Sweet & Sassy Design Inspiration

Gearing up for what I hope will be a very productive Monday - I've got a couple of Etsy Kits and some custom printed items to focus on wrapping up - I am doing my morning ritual of drinking coffee, browsing shops, and generally dreaming of what the day holds.

So today I'm posting early ... very early, for me, since I don't "officially" start work every day until 9. And I'm sharing the first of my "Designs to Inspire" posts this morning. I hope that it gets your creative wheels turning the way that it does mine!

Sweet & Sassy Accessories - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5637607

When looking for designs that inspire me, I always find myself most drawn to concepts that are clean, simple, and usually nature-inspired. It’s just a personal thing that is reflected in my own work.

When I ran across Sweet & Sassy Accessories, I was inspired on a couple of levels.

First, notice that the artist has taken two basic images and used this for all of her display cards. 300+ products, but they’re all beautifully coordinated on the two designs of card. This helps keep her shop and her product line look crisp and professional, and it will save her a lot on printing costs. She gets a look that works best with specific products, without trying to get cards printed for every single possibility.

The reason this pairing of displays works so well is that the one is very simple, minimalistic, and clean. It puts focus on the product by offering no competition. The second design is much more complex, very detailed and rich in color. By using all this as a “border” for the product, emphasis is placed on the product because your eye is naturally drawn to the white space. Absolute perfection.

Finally, the products themselves are graphically inspiring. Sweet soft birds in clean retro lines, little pink flowers pulled into a pair with chic white and pink fabric button centers and partially lined alligator clips, and trios of barrettes slanting across the card.

From the display to the product, the artist behind Sweet & Sassy Accessories has taken the time to make sure her product line stands out – and it does so, inspiringly.

Weekly Wrap-up: Blizzard of Design

This has been one of the busiest, and most inspiring, weeks I've had in quite a long time. I've worked my way through a number of projects that ranged from beautiful transparent listing ornaments to logos and a series of custom prints that should be ready for printing and assembly in the upcoming week.

As always, I'll eventually get the completed projects shared in the portfolio but here's a pretty good overview of this week's wrap-up:

1. Bower of Bliss: Transparent Listing Ornaments - I absolutely loved this project from the second it was proposed. With some very minor changes (mainly, the ability to change the color of the flowers on the second image), the first draft was exactly what was wanted, and I got to do a happy dance of celebration.

2. Charmed for Sure: Business Package - The full package Charmed for Sure received included press-printed business cards and address labels, in addition to the Etsy display graphics and editable PDF templates in the design shown ... all colors were specified by Charmed for Sure, and I've got to admit that while they're much more "warm retro" than I normally do, they suit her beautifully!

3. Legacy/Beautiful Diva: 1" round transparent stickers - The artist behind Legacy/Beautiful Diva products wanted to re brand her product line, as she didn't feel there was a consistent brand identity going on. What we wound up with were a series of 3 label designs thermal printed on transparent sticker stock that are elegant but will certainly stand out on the shelf.

4. Crafts by KJ: Custom Etsy Kit - Oh I'm loving loving loving the recent swell of projects that I've been able to use forms of damask in. I swear it's one of the most elegant, stylish, and classic pattern concepts ever invented. Paired up with this lovely silvery-blue requested by KJ, the look is simply stunning.

5. Works in Progress - In a single week, I average the completion of anywhere from 5-15 projects, including print orders that require no design work and new pre-fab lines that are added to the boutique and Etsy shop. The number varies so much because every project I work on, I communicate with the people I'm working with every step of the way. Nothing and no step of the project is considered "final" until it's been approved. So, here's a sneak peek at a few of the designs I've been working on this week but are still in progress:

Here's hoping you all have a lovely weekend filled with laughter and sunshine!

Reality Check

It has been several weeks since my last post, for which I apologize. I do intend to get my hiney in gear and get things back to normal - but lately, I've been so focused on an overloaded project schedule that I honestly haven't had time.

Which leads into my reality check.

I've had an accountant look over my business plan and review my products, and after an excruciating session (I'm certain I made his head hurt), he crunched down the numbers. Based on all the income and expenses, I've actually been averaging a grandiose total income of -82.57 per week.

Now I'm faced with what is, for me, a truly gut-wrenching situation. On the one hand, I have a 9-yr-old daughter that I want all the best things in life for, and I've a wonderful husband who is currently recovering from injuries he sustained in Afghanistan. On the other hand, I absolutely love my work and I am addicted to creating things of beauty for all my loyal customers - and I refuse to be one of those designers who charge unreasonable sums just because they can.

But something has to change. I've raised the prices of my current product line very slightly (not more than $5) and will be carefully looking at the pricing on the newest products just waiting on my finding the digital camera that has mysteriously disappeared.

In the meantime, I'm going to do what I try to do with everyone who chooses to work with me: namely, to listen.

I am asking you, my customers and friends, for advice. At the end of the day, I must do something to make my business solvent but like everything else I do here, I absolutely continue to put the people I work with first. Please, let me know your thoughts and share any advice you might have on ways I can adjust pricing, enhance the quality of my products, or generally help me as I face this reality check and start going through my business from the roots up to reorganize so that I can continue doing what I love and helping beautify all the fantastic indie and small businesses as I've done for years now.

Please offer your thoughts - via comment or email, I appreciate it so very much.

Frantic Fridays

Frantic is about the only word to describe the end of this week. I send out some sincere apologies to lovely ladies who are being so patient with me; I've been out nearly a full week with high fever and flu symptoms. Not the nasty scary stuff - they don't think - but it was bad, at that.

So enough about all that. I've been in a frenzy yesterday and today trying to catch up on my project list, some of which is two weeks behind and the very idea of that is so unacceptable to me that I've been pushing it to the wee hours. It has resulted in some great work that I'm proud of, though, and gotten me one step closer to getting back on track. Here's the latest two I've managed to finish to my co-conspirators' satisfaction:

1. Petal By Petal, a shop that I love working with, got a new Blogger design all spiffied up and matching the rest of her graphics and office materials. The final design uses a white background for all of the blog body, instead of the cream shown in the preview, and it creates such a sharp, clean look that is just perfect. It can be previewed in the Pixel Boutique Preview for the next week or so.
   
2. Little Hailey's Boutique got a pretty new look, filled with pinks and whites and a boutique storefront look that matches the adorable bows and accessories she sells beautifully. With the summer sun in full sway, you totally need to check out her selection of too-too-cute sun visors. I just know you'll have someone perfect in mind when you see them!

This week, I wanted to offer a Friday Freebie that is both spring-time delicious, but fresh and clean. I wanted it to be useful to a wide variety of people ... and I sincerely hope you'll like what I came up with!

These business cards will work with Avery templates 28373, 5881, 8373, and 8869. Even better - the design itself is in 300 d.p.i. (professional quality print) PDF format so you can use the template no matter what kind of computer or software you have. The download of this template, free here, also includes a copy of the freeware font "MA Sexy" which you will need to install before using the template.

Experiment with the papers you print on, and enjoy!