It Wanted to be Green

> Not too long ago, I posted an in-progress photo of the perpetual block calendars I'm making for my holiday promotion. At the time, I wanted to let them be "natural"—letting the wood show through, and using natural earthy colors. 

> And they were okay, but they were just "there". They needed some pop! I tested out a few color combinations and taped the colored squares onto the blocks. Wow...hands down, the green looked the best. I admit I'm biased, so without saying anything, I took the color combos to my husband and asked his opinion. And guess what, he chose the green! Now, he knows I have an obsession with a certain shade of green...so you might think he's an unfair judge, but if he thought one of the other colors looked better, he'd have told me so. I promise!

> Here's an updated look at the blocks. See? Don't you agree the green is so much better than the natural wood? 

> Because this gift promotion is so labor-intensive, I'm only making a small number of this type of calendar, and I have a super-cool alternative that I'm sending to the rest of my client/vendor/friend list. 

> I've got one more step in the process, then I'm going to post with photos of the whole process, so once again, this is just a teaser...stay tuned!

It's a Flyer...or is it a Flier?

> I'm working on an invoice for a client. I created 2 email flyers (or is it fliers?) Seems like it's one of the more inconsistently-spelled words I come across. I've got a client whose been in advertising and marketing for more years than I've been in design, and he spells it "flier". Others I have worked with insist it's spelled  "flyer". 

> To me, it seems like "flyer" is better. Why? Well, if you fly a lot, you are a  frequent "flier"—right? So if "flier" is the correct spelling in that instance, then the spelling "flyer" seems more appropriate for a very different use of the word—such as a single page design which communicates an event, service, product, or activity. Without using any style guide or dictionary, that's just what seems right to me.

> Hoever logical my own reasoning is (you agree, right?), apparently both are technically correct. I ran across this article that gives credence to both. What do you prefer?

Very New, and Revitalized Old Type

> Ask anyone I've been with in an antique shop...I'm obsessed with wood block printer's type. Even though I don't even have space to properly display my current collection, I can't pass it up when I find it! In fact, when I realized how much I had spent on my collection, the practical side of me banned the impulsive side of me from even getting on ebay anymore (turns out when you "win" an auction, it just means that you are the one who was willing to pay the most $ for something). You see, I could easily justify my purchases with the fact that once it's gone, it's gone! It's not like anyone's making new wood block type. Duh! 

> Well, my justification/excuse (call it what you will) is now gone! Someone IS making new woodblock fonts! Revitalizing old fonts, creating entire sets, in multiple sizes, and making them available for purchase. I still love the discolored letters that were used for years, but it makes me feel less desperate knowing that there will be more, when my practical side loses out to the ebay winner in me.

Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

> I learned a long time ago to start on my holiday promotion a couple months before Christmas. It's easier to squeeze time in between actual work projects to get it finished if I don't leave it to the last minute.

> You should know that while I love the holidays, I'm one of those people who finds it ridiculous that we are still weeks away from Halloween, and yet most retail stores have already decked their halls with Christmas! So, despite knowing I need to start thinking about Christmas early (where my clients are concerned), it still seems "wrong" to be working on Christmas gifts. However, today turned out to be a good day to start working on the assembly. A cold front came through, and since my home office sits at the mouth of a canyon, with a little higher elevation, it snowed today! Now, typically I'm not a fan of the snow. It's pretty, but I don't like being cold, or wet—I don't like scraping it off my car windows, I don't like bundling up, and I don't like walking or driving in it. It's just pretty to look at—that's it. But today, well, as a backdrop for working on Christmas gifts, well, it was fitting (and then it melted...perfect!)

Inspired by...Better After

> I think I've mentioned before how much I LOVE before and afters. I recently discovered a blog that feeds my obsession...Better After.

> Featuring everything from furniture to rooms, to home exteriors, it's a great resource—whether it's ideas for your own projects, to simply being wowed with the results of the vision and efforts of others—this is one of my favorite blog reads.

> If you're a fan of makeovers, you will love this blog.

Good Thinking

> Where do you do your best thinking? Have you ever thought about it? 

> When I was in college, I learned that focusing on something OTHER than what I was trying to solve was the answer to solving creative challenges. 

> I had a creative writing class, and I had been struggling with an assignment. I just couldn't come up with anything that I was happy with. I gave up for the time being, not because I knew it would help me focus, but because I just wasn't getting anywhere with it. We didn't have a dishwasher, and anyone who knows me, knows that dirty dishes in the sink or especially on the counter are a huge pet peeve. They call to me and won't leave me alone til they are cleaned and put away. So, later that day when I had my hands in the hot sudsy water, the solution to my creative writing class just came to me! I was so excited! I have also realized that I have a lot of "creative breakthroughs" while in the shower (what is it with me and warm water??) Anyway, a lot of times, when a solution just isn't coming to me, I try to take a break. I've found that when I get away from the blank monitor, or the empty notebook page—the pressure to create is gone, and my imagination is free to do what it does best, in the way it's most effective.

> What about you? Have you figured out where and how you do your best thinking?

Numbers Count

> We recently had the stucco redone on our house. We were so excited about the results—the newness, no cracks or stains, and the new warmer color—we decided we just couldn't re-hang the house numbers that had once been there. They were cheap, plastic, and from my point of view, just plain ugly. My husband and I agreed that we needed better looking numbers to adorn our face-lifted house.

> In hindsight, I wish that I had taken a photo of the "before" numbers, but I hastily threw them out as soon as we decided we weren't going to use them.

> With expenses and the economy as they are right now, we needed to be frugal as well as finicky, which narrowed our selection quite a bit. 

> We found some in an art deco font that we LOVED, but they just didn't fit well on the plaque we needed to use. Our second choice was a condensed roman (serif) font, but it was SO condensed that we decided it wouldn't be as legible from the street as we felt like it should be. We purchased our third choice—it's a hybrid between a serif and sans serif, giving it a modern feel. Some of the numbers are shown above. We plan to get the numbers mounted and the plaque hung this evening. 

> For someone who's not a numbers person, I'm pretty excited about these!