Karma works

Back in spring I wrote on this blog about donating our used video game consoles and some games to a local after school community centre (their video game console had been stolen).  Since then, there's been some interesting things happen because of this.

Initially I went in and helped out a bit with some (attempted) redecorating in the centre and just chatting with the people who run it day to day.  Around mid-May I was contacted by someone who had passed my name on to the higher-ups in the community centre (they knew I was a graphic designer) and asked me to be involved in a summer activities calendar to be distributed to the schools here.  

The calendar was designed and done by the end of June and was received quite well (and I liked working on it because it was a fun change to do bright and colourful designs for kids!).  After that, I didn't hear anything back (and didn't expect to), until yesterday.

I had one of the women who was involved in the project call me up out of the blue to tell me that this calendar has been the topic of a few discussions with some key people in the community -- and that she'd like to ask if I would like to be involved with producing the calendar for the next THREE years.  (I said yes, of course!)

So I just thought it would be interesting to show how something that started out as a small deposit to our karma bank ended up being something much bigger!

Just trying to get away

Sounds simple right?  WRONG.  We leave in two days...two!  And there's no end in sight to silly clients who can't seem to get their act together, and deadlines that draw out (I mean, come on...ten versions of a business card design to get it right?!?!).  I'm slowly losing my mind -- not only do I have other people's 'problems' to look after, but I've got my own list of things that's not getting any shorter.

*Calm blue ocean...calm blue ocean...*

Creative shoes

Sometimes it's nice to have some stripes going on to liven up an un-creative day.

Ta-da! Sweetbean!

My sister had an idea over the summer to start a little business for herself (she's a new mom and working from home), and she wanted to do something that involved baby clothes. She bounced the idea off of me (and bounced, and bounced, AND bounced, LOL!) and we worked on a name and a concept. I'm not too involved with the business (she's the go-getter and one with the huge amounts of motivation -- I'm just the little creative brain that does logos and draws things), but I'm her number one fan so I thought I'd post a little introduction on Sweetbean and let you all see what we've done:

Logo (of course).

And the 'core' Sweetbean family, made up of:

If you need to get your little hands on these for yourself...click the banner over on the right and it will link up to the current Etsy site.
*Oh, and remember, copyrights do apply to these (and other original photos on this blog). Be kind, don't rip them off or copy them and use them for yourselves. And if you do want to post these on your site, we nicely ask you to link to the Sweetbean site. Many thanks! :)

Ahhhh...gardens

I wish I had more time to spend in mine lately. I was out watering things this morning and there's lots to weed, trim, mow and prune (and I have a small garden!). There's one lonely zucchini that survived the slug threat, but I don't think it will produce anything (keeps flowering then *ptht* done). I am, however, ecstatic about the honeysuckle this year -- for years I just swore at it because it was plagued by aphids, but it's had a banner year with tons of flowers and now *gasp* berries! (Lovely berries that are almost a candy shade of red, very beautiful to look at.) So I'm not writing off honeysuckle anymore.

Work has been busy this week too. Lots of tight deadlines (not my fault) and a nice 20-page brochure that's due tomorrow (I stayed up until 10pm last night working on it...phew). I'll be sending out emails soon to let all the clients know that I'm gone in October, and fingers crossed things won't get too hairy this month before we leave (although I know I can wish all I want, it seems like it always happens).

And reno's keep on going. I'll have pictures eventually, but we're still living with hardly any furniture in the room. Crown moulding goes up this weekend, and I have to put a coat of paint on the cupboards to freshen them up. (Oh, and have I mentioned that Trevor offered to have a BBQ at our place next weekend for some relatives visiting from LA? Yes, it's true...nothing like a deadline to get things done.)

photos via the very lovely Woodhams (which I might just pop into when we're in London!)

Highlights of the week so far

• The world returning to a normal schedule (muahahahaha...kids back to school!)
• Almost finishing the hardwood floor (sans transition strip and vent covers)
• Painting and cleaning the windows in the family room/kitchen to a point where you can't see the glass it's so darn clean (ahhhh!)
• Emailing/calling clients to update them on their project status and not having them get back to me for two days which means I can finally do my own thing (business cards, laundry, painting, mowing the lawn, cleaning the office) without feeling guilty
• Ripping open a bag of potatoes we planted to find that potatoes actually grew
• Picking ripe tomatoes from the garden
• Remembering to pick up my passport from the post office (and seeing that the picture is nowhere near as horrific as my driver's license...*eyes are burning*)
• Finding the photo of the orange telephone above

Stamp

This came attached to a package containing a low-res sample CD of the photo shoot that was done last Thursday. Besides all that, it's more of the blue-y-green-y-ness kick I'm on. Pretty.

Updating on all the goods

I figure there should be a post on what's been happening around the house with the reno 'situation' as of late. Well, it's all going swimmingly so far; we're almost at the end of the basement (touchups, caulking, painting, some laundry room assembly to do) and now we're striding ahead to the main floor again.

In the last while I've painted the living room, dining room, entrance area, loft and stairwells (they all share the same colour as there's no doors to break them up). Just this week I've moved on to the kitchen and family room -- and that's close to being done as well, although the kitchen area is a bit more challenging with all of the things I have to move. Trevor's been spending the week installing pot lights in the kitchen (good bye ugly puffy ceiling light!!!) and figuring things out with his media center (I say 'his' because I haven't been given the tutorial on how to use it yet).

We had Home Depot come out and measure the countertop in the kitchen and they came back with a rotten price for doing it, so we're investigating other options and going to consider a solid surface option that might be economical (really I'm saying 'economical' with a cringe because I have no idea what that means anymore). We have also picked out a new hardwood floor for the kitchen/family room which is now sitting in our living room adjusting to the temperature of the house (yes, you have to do that).

And in the midst of all of this I have a full day photo shoot in Stanley Park to direct tomorrow (nice early start there *yawn*) and then I plan on taking most of Friday off to wipe off the doorstep for my sister and her hub who are coming to stay with us for the weekend (yay!).

So if the posts are spotty for the next few days, you'll know why!

Hiatus?

I haven't been around for a few days due to work at the moment. It's dictating my life at the moment and tells me when I get to blog, eat, clean, sleep, if I get a weekend or not (not, for the most part). It's wearing and tiring dealing with hairy deadlines, crazy amounts of revisions, and printers halfway around the world (at the moment I'm waiting on an email from Australia before I can go to bed). Yesterday I thought my mind couldn't take in anymore information, it was too full of other people's details to bother with things that I had to do. Brain saturation, that's what I'll call it.

At this point, I don't really know when things are going to let up. They seem to just stack and back up, and now I'm starting to worry about our big vacation in October where I get to jump ship for a month (or if the ship I'm on will sink before then...lol, ponder that thought!). Thinking a few months ahead at this point is just nerve-wracking, so I'm trying to gently poke people into action to get things done in a timely* manner.

*Client speak for a polite term to get their asses in gear.

Due to all of the above (and imminent meltdowns in my brain) posting to the blog may be spotty for a while. I will, however, leave you with a small shred of evidence that I do (with permission) occasionally have a life outside my office:

What really happens on the last day of school

We were busy all day Friday at three high schools installing signs that we've designed for their cafeterias (hopefully the last of them, we are no longer fond of the sign-making-and-installing grunt work). This also happened to be the official last day of school -- for the teachers, as the last day for students was Thursday.

Here are some observations on what we were witness to during the last day of school for teachers:
- They arrive wearing un-teacher-like clothing (shorter skirts, tank tops, etc.)
- Some teachers don't show up at all
- Some spend their time running errands
- Some bring their friends, children and pets
- Some play basketball in the gyms
- Some watch the 'Price is Right' and 'People's Court' on school televisions
- Some clear up their classrooms (although I did see one teacher dragging a 'La Senza' lingere bag out with her, not sure what 'classroom' materials were in there)
- They all have 'staff meetings' around noon to discuss the year, celebrate those who are retiring, whoop it up, and eat delivered chinese food (and some have cake - no booze though, surprisingly...lol)
- Some complain that it was a long year
- Some complain it was a short year
- Some worry about the next bunch of new students coming into the school for next year (as one teacher described during their 'welcoming hot dog lunch' for new students: 'You like the ones that take the hot dog and are very polite. The ones that ask for two hot dogs are the ones we have to look out for next year.')
- Most disappear by 1pm, some straggle until 5pm


Generally, it was a strange day to see schools being completely unstructured (and quiet for the most part). It was good for us as everyone stayed out of our way and allowed us to work quickly to get everything done and ready for the next school year.

Insane in the membrane

Things with work have gone bonkers (again). I think it's something to do with the moon, or maybe the crunch to end the school year. I really don't know, but people have bees in their bonnets, whereas in previous years, I would be preparing for the inevitable summer lull in work. This summer, I'm having to book things 2-4 months in advance! What is going on here!?!?

I've thought a bit about some things to do this summer (seeing as July 1st is coming soon and I figure it's a good way to jump-start things):

- Reno's (of course...they never end. We need to paint the new backyard gate, complete the basement and have it inspected, continue on with painting the inside of the house, paint the trim on the outside of the house, wash the vinyl siding/windows, replace the porch carpet, pressure wash, finish the master bathroom, start on the kitchen/family room reno's...the list never ends!)

- I'd like to read a book (start to finish). I imagine it in a loung-y summer-y way in a hammock with lemonade and a warm breeze; I think the reality will be quite different.

- We're also thinking of taking a mini-trip (maybe just overnight somewhere) to celebrate the completion of a work project that's been ongoing for the past two and a half years and finally coming to an end! Maybe Seattle? Portland? We like both cities, I think Portland might win out because of the awesome hotel we've stayed in, cool bookstore and no sales tax! :)

- I'd also like to do other things involving parks, picnics, BBQs and popsicles.

Therapy

I'm waiting at the moment for my Monday morning to begin, (there's noon deadlines today, but at least I'm not the slow one!) but I took some time over the weekend to absorb my garden. It may be small, but it makes me happy. The lilacs are starting to bloom and everything is starting to grow like mad now. I've planted plenty of annuals for colour (my favorites being the monkey flowers, petunias and sweet peas) and my containers and baskets are starting to fill in. I also managed to get out on Sunday to fertilize the lawn (all natural, of course) and clean a few things up. So here's some garden goodness to take in:

A group of containers, with monkey flowers, wave petunias, coleus, and sweet peas.Close up of a monkey flower.Potatoes planted a la Jamie Oliver, in bags of soil (I think they need to be called the Three Tenors or the Three Stooges because they look like faces where we've stabbed them!).Urn planted with pansies, sweet peas, a trailing vine I forget the name of and those stinky white trailing flowers that just managed to survive the winter on the porch and came back again.One of the veggie boxes with tomatoes and a yellow pepper started by seed!My favorite container(s) this year, the one I was trying to emulate from the garden magazine, but I couldn't find all the plants they used exactly. So now there's a canna lily, pansies, creeping jenny, a big succulent that I can't remember the name of, kale and cabbage.The containers on the railing. A coleus that's dying (doesn't like all the sun there, who knew?), pansies, cabbage (yes, we'll see how that looks!), potato vines and something else I can't remember the name of right now.One of three hanging baskets, with our neon green permit still stuck in the window. One day soon that will be coming down and we won't have to advertise to the neighbourhood that our house is a disaster inside.

Hopefully I'll be more up-and-at-'em with the blog this week. The past two weeks have been hairy with deadlines and work piled on in ways I haven't ever seen. It seemed for a while there that I was a giant magnet and everyone within the city limits were zipping over with new projects (all which have insanely tight deadlines). Of course, being the designer who doesn't want to disappoint, I put my life on hold and work to get it all done. I think this will be all coming to an end this week (barring the odd press check and runaround or two) and I can't wait to have normal weekends again, and time to cruise through my daily/weekly list of blogs. Now to just get this morning over with...

Just repeat the previous post

Yes, I'm horrifically busy. So horrifically busy that I don't have time to post anything this week (and possibly next) on the blog. You'll all just have to sit tight for a while!

Ah, work

Yes, this could be an accurate depiction of my week. I've officially decided that the words 'long weekend' are synonymous with 'people who have bad planning that make it your problem and deadlines so tight they could strangle you'. Yes, I might be overly dramatic with that, but it feels that way. Every day closer to the long weekend has been torture this week -- perhaps there's a voodoo doll with my name on it in a public place? *sigh*

And today is just another day, filled with more surprises I'm sure. Wish me luck (and items on my desk luck as well -- they have become launching tools as of yesterday)...

New office chair

Well, it's time. I buckled and bought a new office chair. One that's more sleek and chic (not that this budget chair I'm sitting on now doesn't have any 'personality' thanks to the material that attracts dust, crumbs and cat hair -- oh, and cat claws). I hated the idea of buying it off eBay, because if it's uncomfortable, how do you return it? Enter trusty Costco online with their fancy chair, just like the one I was looking at a few months before, with a good price and even better return policy! Hurrah! In 15-20 business days, this baby should be mine!

New fabric for the office

I've been searching for the perfect fabric to make some panels for the sides of my open stainless steel worktable for a long time now (to hide all of the paper cutters, trimmers, adhesives, paper...). I wanted something fairly graphic with some contrast, but interesting. At first I looked at stripes and some other patterns, until I saw this:
Woot! Love it! Now I will just have to dust of my sewing machine and get cracking. (It's a J. Dewberry Manzanita. I got it here.)

Searching for a new office chair

I know what I want, but finding it so that I can try it out a bit is a challenge. I'm tempted to ignore the comfort of my bum taking them for a test drive and just buy one of these Eames-inspired (or ripped off!) chairs:I think I like the first one better. The little round knobby controls on the second one bother me. But the first chair is only sold in packs of 2. Why????

Evolution of a logo - part 2

After doing some sketches, I move on to the computer and start to recreate some of the things I've come up with on paper. This point is always a little tricky (and sometimes makes me go out of my mind, because I always question what the heck I'm going to do, and if I can do it). The computer can help, but can be frustrating. It can either show you options you haven't thought of, or it can show you that you need to go back and do more sketches. Most of the time I do a little bit of back and forth just to get all the options I'm thinking about out of my head.

I have a good-size library in my office of books, magazines, samples and odds and ends that I'll rustle into as well. I'll also look online a bit at anything from stock photos, paintings, drawings...you name it.

This time around I was really inspired by a font. In most cases I'll go through 10-50 fonts for the logo wording, but I knew what I wanted to see for this logo. Something simple, rounded, sans serif and a little different. Enter Estillo! (That's the font name for those of you who don't know.) It's a lot of fun to play around with and has a lot of interesting little glyphs that I can sub out certain letters for.

I tend not to work in colour at this stage either. It complicates things and can take away from the form of the logo, not letting you see what you're really doing. Plus, if it works in greyscale, well it can only get better in colour.

I can be at this point for a 4-12 hours or so (spread over a few days to a week), but sometimes it's quicker than that.

Every client should own one of these

Around the office this morning

Sometimes it's strange the way I see things. Amongst all the clutter and disarray in my little office I can see little vignettes of items that keep me company all day long.