Encyclopedia of Amber B.

I started a blog, and now I never blog. I think if it was called something other than a 'blog,' I would be more interested.

Plus, blogging presents a lot of pressure. How do I know if something is interesting, and why would anyone want to read? And as a graphic designer, I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I think my header isn't quite right, and it needs work, and etc., etc., and I just don't post.

But- I saw the idea for the 'Encyclopedia of Me' over at Girl Photography, and I think I can do that. My name even starts with A- how easy is that? So, I will try to post at least one time a week, a new letter every post. I may or may not go in order- it's my blog.

Amber K. - That was my name for a long, long time- from Kindergarten til 7th grade, when we moved and I was the only Amber in the class!

A.M. Cassandre - It was posters like this that inspired me to do what I do today! I love love love the clean colors and strong, simple layouts, and these posters also remind me that I was born in the wrong decade. Like, wrong by about 70 years. I am only 28 years old, but by some of my habits, one might think I was an elderly person, what with the sewing and cooking from scratch and such. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Auto Pay- Who can really keep track of these things? I think I could have retired by now if I didn't have to pay overdrafts after the 'ease and simplicity of Auto Pay' has taken over the checking account.

Almonds - I always think I should be eating more almonds. They're really good for you!!

And that's it for the first installment of the Encyclopedia of Amber B. I may be back with a second installment of the Letter A, but we'll just see how this goes.

Scratchboard Illustrator!

I don't really fancy myself an illustrator, but I made the decision to make this logo on a piece of scratchboard, and I am amazed at myself for how well it turned out! Luckily, it's a very forgiving medium, and any mistakes ultimately become blended in with the texture- fuzzy bears and grassy hills lend themselves very well to the scratchy process.

A couple of process photos...

Coming soon: www.bearholeoutfitters.com

I Am Crazy and Know No Limits

First, a thank you to Jordan and girls for their patience last week as I finished this project.

A wedding invitation, so fun to design with Alicia, who had the BEST ideas (I will be sewing paper again in the future). The dark grey folder has a heart cut out in the corner, which allows the AJ+MP to peek through, and twine that holds the info card in place. The most valuable piece of this invitation is the function- just makes it so great. Not a bad-looking piece either, if I do say so myself.



The RSVP card is a detachable postcard, created by running the whole card through the sewing machine on a short stitch length (with no thread, of course).




Such a fun piece. Production took over my life for the better part of last week, but finally got it all together so their guests can receive this canary yellow envelope in their mailbox. What a treat!

The start of something...

I started this blog, maybe almost a year ago, wrote one entry and let it sit... Finally erased it, starting fresh today.

So now I am blogging, and I started a Facebook for Amber Brien Design, and I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to do with either of them... I don't fully grasp how 'social networking' can be productive and helpful in starting a business or promoting a business without just being a complete time-drain when I could be doing something more... tangible. Like watching Dora the Explorer with the girls.

So I thought maybe my blog could be like 'What I Made Today,' because I am always working on something, whether it's design or sewing or building a fort. I thought of this over the weekend while I was painting and installing new hardware on a $15 Craigs List dresser. But I forgot to take 'before' photos, so that just won't do. And I hope that most of the time, I can post photos of my recently completed projects, as I have been actually getting more work these days, thanks mostly to my good friend Etsy.

This is what I made yesterday:



Not the most ambitious endeavor- it's a page I ripped out of a Real Simple magazine and stuck in a floating frame. I enjoyed the simple (REAL SIMPLE) layout, and the quote is perfect and something I would like to remind myself of every morning when I enter the kitchen:

'Wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants.'
-Esther De Waal, Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict

Jordan came home from work and asked, "Is that what poor people tell themselves?" Ha ha, Babe. The ironic thing is that on the back of that page is an ad for the new Chevy Traverse, and wouldn't I love to have one of those sitting out in front of the house... :)