Blog-a-Thon

BlindIrishPirate's wonderful blog, A Human Attempt at Flight, chronicles the life of a woman and her work and her family and her musings. She's pretty cute in person, too. This week, while she is out of town, she is having a "Blog-a-Thon" featuring guests posts, and one of them is mine! The other posts from this week are great too, so check them all out!

Daily Eye Candy

LET IT BE KNOWN: KittyMarie does not wear shorts. She does not like shorts. Her thighs reject shorts. She owns exactly two pairs, and if you see her wearing one of those two pairs, then the sun must be scorching the earth with the fire of a thousand..umm...err...suns!

Today my friend gasped when I showed up in long pants for our lunch date, but she should have known better. These legs haven't seen UV rays in many moons (there's some kind of mixed metaphor there...).

I do own one pair of capris, which I almost consider shorts, but Husband doesn't like them for frump-related reasons, so I don't wear them as often as I used to (the things I do for love).

But, BUT! If we were in another time and another land and I was another girl, I would be all over these Lucca Couture Scallop Shorts ($49) from Urban Outfitters, because CUTE.

My abs would also look like that.

Discovered through Oh Joy!

Daily Eye Candy

This weekend my wonderful sistercousin took me to The Big City to find a little black dress (LBD) for an October wedding I am in. I had printed off several ideas from online searches, and the last store we went to had my top online pick! I loved it on, too, though they didn't have the proper color/size combination in the store. I ordered the dress online that night, and I can't wait for it to arrive!

I won't look as good as this lovely model, but I won't look too terrible (ruching is my friend)!

JAX Ruched Stretch Satin Sheath Dress.

Daily Eye Candy

Husband just turned me on to Ript Apparel, which offers a different daily T-shirt for just $10, among other items. These are limited-edition, never to be printed again! Here are two past designs, which are my favorites for Shaun of the Dead and Firefly themes. So cool!

The things I do for money love (continued again)

For the second wedding for which I created invitations, the bride knew that the ceremony room would be quite small and the reception room quite large, so she wanted two invitations to send out to guests earmarked to attend both the ceremony and reception or only the reception. She is an incredibly laid back person, so I mocked up a few designs, she picked one she liked, and a few tweaks later we had the finished product! Her colors were yellow and raspberry. The raspberry looks terribly purple on the screen, but it is actually a lovely, deep, rich color.

Ceremony and reception invitation

Reception invitation exclusively

If you have any questions about my work or would like an estimate for a project, please do not hesitate to contact me at kittymarieblogs AT gmail DOT com. My rates are reasonable and my work is fast. Freelance graphic design is not only a way for me to supplement my meager publisher's income, but also as a creative outlet personally. I would love to design something for you!

The things I do for money love (continued)

I've recently branched into some new design territory: wedding invitations. The first matching invitation, reception card, and RSVP card that I created were for my cousin and his fiancee. She was very particular about what she wanted to see, and we went through many stages of revisions, finally landing on something that (I hope) she loved! Her colors were pink and green, and she wanted a beautiful, traditional motif with cherry blossoms, birds, and script font.

Note all names and identifying information have been changed.

Invitation

Reception card

RSVP card

If you have any questions about my work or would like an estimate for a project, please do not hesitate to contact me at kittymarieblogs AT gmail DOT com. My rates are reasonable and my work is fast. Freelance graphic design is not only a way for me to supplement my meager publisher's income, but also as a creative outlet personally. I would love to design something for you!

More invitation designs to come soon!

Daily Eye Candy

I have a friend who is working on an art project in honor of endangered owls, and since learning that, I keep seeing owl jewelry everywhere. This may be the sweetest owl I've found yet!

Owl necklace (small), $85. Comes in white or yellow gold. LOVE!

The things I do for money love

When I'm not busy with the duties of my "day job" as Lead Production Editor at a university press (duties that often bleed into my nights and weekends), I do freelance graphic design work. I took the only graphic design class offered at my college while pursuing my degree, and I am mostly self-taught.

I got my start in graphic design my last two years in high school, in yearbook class, working on antiquated machines with PageMaker. I graduated to InDesign, and even got into Quark for an internship at a newspaper during college. I now work in Adobe Creative Suite 5, having learned all the ins-and-outs of InDesign, and most of the abilities of Photoshop and Illustrator.

I have designed newspapers, advertisements, entire books, book covers, bookmarks, brochures, flyers, business cards, invitations, billboards...the list goes on and on.

I would love to begin using this blog a bit more dynamically, so I am going to begin showcasing a few (personal) projects that I have completed in the past. I have several clients for whom I am paid for my freelance graphic design skills, but all of what follows were on a pro bono basis, either for friends, family, acquaintances, or for my own events. Note all names and identifying information have been changed.

The things I do for love!

Bridal Shower Invitation

I created this double-sided invitation for a kitchen-themed bridal shower. I was a bridesmaid in the wedding and helped throw the shower, so I wanted to come up with a clever "recipe" card to invite female guests to the event. I thought I was being pretty cute with the "without nuts" line...it works on so many levels! The "coffee cup stains" are, of course, intentional.

Front:

Back:

Baby Shower Invitation

I created this baby shower invitation for a friend who was pregnant with her second child. I had never thrown a baby shower before, and it was great fun to come up with a simple but sweet and impactful invitation.

Business Card

I created this business card for my mother. She paints ordinary rocks to look like animals, butterflies, flower motifs, among many other designs. She sells these works of art in local venues and then donates all proceeds to Habitat for Humanity. She hasn't kept track of her many years of sales and subsequent donations, but it is certainly thousands of dollars by now. What can I say, creativity must run in the family!

I should probably say something biblically clever here about "building your house upon stone..."

If you have any questions about my work or would like an estimate for a project, please do not hesitate to contact me at kittymarieblogs AT gmail DOT com. My rates are reasonable and my work is fast. Freelance graphic design is not only a way for me to supplement my meager publisher's income, but also as a creative outlet personally. I would love to design something for you!

More designs to come soon!

Daily Eye Candy

This weekend was filled with friends and food and the final Harry Potter, but I promise that the magic of the world will never die. At least not so long as creatives like J.K. Rowling and Kate Spade continue to draw breath and create beauty in the world, however impermanent.

Love this New York "Lawn Party" Straw Tote, $299.90.

Fourth Anniversary

I think that my heart cannot grow to love you any more than it already does, and then I am surprised when I discover a deeper commitment than ever before.

Happy fourth anniversary, my One and Only.

First

Second

Third