Creatiffity

Life is Hunky Dory

creatiffity — Mon, 09 May 2011 01:52:50 +0000

In my last post I mentioned some recent life ch-ch-ch-changes (David Bowie…hunkydory….get it?). Recently I got a lot of new clients and I am trying to balance the extra work with my 9-to-5, house work and social life. Every minute of the day is devoted to something which is very difficult considering I am easily distracted and prone to daydreaming. Sigh, just another free-spirit being tamed by responsibility.

The other day I realized that I have actually had a client for about 6 years! I met Alison from Hunkdory Home on Etsy through a service called Alchemy, which no longer exists. Back in the early days of Etsy, Alchemy was a place where people could post their ideas for a creation and artist/crafters would reply with a bid on the job. Alison needed someone to edit web graphics for her site and I responded, er, begged her to have me do it. If I remember correctly, I told her I would do a bunch for free and if she liked them we could talk about continuing with my services.

The really interesting thing is that Alison lives in the UK and I in the US. We have never met nor spoke on the phone. It has been an excellent relationship because she always knows exactly what she needs and I can design it for her in a timely manner.

Her website has expanded from just having her lampshade and pillow designs to selling the work of other artists and crafters. She has been featured in numerous magazines, newspapers, and does really well for herself! The only thing that stinks is she currently does not ship to the US and Canada, but it’s very nice eye candy so be sure to check it out and her blog, too.

Below is the header I designed for the Hunkydory blog. Below that is composite image shows the evolution of the header on her website.

I’m Still Kickin’

creatiffity — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:19:27 +0000

Yes, yes, my little minions. I am still alive, but boy am I tired. A sabbatical was in order because life happened…moved out of my house in Shepherdstown, bought a house in Bunker Hill and ended a long-term relationship. Throw in a couple of holidays, a lot of bills, tons of over-time and late-night snack cravings….and well, I don’t know where I was going with that.

Anywho, to add to the craziness of life, I have started accumulating clients for my graphic design freelancing. They are as follows:

O’Postrophy Design – This company is owned by a designer who graduated from Shepherd University. Currently, I am working on designing various rack cards for the local rafting company River Riders. More projects to come, hopefully! Here is some of her work.

Through the Window Productions – This is another company owned by a Shepherd University graduate. I just sent her a contract. We are going to start with her logo and then move on to other promotional materials. She has also set up a blog to follow the progress of her start-up video production company. Check it out! (There is also a post about me that my ego loves!)

Martial Arts and Combat Sports, USA – Um, yet another company from a Shepherd University grad and also a very good friend of mine. I will be designing a logo and possibly other materials.

So there you have it. I swear I have been designing, arting, and crafting! I’m just a super busy lady. Next time I will show some pretty pictures. Pinky swear.

Hearts, stars and clovers,

Tiffany

It’s an Obama Nation?!

creatiffity — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 00:54:52 +0000

November is approaching quickly, my friends. Politics are in the air, babies are crying, birds are flying, and leaves are falling. The days are getting shorter and people are getting crazier. I won’t go into a big hoo-hah about everything I believe in, but I have a few things to say.

Please vote. A democracy can’t work if only a small percentage votes.

Tea Party? C’mon! That’s what little girls and English people have…and it is sophisticated damn it.

Our president was born in the US. I know it’s hard for some people to remember that Hawaii is a state, but it is.

West Virginia is also a state. I am not from Western Virginia. And, no, that is not near Roanoke.

On to the graphics description…I designed these back when Obama was running for president and back when I had a hamster. Rest in Peace Beasley.

I was just reminded about how Michael Scott on The Office listed “attending an Obama fashion show” as a reason for not being at work. I don’t know what that means, but I so wanna go.

Shepherd University Ramherd

creatiffity — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 22:08:59 +0000

Right before I graduated from Shepherd in 2007, my design teacher told me about an opportunity to design for the university’s bookstore. The bookstore wanted to create and market a football fan club where you would receive game specific t-shirts and be entered into raffles for a fee. I met with a few people after school let out and discussed what would need to be designed. First a name would need to be brainstormed. After that, they needed logos, a FAQ, postcards, 6 t-shirts, and a banner. I wrote my first design contract and then got to work! The bookstore people looked over a bunch of names I came up with for the group and decided upon the name “Ramherd”. We then decided to market the pack of t-shirts as the “Rampack.”

Since the group was new, I created a FAQ. order form that was sent out with admissions papers.

I was then given information about the upcoming home games and designed a shirt for each of those games showing the Shepherd ram kicking the other team mascot’s butt. (The vector t-shirt models were designed by apestar at Deviant Art.)

Then the postcard was designed and mailed before school started to remind people to purchase. Extras were left around campus for students to pick up.

Finally, a banner was created and hung for the first week of school.

I’ve been published!

creatiffity — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:00:25 +0000

Yep, and I’m bragging about it. About 3 or 4 years ago a lady sent me a message through Etsy telling me she was coming out with a book of recycled craft projects called Rubbish! Reuse Your Refuse and she wanted me to be a part of it. I eagerly accepted and submitted 3 craft projects; a photo negative lampshade, record adaptor earrings, and a necktie cuff bracelet. The submission required me to write instructions on how to create the project. A copy editor then took all of the submissions from the artists and then changed them slightly so they sounded like the same person wrote them. After that I sent my crafts to the publisher so they could be photographed for the book. A few months later I received my crafts, a copy of the book and a payment. The only stipulation to selling the instructions is that I can never tell anyone how to make the items. You’ll just have to go out and buy the book!

You can purchase a digital copy and see a few pages of the book here.

Check out a review of the book where my photo lampshade is hailed as a “genius idea.”

The cover of Rubbish! Reuse Your Refuse by Kate Shoup.

A photo of the negative lampshade from the book.

The County Fair

creatiffity — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:28:38 +0000

This year, for the first time, I entered projects into the Jefferson County Fair. Being the overzealous lady I am, I entered 13 things and 7 won ribbons! It was fun to see my crafts on display for the community and it was funny to see my work scattered amongst traditional quilts, jewelry and woodwork. Next year I will be more prepared and hopefully will enter more art.

P.S. Someone took one of my 2nd place ribbons and left me with their pink ribbon.

Home Tweet Home

creatiffity — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:53:18 +0000

I may have said tweet, but I ain’t talkin’ ’bout Twitter folks.

Recently I created two wreaths; one for my front door and one for my friend Beth. The wreaths were very easy to make, but a little time-consuming. The base is a green styrofoam which I purchased at Micheal’s along with the little birds. The yarn is a thick vintage rug weight yarn that I discovered at Goodwill. All I did to assemble was wrap the base about a million times with the yarn, create a few flowers out of felt, stick the birdy in, and then make a bow to finish it off.

The wreath I kept for myself is currently entered in the Jefferson County Fair. I’ve got my fingers crossed!

Old-School Wedding Invite

creatiffity — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:47:51 +0000

My dear friend Vicky is getting married, not to be confused with my friend Rikki who just had her bridal shower. Vicky asked me to design her wedding invitation and I was honored! I don’t get enough creative projects and invites are super fun. There will be more projects for the wedding, as well, like the save-the-date.

Vicky came up with the idea of having the invitation resemble an old wood type poster which goes fantastic with her summer wedding theme. Did I mention she is getting married on the 4th of July? How cool is that?! (I really wish the interrobang punctuation mark came standard on keyboards.)

Bridal Shower-zilla!

creatiffity — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:02:24 +0000

For about a little over a month my free time has been consumed with making items for my friend’s bridal shower. This was my first party planning experience. I had to decide on a theme, a location, send out invites, plan games, get prizes, decorate, order food and then actually host the darn thing. Yikes!

The location ended up being a Chinese restaurant my friend and I went to as kids. I rented the balcony and it was extremely spacious and nicely decorated. An Asian theme fell right into place.

The first items created were the invitations and labels for the envelopes.

After that, I started to design the games. I learned that ladies LOVE games and you better have them at your bridal shower OR ELSE! The first prize was actually given to the person who RSVPed first, which was well received by all.

Many, many hours were spent making origami decorations. Some were used to decorate the table and other were used to make garland. A few origami lilies were attached to straws wrapped in ribbon and then place in vases for the centerpieces.I even made a 3-D origami star which took 36 sheets or paper and about 4 hours to make.

My gift to the bride-to-be was full of fun knickknacks that reminded me of her, but most importantly, I designed her thank you cards, printed out address labels, and included stamps and envelopes.

Lastly, origami favors were designed. I created a 2 page album and slipped a tea bag in one side and a thank you note in the other. It was topped with an almond cookie, wrapped with ribbon, and 2 strips of paper attached. The strips were to look like the fortunes in fortune cookie. One said “Thank You” and the other said “Lucky Numbers” with the date of the wedding.

So there you have it; one and a half months of crafting and one completed bridal shower!

Birds on a Wire

creatiffity — Sat, 15 May 2010 13:20:47 +0000

This painting features two cute little birds sitting on a wire watching a nuclear war.