Things I Like

This post is random.  Just sharing things I'm liking these days. :)

Google Reader.  So handy - it's what I use for most of my blog reading.  (I have it fed into my iGoogle page, too... which is another great Google invention by the way.)

This bag from Etsy.  The use of the Futura font is so clever and I love the all the compartments in the bag!  Click here to see more pictures.

MagCloud.  I just ordered a literary magazine from them and it was such a great process.  They told me all the problems with the files, let me re-upload when it wasn't working, and now they're sending a free proof.  If you need something magazine-y printed, definitely try them.  And their prices are good, too.

This dress from Anthropologie.  I want to go to one of their stores.  To take fun pictures if nothing else!

The Curious Sofa.  It's a fun little online shop, and I especially like the jewelry - great stuff!

I hope you check out some of these things.  And I'd love to know some of the things you're liking these days - feel free to share in the comments section!

Jesus' Sacrifice

"The Lord hath made him, who knew no sin, to be made sin for us. Wonder of wonders! It is beyond all degree amazing that he who distributes crowns and thrones should hang on a tree and die, the just for the unjust, bearing the punishment due to sinners for guilt."
- C.H. Spurgeon

It is indeed, as Mr. Spurgeon says, a wonder of wonders that God Himself would take on human form and bear my sins on the cross.  What great love!  The love of Jesus, as shown in the cross, really is like no other love.  In Romans 5:6-8 it says...

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Romans 5:6-8]

Jesus loved us, sinners, so very much that he even gave his very life for us.  What amazing love!

Answers

It was so so fun reading your questions!  I love doing posts like that.  The variety of questions was really fun.  Let me get started.

Brooke asked: How many blog posts have you done all together?
244, counting this one.  It's been great fun!

Lucy asked: What initially got you interested in graphic design? And how far do you intend to go with it?
This might take a little while.  I guess I've always enjoyed creative things, ever since I was very young.  Eventually that led me to try things in the computer, like making simple greeting cards in Microsoft Publisher.  But what got me into design as I know it now was actually my English class.  In 7th grade, there was an extra credit opportunity to design a newspaper with the news articles all the people in the class had written.  I jumped on it and I loved doing it!  I think it was shortly after that when I got into digital scrapbooking.  I would download tons of free graphics and play around with them in Microsoft Word.  One Christmas, I decided to use my skills to offer free Christmas photo cards to some friends.  That was my first "client work."  And then you could say the rest is history... I got Photoshop Elements, kept on designing, upgraded my software, started my business, and here I am.


As for the future and where I want to go with it, I'm not really sure.  I'm definitely considering a college degree and career in graphic design, but I'm not positive whether or not that's what God has for me.  I would like to keep Carrie Anne Design going as long as I can, but it will all depend on what God's plans are - we'll see!  Regardless of how things end up though, I think I'll always love design as a hobby.


Meghan asked: What is your favorite kind of ice cream?  Or just desserts.
What a great question!  I love pretty much any ice cream that involved chocolate and peanut butter.  But cookies and cream is another favorite, and chocolate chip cookie dough... as for other desserts, I'd have to say brownies and peanut butter pie.

Chichi asked: What are you going to major in?
In short: I don't know yet.  I love graphic design and I love writing, so I'd love to combine those two things somehow but I don't know if or how that would pan out.  But possible majors would be graphic design, communications, English, and journalism.  I'm hoping to narrow those down in the near future!

Anna asked: If you had a chance to make something happen in the future, what would it be?
I think the top thing would be seeing someone come to know Jesus.  But of course that would not be me making it happen - it would be all God!  I'd love to be able to watch that, though.  

Stephen asked: What are your favorite things to do?
Graphic design, photography, blogging, writing, spending time with friends, scrapbooking, and playing games.  And sometimes reading.

Thanks again for your questions, everyone!  This was fun!

Friday Finds: More Amazing Staircases

Isn't this neat?  Find more here, and another staircase post here.

HT: Andrew Kelsall

What the Bible is About

 Tullian Tchvidjian recently posted some thoughts and a quote about the storyline of the Bible.  Here's his introduction in the post.  I thought it was very helpful and clear:

Contrary to what many Christians have concluded, the Bible does not tell two stories: the story of Israel in the OT and the story of the church in the NT or the story of law in the OT and the story of grace in the NT.  No, the Bible tells one story and points to one figure: it tells the story of how God rescues a broken world and points to Christ who accomplishes this. In the OT God revealed himself through types and shadows, through promises and prophecies. In the NT God reveals himself in Christ who is the substance of every shadow and the fulfillment of every promise and prophecy. The OT predicts  God’s rescuer; the NT presents God’s rescuer. In all of its pages and throughout all of its stories, the Word of the Lord reveals the Lord of the Word. The plot line of the Bible, in other words, is Jesus-centered. He is the rescuer sent by God to right all wrongs, mend all that is broken, and reconcile separated, fallen human beings like you and me to God.
- Tullian Tchvidjian

The Bible really is all about Jesus!  Another way to put it that I learned from one of the pastors in my church is "God is redeeming a fallen people for His glory through the person and work of Jesus Christ."  I'd encourage you to read the whole post on Tullian Tchvidjian's blog, with a quote from Sally Lloyd-Jones.

Long John Silver's

I remember Long John Silver's from my childhood.  I would go there to get fish and chips with malt vinegar.  I loved malt vinegar when I was little.  I truly was pretty into it - especially on fish and chips. :)

So I was understandably interested when I saw a new Long John Silver's logo announced on the Brand New blog at this post.  First, let me show you the old logo:

I admit that parts of this logo are a little cheesy, such as the fish icon - it looks a little too much like clip art.  But overall, I really love the logo.  It might not look clean or modern or super professional, but it's fun and happy - and that's how I think of Long John Silver's.  The typography is actually quite good, I think.  It's a very whimsical style, but it is done is such a way that makes it look really joyful-ish.  This is the logo that I associate with Long John Silver's - it seems to fit.

But apparently Long John Silver's didn't love their logo as much as I do, so they had this new version designed...

It's much more modern and streamlined, and the fish graphic is better-designed than the previous one.  But this logo loses all the fun, at least in my opinion.  I understand that Long John Silver's is trying to put forth a more upscale type of identity, and I can appreciate that desire.  But to me, the old, funky Long John Silver's logo is much better than the new one that's trying to be something else.

So that's my opinion.  The new logo isn't badly done, but I just don't think it has the right feeling.  What do you think?

P.S. You can still ask me questions right here at this post!

A Gospel Reminder

"HE gave Himself!" Yes, Jesus gave Himself for us. Note the contrast between the Giver — and those for whom He gave Himself.

The Giver is He who was the only begotten Son of God, the author of creation, the sustainer of the universe, the brightness of divine glory, the source and end of all things! He who was proclaimed by the prophet as "the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the prince of peace." He who is declared by the apostle to be "God over all — blessed for evermore!" He who is "God manifest in the flesh."

"He gave Himself for US." For us — who at the best are mere creatures, between whom and our Creator there can be no comparison. But it was not for us as mere creatures — but for us as base, vile, insignificant, and totally depraved creatures! We had debased ourselves, even unto Hell. Worse, our nature could not be, for "the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked!"

The most exalted, glorious, and holy being in the universe — gave Himself for the most vile, polluted, and degraded of His creatures! O how astonishing!

But He volunteered on our behalf, without any solicitation, offering to become . . .
our Substitute and fulfill the law in our stead;
our Sacrifice, and make a full atonement for our sins; and
our Ransomer, paying the satisfactory price for our redemption.

He engaged to bear the desert of all our sins in His own body — to suffer all that the inflexible justice of God could inflict on our Surety — and so put away our sins forever, by the sacrifice of Himself. He gave . . .
His person — for our persons;
His blood — as our ransom price;
and His life — for our lives.

He gave His entire self, doing and suffering all that was necessary to secure our release from sin's curse, and our everlasting salvation. O amazing grace of a gracious Savior!

- James Smith

What a great quote!  I love this reminder of how Jesus bore all our sin so that we could have "everlasting salvation."  You can read the whole article by James Smith here.

Ask Me a Question

I've done a couple of these posts before and I thought it might be fun to do one again... what are you wondering about?  You can ask me anything, whether it has to with graphic design, one of my blog posts, or anything else you're wondering about.  I will answer as many questions as I can in a few days!

Please ask away!

Crafty Things

I love doing crafts, especially scrapbooking, so I thought I'd show you a few random crafty things I've seen lately.

First, this tutorial for a fun ruffly scarf.  I found it on Dollar Store Crafts, which is a blog about making interesting crafts from dollar store items.  Isn't this scarf neat?

Ruffly things are super fun, and this one doesn't look too hard if you have a little patience for sewing.

I think these Delights stickers from American Crafts are so neat.  I love them!

And this toothbrush bracelet (found through Dollar Store Crafts) is such a cool idea.  I would have never thought of making anything crafty out of a toothbrush, and I think the result is really neat.  See?

It looks a little time-intensive based on the tutorial, but the finished product is so neat that I think it might be worth it.  And you could probably boil a couple toothbrushes at once to save time.  That sounds strange, right?  Read the tutorial and it will make sense. :)

I got the book Sharing Your Story by Ali Edwards for Christmas, and it has great ideas for mini albums.  I'd recommend it to any scrapbookers out there!  The graphics throughout the book are also quite good, which is important you know.

And finally, I want to share that I'm really loving the Obscure Collection from Basic Grey.  It was part of my Creating Keepsakes prize package, and the patterns are so fun!  It's still available here from Basic Grey.

Hope you enjoyed these little crafty things today!  Have a great week.

Literary Magazine II

A few days ago, I posted about a literary magazine I designed recently, and while that is fresh in your minds, I thought I'd post about another one I created last year.  This one contains purely poetry, and it's divided into several sections based on topic.  The title "Then and Now" is taken off the fact that the student-written poetry in the magazine was written in response to Victorian styles of poetry.

I had fun designing the cover - I made the tree out of circles from numerous digital scrapbooking pages.

Each section on the inside is preceded by a heading page like this:

And then there are numerous pages with the actual poems on them.  I alternated between teal and green backgrounds, and put a brown Photoshop brush or graphic on each page.

And then there are a few closing pages before the final back cover.  Here's one of them:

So what do you all think?  I really enjoyed designing this magazine, too, and I'd love to know what your thoughts are.

Friday Finds: Artsy Notebooks

These lovely notebooks are from The Vitrine.

Starbucks Logo

I think pretty much everyone reading this knows about Starbucks.  They are probably the most famous coffee shop in America, and they have a huge number of fans.  They make good coffee.  And other stuff, too, like double chocolatey chip fraps. :)

They are my favorite.

But onto more design-related things...

Recently, Starbucks has announced a re-design of their logo.  Here is a graphic from their website that explains the changes their logo has gone through over time.

The 1992 logo, the one on the bottom left, is the one we're all used to seeing.  It's clear, bold, and Starbucks is recognized by it.  I like the bold typography and the familiar feeling this logo has.

The new 2011 logo is way different.  The most notable thing is that the words "Starbucks coffee" are no more, and the mermaid girl, called a "siren" is the main and only logo component.

I've got to admit that I think the siren is a little strange.  I might be missing something, but what exactly does she have to do with coffee?  I understand that she has been an important part of Starbucks' identity, but I'm just not sure I like how hugely prominent she is in the new logo.

Starbucks cups over time.

However, I think there are some very good things about the logo re-design.  I think Starbucks was on the right track when they made the switch.  They didn't nail it just right, but they were close.  Here's what I think they did well at.

• The simplicity.  While I like that there is typography on the old logo, it was too cluttered with multiple colors and the border around the edge.  Trimming down was a good plan.
• The modern look.  It's hard to deny that the new logo definitely looks more updated and less traditional than the old one.  But then again, modern isn't always the key.  Only time will tell whether this logo is classic or simply trendy.

But even with those good elements, I think they might have taken the "trim-down" a little too far with this logo.  I think it would have been helpful to keep the text on the logo for purposes of identifying the company.  The siren is iconic, but no more iconic than the name "Starbucks."  I think using the icon and the name together would pack more punch - and that may be what Starbucks does in the application of this logo.  I'm just not sure.

What do you all think of the new logo Starbucks has announced?  I'd love to know your thoughts!

God's Love

"Our love to him is like a trickling rill, speeding its way to the ocean because it first came from the ocean. All the rivers run into the sea, but their floods first arose from it: the clouds that were exhaled from the mighty main distilled in showers and filled the waterbrooks. Here was their first cause and prime origin; and, as if they recognised the obligation, they pay tribute in return to the parent source. The ocean love of God, so broad that even the wing of imagination could not traverse it, sends forth its treasures of the rain of grace, which drop upon our hearts, which are as the pastures of the wilderness; they make our hearts to overflow, and in streams of gratitude the life imparted flows back again to God. All good things are of thee, Great God; thy goodness creates our good; thine infinite love to us draws forth our love to thee."
- C.H. Spurgeon

found on The Daily Spurgeon

Literary Magazine

I designed a literary magazine this fall as a personal project.  It wasn't for a client - just for one of my classes.  I had a great time designing and and I really love doing layout/print design like this.  So it was super fun!

I am in the process of figuring out how to print it, but in the meantime, I thought I would share pictures of a few pages.  Here's the cover.  I used fonts and also my own handwriting (I wrote it in Adobe Illustrator).

The chevron pattern (see darker tan border on left) might be my favorite part of the magazine.  I like how it gives the whole thing a slight retro look.  The inside pages were fun to design, too - I used similar fonts, colors, and the chevron pattern to help tie it together.

There were two main parts to the magazine.  Here is the inside cover page for the first part.

And a page from inside that section....

The second section had a similar cover as well, but with different colors and layout.

After the inside pages for section two, I added a final "thank you for reading" page with more of my own handwriting mixed with the fonts.

And finally, the back cover.  I used a more "watermarked" look with a copyright-type note on the back... I wanted something a little less conspicuous than the front cover.

What do you all think of this project?  I'd love to know your thoughts on it!

2/14/11

Commentary on a Favorite Bible Story

The story of how Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from the dead is one of my favorites of all time.  I love how it is a picture of what Jesus has done for me in raising me from spiritual death to new life in Him as a Christian!

I saw this very interesting commentary by Tim Keller on that story over at Justin Taylor's blog recently, and I thought I would post it here.

Tim Keller, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, pp. 67-69, commenting on Mark 5:38-42:

Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

---

Do you think it is odd that when Jesus arrives at Jairus’s house he says that the girl is just sleeping? The parallel account of this story in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels make it clear that Jesus understands she’s dead. She’s not mostly dead; she’s all dead. Then why does he make that reference to sleep? The answer is in what Jesus does next.
Remember, Jesus sits down beside the girl, takes her by the hand, and says two things to her.
The first is talitha. Literally, it means “little girl,” but that does not get across the sense of what he’s saying. This is a pet name, a diminutive term of endearment. Since this is a diminutive that a mother would use with a little girl, probably the best translation is “honey.”
The second thing Jesus says to her is koum, which means “arise.” Not “be resurrected”: it just means “get up.” Jesus is doing exactly what this child’s parents might do on a sunny morning. He sits down, takes her hand, and says, “Honey, it’s time to get up.” And she does.
Jesus is facing facing the most implacable, inexorable enemy of the human race and such is his power that he holds this child by the hand and gently lifts her right up through it. “Honey, get up.”
Jesus is saying by his actions, “If I have you by the hand, death itself is nothing but sleep.” . . .
. . . There’s nothing more frightening for a little child than to lose the hand of the parent in a crowd or in the dark, but that is nothing compared with Jesus’s own loss.
He lost his Father’s hand on the cross.
He went into the tomb so we can be raised out of it.
He lost hold of his Father’s hand so we could know that once he has us by the hand, he will never, ever forsake us.

Un-Friday Finds: Bookmobile

This Bookmobile from The Shop House on Etsy is so cool!  I would love to have something like this hanging in my house.  This one is sold out, but you can find more here.  (The sold out link is here.)

Un-Friday Finds: Design Poster

Really neat, well-designed, and quite accurate design poster.  Buy it here.

HT: Andrew Kelsall.

Un-Friday Finds: Neat Valentine Card

Love the design and the color!  Get it here.

Finds Marathon

Hey everyone!  I love my Friday Finds series, and I thought that I'd keep it going today as a Saturday Special... there will be a few posts throughout the day with various "Un-Friday" finds.  I hope you enjoy them!

Friday Finds: Transparent Business Cards

These transparent business card designs are really neat.  What an unusual idea!  Find more examples right here.

HT: Andrew Kelsall.

Stories

I've been seeing the phrase "write your own story" in the crafty world recently.  I can across it on Etsy in association with some typewriter motifs, and I actually have a rubber stamp that has a typewriter and that phrase on it.  I think it's one of those nice, warm-fuzzy kind of phrases.  Writing our own stories sounds like a nice concept.  But what does it really mean?  Beyond the nice idea of writing a story, what is this phrase saying?

Well, I'm honestly not sure what is meant by the phrase because I don't really know what sense it is used in.  Probably in most cases, it is not used to mean any specific philosophy, but just a nice phrase that looks good with a typewriter.

But all the same, "write your own story" got me thinking about the concept of stories.  And so I thought I'd share my thoughts.  This doesn't really have to do with graphic design (well, I guess it could in a big picture type way...) but I wanted to post it anyway because it is something I have been mulling over.

In the sense of writing stories, I think "write your own story" is perfectly harmless.  I like writing stories.  It's fun.  It's creative.  And I think writing is a gift from God that can be used to honor Him.  And in the sense of writing stories, yes, the stories should be our own and not someone else's.

But that's not really the point.  I think this phrase plays into something a whole lot bigger, and that's the stories of our lives.  That phrase is used casually sometimes - you know, things like "being tired is the story of my life."  But the real story... it's pretty serious.

If it's up to us to write our own story for our lives, that's a huge responsibility.  What if we mess up?  What if one blunder completely messes up our the whole happy ending we had planned?  I think that sounds like a pretty fear-filled way to live.  Doesn't it?

And it also means that our life stories are about us.  If we write them, they're ours.  If we write our own stories, our lives belong to ourselves and it's our job to plan out our lives and do all we can do make our stories just the way we want them.

That's where the "write your own story" concept falls short: it's not about us.  God has created us, and for those of you who are Christians, you belong to God.  It's about HIM, not any of us. 

In 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a, it says:
You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.

I'm not my own?  So that means that none of me is my own, including the story of my life.  If God has bought me with a price - the blood of Jesus - (and He HAS!), then I belong to Him.  Me and my story, too.  And this is so good.  This means that my future and controlling my story is not up to me.  And I don't have to be afraid of messing up or making the wrong decision - because it's ultimately not in my control.

And God loves me.  He knows what is best for me and He will accomplish those plans - He says so in His Word.


Jeremiah 29:11:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

And God is perfectly sovereign and in control of every circumstance.  He has good plans for us, and our lives are His story.  So I'm not writing my own story and figuring out the details of the plot.  God is writing His story in my life, for His purposes, and for His glory.  Ultimately, I'm not here to be the main character in a good story at all.  I'm here because God made me to worship Him and bring Him glory.  That's the purpose of life!  And that's also the thing that brings us the most joy.  I love this quote from Charles Spurgeon:

"The purest and most exhilarating joy is the delight of glorifying God, and so anticipating the time when we shall enjoy him for ever." - C.H. Spurgeon

Sometimes I can be deceived into thinking that trying to do my own thing and make myself happy actually will make me happy.  But that's all wrong.  Nothing apart from God Himself and honoring Him and bringing Him glory gives me joy.  And trying to satisfy myself won't satisfy me - in fact, that's the mindset God graciously saved me from.

I love that the C.H. Spurgeon quote talks about Heaven - that's the "time when we shall enjoy him for ever."  When we delight in bringing God glory by embracing the story He's writing in our lives, we get joy that's a little foretaste of the final joy we'll experience in Heaven.

But until then....

And I'm so grateful and so glad that it is.

I Made It

To one of my favorite places ever ever ever: Orange World.  I was very excited.

Orange World's vintage, fun, orange-y goodness makes me smile.  And I had to document the fact that I was actually there, so here's a picture.

You may have remembered me mentioning Orange World back here during Rainbow Week.  They really have some neat things, but you know, I can't really explain why I like it so much.  I guess the fact that it's shaped like an orange, or that there are tons of oranges all around the front of it...

And the fact that some of them are in a huge pyramid.  Who needs to visit Egypt when you've got an orange pyramid? :)

Or maybe I like it because of the free samples.  That's definitely one thing that's pretty cool about Orange World.

Or maybe I like it because of all the fun things inside.  Like these delectable coconut patties.

And then they have some Orange World memorabilia, too, of course.  I bought an Orange World t-shirt that makes me very happy, but I didn't get a picture of it.  I did get pictures of their magnets and clips...

And also their nifty tote bags.

But I think I mostly like the combination of all of these things.  All the fun stuff inside, and the oranges outside, and the general retro feeling of the whole place.

And talking so much about Orange World has been pushing the color orange to a prominent place in my mind.  So I think I will share an orange freebie with you, inspired by Orange World.

It's just a simple 5x7 poster with the world "smile" on it, because orange is a happy, smiley color.  Download HERE.