my love for music. I’ve said it so many times, but it is so true: Music is my football. Music has played such a major role in every season of my life. I always have a song in my head and heart and I have a passion for writing songs. It was a simple but meaningful embellishment I wanted to add to the tattoo.
THE QUOTE
The quote is a reminder for me to see people and situations in life with God’s heart. The quote itself may be from THE LITTLE PRINCE and reflects my love for reading and that book in particular. However, it speaks so much more to me when I put it in a context of faith. My faith is a giant part of what makes my life meaningful. It’s easy to judge people, to see what I want to see or not in others and in situations, but when I keep my heart focused on the things of God and the way He loves and cares for others, I am able to see rightly.
I put the tattoo on my left inside wrist because I wanted it to be in a place where I would notice it every day. I rarely stare at my back in the mirror. I don’t look at my feet often . . . they’re usually covered in fuzzy socks. I didn’t want it on my stomach or upper arms. I definitely didn’t want it on my butt, nor did I want a tramp stamp. So the obvious place was the wrist. I chose my left wrist because people notice it less on the left wrist, since I shake hands with my right hand.
The most important thing for me was that I woke up this morning without a single regret. I got dressed with a giant smile on my face, knowing I had conquered another mountain in my life and could continue moving FORWARD!
Here are a few more pictures from my tattoo experience:
for winning the first giveaway of 2011 on my blog!!!
(FYI: The generator only shows a certain number of names on the screen, but if you commented, you WERE entered!)
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Yay! I’m so glad you won, Alanna! I’ll be sending you your loot first thing next week! I will let you know when it is sent! CONGRATULATIONS!!
Also, thank you for posting such a wonderful quote:
“I keep that time alone with God not in order to have a relationship, but because I do have a relationship.”
-Blackaby
There is truly no greater feeling for me than giving to others! I’ll be sure to do more giveaways as time goes by, and I want to thank all of you for taking time to participate. It really means a lot to me and it was nice to read everyone’s quotes. I am a sucker for quotes!
Now, I’ve told you all that something exciting was happening soon right? Well . . . I figured I would give you guys some hints as to what it MIGHT be. So here are 3 clues that will help you figure out (if you don’t already know) what this exciting news is:
Hint #1 PS: I took this photo at my local grocery store. Pretty awesome, eh?
I dont’ have much time to write today, but I DID want to share some great humor with you all! I found this on another site and decided to copy the images over here! It’s clearly Photoshopped, so there’s no need to alert the presses. It does involve religion (which can be a touchy subject for some), and I don’t mean for this post to offend anyone, but I thought it was funny. I really wish they did this in real life at businesses. I think it’d be hilarious to see a reader board war between 2 gas stations or donut shops across the street from one another! I hope it makes you smile and laugh as much as it did for me!
Two churches located across the street from each other:
I was invited to go on a shopping outing at Value Village with some friends yesterday and I’m actually really proud of one of my purchases! To be honest, I only bought 2 things. I bought a pair of pants, and this:
Amo Red Riding Hood!
I know, I know, you’re probably asking yourself, “Why would anyone in their right mind need a red riding hood??”
Well, the answer is Halloween 2011! Plus, it was practically made for me! It’s bright, bold, and fun! My friend dared me to wear it to work one day, so I’ll definitely be doing that. And if I ever need a costume, I already got it covered. But really, I am glad I got it because it will make it easier this Halloween when I’m fighting to figure out what to dress up as. For me, the simpler the costume, the better . . . and it was only $6!
As you know, any excursion in a clothing store is just another opportunity for me to play a giant game of dress-up!
I like to keep it classy
Heather J. is my partner in fashion crime
However, I think the highlight of the day was George Michael’s “FAITH” playing over the loudspeakers. Because you know it’s just not a shopping party until THAT happens!
We kept shopping and found some pretty sweet stuff:
I started practicing my Golden Globes acceptance speech
Heather got cold while shopping
We finished up our trip with a visit to one of my favorite bakeries—Larsen’s Bakery in Ballard! I got a slice of lemon cake with marzipan frosting to have with my dinner, and Heather opted for a “creepy frog” cupcake:
She asked for the creepiest one.
. . . and then Heather proceeded to eat its brains
All in all, I’d say it was a pretty successful shopping excursion!
I actually have had pretty awesome stuff going on lately!
I’m house sitting for friends that have Beatles Rockband, which I’ve been playing a lot
I got a pay raise at work
I got to have an epic snowball fight with some of my best friends when it snowed here
I got to have lunch with my friends from our last round of the Game On Diet and I won $50 for having the most points out of our whole game
I got some new gear from the Apple store for my laptop
I had a Velvet Elvis cupcake from Cupcake Royale yesterday
Something new and special will be added to my life really soon! A couple of my friends are aware of what it is, but for most, it’s going to be a big surprise!
So since I got a pay raise and this soon-to-be-announced surprise is pretty exciting and I might be riding high on anticipation, I figured it was time for a new giveaway! This marks the first giveaway of 2011 on my blog and the first on this new blogging platform—pretty rad if you ask me. 😉
To enter: Leave me a comment on THIS blog post* with your favorite quote. On Friday, January 21st at 10pm (PST), I will put all the commenter names in a drawing and will pick out a random winner!! I’ll announce the winner next Saturday right here on the blog!
The winner will get this super fabulous prize:
A $15 Gift Card to iTunes
A $5 Gift Card to Starbucks
A handwritten note from me!
So comment away, folks! I am so excited to find out who will win!
* commenting quotes on my Facebook, Twitter, Formspring, or Tumblr will not qualify you for the drawing. It will only qualify you for a snarky comment . . . which, I dunno, might actually be a bonus. 😉
The gym I go to used to be at a smaller facility but they recently upgraded to a larger facility with more swanky features than I even know what to do with. One highlight for me is the individual TV sets on top of the elliptical machines! Where I once had to push myself to work out while straining my neck to watch the TV above me to keep me distracted from the muscle developing strain, I can now be distracted at eye-level, with my own station of choice, with headphones that I can plug right in to listen instead of reading subtitles. Another highlight is that they now offer many more classes than they used to. I attended a couple of classes when it was at the smaller facility, but it was close quarters and just an uncomfortable experience for me. I’m not saying you have to work out a distracting, high-class, gargantuan gym to get a good workout . . . it’s just helped me (for real) want to work out more because there are more options for me to choose from. And let’s get real, when it comes to working out, I need all the distractions I can get.
One of the other things I love about working out is that for the next month, my friend Heather J. has a free pass to work out at my gym . . . so we get to work out together! We work out Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings together! It’s so much more fun getting your butt worked in to shape when you have a friend there who not only feels your pain, but doesn’t let you give up either. We started taking a kickboxing class last Saturday and I have to admit, I felt so lost. We jumped right into the routine and I was struggling to keep up most of the time. I wanted to walk out so many times, but I kept going. I was DEFINITELY feeling the burn! By the time we were done, doing cool-down stretches on the mats, I was ready to “sleep with the fishes.”
Yesterday, I decided to try a new class I’d heard rave reviews about—ZUMBA! So many people I’d talked to about it told me it was such a great workout in that you feel like Jell-O afterward and that you’re lucky if you can walk out by the end. One said, “It’s like dance on crack!” and some others said:
“It’s the best killer ab workout!”
“Let me know if you make it out alive!”
“It’s a great class! You’ll get to work out muscles you probably didn’t even know you had.“
Yes, yes, I know . . . my friends have an uncanny ability to inspire confidence through threats and morbid statements. I mean, c’mon, who DOESN’T want to be killed by their abs? Right? Anyway, despite their odd phraseology, I decided to take the class. And I have to say, I am convinced that Zumba class is where death hangs out.
Death to fat—because I’m pretty sure I worked off a whole person last night
Death to pride—because nothing says awesome like an uncoordinated Latina in a dance class with other Latinas who look like they could be cast as extras in Step Up 3
Death to fear—because there’s just something so cool about finally taking that class you only watched from a distance
Death to doubt—because when you realize you actually ARE capable of doing Bollywood dancing, you feel pretty fabulous
Death to excuses—because I survived my first class and they say it gets easier each time
It’s true: I actually REALLY enjoyed the class! And I didn’t even have to die physically to get a good workout!!! 😉 It was challenging for sure, but my instructor was pretty great about communicating the moves and helping us out. That was my biggest disappointment with the kickboxing class—the instructor just started and moved the class along as if we’d all been taking it for years. All in all, it was a pretty great experience! Part of the great experience I had was that not all of the people in the class were pros at Zumba. It was mildly intimidating dancing right next to a group of girls who had clearly majored in Zumba, but looking in the mirror and seeing that I wasn’t the only one missing a couple of moves was actually very comforting. And though I’ll still be going to kickboxing (because I’m determined not to quit and to get the full workout) but hopefully I’ll be able to go to Zumba class often as well. The bonus is that I now know some basic dance moves that I can do at home if I can’t make it to a class. I definitely got such a quality hardcore workout, but had a LOT of FUN doing it, and I don’t regret going to it at all!
I’ve been focusing a lot more lately on getting some headway made with my screenwriting. I’m making it a point to set aside 30 minutes each day just to write. I want to get better as a writer—to continue to “sharpen the saw.” I figured it was about time to give you all a little update on how it’s going. I’ve currently got 3 scripts running in progress. Each of them are at different stages and their respective characters flow through my mind at some point almost every day. I see things in everyday life and jot down thoughts in my Evernote, and then I get to transfer it over into the writing. Some things stay, some don’t. That’s what writing is all about. I used to be kind of paranoid about sharing my writing, but today is a day to move forward. I figured I would use today’s post to share two excerpts from two different scripts I’m working on. They are always works in progress because every time I look at them, I edit them. I change things up, discover an easier way to manipulate the characters, etc.
The first is from THE ACADEMY. It’s a story about a dance instructor who finds love in the arms of a conflicted actor who returns home to face his demons and try to redeem what he can of his sordid past. This scene is basically just 30 minutes worth of mind vomit, editing, jotting more thoughts down, editing, reading over and imagining it, and more editing (and don’t you know there will be even more work done on it when I open it back up):
(click images to enlarge them)
The second is from BRAVERY. It focuses on the daughter of a world-renown CEO for a textiles company who runs his corporate offices in Cambodia. He hasn’t seen his daughter in years and she is finally home for a summer off from boarding school before she heads off to college. Her childhood best friend, Micah, is interning with the company and is staying with the family at their estate in Cambodia.
There is definitely a sense of relief getting this out here, if only to know that I can always look back and watch how the lines change, how the script evolves, and how the characters develop. From reading these two snippets, you might think I’m a Debbie Downer and all I know how to write is Lifetime Movies, but it’s not true. I mean, if you’ve spent any time reading my blog, or spending time with me personally, you would know that’s just not true. I always joke with my friends that I write a lot of drama and that they can contain a fair amount of tragedy, not because of personal experience, but because sometimes it takes the tragedies to make the happy ending that much more worthwhile. I guess it would make sense that one of my favorite movie quotes is:
My characters shall have, after a little trouble, all that they desire.
– Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen in Becoming Jane
Over Christmas vacation, my friend Tim and his wife Miranda drove to Austin to spend the day with me! I haven’t seen Tim in about 5 years (at the least) and it was my first time meeting his amazing wife! They joined me and some other old friends for lunch and then we decided to check out some of the standard Austin hangouts. We went to Mayfield Park, or as we call it, “the peacock park.” There are so many peacocks roaming around. They also make this high-pitched caw that Tim and I like to mimic at random times. After the peacock park, we decided to hit up Spider House for some coffee and some sweet photo-ops.
It's Actually Kind Of Scary Walking Underneath A Tree Full Of Peacocks
If you ever get the chance to visit Austin, I highly recommend that you stop by Toy Joy on Guadalupe. It’s a cornucopia of novelty toys, creative knickknacks, and funny gag gifts! It’s one of my favorite stores in the ATX.
The Paparazzi Are Relentless
Sparkle Love
There was so much fun stuff in the store that we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play with the costumes and toys.
Characters In Character
The Special Police Always Get Their Man
Always Gotta Have A Classy Hat Available
We also stopped by Buffalo Exchange to check out the racks. I didn’t get any pictures, but fun times were had (naturally)! Later we met up with my friend David to chow down on some Rudy’s BBQ—a super delicious place to eat! It’s always nice to go back to Austin to spend time with some old friends and just have fun being ourselves. 🙂
One of my favorite things gifts to receive is gift cards. I know some people find them impersonal, but I absolutely LOVE them! My friends and family members know that I prefer gift cards over most any gift (unless it’s Apple products/software for my laptop—but that stuff never falls into the $20 gift exchange limit. Who knew?) so they make sure to keep me stocked on the good ‘ol GCs. This year I scored with lots of cash loaded onto gift cards to: Barnes and Noble, Borders Bookstore, Old Navy, Target, and the iTunes Store—all my favorites!
Recently I asked some of my social network friends for some suggestions on what to load it with, and I got some great answers. These are 5 of the songs I’ve added to my iTunes library thanks to those suggestions. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Something Beautiful by Needtobreathe
Neighbors by Now, Now
Refugee by Trace Bundy
The Only Hope For Me Is You by My Chemical Romance
and . . .
White Blank Page by Mumford & Sons
I’m also saving some of the gift card to buy songs from the upcoming release from Oh No Oh My. ONOM is an indie-rock band that three of my friends (Joel Calvin, Daniel Hoxmeier, and Greg Barkley) are in. They are amazing musicians and their upcoming album, PEOPLE PROBLEMS is going to be released January 18th! I’m so excited to hear it! You might know their song Walk In The Park from this commercial:
As you know, I absolutely love music and I’m always open to more suggestions! Feel free to let me know who to check out next!
amo.says 