Good Morning! Happy Almond Day!! Eat 23 a day for your heart : ) You can find out more right here!

We got snow yesterday… A LOT of snow… Not as much as the Northeast though (please be careful over there)! So today, what is good for your heart is changing your mindset in the face of a bad situation. We didn’t lose power, it was two inches less than the forecasters said we would get, I can get out of my driveway. The snow on the trees is amazingly beautiful. Spring is not too far off. All these things are silver linings. When we appreciate what we have instead of what we don’t, it really makes us feel good. We’re getting rid of that stress and allows us to be happy, and that, is great for your heart!

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2/2013

Oatmeal…Excellent for your heart! I eat steel cut oats, the quick cook ones, from Trader Joes. I try to make a bunch and freeze in jumbo muffin tins, but I’m not always that organized. They are a pain to prepare every day, even in the microwave. You have to be sure your container is way bigger than the amount you’re cooking, it rises and falls as it cooks, and I’ve had many horrible messes in there…But you know, rolled oats are better than no oats! ; ) A little chopped apple, honey and some almonds, and you’re good to go! This is perfect weather for something warm (and comforting)!

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2/2013

I know the weather isn’t amazing right now in most places, but even in snowy weather, getting outside for a walk is good for you. We get cabin fever really bad in the Midwest, I can only imagine how much worse it is out east or in Canada! A remedy is to have a “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” philosophy, grab your dog, or a  friend, or both,  and get a block or two under your feet. No need to walk miles…If you did this every day, you may find you’re less depressed, and you’ll be able to go those miles when the weather is much better, because you’ll have conditioned yourself a little bit each day!

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2/2013

An apple a day, right? They truly are fantastic for you, lots of fiber and simple carbs for just before that workout you’re going to do to keep your heart going. My faves are Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Pink Lady and Jonagold. There are so many different kinds, there has to be one out there that you’ll love! : )

Take a deep breath… Now take another… I try to do this a lot now, as I have a very detail oriented personality. Not OCD, but I can tell that I get on my husband’s nerves sometimes. He wants me to make sure I’m not doing things that he can do, so that I’m able to do what only I can do. Sounds dreamy, right? The problem creeps in when his doing something is not on my timetable. It’s difficult for me to work when the yard, or snowy sidewalk or dishes need to get taken care of. I’m working on that not nagging at me, but it’s difficult. I’m a taskmaster, and like to get things done and out of the way so they’re out of my brain. You see how this could, or rather, how I let it, escalate. This mindset tends to develop into stress. Stress is so bad for the heart, and the body as a whole. The whole fight or flight thing, if you’re constantly in that mode, it’s really unhealthy! So, I am taking deep breaths. It’s better for my heart, and my mind! I counted four stressors this morning, all before 7:30! I just took a deep breath…

Photo: npr.org

Short and sweet, the Super Bowl is about to start! Eat oily fish twice a week if you can, but some is better than none! We like salmon. : )

Good morning and happy Saturday! Snowing where you are? Be kind to your heart, if you have to get rid of a bit of snow, let the shovel do all the work. Push to one side of the drive and don’t lift it (it’s heavier than you think)! We don’t have a snowblower, mainly because we rarely get enough snow at one time to warrant it, the smell and the gas consumption is just gross (and also, not good for the ticker, breathing that in)…If you don’t have to go anywhere, you could just shovel your sidewalk, and leave the driveway for later (don’t you just want to be inside watching football or drawing anyway)?

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2/2013

Changed to my bright red handbag today, and threw on my red scarf (I usually wear yellow) and with a little more than an hour left of February 1st (central time, that is), I’m finally able to post. I’m going to post every day this month, because it’s super important, especially for creative types…and parents…and creative types who are also parents (we get so stressed out and over extended sometimes). If you you haven’t guessed already, I’m going to ask you to think about your heart.

Heart disease is the #1 killer of women, and yet there are so many things we can do to prevent it. I’m not some health freak. I used to smoke two packs a day (quit Dec. 17, 2001) and was a moderate drinker. Coffee and ranch dressing were food groups…Alright, I still drink coffee and love ranch dressing, but I’m also a walker/runner and resistance train. I eat very little processed food and stay hydrated. I also keep a lot of it to myself. No one wants to hear every day that I ran five miles. Blech…that’s demotivating, right? Flipping Polly Anna…

But perhaps what you could stomach each day is reading one thing that could help keep you healthy. One positive decision could affect all your other decisions for the rest of the day. I’m just asking for you to try one thing each day. It’s for you, your spouse and your kids, your career as a creative…I’d like to see my friends stick around for a while!

So, tonight, here’s one thing to help your heart: floss…seriously. A lot of health problems become evident in the teeth and gums, and bacteria can make its way to your heart through the gums if you don’t do something about it. Even if you flossed four times a week, you’re getting rid of something potentially nasty. That’s it. Super easy…go to it and see you tomorrow (I hope)!

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2/2013

Here’s a little of a personal project I’ve been working on, I actually have three…Plus I have little tuts to work on, plus I’m adding content to my site to finally launch it. PLUS, I have actual assignments. But just wanted to say a quick ‘hi’ ‘hello’ ‘ola’ ‘bonjour!’

How many times do you hear that? I hear it a lot! I also say it a LOT! But this time it’s true. I’ve been on the fence regarding several things for too long. One is my SCBWI membership. Don’t get me wrong, tremendous organization, and if you can attend any of their (many) events, either locally or nationally, then by all means, join, or renew. I would never talk someone out of that. It’s benefitted me that’s for sure. But right now, I’m not sure that I want to go into the ‘book’ direction. That’s what SCBWI is, for writers and illustrators of children’s books, not all facets of art over all industries. However, I do make art for different applications, and wondering if maybe the money would be better spent on an art organization. I’m still pondering that…

What IS just about done is my website. If you visit here, there you’ll be. No more place holder! This is what my page will look like. Images will scroll left and right, and links at the top and bottom will be fully functional. At the moment, the site isn’t fully functional, only the bottom links will transport you, and that’s okay with me right now! It’s taken me years to get to this point…This should be ready to go by mid to late February. I’ll be adding things to it even when it’s fully functioning, but to have a shoppe, yes, I’m pretty geeked about that!

That’s it! That’s my big news…Not much else really going on today, oh, except I’m working on some springtime groups : )

If you’re not a mom, you’d be bored by this bit, but if you are a mom, a newer mom, then read this bit too: Don’t procrastinate.

What I mean by that is, don’t procrastinate! If you get the urge to say “I’ll do that later” when it comes to fixit jobs around the house, cute little things to make, a garden in the spring, whatever…just do it already! The time you have right this moment is the most you’ll ever have until the kids are about 11 or 12, when they get amnesia regarding who their parents are. I’m kidding of course, because they’ll remember you have the cash and the car. Until that time, you’ll be doing a bunch of stuff with and for them, and love all of it (well, most of it). Your stuff will wait, and wait…and did I mention wait? Between your paying gigs and their social gigs, school functions, conferences, gymnastics, ballet, swimming, parties (friends, and theirs, and omg have you ever planned a child’s party?), holidays, sickness, homework help, sleepovers, yadda yadda… You don’t have to believe me, and if you have family near you to help, it won’t be as much of a struggle. I’m coming out on the other side of it right now, and catching up, years later!! You don’t have to believe me. But I’m just sayin’, as I’m designing Mom’s day cards…Don’t forget you, Mom… : )

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1/2013

Happy 2013!

Did you stay up late? Did you watch the ball drop? We turned our Christmas House back into Everyday House, ate heinous amounts of Chinese food. With chopsticks! Watched movies. What we do every year. We like it. What I also did, after the boys were tucked in, and hubs was getting ahead on a little work, was get my calendar sorted. I mean the entire calendar, from Jan 1st to Dec 31st…Yes!

In 2012, I’d started all sorts of illustrations, patterns and whatnot. Lots of creativity, lots of art. I felt great about that. It was a huge improvement over 2011, if we’re talking numbers of projects that I was generating. Tons started, not many finished. Why? I don’t know. Distracted probably. I let myself get distracted. Actually, that’s exactly what it is. Like my younger son (who is on the spectrum, although I’m not) I have trouble filtering things out. Everything comes in at the same level. Let me clear that up a bit: Everything I’m interested in comes in at the same level. I’m interested in a LOT. How can I not be? I think it was either Chris Oatley or Nate Williams who’d said that creatives want to always be creating. When they see new things that someone else is creating, they want to try it too. That’s our nature. Always trying to challenge ourselves. However, we can’t be interested in all of these endeavors if it puts our bread and butter work at risk. That includes personal projects. For a long time, while my husband was unemployed, I couldn’t carve out time for personal projects because I had to take every paying project that came along. Not all of it portfolio worthy, either. Not bad work, just not what I wanted to keep getting as an assignment. In 2012, I took some time off  and I was able to do some things I’d wanted to do. I painted my studio, I wanted to try Spoonflower (a print on demand fabric service, which also holds weekly competitions) and Threadless (tee designs that get votes in order to be made available for purchase). Latter two, tried them. I failed. Well, I didn’t win. I guess they weren’t failures, as what I succeeded in doing was shaking up my psyche a bit. That had far reaching benefits. Those projects, I did finish. The paint job looks good! And, I made a Christmas card, it had been a couple years. And a GIF of it. My head hurt after that. Oh, one other thing I did, signed up for the winter reading at our local library. I am determined to finish!

Everyone who knows me knows I never make resolutions. They sound very temporary, they are a bit doomed really. Why wait until January 1st to make a change? I know a lot of people are more motivated in the new year, but by February they’re kind of off the wagon. This year, I was strangely motivated. Not to make a resolution, but to make a permanent “do.”  Just “do” already! I’m used to telling myself: “If I just get this done, then I can do this” or “when I organize this, then my mind will be clear so I can accomplish that.” And the big one: “when I buy this, then I’ll be able to make this (I have about 200 books that support this last one).” Not bad aspirations, but I can find a million things to do to get myself mentally prepared. Look what I did in December. What I’m really doing, is enabling myself to avoid something I need to “do.” That something, is facing change regarding something to which I’m emotionally tied.

I’ve wanted to change some things about my process and my results for a long time. Taking self inventory is difficult. Change is also difficult. It causes anxiety. Sweating. Nailbiting. Hyperventilating. Panic. Failure. Embarassment. Bad hair. Shutdown. See how easy that escalates? Just like that… In my mind. After I joined Spoonflower and entered Threadless, that changed me, just a little bit. I did something different. I took myself in a different direction. Change doesn’t have to be a complete departure, change can be subtle. It doesn’t have to be everything. I could be just one thing. Draw with a different brush. Read one different kind of book. Take a detour. A different street. Go reference shopping to places you don’t normally go (like the grocery store, I love packaging)! One can’t expect a different result if one does the same thing the same way all the time. I know we get bombarded with all kinds of competitions and we want to enter them all, just pick one. We want to put our images, all our little babies, on everything. Focus on one thing. There aren’t more artists out there to compete with, we just know about them because of the internet. Seriously. Start with one thing…One small change.

This brings me to New Year’s Eve, I planned my calendar. Just did it. Like it was routine. Done. I plugged in all the trade shows for print and pattern. I’m not going, but I need to know when they are. Last year I was asked for Valentine art in July. I plugged that in for June, and worked backward. Even if I don’t make that art that week for licensing (because I’m putting together tut videos and creating new content for my new website), I know that if I can make licensing art the next week, what I should focus on. I’m doing this so I can be ready well in advance of an art call. I have a good friend who sends me trend information, and, I also get it from Patternbank (excellent by the way) so I can formulate ideas on a timeline. I’m hopefully not going to be running around, “what should I do?” “Where am I at?” “What day is it?” “What’s due?” All the boys’ activities are listed. Holidays. Days off…You name it…

I changed one thing that I do on New Year’s Eve…Crazy, right? None of what’s here is written in stone, but it’s a guide, to keep me focused, so I’m not distracted.

So far this year, I’ve put a print in repeat, fixed my blog (I didn’t, hubs did, thanks Nina!), created a new partially functional one page site (the fully functional multi-page site will be up next month, finally), and, wrote this post. Aaaand, finished one book for the winter reading.

Now I’ve thoroghly kept you from something far more important than this blog, but thanks for visiting! I wish you all a prosperous and creative new year! I’m so thankful for friends I’ve made on and offline. Thanks to Nina, letting me know my blog was blank. Someone tried to hijack it. *sigh* They could certainly take those smarts and go be innovative! My family’s support and love has helped me through some annoying bits last year too, what would I do without them? If you’ve got some goals or made resolutions, best of luck! If you fall off the wagon. Start again the next day. We have enough people beating us up over things, don’t beat yourself up, we’re human. I don’t think there’s anything in the ‘rules’ that say your resolution has to be over consecutive days! ; )

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1/2013

Everyone knows I LOVE Design Seeds, no, ADORE them…My staff creative career was print and pattern work for apparel for a decade and a half, so I’m used to (even take great pleasure in) working in limited palettes. Every day DS sends me (and a million other people) two to four palettes with photographs those palettes were pulled from. They’re fantastic inspiration, and as most creatives know, when you have limits on your creativity, you’re actually more creative than if someone says “do whatever you want.” Did I mention I love working with limited palattes? Please see my post on the Box of Awesome that I received from 48hourprint.com, also a limited palette… AND a completmentary palette…It’s amazing that I am still coherent with all that color love!

People also know that I love mash ups…All kinds of mash ups…The Chewie/Han as Pooh/Christopher Robin is my favorite : ) For a while I was even creating some Ryan Gosling birthday mash up memes, for my friends, and I’d post them on their FB walls…As you may have guessed, I have quite a healthy sense of humor…

Everyone ALSO knows that I LOVE The Walking Dead. I love it…No, I ADORE it…I would freak my mom out every time I brought Fangoria home when I was young, um, young-ER…If she never hears Nightbreed or Hellraiser again it will be too soon. It’s only natural I would gravitate to this fantastic series now that I’m more…um, mature…Season 3 starts Sunday (at 9 here in Chicago) on AMC, and I just can’t contain myself..So, in an effort to sink my teeth into something before the premiere, it wasn’t a stretch at all that I would take two things I really love: color and gore, and do a bit of a mash up…I hope you like them (The last one is a bit gross, maybe NSFW)… ; )

My Spoonflower shop is now live! Please take a peek by clicking on the little black ‘folio above, with their cute flower logo! : ) Tons more designs are coming, this is just the beginning : )

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Happy Autumn!! I can’t believe I let nearly a month go by without a post! I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with what I’ve taken on over the last couple of months. I am committed to a couple of things, then I received a few assignments, and I’m creating new work for my website relaunch (the last, I’m sure). Over the past week, I’ve thought a lot about ‘falling back.’ Not just in the seasonal sense, but in a professional sense as well, and not necessarily in a negative way. We always talk about New Year’s Day being about starting over, and Spring being all about renewal. But what about Fall? We can celebrate winding down a bit, taking things a bit slower, making monsters, giving thanks, and looking forward to a long winter filled with quiet time, and reflection, projects we feel guilty about doing in the summer, because they keep us indoors when we feel we should be outdoors. Shorter days and colder nights made a little warmer with soup, and cookies, and giggles, and later (as Homer might put it), basking in your laptop’s warm glowing warming glow…

I started to fall back early this year. I’ve been giving myself permission to slow down (although that doesn’t always happen after the boys get home)! Ironically, I’ve been getting more done by slowing down. Maybe that’s not the right way to put it. I’ve been shirking the things that aren’t important, I don’t have to say yes to every request, I don’t have to let people take my time, it doesn’t make me ‘nice’ if I do. All this has enabled me to ‘start.’ I’ve been putting together some things online. A couple of shops actually, which if you look up and to the left, are coming soon (the piece with this post will be available through Spoonflower, along with its coordinating prints)… I’ve sort of reinvented myself. I’m simpler. Wait. No. I’m not ‘simple’, but I’m not junking up my site and blog with all sorts of bells and whistles. I don’t need to. I want to show you what I can do. That’s all…It was supposed to relaunch a few months ago, but I want new work on it, not old stuff. Kev has been really patient, and it won’t be completely finished when it is launched, but it will be new, and that’s what’s important. That I’m drawing every day…

The only bad thing about falling back is if it’s into old habits. I have one that has reared its ugly head: eating at my desk. HUGE no-no! I am so against it. I’ll keep an open bag or box of whatever…in the kitchen, where I have to get up and go there to get it. But at my desk leads to mindless eating, so I’m going to try to nip that in the bud, but I just haven’t want to leave my projects (paying and personal)!

I hope you’re enjoying falling back too, that you’re able to slow down a little, enjoy the seasonal color (we just ate acorn squash for the first time this season, so amazing) and maybe some cider and doughnuts! I’m going to get a pumpkin for my studio. They’re sort of like toddlers. A bit awkward, chubby, and bright and cheerful ; )

Sometimes it’s as innocent as not being the right fit at the right time…These valentine submits for juvenile were a no go, and that’s okay. I certainly won’t stop responding to art calls, sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t. But making new art always goes in the win column. Keep going! : )

I don’t normally show works in progress, but I didn’t want anyone thinking I wasn’t doing anything. It’s really a challenge when you’re a caregiver, and you have a creative career. You’re proving yourself twenty four hours a day, and it’s a very long twenty four hours! ; )

I’m just testing out a new Pagelines… : )

Tada! My blog has a bit of a new look! I decided to buy the Pagelines Theme. Really easy for me to update and add things (even a shop)! After getting the postcards (and will be printing more), new business cards, and soon to be new promotional pcs to get mailed old school, my weblog definitely needed a spit and polish! It still doesn’t auto resize photos (through WordPress) which I HATE! I could probably get a plug in, so I’ll be on the lookout for that… I did take down all my books from Klutz. Kev’s putting my new site together, they’ll be represented there, I felt having them here was a bit too much. Super simple and clean, just waiting for the rest of my content… : ) Tomorrow I’ll post my latest print and Michigan photos which includes the Kids Read Comics, which we’ll definitely attend again : )

If you are a creative, and don’t have children yet, realize this is when you’ll have the most time to do anything, ever. Kids are amazing, awesome, creative, free-spirited and we are better for having them in our lives, even if they’re not your own (nieces, nephews, friends’ kids) they all bring new things to our lives. But they’re not without challenges and juggling their needs and wants with a client’s can have you pulling your hair out.

I’m a mom, and an illustrator. In the past six months I’ve heard from a lot of newer parents that it’s such a challenge being creative and taking care of children. Here are five ways to help stay emotionally healthier and more sane as a creative solopreneur…and caregiver! These work for me, they may help you too, or you may need to modify some for your particular situation, or they can be a springboard for completely different ideas, so please share what you come up with! These aren’t in any particular order of importance:

Make a short list of what you need to do that is not part of creating (laundry, make dr. appt, breakfast etc), the evening before you need to do it. Do three of those things as soon as you get up (or as soon as you can). That’s three things off your list, and if you get nothing else around the house done all day, at least you got those things done. If you can do more, great, but you need a limit if you have an assignment or commission. Yes, breakfasts and lunches count, they take time and effort too. Now you could bundle-task here, if you have magazines or books that you need to go through for reference, you can do that now, and sit and chat with your kids while you all eat, and talk about what you’re looking at and researching. These’s types of ‘meetings’ help me a ton, many ideas have come out of them, just from listening to how my kids react. Of course you can sketch during meal times too, at the table : )

Stay organized, and do your best not to procrastinate. This will be different every day, and that’s okay. I have a magnetic dry erase week by week calendar, I bought three actually through Amazon, so I can see up to twelve weeks at one time. They are hard to find, but there are new ones that usually come out each year. Each family member is represented with a different color marker, and I’ve got activies, games, picture day, parties whatever, up to three months out at a glance where we all can see them. I also make school lunches for the next day while my boys are doing homework. I’ve also taking to freezing their boxed drinks or filling a Camelback full of ice to pack in the lunch in the am, instead of a separate ice pack. This year I’ve taken to looking at the school hot lunch menu, and using that help with ideas, you can also look here.

Delegate to the kids. Seriously. You can read the guide here that give tasks that are age appropriate for kids. And no, they shouldn’t get paid for all of them. You’ll need this especially in the summer, because when kids are bored, they argue and bicker. I don’t have to tell you that dims the creative spark and frustrates everyone. If the money you make from your work goes to pay for any of their recreation, then they have a vested interest in making it possible for you to do more creating and less with the chores. These are also teaching moments, they’ll be adults too, and they need to know how to do these things. My husband will take our boys grocery shopping, which is showing them that there aren’t gender roles, or that they’re doing ‘my’ job. We all help each other when something needs to get done.

Stay in the moment you’re in and enjoy it. I used to spend so much time thinking about what I could be drawing when I was out with my family or friends, and then thinking about what I should be doing with them while I was creating, I couldn’t enjoy anything and I felt guilty all the time anyway! That added to my creative block. So, now when I’m out, I’m enjoying my time out, wherever I am and whomever I’m with. When I’m creating, the boys know (but we’re still working on this) not to interrupt me. Interruption is a creativity killer. We should talk about that at great length another day.

Say NO… a lot…Saying Yes is not equated with being nice, and saying no does not mean you’re a bad person. No people can’t just come over. No they can’t just call and chat. No you don’t have to answer the door when you’re working. You have work hours, and especially with little ones, those work hours can change from one day to the next. If we were at an office, that’s easier to understand as a workplace than our home, even for ourselves, but an at-home studio is no less important. It took me a long time to realize it, but people (including my family) will take my work as seriously as I do. If I constantly put it on the back burner, why would they think it was important?

These are just a few strategies that I use, and they’ve developed over time, and still are developing, as my boys are 10 and 8, I haven’t hit the teens yet! Please don’t hesitate to share your ideas too! I’m always looking for new strategies  : )

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I got the Luxe cards from MOO, I love them! The post title is supposed to be a question, but for some odd reason, the question mark on this font gives you the ‘register’ symbol. A glitch I can live with, for now…

I listen to the Steve Jobs book while I work at home, and Imagine, by Jonah Lehrer, while I’m sketching and waiting for the boys at after school pick up…I wonder how many audiobooks I’ll get through in a year this way! ; ) Here’s what I’m working on right now. It’s a personal piece, and I haven’t had time to do one for a while! Kev and I are putting my new site together, and I really didn’t want to launch it with old work. I’d rather have fewer, newer pieces that really represent me now, rather than older pieces just to fill the space. This means my site is taking a lot longer than I’d planned, but worth it to me in the end. I hope you think so too (when you finally get to see it)!   : )

I often have difficulty working without some kind of noise. While overall I like the house quiet, I need something rhythmic to keep me focused on what I’m working on. That sounds nutty, I know, how can a distraction keep me focused? I don’t know if it’s different parts of my brain or what, but for the past year, I’ve found that listening to This American Life podcast, while I work, improves my productivity. It’s the combination of soft-spoken storytelling, and the fact that I don’t have to think of a reply. I’m listening, but I know I don’t have to remember it (which ironically, I do remember these stories better than I remember audiobooks I listen to, sometimes). So I thought I’d pass that along. I know you all have music or sports that you might listen to, esp in the wee hours when you’re creating away. But I know for me, singing can be too much of a distraction, and classical music can put me to sleep, so this is kind of a happy medium. And, I get to listen to some great stories, told by wonderful storytellers (Middle School is a person favorite), love Ira Glass… You can subscribe here…

This is a big weekend.

My older son turns 10. Double digits. So his birthday festivities started today, with Bomb Pops as his school treat (just as slurpeelicious as I remember as a kid, but half the size), pizza night tonight, presents tomorrow and a drive to see Ghengis Khan downtown on Sunday…My son has always been huge into history, like my husband, so this will be a great day for them. For me, maybe I’ll bring my Field Notes (appropriate, as we’ll be at the Field) and sketch a bit while our younger guy hangs out with the dinos…

Being wrapped up (groan) in all this birthday stuff is no cake walk (now that’s ridiculous)! So I was really surprised when a package came for me! Today, from 48HourPrint.com

It’s filled with swag: stickers, a magnet, calendar, almost everything they print, almost every product with every finish and every stock…

I’ve ordered from 48HourPrint.com before. Five years ago. I ordered their mini-postcards as business cards. Leeza Hernandez had hers done that size (a little larger than a credit card) and I loved how hers turned out, so I had some done as well. I always received compliments, they were great! When it was time for a change, I went with MOO. Their Luxe deal was too good to pass up! But I still think 48HourPrint.com has good quality and I would still buy product from them. I’m a huge proponent of getting the sample packs from any and all online printers, and this package, which I did not order, came gratis, is an amazing array of the products they offer. Having posters, booklets and stickers as well, really gives great tangibles of the quality and stock you’ll receive if you’re looking to get some stuff printed for promos, etc. It’s already giving me a lot of ideas of what I’d like to include in a promotion to an AD. Ironically, it does not have the mini postcard : (

I think how they chose to present the poster and booklet was fab: Color! Makes total sense since that’s what print is about, delivering your art with awesome color and stock. I’ll hold onto these, because they’re mighty hand reference too : )

They had an amazing promotion of brochures, with another poster with graphics about folds. Gorgeous with a limited palette, and so much to pour over!

Plus a little privacy and affirmation…

Last but not least, ways to keep the ideas from escaping unrecorded…I love this big orange pad…I think my 10yo coveted my puppy calendar that was here…and he’ll likely swipe this graph doodle pad when I’m preoccupied in a Starbux-induced creating binge!

But I wanted to say something else about color. It’s no secret that one of my favorite films is The Devil Wears Prada. I used to work in apparel, and even in that trickle down world of mass market, that attitude is the same as it is in NY. There are no accidents. Everything is chosen, and you realize how when Miranda (Meryl Streep) goes on a rant at Andie (Anne Hathaway) about her sad, tired, blue sweater. That’s one of my favorite scenes in the movie because of Miranda’s very calm and convoluted way of explaining how Andie did not actually choose that color, it was chosen for her (and the fact her name is Andie, not unlike another fave movie of mine, Pretty In Pink, who is ALSO rather fashionable, for the time anyway). We would go to the color forecasters, get their info, apply it. So would everyone else…Maybe in different values, and some showed certain colors stronger than others, or bought deeper into certain palettes, but we all started in the same spot. So I had to smile when I opened this box with all its gorgeous orange and blue (and a bit of green), because I had just come from Target, where I picked up some cards and giftwrap. Same complimentary palette, slightly different hues, but orange and blue (and a bit of green) just the same…

Thank you 48HourPrint.com and thanks Jamie Aylwin, this really made my day, and it’s a gorgeous promotion of what you do! : ) Here’s that scene from The Devil Wears Prada…