Hello all! Miss me? Sorry I forgot to do a final post before we left for Paris. I'm so tired today, as I'm still adjusting to east coast time. I'll have a full 'Paris post' for all of you this week, as well as a few photos. For the record though, we did everything! We sacrified some major sleep. Some of our tour included (excuse my missspellings) the Eiffel Tower, Arc du Triumph, Champs Elysee, Catacombs, Musee de Orsay, Louvre, Les Invalides, Montmare...and we even fit in a day trip to London to meet up with friends.
Today we're totally missing the bread and pastries. I will never understand how Paris has such fattening foods, but the people are super skinny. I swear we saw no overweight people the entire trip, and when we did, they were either American or German.
Well, I'm off to get yet more sleep and dream of more pastries. Be back tomorrow!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Craft Fair is Over
The craft fair was today. I toiled to design cards and have them printed – within a one week deadline. I assembled each card pack, tied with ribbon, hole punched business cards for attachment, and sealed in protective plastic bags with custom sticker seals.
The Good: Loads of people came by my table and took business cards. Everyone complimented my items and said the cards were beautiful. Some said they would contact me for a few custom wedding invitations, holiday cards, etc.
The Bad: I only sold 6 cards (wamp, wamp). I didn’t break even with what I spent in printing.
Despite the dismal sales, I’m glad I did the show. I’m actually happy I opted for this small venue for my first show – vs. a large venue with hundreds of people. I think about 80-90 people came, as the craft show was only 2hrs long. It was kind of awkward sitting at my table, and watching as people prowled over my work.
Here are a couple photos for you. They’re pretty bad because I had to use my camera phone. I felt really pretentious standing back and taking photos of my own table, as if to say, “Hey look at me, my table is so wonderful…”.
To my credit though, not many people bought much anyways. The event was cash only, and most people these days do not readily have cash on hand. The ones that sold the most worked for specific jewelry or scrapbook companies, so they had credit card machines.
Overall, great experience. Considering the amount of work involved, I may not do this again for some time.
The Good: Loads of people came by my table and took business cards. Everyone complimented my items and said the cards were beautiful. Some said they would contact me for a few custom wedding invitations, holiday cards, etc.
The Bad: I only sold 6 cards (wamp, wamp). I didn’t break even with what I spent in printing.
Despite the dismal sales, I’m glad I did the show. I’m actually happy I opted for this small venue for my first show – vs. a large venue with hundreds of people. I think about 80-90 people came, as the craft show was only 2hrs long. It was kind of awkward sitting at my table, and watching as people prowled over my work.
Here are a couple photos for you. They’re pretty bad because I had to use my camera phone. I felt really pretentious standing back and taking photos of my own table, as if to say, “Hey look at me, my table is so wonderful…”.
To my credit though, not many people bought much anyways. The event was cash only, and most people these days do not readily have cash on hand. The ones that sold the most worked for specific jewelry or scrapbook companies, so they had credit card machines.
Overall, great experience. Considering the amount of work involved, I may not do this again for some time.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
At the Home-stretch Now...
The tail end of last week, I got food poisoning from Chipotle. It totally derailed some of my craft fair planning. So, this weekend, I worked double time. Finally - I'm finished. I only have a couple CD covers to cut, and I need to price my items. Other than that, now I just have to wait and set up my table at the fair. I'll probably start that on Tuesday evening. I even bought a zillion bags of candy to try and lure people to my table. You think maybe I should get some cupcakes to?
This project also made me realize - I need a new computer! My computer at home is slow as molasses. Ever since I installed Microsoft Office 2007 and Adobe CS3, many of the programs will not run at the same time, Illustrator takes 15min to load up, and Acrobat crashes. Ugh. I guess now I need to save up for a more powerful machine. There's no way I can do freelance on what I have now.
I could probably get a good deal on one since the economy is going to the crapper. Electronics are on extremely discounted at the moment.
This project also made me realize - I need a new computer! My computer at home is slow as molasses. Ever since I installed Microsoft Office 2007 and Adobe CS3, many of the programs will not run at the same time, Illustrator takes 15min to load up, and Acrobat crashes. Ugh. I guess now I need to save up for a more powerful machine. There's no way I can do freelance on what I have now.
I could probably get a good deal on one since the economy is going to the crapper. Electronics are on extremely discounted at the moment.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
I’m Stressed!
Scrambling for this craft show this week makes me feel like I’m in college again. I finally finished the last bit of designs last night. I had to severely edit the amount of designs for some of the cards due to my time constraints. I just could not design fast enough to get the items to the print vendor in time.
For the show, I’m going to have: a 5 pack of greeting cards a 10 pack of note cards, gift tags, and an interactive CD with various invitation templates. I’ve gotten no sleep – but I’m actually quite excited now.
I still have to pick up table cloths, table easels, envelopes, etc. Trust me, I have already coordinated a very extensive list of tasks I have to complete before the show.
I’ll be sure to post photos. The craft fair is next Wednesday. In the meantime, here are a couple of my designs = my note card sample, and my greeting card sample. I took this opportunity to use some very vibrant/tropical colors. Since the designs are very straight forward, I wanted to play with use of color. Let me know what you think (if you don’t like them, too bad…).
For the show, I’m going to have: a 5 pack of greeting cards a 10 pack of note cards, gift tags, and an interactive CD with various invitation templates. I’ve gotten no sleep – but I’m actually quite excited now.
I still have to pick up table cloths, table easels, envelopes, etc. Trust me, I have already coordinated a very extensive list of tasks I have to complete before the show.
I’ll be sure to post photos. The craft fair is next Wednesday. In the meantime, here are a couple of my designs = my note card sample, and my greeting card sample. I took this opportunity to use some very vibrant/tropical colors. Since the designs are very straight forward, I wanted to play with use of color. Let me know what you think (if you don’t like them, too bad…).
Saturday, November 8, 2008
I Must Be Nutz
Last minute, I've decided to participate in my job's Craft Fair. I'm going to be displaying greeting cards, thank you cards, gift tags, and CDs with MS Word/PDF party invitation templates. Oh, and I only have a week and a half (Nov. 18th). The show is on Nov. 19th. I've just bombarded my favorite print vendor with estimate requests. I hope he doesn't kill me, or charge me a fortune.
This is my first show, and I'm a complete novice. I have so many items to buy for my display table. Since I'm the 'resident' graphic designer, I know I'll be ridiculed by my work colleagues if my table looks like crap.
It looks like I'll have to get all of my designs to my printer by Tuesday. So, I have about 4 days to come up with 20 card designs, 3 gift tag designs, 3 party invitation templates, and 1 CD cover. But, I think it'll be ok. I work well under pressure. I'm going to need a LOT of Starbucks.
This is my first show, and I'm a complete novice. I have so many items to buy for my display table. Since I'm the 'resident' graphic designer, I know I'll be ridiculed by my work colleagues if my table looks like crap.
It looks like I'll have to get all of my designs to my printer by Tuesday. So, I have about 4 days to come up with 20 card designs, 3 gift tag designs, 3 party invitation templates, and 1 CD cover. But, I think it'll be ok. I work well under pressure. I'm going to need a LOT of Starbucks.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Countdown to Paris Begins!
Two weeks from today, I’ll be in Paris! I can’t wait! I’ve been accomplishing some things on my pre-vacation checklist. One item accomplished today = pick up a new novel to read on the plane.
I’m really picky when it comes to novels. I love memoirs and historical fiction – but I hate the unnecessary gratuitous violence and sex in most books.
I purchased ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife”. It seems interesting. And I found out this too is going to be a movie with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana! Glad I’ll be reading the book before the movie gets a ton of buzz. Anyone read this one? Will I be disappointed?
I’m really picky when it comes to novels. I love memoirs and historical fiction – but I hate the unnecessary gratuitous violence and sex in most books.
I purchased ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife”. It seems interesting. And I found out this too is going to be a movie with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana! Glad I’ll be reading the book before the movie gets a ton of buzz. Anyone read this one? Will I be disappointed?
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A "Design" Blast from the Past
When I have downtime, I like to read some of the publications on NIH’s National Institutes of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) site. They have information on various diseases – some of which I find pretty fascinating.
Years ago, I worked for a company that had a design contract to manage some of NIAMS publications. As a Jr. Designer at the time, they enlisted me to design the template for their Spanish language publication series. It was one of my first big projects. I designed 3 templates. Each one was distributed to various panels of Hispanic nationals, and they chose which layout best represented the Spanish language community. I was so honored when one of my templates were chosen, and a Spanish language publication series was created using my template. The design was nothing ‘over the top’. After all – government agencies are quite conservative when it comes to design.
To my surprise, NIAMS still uses my design! I found their Spanish language publication series the other day, and felt a little honored that my template is still being used. I don’t mean to ‘toot my own horn’ or anything – but it definitely brightened my day.
(NIAMS Publications - Spanish) / (NIAMS Publications – English)
Years ago, I worked for a company that had a design contract to manage some of NIAMS publications. As a Jr. Designer at the time, they enlisted me to design the template for their Spanish language publication series. It was one of my first big projects. I designed 3 templates. Each one was distributed to various panels of Hispanic nationals, and they chose which layout best represented the Spanish language community. I was so honored when one of my templates were chosen, and a Spanish language publication series was created using my template. The design was nothing ‘over the top’. After all – government agencies are quite conservative when it comes to design.
To my surprise, NIAMS still uses my design! I found their Spanish language publication series the other day, and felt a little honored that my template is still being used. I don’t mean to ‘toot my own horn’ or anything – but it definitely brightened my day.
(NIAMS Publications - Spanish) / (NIAMS Publications – English)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Corcoran Lecture Reminder!
Mark your calendars! There are a couple great Corcoran Lectures coming up. Celebrity Photographer Annie Leibovitz is coming to town for a book signing, as well as Project Runway alum/fashion designer Daniel Vosovic. Oh if only they could secure a lecture with Christian Siriano as well!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Weekend: Accomplished
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Life took a busy turn last week.
Hey, at least I got to relax a little over the weekend. Saturday I went to Neyla’s in Georgetown to help one of my friends celebrate her new job. Since I hadn’t been to G’town in ages, I went a little early so that I could look around the shops.
After going in about 5 stores that only carried sizes 0 – 2 (namely, Miss Sixty & Cusp) I ventured over to my favorite M Street shop – The Paper Source! I could have spent all night in there. Here’s a couple items I just had to pick up:
Oh, and the ‘cherry’ on top of my wonderful weekend – mom made me a sweet potato pie, my newly engraved iPod arrived in the mail, and I found some awesome jeans at ShopBop.com.
Hey, at least I got to relax a little over the weekend. Saturday I went to Neyla’s in Georgetown to help one of my friends celebrate her new job. Since I hadn’t been to G’town in ages, I went a little early so that I could look around the shops.
After going in about 5 stores that only carried sizes 0 – 2 (namely, Miss Sixty & Cusp) I ventured over to my favorite M Street shop – The Paper Source! I could have spent all night in there. Here’s a couple items I just had to pick up:
Oh, and the ‘cherry’ on top of my wonderful weekend – mom made me a sweet potato pie, my newly engraved iPod arrived in the mail, and I found some awesome jeans at ShopBop.com.
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