It's Been a Month Since I've Moved!

Hi guys, I'm stopping by to remind you that my blog has moved! I noticed that I do still have some people that are viewing this blog (some might even be myself because I accidentally type the wrong address sometimes- woops!) and some people that are following this one on Bloglovin and not my new one.

So head over to my new blog at emmabauso.com, and follow that one on Bloglovin by clicking here!

Thanks to everyone who has followed me to my new blog- it's so awesome to know that my followers aren't just following me on accident! I'm loving the look and feel of my new blog. Changing it has really motivated e to get serious about my online presence. There's some great stuff going on over there!

Hello! My Blog Moved!

I switched my blog from emmabauso.blogspot.com to emmabauso.com! Be sure to check out the new site, give feedback please, and add me on Bloglovin'!

Click here to go to the new site. // Click here to add my new blog on Bloglovin'.

I've Moved!

My new site address is emmabauso.com!

Yep! *Insert gritting teeth emoji here* It was sort of a quick decision that I didn't even really think too much about, but I felt like making the switch to a Squarespace site for a couple reasons...

1. I think getting away from Blogger makes me take myself more serious and now that I'm actually paying to have my space on the internet I'll be even more dedicated to writing.

2. I eventually want to move my portfolio site and my blog in together for a more unified brand. So give me a little bit to get that all figured out and together. 

3. I chose Squarespace over other platforms because it seemed to be the most cost effective option at the moment, and it also promised not having to know any coding knowldge, which I am embarassed to admit that I haven't gotten out of the beginner stage of learning yet. 

4. I want to realllyyy simplify things in terms of blog design, and really expose my writing and content and be able to focus on that instead of always worrying about whats in my sidebar and all of that.

5. I'm figuring out more and more of what I like and what my personal style is, as well as what my design style is, so this is kind of an extension of that. A "new me" I guess! More sophisticated, simpler, cleaner, and fresher. (I personally am pretty clean, FYI.)

So, yeah! It'll be interesting to see how I like the switch, and I will probably share more about my experience so far with Squarespace this week!

Have a great rest of your Sunday and an even better Monday!!

Take a quick reader survey!

I'm back quick with a link to a reader survey that I would love for you to take! It's only 10 quick questions, and I promise it's not too painful. I would love to get a better sense of my readers and what I can do to make my blog even better for you. You will even get a surprise for taking it!

Gratitude Journal // 05

Some weeks are just blah, and they just seem to pass by without any significance at all, which is weird to admit because shouldn’t every day be significant? I’m torn between feeling like only the things that feel important and grand are significant and feeling like even the most ordinary of days are significant because they’re part of a bigger picture. Taking a day out of your life would be like pulling a row of string out of a shirt- it’s incomplete and imperfect.

So I’m not sure how I feel because this whole week seemed unimportant, really. The only interesting thing that happened to me was that I received my At Home Try On from Warby Parker, which was fun. So maybe that was the significance of my week because now I’ll finally order some glasses and finally be able to read without squinting and drive without fearing for my life.

So, while there are probably a few small things that I could be grateful this week, I’m really just grateful that it’s Friday, which means that I might get to sleep in once this weekend (much needed) and that I might get to work on some design work for myself (I need new business cards!!).

I’m pretty proud that I’ve blogged every day this week, and I hope that next week will be just as productive here! I’m finding that some of my best and most thoughtful posts come from a whim or something I see that sparks my mind. Then before I know it I’ve written for a half hour on something that was inspired by a Tweet from a friend. I just love to write!

So, have a great weekend! Do something significant!

Developing Your Brand: Photography Styles

Something that I’ve been really vigilant of lately is the photography styles that belong to my favorite bloggers or designers. It’s funny how sometimes you can scroll through Pinterest and look at a picture and instantly know whose blog it came from. There are tons of people out there that are amazing at this, and it’s really a huge part of creating your brand identity. It’s something that usually develops over a span of time and doesn’t happen overnight. You might not even realize that you have a style or that your pictures are different than anyone else’s because that’s just what you like to look at personally.

I’ve been trying to develop my photography style lately by playing around with angles and paying a lot more attention to what’s in the backdrop- white, wood, fabric, grass, trees, people, darkness, shadows, ect. It’s so important to find your style of backgrounds and stick to it, or stick to a few different ones and that’s it.

I want to show you some examples of blogs/brands that come to mind when I think “specific photography styles” and highlight what makes them unique.

Hey Natalie Jean

Natalie’s pictures stand out to me because they are always really unified and consistent. They have this muted quality that plays along with a lot of other elements of her style. What she wears, what her home looks like, and the angles of her pictures all follow a similar, artsy style that is even carried over to her style of writing. You can tell she knows what she likes and she shows that in every aspect of her blog/life. The filters she probably uses reminds me of some of the filters that you can use on VSCO Cam, which I always love experimenting with!

A Beautiful Mess

How could I not talk about how unique their pictures are? When you see an “ABM” picture on Pinterest you know who is behind that camera! I love that all of their images are original, even on obscure posts that it would be sort of hard to find a relevant picture for. The backgrounds of their food posts are usually varied but they sort of follow one theme- neutral textures- which is definitely a compliment to the subject because it shoes off colors and shapes really well.

Another thing that I like about ABM is that even when they have home tours or guests on their blog, they stay with the style that they have developed. The homes they feature are similar to theirs in that they’re funky and quirky but still have that sense of classic traditional style mixed in. Another thing you are sure to see in every picture they post is color! I think that’s what sets their images apart. If I had to pick a filter that is ABM-esque it would be “Chrome” on the iPhone. Warm, vibrant, contrasting.

Breanna Rose

Minimalist design is very “in” right now and a ton of designers are carrying that graphic design style over into their home design and subsequently, their photographs. The photos that Breanna has on her portfolio website are all really crisp and involve bright whites, luscious greens, subtle hints of colors like yellows, oranges, reds, and wood tones. Her photos are really “clean” looking. (Yes, photos can look clean!)

Two Twenty One

Chelsea at Two Twenty One does a really great job of creating “Pinnable” images. When you have a lot of posts that are tutorials or “how tos” it’s definitely important to write the title on the image, otherwise people will just think it’s a pretty picture of a pretty kitchen. I like Chelsea’s pictures because they’re all really bright and crisp, but they’re different because of the color schemes she has chosen for her home and her blog. Rather than have the earthy tones like Breanna, Chelsea’s color schemes are a little ore preppy- gray, pink, green, white, some blues.

Ok, one last one that’s worth mentioning.

And Kathleen

Kathleen talks about a ton of different stuff on her blog, from her new baby boy, Fox, to building a brand for yourself, but he images all feel like they belong to her. It’s not only because of the style of the photos but because she has the tendency to add a yellow overlay to her pictures. I have never seen anyone do that before to their pictures and I think it’s an amazing way to make oardinary pictures. Love it!

So now that you’ve seen a bunch of different styles of photography that other people use for their sites, have you started to think about your images as well? It means a lot more than you think it does!

**All of the pictures featured in this post belong to their original owners, are used for examples only, and I take no credit for them whatsoever.**

Where Art Thou Spring?

Late last week and through this weekend we had beautiful weather here in Central New York, and it was such a huge tease. I even bought Julian a bunch of spring/sumer clothes and shoes from Old Navy because I cannot wait to be rid of snow. At this point it feels like snow will never go away and flip flops will never be an option ever again. But spring will come eventually!

So, I wanted to put together a little moodboard which gives you a taste of what I'm craving this spring!

Clockwise from top left: (links are in the numbers)

1. Love this little outfit for Julian.

2. This color looks great on everyone.

3. Katie Daisy's prints uplift my mood 100%!

4. Spring makes me want to start eating lighter and healthier. These tacos sound amazing!

5. I ordered these shoes for Julian and I can't wait for him to wear them!

6. I love these DIY lanterns as a fun permanent decoration for somewhere in our house.

7. Ahh tulips. I want to find a place to plant some this spring.

8. This outfit looks so cute and could be worn ona casual day or at work!

9. Pointy scallop flats in white? Screams spring and summer to me!

10. This would be a cute Easter treat to bring to the office or to use as little placecard holders at Easter dinner.

What things remind you of spring? Are you as sick of the cold as I am?

A little bit about education vs. no education.

A friend of mine tweeted that he is not ashamed to have dropped out of college after only four days of attendance because he has accomplished so much since then without a degree and has no debt. It’s something that a lot of young people can identify with because there is so much pressure to go to school and then worry about the money after. But for some people, school isn’t for them, isn’t an option for them, or they just can’t shake the image of paycheck after paycheck being handed over to some loan lender when they haven’t even landed a job in their field of study yet.

College is hard. But so is life.

I’m among those people that will probably never go to college, and I’m trying to be ok with it. It’s hard to be proud of not going to college when all of your friends are graduating and struggling through finals weeks and trying to make friends. It’s hard to relate to them because they think their life is hard, but you think your life is just as hard as or harder than theirs. I was away at college for two semesters (I was pregnant for one of them) and it was hard. I don’t know about how hard it gets after freshman year, but I can imagine that it is. Let’s agree that whether you go to college or not, finding success is hard.

I’m trying to convince myself that not going to school will work for me, and I think so far 95% of me believes it. The other 5% believes that I won’t be as successful (in my case, in graphic design) as someone who went to college to study it.

You can still be educated without an education.

For those of us who have either chosen not to go to college or didn’t have the option, it doesn’t mean that you can’t learn and be just as intelligent as someone who did. It might take a little extra effort on your part to find good sources of information. You might have to seek out someone to have an intelligent conversation about something your passionate about, maybe through a chat room or a blog.

Take advantage of the world around you.

Our generation is lucky to have the world at our fingertips and the ability to reach out to pretty much anyone to learn, grow, and experience. Take advantage of all of the resources out there, and that means social media! If you admire a famous director, give him a stout out on Twitter, because you never know what could happen. If you are so inspired by an up-and-coming calligraphy artist, sign up for her Skillshare class and mention her in an Instagram comment below a picture of your own work.

Be proud of who and what you've become regardless.

Whatever you do, don’t feel sorry that you didn’t get a college education, and do not belittle yourself around those who have. If you have honestly put in effort to make a better life for yourself or have just as much knowledge and experience then you are equals. Your paths have been different, your destinations probably aren’t the same, but if you have reached your own personal goals (or are on the right track, like I am) then you have something to be proud of.

If you really can’t live with yourself any longer because you don’t have that degree that supposedly gives you an occupation, then you should do what you can to go back to school and satisfy that void. I tried it because I thought it would make me better or make me feel better. All it did was make me even more dissatisfied and anxious to jump-start my career. So Iquit. I felt like I knew what I was doing already, and what I didn’t know wasn’t going to be learned through an online classroom full of “students” who didn’t have a clue about art or design.

I'm proud of you!

Everyone is different, and my message to you is to embrace it. If you don’t have a college education and you don’t want one, then I applaud you and wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. (And also ask you for some tips on staying successful!) If you do have a college education… oh my god I applaud you, too. I have no words for the amount of work you must have done to receive your degree. But please, applaud us who haven’t gone to school and are still achieving our dreams. Give us a helping hand when we are struggling with something that you were able to master under the instruction of a professor.

If you opted out of college, what is something that you have struggled with because of it? If you are in college or have graduated, are you glad you stuck with it, or would you have gone a different route if you could? And anyone, please feel free to share your advice for those of us who didn’t go to school!

Thanks for reading- I promise tomorrow’s post won’t be so lengthy!

PS- Thank you to Ben for the inspiration on this subject!

Top 6 Favorite Phone and Chrome Apps

This image was made with one of the apps!

Every time another blogger writes about their favorite apps, programs, or websites I find something new that becomes my favorite too, so I thought I would tell you guys what my favorite ones are! Allyssa Barnes has posted some great lists on her blog that have been such great finds, so if you're looking for some more great dowloads, definitely check over there.

I spend a lot of time on my phone refreshing my social media apps, but there are some other apps that I will never, ever delete from my iPhone. So here they are:

1. VSCO Cam is my favorite picture editing app and if you haven't downloaded it yet, you have no idea what you're missing. I rarely use Instagram filters anymore because the filters and editing options you have with VSCO Cam take my pictures to the next level without another filter. It also has its own little community built into it where you can see the pictures that other people have added to their grid, which is pretty cool. It's fun to see what others can do with their pictures.

2. A Beautiful Mess is a really fun app that I use to add text and little objects to my pictures with. I have even used it to create some quick pictures with text on them to include with blog posts. (Including the picture at the top of this post!) I also tend to use this app when I want to put a white frame around the edge of a vertical or horizontal picture so that I can post it on Instagram without cropping parts of the picture out. I love supporting the ladies over at A Beautiful Mess. I can't wait to see what updates they come out with for this app in the future!

3. One Second Everyday is something I just added to my phone this week and it's already a favorite. Basically you take a video every day and are able to crop it down to one second, and then save it into the app's calendar. Once you have a video for several days, you can export your clips into one video that puts all your seconds into a collection of clips. I only have a few days so far, but once I get a month of clips I want to make my video and see what my month looked like! I'll be sure to share it with you guys!

Those are my favorite iPhone apps, and i believe they're all availible for Android devices, too.

For internet browsing, I've been using Google Chrome for awhile now, and I've found that it's really the only way to go, especially if you use Google already for email, blogging, or document storage. I love having everything so easily accessable. The other thing that I love about Chrome is that I can log into any computer and have access to all of my bookmarks and extensions as if it were the same computer. So my internet browser looks the same on my desktop at work as it does on my laptop at home.

I really love the extensions that you can download to Google Chrome, and right now I have four, just because I don't like things getting too crowded up on the navigation bar. One of them is a gmail extension which refreshes itself often and shows when I have a new email, so I don't have to look at my phone if I'm already on my computer. These are the other three extensions that I use:

1. Pinterest. This extension is the most used one by far. I can go to any website and if I click the Pinterest icon that is up in my browser navigation bar (next to the address bar) it will grab all of the Pinnable images on that page and create a new Pin that goes right to that web address. It makes saving things that I want to Pin that much easier!

2. Bloglovin'. This extension is great because it shows when you have new unread posts in your Bloglovin' feed. When you click on it it opens your bloglivin feed in a new tab so you can read the new posts from your favorite bloggers! If you have a Bloglivin' account, I highly recommend getting this extension. Although, it doesn't do much for my productivity at work when I see an unread post pop up!

3. Evernote Web Clipper. I don't use this one as often as the others, but it's awesome for saving notes for new blog posts and saving articles I want to use a jump-off for a blog post of my own. There are tons of options for writing notes on articles/pages, including highliters, arrows, a type tool, and a drawing tool. It's a really great productivity extension that works great for capturing your thoughts while you're browsing the internet.

So, those are six of my favorite apps/browser extensions. Do you use any of them? Are there any that I might not be using that I need to add to this list? I hope you download at least one of these and love it as much as I do!

Gratitude Journal // 04 and some Bloggy Ideas

I didn’t do a gratitude journal post last week, so I’m back today with a whole bunch of things I’m grateful for! This will include some things that I would have written last Friday, but it was Valentine’s Day and I helped my mom at her flower shop (crazyyy!!).

• I’m grateful for Valentine’s Day because it really helps my mom’s business a lot

• I’m grateful for my creativity because without it Dom would have really gotten no gift for Valentine’s Day. Thanks to creativity I wrote out 20 things I love about him and hid them all around our house for him to find.

• I’m grateful for Julian’s morning screams for me, without which would make me so late to work.

• I’m grateful for whatever tax laws allowed me to get a return that will pay for my car to get fixed (and pay off a credit card!). Fingers crossed for some time next week!!

• I’m grateful for the relatively healthy relationship Dom and I have. In my hometown this week, tragedy struck when an ex-husband tried to break into his ex-wife’s house. I’m glad that Dom and I feel safe around one another, and I hope it always stays that way.

• I’m grateful for Snapchat and Facetime because they allowed me to see my sister while she’s been vacationing in Cancun for the last week.

So, yeah those are some of the things that come to mind when I think about what I’m grateful for. Do you keep a gratitude journal? If you have one on your blog, I would love to see it!

Here are my other gratitude journal posts.

In some other news, I’ve been thinking about some other things I could add to my blog to make it more interesting (I’m talking about content here). I would love to have someone write as a guest here once in a while, so if there is anyone who has a good idea for something that would fit well on my blog, I would love for you to contact me! It’s practically free advertising if you have a blog yourself! I also want to think of a way to really get to know another blogger and make an actual “blogger friend”, so if anyone wants to be my friend that would be so cool! (That sounded like so first grade of me- “will you be my friend?”)

Happy Friday everyone! I’m happy to say that I wrote something here pretty much every day this week, and it felt so good! I think I’m finally starting to gain confidence and really getting comfortable with what I like to talk about. Thanks to everyone who stops by frequently!

I Love These Guys!

I've been trying to be a more active blogger lately by really reaching out to the bloggers that I love and showing them my support. It feels good to cheer on a blogger that you really love by leaving a comment on one of their posts or even Tweeting to them or following them on social media sites. It feel even better when they answer you back or even start a conversation with you!

I especially like to reach out to the bloggers that don't have a gajillion comments on their posts already and show some love to the girls that have less, because that's what I have and I know I get so excited when someone finally comments!

I've also been working on really showing my appreciation for something that someone says by giving substantial feedback and continuing the conversation. I feel like I'm in a classroom again, except this time I'm not forced to give someone positive feedback on something that either doesn't make a lick of sense or that I could care less about. I'm really not faking anything that I say and I love it! It feels so good to be nice and friendly!

I want to tell you about some of my favorite blogs lately, and if you haven't heard of these girls or given them a visit, you should do it now!

Sometimes Sweet

I love this blog. I love that Danielle is such a good writer and that she has so many thoughts about her life. I love how much she loves her family and I'm also a little jealous of all the fun things they do together! She used to be an English teacher, and you can just tell that she loves writing and reading. All of her posts are extremely well written, and she also throws in some sponsored stuff, which I don't mind because they're always coupled with pictures of her cute kids!

Studio 404

This blog is great for designers and bloggers, and Angel always has some great lists, tips, and artist features that always get my brain going. I love posts that can help me become a better designer/freelancer/blogger/businesswoman, and he posts do just that.

The Life of Bon

I've been following this one for awhile now, and Bonnie is another blogger who writes so, so well. She's actually another English teacher blogger! What draws me to her writing is her stories and her sense of humor, which I think is really similar to mine. She's satirical and isn't afraid to laugh at herself. I love when she writes about her students because I like to pair them with people that I used to go to school with. It seems like in every classroom you can find the same mix of personalities! Like everyone has their own role in the class. Bonnie's awesome, guys.

Where My Heart Resides

I literally just discovered this one today, and Ashlee is already easily one of my favorite writers right now. Her posts are detailed and have so many thoughts within them. They're really developed well, and she's another amazing writer who I really admire. I can't wait to learn more about her and read more of her amazing posts!

And of course an old favorite that I always have to mention...

Young House Love

Because who doesn't love them? I love the Clara Conversations and I love their amazing DIYs and house advice. John and Sherry are like the power couple on the century to me, and they're so good at responding to your comments and interactions on Twitter and Instagram, which I love! You can tell they really love what they do and they are just so good at it!

I hope you give some of these a good read and find that you love them too! Are any of you guys already reading any of these blogs? Who should I add to my growing list of amazing bloggers? Do you love interacting with bloggers via comments or social media?

PS- this wasn't sponsored or anything, I just really love these blogs!
PSS- Petersiks need to take family pictures more often! Took me forever to find that one!

Baby Shower Invitations Inspired by John Lennon's Animals

I'm very excited to share the printed version of the baby shower invitations I mentioned last week!

Here are some pictures

The mom-to-be is actually my cousin, and she has the John Lennon Real Love nursery collection that came out about 10 years ago, all in perfect condition. She and her husband, my cousin Darren, are big Beatles fans, so this nursery stuff really fits them to a T! I wanted to incorporate something about it into these invitations so they would be extra special to them, so I re-drew the animals that John Lennon drew for his son (named Julian!), which are part of the nursery bedding. You can see what some of the nursery pieces look like here. 

The animals are a pretty loose interpretation because I didn't want to copy them, but I think they came out so cute!

These invitations are stunning in person. The colors are so amazing, I can't even get over it! And they were definitely a labor of love because I cut all of my prints myself, and there were about 75 invitations here... Imagine me hunched over my paper cutter for about an hour with squinty little eyes. So cute.

Congrats to Darren and Cathy! I can't wait to meet the little guy!

At a Crossroad

When Danielle from Sometimes Sweet said she was going to start posting weekly “journal” prompts, I didn’t think they would warrant such tell-all answers! I feel like I’m playing truth-or-dare with the world right now, and I got truth!

So this is going to be an interesting, difficult post to write for me. We’ll see how it turns out.

This is the prompt that Danielle posted on her blog for this week:

Everyone has a time in their life they view as a crossroad. Sometimes you can see it as it's happening, and you're able to choose one way or another. Other times you may not realize you're there until you look back, and see what a turning point it really was. This week, write about a time you view as a marker in your life; a distinct place where things changed, for better or worse.

And the obvious answer to that would be when I found out I was pregnant with Julian.

Now, let’s see... How to write about this…

When a woman finds out she’s pregnant, many of the times she has some choices. Sometimes the choice is clear, sometimes it isn’t, and sometimes what you think you would do is not what you end up doing when it actually happens.

It definitely wasn’t an easy time for me. I was 18, a freshman in college, and it wasn’t the type of thing I had ever pictured for myself. I didn’t ever think I would be one of “those girls”.

I knew even before I took any sort of test, and the whole time that I had this gut feeling (literally) I was leaning towards “getting it taken care of”. Then I finally took the test to be sure and things changed. Things turn from facts to emotions in a matter of about 60 seconds. What you imagined becomes real, and the idea that there is something inside your body that’s changing and the things inside of you are no longer just yours, they’re someone else’s, too.

I believe that every woman should have the right to choose whether to keep her baby or not. If it’s not right for you, and you really don’t think you could handle being a mother yet, then you should be entitled to managing that in a safe, legal, and humane way. It wasn’t an option for me, but it should be an option anyways.

I knew this was a game changer for me, and also a game changer for Dom. I really had no idea what would happen to us, and what I would do about an education, a job, or a future. We’re so lucky that our families came to accept what was, and that things have turned out pretty well.

And so I have decided that things have turned out for the better. Because of my decision to keep Julian, I have found direction in my life. I have become ambitious and hardworking. I have become realistic with my goals and my future. I have learned to work through my problems with other people, especially Dom. I have resurrected my friendship with Morgan, without whom I would not have had the courage to stand up for myself during this crossroad in my life. I have learned what it means to be responsible. I have learned the value of my hard-earned money. I have learned how important it is to take care of my body and my mind, although I'm still learning how to actually do that.

And mostly, I have learned more about myself. In the 2 years since I found out that I was pregnant, I have spent a lot of time looking inward and discovering the best and worst parts of me. There is nothing more satisfying than identifying who you are, who you would like to be, and what you need to work on in order to make that happen.

All of those things would have happened in time, sure. And I’m sure things will change and I will definitely grow even more, but this crash course in adulthood has been really satisfying to me.

So thank you for being a good change, Julian. For all of us, I think.

Tulips make me feel happy

This is one of those fluff posts that no one really wants to read, but it's too personal to write about on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram where the people that follow me might not appreciate how I feel.

But tulips make me feel happy. What I love most about them is that usually they start out so closed up and little that you might overlook them because their leaves are so big and the flower is so small. But once you have tulips in your home once, you will always appreciate the way they look when they open themselves up to you. Day one, they're closed and sad looking. Day two, the flowers look bigger and oval shaped. Day three is when they are a true tulip shape. You know, the tulip you drew as a kid that was comprised of a "U" shape and three points at the top to represent the petals.

Not only do they open up, but they reach out in all different directions, like they're racing away from eachother, trying to find something before the other ones find it. They have so much personality, and I am really not a big flower person. I pretty much have a black thumb, but I want to keep tulips forever. I think I'll invest in them every week because they truly make living more enjoyable.

Ok, now your turn. What is one thing that is so small and seemingly insignificant but that still makes you so happy?

Why bother giving up?

I talk a lot about my lack of confidence when it comes to being a graphic designer. It defintely stems from the fact that I don't do it full-time and also because I don't have a degree. Sometimes I wonder why I bother trying to convince myself that I'm the real deal and why I don't just give it up. But then I say, "Self- shut up. The real question is, why bother not trying to convince myself and why would you just give up? Why bother giving up when you can just keep going?"

We have great conversations, myself and I.

It's a constant struggle. A lot of the time it doesn't feel like I'm struggling with my confidence because I'm working on a project that I am confident in. But then I get a project that I don't really know how to handle and then my negative self starts talking smack again and I have to put her in her place.

Those are the projects that will threaten your confidence, but those are the projects that allow you to grow. I wonder if my "specialty" will always be birth announcements, invitations, and other print design projects, or if someday I will be just as confident in other areas of design.

It's really hard to continually work towards something while you still have a million other things going on in your life. I wish I could spend all day, every day working on my designs, getting clients, continuing my education and knowledge, and planning for my professional future. But when you have a 9-5 job, a baby to take care of when you get home, an apartment to keep up, and relationships to maintain. You know, life.

Every night, when Julian goes to bed I work on something to add to my portfolio, or I work on my blog or portfolio site, making sure that everything is up to date and represents me the way I am today. It's hard to balance those things because most nights I just want to watch Treehouse Masters (my new favorite show) and eat cheesecake, but I resist those urges most nights so that I can get something done and feel like I'm still working towards my goals. It feels really good to finish a project because I know that it means I'm one tiny step closer to being able to call myself a graphic designer.

I want to remind you that when you feel like you should give up, ask yourself why. If your reason is something along the lines of "I'm too busy", "I'm too tired", or "I'm not good at it", then you need to go and do it, because the more you let those thoughts win, the more you are losing. Give yourself breaks so the thing you love to do and want to get better at doesn't become daunting or chore-like. Give yourself a night o eat cheesecake, watch Treehouse Masters and shamelessly lurk your enemies via social media, but the next night you better get right back at whatever it is that you should be working on.

You might as well, right? There are only so many episodes of your favorite shows, and late night snacking isn't good for you anyways.

Is there anyone else out there that has this problem? Do you ever feel like you should just give up because you aren't seeing some type of result of your hard work? Are you falling victim to a lack of confidence in what you love to do? If so, just keep thinking:

Why bother giving up when I can just keep going?

Why We Work

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm writing about the reasons why Dom and I work. Thank you to Bonnie from The Life of Bon for the idea!

We work because he lets me do my thing on my computer and when I'm done and I want to go to bed, he comes with me even if he isn't done doing his thing.

We work because he can cook meat and I can cook pasta.

We work because I can never admit that Julian needs a second/third nap and instead of listening to him cry more, Dom will just put him to bed.

We work because he doesn't judge me when I need to take 50 pictures of one invitation or birth announcement that I had printed. Or when I have to take 60 pictures of my desk and a corner of our kitchen. He actually tries to slap my butt because he knows it will ruin the picture. Then I get mad so he laughs and lets me continue in peace.

We work because if I miss a glob of hair in the shower drain, he gets it out. But also never fails to remind me of it.

We work because we like to be silly before we settle down to go to sleep. We have our own "language" that sort of sounds like German, Russian, and some Nordic language all mixed together. Don't get us started because we won't stop.

We work because we like having people over for casual drinks and food. (And merriment.) He sweeps and makes chicken wing dip, I set up the glasses and make sure the presentation is impeccable.

We work because we root for eachother when there's something we're excited about.

We work because we can both be realistic about our future together, and what our timeline looks like. What continuing our family will look like and when it would happen.

We work because I take things seriously and he doesn't take things serious enough. He helps me remember that some things aren't so serious and I remind him that some things need some immediate attention.

We work because he's simple and easy to please and I can be a little more high mantenance.

We work because we both love movies about ancient Rome or Greece, Mythology, any type of superhero, and were both excited to see Pompeii when it comes out.

We work because we both love late night snacking. I'm always down for a McDouble at 10 p.m. Bad? Yeah.

So there, those are some of the reasons why we "work". Some are silly and some I could write about for days, but they're all special to us.

The best part about writing these was asking Dom what he thought about it, and he said "Just because I love ya, duh!" So sweet! See what I mean now about him being simple?

And then of course he said "And because I'm stuck with you now!"

Such a sweetie.

Participate in this link-up by adding this picture to your post and adding your link to Bonnie's post!

I blog because I have a lot to say

If you know me, you know that I’m not always the loudest person in the room. I’m not usually the one screaming for attention. I feel like I always have a lot to say, but I’m always waiting for the opportunity to say it and sometimes it never comes. And that’s ok, because I would rather be a part of a conversation than talk without anyone actually hearing me.

Blogging is sort of strange when you’re like me, and you like to be a part of a conversation. When you’re just starting out and you have a lot to say, you hold some of it back for whatever reason, but when you do have things to say it rarely becomes part of a conversation. It’s hard to get people to comment and respond to what you say. I know people are reading, but not many are talking. It’s frustrating! Some days I feel like I’m that girl that’s talking while everyone else is talking, but they’re all talking to someone and I’m just talking to everyone and no one is listening to me.

Why am I always that girl?

But then I realize that it doesn’t matter, because everyone deserves to have a moment where they get to speak without anyone else speaking over them. For me this is right now, whether someone will read, understand, agree with or reply to or not.

What I have to say is important to me and if it isn’t important to you, then that’s ok.

I blog because I have a lot to say, but I also blog because it feels good to say it, even though no one might hear it.

Projects, Projects!

After Christmas I didn't have much going on in terms of design work, and with planning a move and all of the other things we had going on, I'm sort of glad that I had a break. Now I'm back at it with all types of work. Some projects have been self-initiated, which are usually my favorite ones, and some are for clients, which really puts the pressure on!

This is a little project that is a gift for my cousin who just had a baby earlier this month. It's one of my favorite birth announcement designs so far, and it happened to match her nursery really well.

These pictures were taken at night so the lighting in my apartment wasn't great!! I'm definitely going to take better pictures for my design portfolio.

This next project was self-initiated because I want to better my web design skills, and my mom is a florist who doesn't have a website. It's so important to have a website as a business owner, and my mom doesn't really understand that or value that, so I'm taking control of it and just doing it for her! I've been using Webydo to create the site, and so far I've had a decent experience. There are some kinks that have slowed me down but it's like any software that you've never worked with before- you just have to get used to it. I'll probably write more about my experience when Im all done!

So this is the new logo and color scheme that I've dreamed up that works with the colors that my mom already has going on in her shop. I plan on expanding the whole brand into new business cards for her that will include her new website address.

So far I only have a few pages that are "done" and the rest of it will be slow moving because I have to take pictures to use as content for each of the pages. Hopefully I can get most of the content I need to get it running within the next month, and then I'll be able to add things as I go and as the seasons pass and my mom puts out more work.

The next thing that I have in the works is a baby shower invitation for my cousin Cathy, who is expecting a baby boy in April. I'm just waiting to hear that the details are definite and also a count of how many to print.

Cathy has baby bedding from Carter's that is based on the animals that John Lennon drew in his book for his son (fun fact: John Lennon's son's name is Julian!). She bought it when she worked there ten years ago and has saved it all this time. Cathy and Darren (who is my second cousin) are huge Beatles fans, so the bedding is really special to them. I wanted to include something that was very them in the design for the invitations, so I recreated the animals in the bedding to put in the banner at the top of the invitation. I can't wait to get these printed! They're one of my favorite invitations that I've done so far!

This next project was proposed by an old friend who I met at my first job. She wants to start a tea beverage business and came to me asking for a little bit of branding work. So I got to work right away drawing up a logo and thinking of the color scheme. I can't wait to show her what I've come up with so far! 

The challenge here is going to be translating my handwritten logo into something digital. I've started to draw it on my computer and it's not perfect yet. It'll take lots of work to get it looking the way it need to look. Here are the colors I'm thinking so far, and a little pattern that could be used somehow.

I can't wait to see how it pans out!

This last thing was something I did in my spare time last week while I was still without wifi. I plan to have it printed (although I haven' decided what size) and framed for Julian's room. I originally planned to make a huge print of it but since I have the painted fox in there now that I want to be the focal point, this guy might be a little smaller, but equally as important of course.

This guy is so graphic and awesome. I want one for my room! I love art like this because it's so interpretive and the types of colors you include really communicate the personality of the character that you create. This fox is really sassy and really has his own set of rules, which is exactly how Julian is. Sassy and headstrong!

When I'm looking back at all of these projects I can't believe how many different things I'm doing right now. Babies, tea branding, foxes, flowers... holy cow! I love how each project is so different than the next. Some are more in depth and complicated, some are completed and some are a work in progress. I love having work to do. It motivates me to be creative and productive, especially at night, when Julian has gone to bed and all I feel like doing is watching Treehouse Masters. Yeah, totally my new favorite show. I'm serious.

I hope to be able to add all of these things to my portfolio soon! Thank you to everyone who supports my talents and my dreams and my crazy obsessions. Every new thing I take on is an opportunity to learn something new.

Apartment Progress: Julian's Room

When we moved, I was really excited to try something new with Julian's room. The colors in his room at our previous place were the same as when we lived with my dad, and I get sick of seeing the same stuff for a long time. Plus, I figured that I would want to do something different when he gets out of his crib, so I might as well start it now.

It's definitely a work in progress and I plan on making changes along the way. I'm excited to see what this room evolves into as he grows, since we plan on staying here for a long time.

This is the wall that his crib is on. The color is Valspar Luscious Green, and the letters and crib were both in his room before. I love the way the white pops against the green.

This wall is the biggest work in progress, and it's looking sort of sad right now. I hope to expand it into a gallery wall of pictures and things that take up the entire wall. I want to fill it with a mixture of pictures, drawings, illustrations and prints, and also 3D objects. The door on this wall goes to his closet, and the paint color for the rest of his room is Valspar Possabilities.

Here is a close-up of what I have so far.

I spent some time yesterday creating this fox painting out of construction paper and acrylic paint. I'm really proud of the way it turned out! I plan on framing it in a big frame that I have on hand. I want to spray paint it gold, so now it's just a matter of getting that done. I think it will end up being the focal point of the whole wall, even when the whole wall is filled.

I happen to have a really old Aesop's Fables book that has some amazing illustrations to go along with the stories. Many of them happen to feature a fox, which is sort of the underlying theme for the room so far. I really loved this one (and it wasn't as greusome as some of the others) so I framed it! You gotta love free artwork!

 This was another free artwork solution that will probably be temporary. The designer in me saw "Pantone" and almost screamed. (I even posted about it on Instagram.) I like the idea of the paint swatches, but it takes up a large part of the wall right now and it's not my favorite. I might keep two swatches and put them in a smaller frame or make something more creative out of them. I'll keep you posted!

Julian's crib is oppose from his changing table and the gallery wall and closet door are opposite from this bookshelf and the door leading to the hallway. These paintings used to hang in our bedroom, but I would like to change the colors in there too, and they happened to work perfectly in here! They're probably temporary, too, but they make the walls more colorful. When I have the extra time and money, I would love to hang some book/picture ledges from the floor to the ceiling so that all of his books can be on display. He has so many and some of them were even mine and my sister's when we were little, so being able to see them would be so cool! Plus it would be easier to put them all away on a ledge than sliding them into the shelf.

Here are some more pictures of the room so you can get an idea of how it all comes together.

I love having his little table in there for us to play on, read on, and of course hve snacks on.

This is the view from the rocking chair next to his bed. He rarely lets me sit in it peacefully, but I love being a fly on the wall and watching him do his little boy thing.

His closet is huge and so functional. I put his clothes dresser in there, hung up some things and then put blankets and unused things on the shelves. Not the prettiest placem, but it is really handy to have such an organized spot for clothes and extras.

And, of course the obligatory "real life" shot of what the room looks like on a good day. This picture was taken 6 minutes after the ones above, when I finally let him take toys and books out.

So that's his room! I haven't really thought of the "theme" that would describe it yet because it's definitely still evolving. Eventually I would like to say that it has a storybook adventure feel to it, complete with lots of books and forest animals.

My original vision for his room involved green, black, grey and white, but when our upstairs got carpeted they put in this blue carpet and it really threw me off, and I was dissapointed at first. I wanted it to be sophisticated and modern. But once I got over it, I realized that it's going to work out really well in the end. The blue looks great with the green and white walls! This way the room will stay "little boy-ish", whereas I think it could have felt too grown up had I gone with my original plan.

One of the things I love most about the room is that I'm using things that I already had, which makes the cost of recreating his bedroom super low. With some new paint colors you can transform the look and feel of a space into whatever you want! I also love that all the artwork has been free, besides what I initially paid for supplies. It's so fun to use what you have to make something completely new.

Also, I want to take this opportunity to say how much I love 3M hanging strips. I think I've hung everything in this room withone of those things, and they work like a dream for the most part. The walls in our place are painted paneling so they it can be hard to drive nails into the wall, and plus since we're renting I would rather keep the walls as clean as possible.

Thanks for stopping by to see Julian's room! I hope to post more pictures of it as it evolves and progresses. I don't think it will ever be "finished", because I'm never satisfied!

I hope to be back tomorrow to show you some of the things I've been working on design-wise!