Monthly Faves : March

• Love this behind-the-scenes look at the process of creating a book cover wrap from Book By Its Cover
• In light of Monday's post on my graphic design pet peeves, you designers will love this site: Clients From Hell
• A helpful post from LA on what makes a good blog with tons of comments blog readers
• A useful primer post: Photography for Designers from Jessica Walsh
• Suggestions for non-slimy marketing from Miss Modish on the Oh My Handmade blog
• Imagine if design was taught in middle school
• A bit of humor: The Manifesto Manifesto via Swiss Miss
• A hard dose of reality: Where Children Sleep {I am so thankful for the life I have.}


• Does anyone else fantasize about being a food stylist? {via Sara White}
• HGTV's Emily Henderson + Joy Cho of OhJoy! = A gorgeous final room. No comments about that first pink room :/ {Side note: I admit I was comforted to see that a well-known graphic designer needed some interior decorating help!}
• Pour by artist Holton Rour is mesmerizing to watch


• A wonderful interview with yogi Seane Corn on NPR's Being-- particularly the full, unedited version {thanks to Kat for the recommendation!}
• Jennifer Louden's "Self-Care, Mindfulness and Social Media Chat" facilitated by Tara Gentile is worth a listen


• This is a cute DIY idea-- a mini spice kit for traveling or camping {via Tenpenny Splendid}
• OBSESSED with these DIY ombre napkins from Once Wed. Gorgeously subtle. {Instructions are in the comments of the post.}
• Looking for new ways to package up gifts? This is a lovely roundup.


Monthly Faves is a series featuring my favorite links and bits around the interwebs.

Graphic Design Pet Peeves

*Wonderful* signage from a local cleaners, and my inspiration for this post

It's no secret that designers are picky, somewhat often anal types. After ranting to my husband one too many times about inappropriate letter spacing or poorly designed signage, I realized my picky-ness has gotten a little out of control. So, instead of ignoring these minor graphic faux pas like a halfway normal person, I decided to make a list and share it with you all :) What can I say, it makes me feel better.

So here are my {current} graphic design pet peeves:

1. The undeserving ubiquity of the font Papyrus. I'm looking at you, Trader Joe's. And 95% of yoga studios. And seemingly every single Mexican, Thai, or Asian-fusion restaurant out there. {And we don't even need to bring up Comic Sans. That font is dead to me.}

2. Words set entirely in uppercase cursive/script. Makes me all rage-y {see photo above}.

3. Websites with large amounts of white text on a black background. I want to send these people my eye doctor bills.

4. Sites that try to control my computer without my permission-- i.e., resizing my browser window or music that starts automatically {Why do people still do this? Haven't we all ranted enough?}.

5. Scaling fonts horizontally or vertically. NO NO NO. If you wouldn't stretch and distort a photo, why would you do that to a font?

6. Widows and orphans--those single words or sentences that end up hanging at the bottom of paragraphs or at the top or bottom of columns of text. This is left over from my days at the advertising agency doing typesetting as a junior art director.

7. People who use clip art to design logos. Clip art = Not original. Simple as that. {Side note: Logos should also not be designed in Photoshop}

8. "Stationary" = Not moving. "Stationery" = Paper goods. There is a difference.

Anyone want to vent about your design pet peeves? It'll feel good to get it off your chest :)

{Disclaimer: I realize that design is somewhat subjective and that different people may have different opinions relating to graphic design. This list is only for fun! I won't hate on you if you like Papyrus, I promise.}

Foodie Friday : Brown Bagging It

One topic on my mind as I return to office life is how to maintain a healthy diet while working full time. For the past year, I have put quite an effort into being the chef de cuisine in our household, doing most of the planning, shopping, prepping and cooking while trying my best to focus on mostly healthy, whole foods.

I don't want this to change just because I'm now in an office with an abundance of restaurants nearby. For both budgetary and health reasons, I'm instating a Brown Bag policy when it comes to lunches. {Luckily, I have a few young co-workers who are similarly budget-conscious, so we've started a Netflix lunch hour where we watch Arrested Development or Modern Family over lunch. So fun.} But rather than relying on crappy and sodium laden microwaveable entrees, I intend to keep up with my fresh and healthy meals.


Here are some ways I plan to avoid the temptation of going out for lunch during the workweek:

Plan on leftovers. Instead of cooking only for two, or indulging in second-helpings, I'm going to cook larger dinner portions and pack away any extras for the next days lunch.

Plan ahead. Every so often, I plan on making a large batch of soup or chili and freezing extra portions so that I'll always have something I can grab if I don't have time to prepare anything else. Individual homemade vegetable and bean burritos are another great and easy item to freeze for later.

Embrace the sandwich. I can't eat PBJs like my husband can {he eats one for lunch almost every day!}, but there is nothing wrong with a good sandwich. The April issue of Whole Living has a cover story dedicated to fancying up the humble lunch staple. There are recipes for turkey and fig sandwiches, black bean wraps, tabouleh and feta pitas, and more.

Keep a list of easy lunches. I recommend 101 Cookbooks' orzo super salad; chickpea faux-tuna salad; tomato, basil and mozzarella salads; grain bowl made with quinoa or brown rice, beans and greens; pasta salads; soups; and more. Most of these dishes can easily be made once and provide several lunches throughout the week.

Snack. If I snack once in the morning and once in the afternoon, I'm much less likely to be ravenous around lunch and dinner time and end up making poor food choices. I like trail mix, yogurt and granola, carrots and hummus, or a piece of fruit and string cheese for snacking.

Have a backup plan. Keeping a can of Amy's vegetarian chili or tomato soup in my office drawer will suffice for the times I forget my lunch or oversleep in the morning.

How about you-- do you go out for lunch or brown bag it? What is your favorite weekday lunch meal?

Snappet Snippets : Indie Biz Books

I'm always looking to expand my indie business library, so I recently picked up Creative Inc, The Artist in the Office, and The Right Brain Business Plan. I've already whipped through The Artist in the Office {since that's pretty much what I am with my new job!}, which I'll talk more about in a future post. What I love about these types of books is that they really seem to cater to the creative minds of the world by appealing to our visual senses. They're so much better than the dry and stuffy marketing books I read in college!

Are there any new business or personal development books {or other resources} you'd recommend?

Snapped Snippets is a blog series in which I share bits and pieces of my creative life that I capture on camera.

Crediting Photos, Part II

Street Cred by Erin Loechner, Pia Bijkerk and Yvette van Boven

After my first post on photo crediting, Chelsea let me know that a few designers and bloggers had teamed up to create this fun graphic describing the ins and outs of photo crediting. The thought crossed my mind to create something like this when I first posted on the topic but I never took the time to do it, so I'm so happy to see that these designers came up with this fun and informative poster! It's a great summary of what I posted about before.

Pia and Erin have encouraged people to tweet, blog, Pin, and Tumble this poster, so share away... Just remember to credit back to them ;)

Style Statement : Revised Edition

As I've mentioned before, I'm quite a fan of the book Style Statement and the concept of determining touchstone words that help you make choices when it comes to decor, fashion, lifestyle, etc. Last year, I went through the book and came up with the style statement of Bohemian Simplicity. However, after my declaration, something just felt a little "off," like I couldn't quite embrace those words fully despite liking what they represented.

It wasn't until I combined the questionnaires in the book with the visual impact of Pinterest that I was able to actually see my statement come together. With a little bit of analysis to my various Pinterest boards, I've given my statement a little facelift-- changing it slightly from "Bohemian Simplicity" to "Natural Creative."


Credits: Linen Tea Towels from PonyandPoppy on Etsy, Outfit via Kendi Everyday, Patterned Floor Tiles via Nicole Kellmann, Handmade Mega Doily Rug originally via Etsy, Bookshelf via Emily Henderson, Nine de la Fressage via RDuJour, Oricchette with Rapini via Saveur, Feathers via Danna Ray on Flickr, Herriott Grace Spoons via Re-Nest

This statement feels a little more, well, natural and at ease for me. The colors, the patterns, the worn-ness and the textures all mesh with my personal aesthetic. And even with the new words, there's still a bit of Bohemian influence in the background that often comes through in my graphic designs and my interest in other cultures.

I think this is perfect timing for me to refine my style statement. I've got a new office to spruce up, a few new wardrobe pieces to obtain, spring cleaning to eliminate the items that don't represent me, and the inspiration to continue working on my Etsy shop in a way that better reflects my creative flair!

Click here to see my full Pinterest Style Statement board!

Celebrating New Beginnings.

Office Bunting from hellojenuine. on Flickr, Creative Commons License

Hello, friends! I apologize for posting quite infrequently the last few weeks, but it's for good reason. Within the span of 24 hours between this past Monday and Tuesday, I interviewed for a job, was offered the job, and started working at said job. My head is still spinning from the excitement {and overwhelm} of it all!

Some of you longtime readers might remember my various employment and unemployment woes last year. It was what led me to start this blog in the first place-- so I could have a place to reconnect with my creativity and the creative blogging community and explore means of producing my own income from self-employment {read more about this on my About page}. Since all but a few early posts were written during this period without a traditional job, I'm now left pondering how my blog will change as my own career path transforms.

I already know that this blog is not going anywhere. I've learned how much I love the blogging community and having a place to talk about projects and design and other random blatherings. And I'm still fully committed to living creatively-- but my creative life now includes a more traditional job. Because of my new direction, I'm considering incorporating some new posts about how I balance work and creative time, how I plan on bringing my style into my workspace, and perhaps even interviewing some other people who balance jobs with creative pursuits {because I KNOW there are a lot of you out there!}. I'm actually really excited about not only my new position {and-- let's be honest-- a steady paycheck}, but how it will broaden my own definition of what creative living means.

Three cheers to new beginnings.

Creative Questions : Commitment Phobia + Home Decor

I'm happy to welcome Jadyn back for a follow-up to her first post on how to define your interior style. She's here today to discussing the issue of commitment in decorating, which stemmed from a thoughtful question asked by Katie. Much like Jadyn's last post, many of these concepts can be applied to a variety of creative projects--crafting, artwork, graphic design-- not just interior decorating!


Jadyn: "First of all, thanks Katie for asking such an awesome question! I have personally struggled with this for a long time. I can't say I've completely overcome my commitment phobia when it comes to home decorating, but I've learned some things along the way that have helped me.

- Keep your big ticket items neutral and use color in the accessories so you can swap items out easily when you want to change things up. This is definitely a rule that does not need to apply to everyone, if you find a sofa in a pattern that you love - go for it! However, sticking to this rule takes a lot of risk out of the equation and gives you more freedom to change your look down the road without spending much money.

- Incorporate various aspects of yourself. If you find that you have a hard time settling on what you like because you like such a range of different things, don't be afraid to incorporate these various items. Take the time to analyze your inspiration images and notice the different styles that pop up. Pick one and do something with it. Then pick another for the next project.

- Look to your past for things you've always loved. If you loved something when you were 16, could there be a chance that you might love it now? While I may not wear the retro second-hand corduroy bell-bottoms that I loved as a teenager - I still love the color blue of my favorite pair and I still love second-hand items, so using these aspects in decor is pretty much a no-fail choice for me. Are there any colors that you've always loved? Is there a style that you can see you've been attracted to throughout the years? Chances are you'll still love it now and even 10 years down the road.

- Break the rules. It can be easy to fall into the trap of wondering what "the right way" is. Or to decorate for what others will admire. I recently read advice by a interior designer who said to follow the rules 60% of the time and break them 40% of the time. You can always break a rule - if you have a good reason for it. If you love something, that is often a good enough reason.

- If you don't know where to start in your home, I would tackle it as with any area in life where I have lots of ideas but don't know where to begin. First of all, I'd do a brain dump of all the things on my mind surrounding the topic and then look it over and see if there's anything that looks particularly juicy and exciting to me. This is especially great if you can start off with a small project, because the excitement you'll feel from transforming a small area into something you love will give you momentum to move on to bigger things! If there's nothing that jumps out at you, I'd start at the other end of the spectrum: What is it that bugs you the most or the thing about your house that you feel a bit embarrassed about? That is also a good place to start. Starting small also gives you the opportunity to test the waters and see if you're moving closer to creating a space that you love or not. Examples of small projects would be: Painting one room, or even one wall. Buying one throw pillow. Buying and installing one pair of curtains. Creating one vignette.

- Lastly, it can pay off to hire a professional for input. When I start my business, I plan to offer a service for those that just need some help pulling their ideas together - and I know there are others out there that offer this too. It's a low-cost way to get someone with a trained eye to just point you in the right direction if you are up for doing the rest yourself.

Most of all, have fun! After all, if something doesn't work out the way you hoped it would, it's not the end of the world. The feeling of adding something to your house that brings a smile to your face really makes it worth it to put in some effort, in my opinion. Just be proud of yourself for taking any step in that direction, no matter how small.

I hope this is helpful! Thanks for having me at here again, Caiti!"

______________________________
Thank you, Jadyn! Does anyone have any other tips to add? Do you have trouble committing to decor choices? How do you move past this?

Snapped Snippet : Granny Square Blanket

After finally figuring out how to make granny squares recently, I decided it was time to tackle a bigger project. This is the humble beginnings of a granny square blanket. At my current rate of about 1 or 2 squares a day it'll probably take me close to a year to finish, as my math-loving husband figured out I'll need over 300 squares for a decent-sized blanket. But I love that this is something that I can visibly see my progress as each of my stacks inches taller. And how gorgeous are those colors?!? Yum. I just hope I won't end up with a hand stuck in the shape of a claw after all that crocheting. :)

Snapped Snippets is a blog series in which I share bits and pieces of my creative life that I capture on camera.

Crediting Photos & Better Practices for Pinterest

Narwhal Laptop Decal by beepart, $10

Happy Monday, friends! I had a lovely weekend that I'll share more about later, but for now I'm going to start the week with an important topic for bloggers. I started thinking more about the issue of proper links/credits on blogs when I read this very important post by Chelsea of {frolic!} on crediting photos, found via Erin. If you haven't read her post, head over there and do so. Right now. It should be required reading for every single blogger. To sum up what she says, we as bloggers need to be much better about crediting original sources of photography if we are using others' images on our blogs. Simply linking to WeHeartIt, Tumblr or Pinterest is not enough. We need to go back and find the original source of the photo-- find out who the photo belongs to before it started being Tumbled or Pinned {and re-Tumbled/re-Pinned 382983 times}. Why? Because that artist or photographer who took the photo has legal rights to that image and needs to be credited.

I'm guilty of having done this occasionally--using WeHeartIt as a sort of stock photography site and only using the WeHeartIt link as a credit. I {lazily} figured that you readers could click through to find the original source of the photo if you wanted to. There are two problems with this: 1) I'm technically providing incorrect credits, and 2) Even if you click through to find the original source, many WeHeartIt images have not been properly linked to the original source {so many are just linked from Tumblr}.

So, I'm not going to do this anymore. I will use my own photos whenever I can, and if using others' images, I will only do so if I can point to the original artist/photographer {searching Creative Commons licensed images on Flickr is a good option}. Otherwise, it's just not fair to the hard work of others.

To build upon what Chelsea wrote, I'd like to discuss Pinterest, which is a lovely source of inspiration, but deserves a similar amount or respect when it comes to crediting the source. Now that I've been on Pinterest for a while {and have been LOVING it}, I've noticed some not so good practices when it comes to pinning/linking images, especially as the user base of the site grows rapidly. It's really frustrating to come across an image on Pinterest that I love and not be able to find out more about it due to poor linkage. So I've come up with a list of "better practices" for Pinning.

Pinterest Tips:
- When you are Pinning something to Pinterest from a blog or website, make sure to link to that specific post where the photo is located. So many people just link from the main blog page, but once that blog post is archived, the Pinterest link no longer points to the direct source of the photo. The link should never point to a page number either {ie, www.somewebsite.com/page2} because the content on the pages are always changing as the blogger posts more. To make sure you're linking correctly, just click the post title to go to that specific post before Pinning an image.

- If you are Pinning from a blog that got the photo from somewhere else {example: if a blogger has posted an image from the J. Crew website}, make sure the blogger you are Pinning from has correctly linked to the source {J. Crew, in this example}. In other words, make sure there is a "trail" that points to the original source. Or just link from the original source.

- Consider using links in the description box when Pinning, so that other people can find the original source easily without having to click on the image. I don't often see this done, but I think it would help avoid these crediting/linking problems, particularly on the Pinterest homepage where the source link can't be seen.

- If a blog has disabled image downloading, NEVER take a screen shot of their site and then upload the image. That's essentially stealing their images.

- Refer to TinEye {reverse image search} to help identify original sources if necessary.

- When re-Pinning within the Pinterest site, try to be mindful of the above tips. Edit the description of your re-Pin to better point to the source. Avoid re-Pinning something that is a dead-end link where the source cannot be determined, and beware of Pins coming from Tumblr. I'm actually going to start going back and editing my pins to make sure that I can find where they come from, and all my future re-Pins will have to past the "source" test. We have to remember that Pinterest is not just about seeing pretty images, but also is a bookmarking site that should link back to an original source.

It might seems like a pain in the arse to do, but when you think about how quickly information spreads online, and how links rapidly become trails of "Image via __ via __," it is important for us each to do our own part to ensure that businesses and artists get their due credit. Plus, it keeps the Pinterest system much cleaner, so that when someone wants to buy an item they see, or wants to use the tutorial for a DIY item, they will be able to do so.

Any thoughts on this topic? Any Pinterest {or blog or Tumblr} courtesy tips you'd add? {Or am I being too much of a stickler about it all?}

Foodie Friday : What's in My Kitchen

Although I love those "What's in my bag?" posts, my purse is far too full of crumpled receipts, random post-its and other junk for me to try to do a post of my own. But I was inspired to share the essential tools from another part of my life that's quite important to me.

So here we have my take... What's in My Kitchen! I certainly have much more than these items in my kitchen, but these are the tools I find to be most essential and frequently used in my cooking endeavors.

1. High quality olive oil
2. Fresh basil
3. Le Creuset-style dutch oven
4. Lemons
5. Fresh Garlic
6. Immersion blender
7. Microplane zester
8. J.A. Henckel 7-inch santoku knife
9. Kosher salt
10. Freshly ground black pepper

Runners up would have to be my stainless steel scrapper {to transport veggies/garlic from cutting board to pan}, a regular blender, a wooden spatula and cayenne pepper {I like spice!}.

What tool or ingredient is most important to you in the kitchen?

Ten Tips for Savoring Spring

{Image via WeHeartIt}

Much like my autumn list, it isn't too hard for me to come up with ten tips for savoring spring. There's so much to enjoy that it almost seems silly to encourage you all to take pleasure in things like sunshine and fresh flowers. Because that's what they're there for, right? So for this edition of "Ten Tips," I've come up with a few fun twists on typical spring activities.

1. When you feel a spring shower approaching, open your windows wide to enjoy that unmistakable pre-rainstorm smell-- one of the best smells ever, in my opinion. Imagine the stale energy blowing out and making room for new life flow.

2. Make your spring cleaning extra earth-friendly by making your own cleaning supplies out of natural ingredients like white vinegar, baking soda and lemons. Two great resources are Green Housekeeping and Super Natural Home.

3. Since spring is all about rebirth, try planting a new idea. Is there something you've been wanting to try? A new routine? A different type of yoga? Taking on a new project at work? Now is a great time to give it a try.

4. Freshen up your home decor by replacing dark colors and heavy fabrics with pops of bright color, fresh flowers, and lighter, silkier fabrics.

5. Have a picnic! Even if the ground is too wet or it's a bit too chilly for outdoor dining, plant a blanket on the living room floor and enjoy some bread, cheese, fruit and wine.

6. Incorporate spring fruits and vegetables into your meals--asparagus, rhubarb, peas, tender lettuce. One of my favorites is this Orzo Super Salad from 101 Cookbooks. Early spring is the perfect time to consider joining a CSA, if you haven't already.

7. Reconnect with your gal pals, especially if winter weather kept social activities to a minimum. Throw a ladies brunch or grown-up tea party, complete with quiche, tea sandwiches and mimosas. Big hats and sundresses optional ;)

8. Don't let rainy weather keep you inside. Take a walk in the rain, or if you're a less keen on getting soaked to the bone, wait until post-showers and go puddle-jumping like a little kid.

9. Have a change-of-closet ceremony! Move those dresses and cotton tops to the front of the closet and pack away your sweaters. Consider inviting your friends over for a clothes swap, where you trade lesser-worn items and accessories amongst each other.

10. Tuck a $5 bill into your winter coat pocket. It'll be the best little surprise for you next winter. :)