That's a wrap

As the faithful know, the blog is the first thing to go once I get busy. Since it's been 10 days since my last post, you can probably imagine that I have been anything but bored. So what's been going on? Lots:

Fun stuff first: a few weeks ago, I was notified that 2 out of the 3 logos I entered in the Connecticut Art Directors Club Annual Awards Show won. The show itself, where winners were notified of what they actually won (gold, silver, or excellence), was last week. I didn't go, because--guess what?--I was working. However I am thrilled beyond belief to announce that both Miriam + Dee, and Objects Pamela Peterson both took home awards of excellence.






Excellent.

Work-wise (not that work's not fun--it totally is--but let's face it; winning awards is WAY more fun than working. Right?): I've been working on an ad template for award winners Miriam + Dee, as well as a blog design for award winner Objects Pamela Peterson. Pam's been very busy stocking up on blog posts, and if they're all like what she's been sending me, you'll definitely want to read her blog once it goes live. Don't worry--I'll keep you posted on that launch date.

I've also been working on a press kit design for Mindy's Meals on Heels--Mindy recently signed on with a PR firm that represents other Food Network stars... hopefully that leads to some serious Food Network face time for her as well!

I am also BEYOND excited for the relaunch of the art + interiors site: Cyndy and I go way, way (way) back, and she was one of my first clients. Her business has grown so much that she needed to adjust her website accordingly; she needed a whole content management system to make browsing her artwork that much easier. Since I'm all about making things pretty, and not so much the CMS side of things, we've been working with a great developer in the midwest who has taken my designs and run with them. I'll keep you posted on the big launch, and other big news that's on the horizon.

If you follow me on twitter, you'll know that my BFF is getting married, so of course I designed her invites (coming soon--I promise). That was so. much. fun, partly because I got to spend a decent amount of time in heaven--I mean, Kate's Paperie. And, you know, the whole best friend getting married thing :)

Projects to keep me busy this summer: I'm working on a few websites--one for a fashion designer, one for a mortgage broker, and one for a heavy metal band. The metal band should be interesting because I'm actually working with Mattio on that one, and well, if you know me at all... let's just say that while I enjoy a little Metallica during spin class, that's about the only place I'm listening to it. It should be great fun throwing myself into this musical genre--maybe I'll even tease my hair and look the part!

I promise to post the wedding invites in the next day or two...

Relay for Life

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to participate in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life:

At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.

The Fairfield Relay was 12 hours, 6PM to 6AM on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. It was one of the most amazing experiences.

Here's basecamp: Team Survive, Thrive and Endure. My friend Jane asked me to be a part of this now 3 year old team, and we have 27 team members!




You can purchase a luminaria in honor of anyone--they then line the track with them. At dusk, they have a ceremony when they light them all.




I was walking in honor of both my grandmothers.




Survivor's Lap: There's a bunch of ceremonies that take place during the first half of relay, but none for me were as emotional as the survivor's lap. I'm all choked up writing about it.




Look at the happiness on these survivors' faces.




Team Survive, Thrive and Endure




An overhead shot of Fairfield Relay 2010. All in all, there were 1850 participants which made up 164 teams. I'm thrilled to say that Team Survive, Thrive and Endure raised $9322. In total, Fairfield Relay raised $213,977.54!



At sunrise Sunday morning, my body--especially my legs--was dog tired (I had walked 12 miles total), but I left with so much more strength than when I arrived. To my friend (and team captain) Jane, thank you so much for asking me to be a part of this. I can't wait to do it again next year.

(And to my friend Marty: Thanks for the Sugarbabies. And next year, let's not wait until 4:15 AM to run! :)

Initialed

If you've learned anything from this blog at all, it's that I love type. Pretty much all things fonts and letters. So when I get the chance to wear letters in jewelry form, I'm all for it.

Recently, I came across these awesome letters over on HOW Blog:



How adorable and fun. And at $25 a pop, it's affordable to buy numerous letters to spell words out (as suggested on HOW Blog). Check out By Boe.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Elsa Peretti's classic initials:



I love the gorgeous curves; and, on some letters, the non-obvious way they are designed. Beautiful. Available at the classic of all classics, Tiffany.

Then we have my new favorite, hand stamped letters from a parent at my daughter's school. Actually a friend of mine recently gave this necklace to me as a gift:



I love the handstamped charm. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite pieces of jewelry. Check out Simply Charmed.

Does anybody out there have any other favorite initial jewelry?

New logo: Medaille College

Quite some time ago, Sara with no H started commenting on my blog. She had a blog too, and so of course I went to check it out, and it's quite hysterical. I liked this Sara chick, and we quickly became blog comment friends.

Fast forward to early spring, and Sara needs a logo for work. She works for Medaille College, in upstate NY, and every year they have an alumni golf tournament, but also a dinner reception for those who don't golf (named after a former student). So they needed a logo that said golf and dinner, without coming across too much of either, and definitely not hoity toity (my words :)

First round presentation:

Versions 1 and 2:
Obviously playing with icons that say golf, dinner and good times. The second script-y font is not my favorite, but these are first rounds, and it's a work in progress.




More of a stamp approach:



Simple, and I get to use Archer! Dammit--I WILL design something using this most awesome font!



Kind of Palm Springs-y, but if I lived in upstate NY I wouldn dream of Palm Springs, too. The second version actually uses the icons for Medaille:




Definitely leaning towards the golf side:



Of course I had to throw simplistic in there--just because it's a logo for a golf tournament, doesn't mean it has to scream golf:



So what did Sara and her Medaille colleagues choose?



I played with the script and found something that was a nice playful/serious combination. In the meantime, totally fun project because hello? I got to talk to Sara beyond Facebook and our blogs. And it turns out that we have the same views on lots of things, including high fructose corn syrup based drinks, where to get your ears pierced, and cocktails vs. libations.

I knew I liked this girl for a reason. Thanks Sara!

We have a winner!

Last week, I received word that 2--TWO!--of my logos were going to be recognized by the Connecticut Art Directors Club this year at their annual awards show.

I know I've featured Miriam & Dee here on the blog before, and I am so psyched to share their logo again:



On the other hand, I don't think I've featured Objects yet--probably because we just finalized colors--but I can't think of a better debut:



The show is in a few weeks, I will certainly share how I ended up doing overall.