To Make You Smile

This post about email signatures is so, so funny.  I think it's one of my favorite blog posts to date.  Read it right here!

Thoughts on Candy Packaging

I've never been into Halloween, trick-or-treating, or scary costumes, but the one thing I do like about today's holiday is candy.  And I thought it might be appropriate to make today's post a critique of some famous candy wrappers, in honor of the fact that there will undoubtedly be very much candy circulating around today, and entering the mouths of delighted children as well. 

First off, Reese's cups, one of my favorite candies ever.

First of all, have you noticed that the entire color scheme for the packaging is reminiscent of peanut butter?  Sure, there's no "peanut butter tan" color on the packaging, but the orange, yellow, and brown together give a representative feeling of peanut butter.  The colors just look like the right colors for peanut butter cups, don't they?  I'm fairly certain that Reese's cups wouldn't sell as well if the packaging was blue and green.

Now let's take a look at the typography.  First, a classy yet retro cursive font is used for the "Reese's" logo, and then a bold font is used for the descriptions of the candy.  I think this font combination perfectly captures what a Reese's cup is - sophisticated and smoothly delightful (cursive font), yet strong, confident and not hoity-toity (bold font). 

At this point, you're probably thinking that I am a total graphic design nerd that I actually take the time to think about these things, and you're probably right!  But there's more...

Take a look at the traditional Hershey bar packaging.  This is one of the most classic candy wrappers ever.

I love that this candy wrapper mimicks the structure of the candy bar almost exactly.  The wrappper's base color is chocolate (not just "brown," mind you), just like the candy bar itself.  Also, the color choices in general provide a rich testament to the quality of the candy bar: silver and chocolate look regal, but yet not prissy.  The font choice contributes to this as well.  The "Hershey's" font is bold and eye-catching - just the thing for a piece of packaging.  The "Milk Chocolate" font, on the other hand, is more rounded and approachable, providing the perfect combination of ease and importance.

For our last candy package survey, let's do something fruity... how about Skittles?  This packaging scores big in my book right from the get-go.  Can you guess why?  The red.  Of course.

Besides the fact that the red catches my attention from the get-go, I love this packaging!  The color scheme is just perfect, and it goes with the colorful nature of the candy itself.  The addition of the rainbow is excellent as well - it reminds me of the rainbow-like sensation of crunching a few Skittles and tasing the explosion of fruity flavor.  The illustration of the Skittles on the packaging is well-done, too.  They look realistic and not too cartoonish.

The font choice is, overall, good.  The bold font is eye-catching, but the white makes it approachable at the same time.  The handwriting font works, but honestly, I would've prefered a less "cute" font for this type of packaging.  That's just my opinion, though.  The only other thing that bugs me a bit about the typography is the lack of a dot on the "i" in Skittles.  It's not horribly distracting, but I personally don't see a real reason for leaving it off.  The English nerd in me balks slightly at the useless omittion of part of a letter.

I hope that my complete graphic design nerdiness has amused you today, and also shown you that there is excellent design to be found all around us.  It's not limited to websites and logos - package designers are brilliant artists as well, and their ubiquitous work is worth noticing and enjoying...at least, I think it is.

Flickr Favorites

Flickr is a great place for photography inspiration, and one of my favorite features of Flickr is the...wait for it...favorites feature!  This feature allows you to mark photos you like as favorites.  I love doing this, and I love looking back on my favorites!  Here are some I've added recently, with links below to the photo page.  I don't know all the people who took these photos, so I'm not sure that everything on their photostreams is necessarily admirable, but I love the photos in these collages and I wanted to share them with you.  Here's the first half.

Left to right, top to bottom: perfect day for a walk by SurprisePally | striped tights by SurprisePally | Origami Pencils by acreativemint | vintage camera collection by polkadotandplaid | Vintage Flyer by *miss*leah* | Sweet Vintage by Kimberly Chorney | Untitled by ::SarahBeth Photography:: | so wait for me this time... by L.A. Birdie Photography | "No canvas absorbs color like memory." by stjernesol | With Zest by ~bear | jump by L.A. Birdie Photography | "The world is a book..." by farmgirl in flipflops | we love macs by kristin~mainemomma | Untitled by rachel.am | love by ~moniqe~ | Feel Good by alibubba | Untitled by KatherineNaomi | Untitled by KatherineNaomi (2) | leaf by KeriAlways | curtain call of a life dancer by breeze.kaze | At Bi-Rite Creamery this summer by Pink Scarf | Untitled by oh,abigail | Sunswept wetlands - Tamar Wetlands by {lml} | seeing double by Suzi...Schmoo | dan, noele, evie, baby by bethaltrogge | forksville by lydia.jane | little orange bus by RebeccaVC1 | Untitled by SurprisePally | Untitled by Jenny James | My Favorite Photograph Ever by Jenny James | Apples by vika.rayu | Untitled by L.A. Birdie Photography | sewing by oh,abigail | for the love of books {3 of 365} by RebeccaVC1 | today by oh,abigail | smiles all around!! by {felicia renee} p.h.o.t.o.g.r.a.p.h.y

And the second half...

Left to right, top to bottom: Sometimes opportunities... by Kelly West Mars | .ricoh by ]babi] | Peaches for Jam by Gourmande in the Kitchen | Untitled by .cascata. | 286/365 Kodachrome... all the world's a sunny day! by eahNC | forever. by nicole.michelle | Untitled by simply hue | Hackberry General Store, Arizona by Carol M. Highsmith | Route 66, Arizona by Carol M. Highsmith | Wildwood, New Jersey, Motel by Carol M. Highsmith | Untitled by Melangeonline | the jacksons by Elise Ben | Untitled by Justme||Allie | Splendor by lilpuddlejumpers | writing letters to missing persons by oh,abigail | Amelia, 9 months by RachaelBoer | Untitled by Elise Ben | The boy and the tower by RachaelBoer | :D sooc by {Evelyn}~photography | Weeping, Willow. by Justme||Allie | bon voyage by {cindy} | the desire to create... by {life through the lens} | #2 Fairground Attraction by CatMacBride | Flourless Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies by *lisa** | vintage camera by Jenny James | Whispers of Gold by {felicia renee} p.h.o.t.o.g.r.a.p.h.y | please don't take my sunshine away by L.A. Birdie Photography | Untitled by 68beats | Untitled by SurprisePally | which one? by Tolly P. | Matthew 6:25... by Justme||Allie | worm-eye view, the alle edition. by Enzaa...is enjoying life | Laughter is an instant vacation. ~Milton Berle by PaigeElizabethBlog.com | matthew. by nicole.michelle | fin d'ete by oh,abigail | Untitled by L.A. Birdie Photography

I hope you've enjoyed some of these neat pictures!  I sure love looking through Flickr, and these are some of the photos that I like best.

Friday Finds: Funky Necklace

This necklace from Etsy is just too fun.  You can find it here.

HT: Write. Click. Scrapbook.

The Big Day

Today is the day that the winner and runners up for the Creating Keepsakes Teen Talent Search are announced on the CK Blog!  This is a big day, folks.

First of all, before I announce the results, I want to thank you all for voting for me so valiantly.  I'm so thankful for all the supportive friends I have who were willing to sit in front of the computer and click that "save vote" button over and over.  And over.  And over and over and over again.

Now, do you want to know the results?  Okay.  I'll tell you.  Drumroll, please...

I'm a runner-up!

I didn't win the grand prize, but I was in the top five, so I still get lots of cool prizes.  Thank you all for voting!  I'm excited about this!

To Flickr or Not to Flickr

I thought I would post a review of Flickr...a very popular photo sharing and, in some senses "photographer's social networking" website.  It's widely used and very successful, but I want to get into some of the specifics of what I like about it.  Before that, though, what exactly does Flickr do?

It allows you to upload photos to an online site, add descriptions, tags, and organizational features, as well as view and comment on other people's photos.  You can also add other Flickr users as "contacts" or mark them as family and friends.  When you add someone as a contact, you see their new photos every time they upload.  Another feature of Flickr is groups - you can join a group and add your photos to it, as well as connect with other group members.  There are groups with pretty much every theme imaginable.

Now, here's what I love about Flickr in a quick list form:

• You can get comments and critique on your photography.  This is very helpful, especially coming from more experienced photographers.
• You can connect with your friends and view their photos - always fun.
• You can view and learn from professional and very gifted photographers and view their excellent imagery.
• You can "favorite" the photos you like as a way of keeping track of the ones that inspire you.  I'll do another post soon on some of my recent Flickr favorites.

I think Flickr is a wonderful tool, and I really have enjoyed using it.  The only downside is that people you don't can find you on Flickr...this is where the "block" feature comes in handy.  If you aren't comfortable being in contact with someone on Flickr, you can block them and they won't be able to comment on your photos anymore.

I hope this gives you a little glimpse into what Flickr is like!  If you don't have a Flickr, I'd definitely recommend it.  It's a lot of fun!

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Please note: tomorrow is the day that Creating Keepsakes announces the results of the Teen Talent Competition, and I'll announce the results here on the blog as soon as they announce them.  Keep your eyes peeled!

Holiday Card Sale Ends Soon!

You've only got a few more days to contact me about holiday cards before the sale ends!  Right now, and until November 1st, my holiday card price is reduced to $35 as an early bird special.  But unless you contact me before November 1st, the price will go back up to $45!  So act quickly!  I'd love to do your holiday card.

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You can contact me using the online form, or email me at carrie[at]carrieannedesign[dot]com.  It'd be great to hear from you!

Nice Notebooks and Such

I recently found out about SusyJack.  This company makes really neat paper goods, all from eco-friendly materials.  The website is pretty nicely designed, too.

There are so many fun products made by SusyJack, like these fun notebooks.

Aren't they great?  I love "Notes," "Forsythia," and "Branch" in particular.  Such fun, simple, patterns and great colors, too.  I would love to design things like this someday.  And it's not just paper goods that SusyJack designs.  There are lots of other fun little pieces of miscellanea for the office, like these neat magnets.

It's always fun for me to look at other people's design.  I love running across things that are fun and well-designed...it's enjoyable to look at, and it gives me inspiration for my own design projects!

100

This is my one hundredth post.  Wow.  It's hard to believe!  There are many things to talk about today, so be prepared for a nice long post.  Lots of things have happened in the past 100 posts.  Here are a few:

• I've been blogging for about three months.
• I've worked on around six graphic design jobs.
• I've done two giveaways.
• 16 people have follwed my blog.  Thank you so much to those of you who follow my blog.  I like it.  And if you want to follow my blog and haven't yet, there's a handy little gadget on the sidebar that lets you do that.  (Just thought I'd throw that in.)
• I've discovered how amazingly fun blogging is.  I really love it.

Today, on "one hundred day," I thought it might be fun to look back on some of my past posts.  First of all, there's the very first post ever.  And the Portabella graphics that I created even though Portabella doesn't even exist yet.  That was fun.  My plea for comments was an interesting little post, too.  That request still stands, by the way. :)  And then there was the inauguration of Friday Finds.  That series has been great...for me at least.  I love it gives me a chance to keep track of things that I like.  My Ikea-inspired art was a fun project, too.  The Starbucks card giveaway was by far my post popular post.  Twenty-nine comments?  That really made me smile.  And most recently, my 10/10/10 post was a fun one for me.  It also was the home of my second giveaway.

Hmm...what else would be good to do on one hundred day?  I'll take my cue from Ellie's 100th post and post pictures of 10 things I like.  This list is not all-inclusive, but I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate one hundred day.

Okay. Number one: telephone lines and sky.  I'm not sure why I love this so much, but I do.  Maybe because the sky is blue, like in turquoise?

Number two: vintage cameras.  This one is mine, and I really love it.

Number three: my sister, Emily.  She's my best friend.

Number four: Converse.  Some of the world's best shoes.

Number five: this picture of my Grandma in the 1950's.  It was my Grandpa's favorite and he kept in his wallet for years and years.  That's why it's creased in the middle.

Number six: my vintage typewriter.  I love it and I use it too!

Number seven: places where you can take tons of pictures.  Like Watkin's Glen in upstate New York.

Number eight: Silly Bandz.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but I really love them - they get me so excited.  Hey did you know there's a Silly Bandz website?

Number nine: red things.  Like British phone booths.  This one is actually a door made to look like a phone booth...side note: wouldn't that be the best door to have to a room in a house?  I'll tuck that in the back of my mind.

Number ten: vintage things.  (And Photoshop actions that make them look even more vintage.)  This one had to be on the list, just in case you hadn't picked up on my love for vintageness from the previous pictures I've included.

There's one more thing I want to do before I wrap up this celebratory one hundred day post, and that's draw my attention and your attention to the One who is most important.  And what better way to do that than to read a Scripture?  I thought Psalm 100 would be perfect for today.  You can read it online here, or in this poster I made.

You can download the poster for free right here - it's my one hundred day present to you!  Enjoy!

Thank you all for celebrating my 100th post with me.  Here's to 100 more!

A Good Book

I read Logo Design Love this past summer, when I was getting more and more interested in graphic design, and in the process of starting my business.  It was such an interesting read, and I loved that it was simple to understand, highly practical, and fun to read.

It's written by David Airey, a brand identity designer in the UK.  His insights about having a graphic design business and designing logos are very interesting and helpful, and I learned a lot from this book!  I highly recommend it to any graphic designer, aspiring graphic designer, and anyone who would enjoy an easy-to-read but informative book about logo design.

You can buy it here on Amazon, or you can get a free chapter if you click here.

Note: I can't necessarily recommend everything on the Logo Design Love website or on David Airey's blog, but there are some interesting design articles to be found if you read with discretion.

Friday Finds: Ketti Handbags

These are so fun!  Check out the website.

HT: GirlTalk.

Best Pens

I love pens.  I've been known to carry at least a dozen in my purse at one time, in many colors.  My notebook for sermon notes is a rainbow of colors...less so recently, since many of my favorite pens are dying and I need to restock.

But since I love pens, I thought I would post about pens.  I will post my top pen picks in four different categories: scrapbooking, felt tip, roller ball, and ballpoint.  Let's start with scrapbooking.

I've tried a couple different pens for my scrapbook projects, and there are a few that I use.  But these Zig markers take first place.  They're lovely...and look how many colors they come in!

I like two things in particular about these pens: one, they have dual tips - a narrow one and a wide one - which provide unrivaled versatility in scrapbooking markers.  There are other dual-tipped markers to be found, but these are the no-fail option.  And two, it takes them a really long time to run out of ink...which is so handy.  It's always hard when you're mid-word and your pen dies.  These pens are great - you can buy the huge multi-pack I featured in the photo on Amazon, or search for smaller packages.

My second category is felt-tip, and this is the category that I think is my favorite, not because I love felt-tip pens in general, but because I love these particular felt tip pens.  They've even got a great name: Flair.

These pens are my favorite pens of all time.  I love how smoothly they write, the variety of colors they come in, and the way you can rotate the tip to create wider or narrower marks.  They are versatile and funky.  Also, these pens don't bleed through paper (and if they do, it's only minimally), which is very impressive for a marker-style pen.  If you need some bright-colored pens to put a smile on your face every time you write, look no further.  You can buy a 12-pack right here on Amazon, but they come in various sized packages as well.

For the next category, roller-ball pens, I've got to recommend Pilot Precise pens.  They're smooth, colorful, and reliable.

I love the fun colors these pens come in, and the smooth lines they draw.  They last a long time, and the red pens are perfect for checking homework.  Precise pens are wonderful to have around for a multi-purpose yet very fun writing instrument.  There is a set of seven available on Amazon, but you can buy them in smaller quantities if you so desire.

My recommendation for ball-point pens would definitely be Pentel R.S.V.P.'s.  Here is a nice, colorful set.

These pens come in both medium and fine point varieties.  I like the medium point myself, but the fine point ones are nice, too, when...well, when you need a fine point. :)  The variety of colors is somewhat new, I think.  The good thing about these pens is that they have minimal gloppiness, which can be a problem for some ballpoint pens.  You can get the set in the picture here at Amazon, or find smaller sets as well.

Hope you enjoyed my pen finds!  Do you have any favorite pens?  I'm always interested in finding out about more writing delights, so don't hestitate to leave a comment and tell me what your favorites are.

A Creative Mint

It's a fun blog to look at.  There's lots of "eye candy" here - just fun, pretty things to look at.  For instance, this post has lots of neat pictures of office decor...there are great decorating ideas and fun colors and compositions to take in.

What I really like about this blog is the use of color.  In the photos and posts I've seen, there are always very creative and inspiring color schemes.  The majority of the colors that I see on A Creative Mint are softer and lighter than the ones I generally use, but they are so rich and funky that it makes me want to try some like them.  I hope you enjoy looking around A Creative Mint too.

Now, I've got a question for you.  What blogs do you like?  And for what reason?  I'd love to hear some of your favorites.  Just use the comment section to let me know...and if I like some of the ones you share, I just might do a blog post about them!

I'm Back

After a couple days off, I'm back to blogging!  In my few days without having regular posts, I brainstormed new ideas for the blog and re-calibrated my idea bank a little bit.  In the midst of all that, I thought it would be helpful for me and for all you readers if I defined what exactly I'm going to be doing on the blog in the future, what the blog is about, and why I blog.

First, here's what's coming to the blog in the future, both new things and continuations of things that I've already been doing:

• More "finds."  I really like telling you all about what I like.  I'll keep doing my Friday Finds series, but in addition to that, I'll show you other things that I enjoy that I hope you'll enjoy, too.  I've done some of this in the past, but I want to keep it up.
• More projects.  I want to share more things that I'm working on, whether it be graphic design projects, little crafty things I'm doing, or other miscellaneous goings on.
• Design jobs.  Whenever I finish a design job, I'll post it.  Simple as that.  I've already been doing this, but I wanted to make sure you understood my philosophy for sharing my work.
• Quotes and encouraging thoughts.  I like to share things that God is showing me, favorite quotes, etc.  Sometimes this might be just a quote or Scripture, sometimes I might add my own thoughts or responses, and sometimes I might review a devotional book or something like that.

Second, I want to be more clear on what exactly this blog is about.  At the top it says "thoughts on graphic design and other miscellanea," and that pretty much captures what I want to do here.  In more detail, though, the purpose of my blog is:

• To share my graphic design work and provide a continually updated and personal glimpse into my work.  This includes formal design jobs, freebies, fun design projects, and the like.
• To share fun things and give myself an opportunity to evaluate and write about the things I'm enjoying.
• To bring glory to my Savior, Jesus Christ!  This is the ultimate purpose of all I do, and the main reason why I like to put quotes and verses on my blog...to put first what really is first.

And then...why I blog.  The simple reason is this: I love it.  I love it because writing is a great way for me to relax and exercise my creativity.  I love it because I get to interact with my blog readers and see them enjoy certain things I post.  I love it because it's fun for me to share things that I like.

Quick Blog Break

I'm taking a quick break from blogging for a couple days.  I'll be back soon!

Friday Finds: Rolled Flowers

So fun.  And so easy!  I've had fun making these.  Check out the tutorial here.

HT: Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Quick Item of Business

The survey I ran a month or two ago is now closed.  Thank you to all who completed it!  Your comments were very helpful.

Depending on the Lord Through Prayer

I just signed up for Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon, a twice-daily devotional, to be emailed to me every morning through Heartlight - if you're interested, you can sign up (or just view today's reading) right here.  I like that the devotionals are short little "bites" and there are lots of treasures to be found in them.  Here's one such treasure:

The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the very dust.

Truly, we are nothing without God's constant enabling power.  Prayer is how we acknowledge that.  Isn't that so contrary to our natural tendencies?  I don't know about you, but I like to do well at things and be confident in what I can do...that's my sinful nature and my pride working in my heart.

But really, it's not just that I shouldn't rely on my own strength, but I can't do anything - even breathe - without God's sustaining power.  It's good for me to realize this.  It's good for me to acknowledge my dependence on the Lord.  But I don't do it often enough.  That's why this quote is such a good reminder to take advantage of prayer to declare my dependence on God.

The Grand Discovery of Anthropologie

I first saw an Anthropologie catalog recently, and I loved it.  My mom showed it to me and thought I'd appreciate the graphics and photography in the catalog.  I sure did!  I also decided that I really like the actual things that Anthropologie sells, too.

For those of you who don't, Anthropologie is a store that sells ladies' clothing and accesories as well as housewares.  It has a vintage, creative edge to it.  Here are a few things they sell that I like.  They're very overpriced in my opinion, but fun to look at all the same.

Tour De Jewels Necklace: click here.

Tethered Jersey Bag: click here.

Pleated D'Orsay Flats: click here.

That only scratches the surface on fun things at Anthropologie.  If you like looking at cool vintage apparel and accessories, I'm sure you'd enjoy browing the Anthropologie website.  And the website itself has some very nice graphics!  Here's the homepage.


I really like the simple-but-unique font choices.  The distressed title font is great: it looks almost like a stamp to me.  Also, the sewn font adds a cute touch to the site without looking "cutesy."  The typewriter font is a cool addition as well...I like how Anthropologie put the default 1990's computer font to use for stylistic purposes.

The photos with equal white borders around are a great eye-catcher because of the simple way they're arranged.  The borders provide a little resting place for the eye, but the bold colors of the photographs prevent the homepage from looking dull or boring.

Perhaps the best part of the entire homepage is the wide margins on either side.  They provide helpful white space while still being interesting with the fun texture.  The other pages on the site are also very well-designed.  Here's one page in particular I really like, the page you get to when you click "see what's new" on the homepage.

The whole "new stuff" section is designed the same way, in a continuous line of photos and cool vintage label descriptions.  I really like the layout, and how the designer managed to create such a funky style while keeping a simplistic layout design.

So even though Anthropologie isn't a store I'd buy stuff from regularly, it's so fun to look around and gain inspiration from all the neat vintage-ness that's all over their site and their catalog, too.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

Free Quote Posters

At the suggestion of my friend, Sarah, I decided to make posters with some of the quotes I've posted on the blog recently.  Also, these freebies can be a little extra prize for those of you who didn't win the recent giveaway for a free custom poster design. :)  These posters are sized to 8x10, and they're all available for free download right here.  Here's what they look like.

Feel free to use these however you want as long as it's only for personal use, and you don't sell them to anyone.  Thanks!  I hope you enjoy my posters!

Giveaway Winner

Number 2!

You know who that is?  It's Elisabeth!  Congratulations!  I'll be in touch with you soon about your custom quote or Scripture verse design piece.

Thanks, everyone, for entering my contest!  This was fun!



Charles Spurgeon on Contentment

One of my current favorite quotes.

"Believer...you should be satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured that it is the fittest for you.  Unerring wisdom ordained your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition...Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there.  You are placed by God in the most suitable circumstances...Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good.  Take up your own daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove most effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God.  Trials must and will befall--But with humble faith to see love inscribed upon them all; this is happiness to me."
- Charles Spurgeon in Morning and Evening

It's so comforting to remember that contentment isn't about me or what specific circumstances I'm in, but the fact that God is good and has sovereignly ordained each circumstance I'm in for His glory.

Today Is...

I don't know about you, but I always think it's fun when days come around that have the same number for the month, day, and year.  Today's one of those days: 10/10/10.  And in honor of this day, I thought it might be fun to do a post about the number 10.  This isn't because I think there is necessarily any significant thing about this day (there's no luckiness to it or anything like that).  It's just another day when God is faithful and good.

So the purpose of this post is just for fun.  For your enjoyment and mine.

There are three things I want to talk about today, since there are three "10's" in today's date.  First, the number 10 in 10 different fonts.

Left to right, top to bottom: Lobster 1.0, Orator Std, Upper East Side, Sedona Script FLF, Blackout, Caviar Dreams, Little Lord Fontleroy, Cooper Std, Freebooter Script, and 1942 Report.

Second order of business: 10 links.  These may be blogs I like, people's Flickr pages that I think are really cool, or other miscellaneous neat websites.

1. Girl Talk.  A great blog that is very God-honoring and encouraging.  And there's some great photography on there too, under 52 Home.

2. Abigail Photographie on Flickr.  Abbie is a friend of mine who takes really amazing pictures.  If you want a dose of creativity and photojournalistic style, check her photos out.  She's also on Tumblr.

3. Travelconqueso.  Wow, these girls make me laugh so much.  If you need some sunshine in your day, read their blog.  And I think they would appreciate your comments, too (hint, hint).

4. I Heart Faces.  A neat website and blog offering weekly photography challenges and lots of fun ideas!  Great for all photographers out there!

5. Grooveshark.  This has nothing to do with design, but it's a great site anyway.  It lets you stream any kind of music and create online playlists for free!

6. Studio Calico.  A scrapbooking company that sells monthly kits combining products from different manufacturers.  They also produce their own scrapbooking supplies.  I've never bought anything from them, but I love their stuff, and the design team gallery for each monthly kit is always fun to browse through!

7. Anthropologie.  I've got a post planned with more about their cool catalog, but their stuff is so fun to look at.  I want to go to one of their stores.

8. CoffeeShop.  Fun free stuff for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.  I especially like the free photo-editing actions.

9. The Pioneer Woman Photography.  Great tutorials, contests, giveaways, free actions, etc.  It's a fun blog to read.

10. Rachael Boer Photography.  Mrs. Boer has a wonderful eye for photography!  In addition to her business, she blogs at Grace Unmeasured + Rachael Boer Photography - my go-to blog when I want to see pictures of cute kids.

And finally, my third 10/10/10 celebration...drumroll, please!

A giveaway!

The first 10 people to comment on this post will automatically be entered to win a custom-designed art piece with their favorite quote or Scripture verse on it!  You can choose the quote, and I'll make the design piece!

The only catch is that this giveaway is limited to 10 entries, since it's 10/10/10 today.  All you have to do to enter is comment on this post!  The winner will be chosen when 10 comments are reached and announced soon afterwards.  Comment away!

Wonderful Wordle

My friend, Aimee, told me about Wordle.  I'd read about it somewhere - I think Creating Keepsakes magazine, but I hadn't ever tried it out.  But Aimee said that it was really cool, so I went on the Wordle website and "wordled" my way into making this.

It's a word collage using tons of words that I've written on my blog.  Cool, right?  What's even cooler is that it was so easy.  All I did was click a few buttons, and boom!  Wordle made me a wonderful collage of words.

Now, granted, an automatic collage generator like Wordle doesn't give you all the flexibility that creating something like this in an Adobe program would, but it has numerous perks.  Here are a few reasons I think Wordle can be a very good thing:

• It's quick and easy.  You would spend a good long time trying to make a "just right" word collage in Adobe, but Wordle lets you do it in a couple minutes.
• Is relatively flexible.  Even though Adobe would win the contest on the amount of options it gives you, Wordle actually has a pretty satisfactory variety of fonts and colors to choose from.  The font I used on my collage was Coolvetica, in case you were wondering.
• It's fun.  Playing with words and colors is just plain enjoyable. 
• It allows you to let go of perfectionism.  Since the arrangment of words is random, you can't necessarily make everything "just so."  Even though it can be good at times to have high standards, it also can be really freeing to not have to worry about that and just let the computer do the work.

Here's one more tip before you go off to play around: Wordle doesn't let you save your creation as a JPG image, but you can take a screenshot (Alt + Prnt Scrn) and paste that into Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, or even a Microsoft program like Word or Publisher to save and print.  That's what I did with my creation to make it easy to post.

I hope you enjoy experimenting with Wordle!  And if you, like Aimee, have an idea of some graphics-related thing I might like, please let me know!  I may just end up doing a post about it.

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Update on the Teen Talent Competition: the voting is closed, but the winner hasn't been announced yet.  I thought it was going to be announced today, but I think I passed on mistaken information!  I'm sorry about that, and I'll let you know the results of the contest when I hear.

Teen Talent Update

Today is the last day to vote for me in the Creating Keepsakes Teen Talent Competition!  Thank you all so much for your votes so far!  If you want to vote, please click here.  My project is the seventh entry.

Tomorrow, the winner is announced!  I'll let you know what the results are here on the blog once I find out for myself.

Friday Finds: Yummy Scrapbooking Supplies

Find the Documentary Collection over at Studio Calico.

What to Prize

Another true gem from Grace Gems.

Diogenes noted the folly of the men of his time - that they undervalued the best things - but overvalued the worst things. Ah, that this were not the sin and shame of professors in these days!

God sometimes strips His people of their nearest and dearest earthly mercies - that they may the more prize, and the better taste - of spiritual and heavenly mercies!

God takes away uncertain riches - that His people may the more prize certain riches!

God takes away natural strength - that His people may the more prize spiritual strength!

God takes away the creature - that His people may more prize their Savior.

Spiritual and heavenly things can alone satisfy the soul. The language of a godly man is this, "Ah, Lord! the good earthly things which I have from You, though they may refresh me - yet they cannot satisfy me without Yourself!"

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail - but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!" Psalm 73:25-26
 
- Thomas Brooks, "A Believer's Last Day, His Best Day"

Such a good reminder to prize what really matters.  I don't know about you, but so often, I don't prize Jesus enough.  I turn my attention to other things - myself, things I enjoy, worries, whatever it may be.  But the things of God are the things that are really worth prizing.  And isn't it true that, during trials, the things that are taken away point us to what we have in Christ and how good God is?  I know that has been the case for me.

The Official Holiday Card Announcement

Even though it's only the beginning of fall, it's already time to start thinking about the holidays!  Christmas will be here before we know it, and for those of you who want holiday cards, now is the time to contact me about designing them.  Why now?  Well, it's not because now is the only time I do Christmas cards.  You can contact me right up until Christmas if you don't mind the fact that the later you contact me, the later the cards will be sent out!  But there is a reason why now is a great time.  Here's why.

That's a pretty good reason, wouldn't you say?  Everybody likes a discount.  So that's just what I'm doing... giving a discount to all you early birds out there. :)  The usual price for holiday cards is $45, but with the discount, it's only $35! 

I'm thinking that some of you might be wondering what exactly these holiday cards are.  Well, there are two kinds: fold-over greeting cards and photo cards.  The greeting cards have designs and text (no photos) and, surprise, surprise, fold in half!  The photo cards, on the other hand, are single-sided prints with a photo or several photos, as well as a short greeting.  Here's an example of a photo card I designed in the past.  This has got to be one of my favorite photo cards I've done (and it even happens to include my two favorite colors of all time!).

So, if you're interested, please contact me soon (or email carrie[at]carrieannedesign[dot]com) to ask for a card design!  And don't forget to act speedily... the discount ends November 1st!

Un-Friday Finds: Bookish Furniture

I know it's not Friday (yet), but I still had to share some cool things I found recently via a post at Justin Taylor's blog.

I think this is one of the coolest chairs I've ever seen, hands down.  Just look here:

I would love to have this chair.  It's very pleasing to the eye, and it would be so practical to have my books right near (or rather, in) my chair. 

By the way, though, if you look at the post on Justin Taylor's blog and click on this image, don't click on the links in the images, as there are some unsavory thing on one of the sites.

But back to bookish items.  Yes, yes.  Isn't this desk thing amazing?  How fun would this be for an office or library?

So cool.  I'm loving these bookish furniture items.

I hope that satisfies the thirst I'm sure you were experiencing for images of furniture created from books.  :)  You've got to admit, though...these are some pretty innovative and interesting ideas.

Deal Much with Jesus

A little devotional by Octavius Winslow in Evening Thoughts:

"This is real love. It is not that we loved God - but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." 1 John 4:10

Deal much and closely with a crucified Savior! This is the grand secret of a constant ascending of the affections to God. If you find it difficult to comprehend the love of God towards you - then read it in the cross of His dear Son!

Dwell upon this amazing fact,
drink into this precious truth,
muse upon it,
ponder it,
search into it,
pray over it,
until your heart is melted down, and broken, and overwhelmed with God's wondrous love to you, in the gift of Jesus!

Oh, how will this rekindle the flame that is ready to die in your bosom! How it will draw you up in a holy and unreserved surrender of body, soul, and spirit!

Deal much with Jesus!

Whenever you detect . . . a waning of love,
a reluctance to take up the daily cross,
a shrinking from the precept
 - go immediately to Calvary!

Go simply and directly to Jesus!

Get your heart warmed with ardent love by contemplating Him upon the cross - and soon will the frosts that gather round it melt away, and the congealed current shall begin to flow!

"Who loved me - and gave Himself for me!" Galatians 2:20

This came in an email from Grace Gems this past week, and it was so good that I wanted to share it with you all.  I hope it encourages you.

Kuler is Cool

I'd heard about Adobe Kuler before, but I'd never really investigated it.  Then, I was looking for a color scheme one day, and Kuler popped into my head.  I did a Google search, and voila!  Kuler.

Pretty much right after I started exploring the website, I decided that Kuler is amazing.  You wouldn't think that picking out sets of five colors and looking at sets of five colors other people have picked out would be so neat, but it really is!  It's so much fun to browse through all the color combinations you can find on Kuler.

But let's back up a bit.  What is Kuler?  It's a website by Adobe that allows you to create custom color schemes.  You can pick out colors yourself, import colors from a photo, and look at color schemes created by other Kuler members.  There's even an option to mark schemes you like as favorites (which I've been doing a lot of!).  Also, you can download Kuler schemes from the website as Adobe Swatch Exchange files, and use them to create cool things in Adobe programs.

And in some versions of Adobe (CS4 and CS5), there is actually a built-in Kuler panel right there in the software that allows you to use Kuler in the interface of your programs.  Now that is cool.

No matter if you're interested in graphic design or not, I think you'll find it very fun to explore Kuler.  I never really thought about how many amazing color schemes there are until I saw them all on Kuler - and new ones are made all the time!  Here are a couple of my favorites, just for fun.  This one is called "Home."  Just soak in all that fresh, spring-y looking goodness.

And here's another one I like, called "Almost Happy."  I love the citrus tones in this one.

And just one more really neat thing I found on Kuler... if you go here, you can download free computer desktop backgrounds made with Kuler schemes!  I have one up on my computer now, and I love it.  I hope you enjoy Kuler as much as I'm enjoying it.  Let me know what you think of it!