LIFE :: Craftaholics Anonymous Design Team

 

   
Hello there my friends! I am super excited to let you in on a little secret just in case you may have missed me telling you . . . I am now a contributor for the Craftaholics Anonymous creative team for 2016 and I'm super excited to be working with Linda and the other girls on the team this year. I have been a fan of hers for a long time so I am so honored to have been chosen and I hope you will follow me there too!

My main focus, that I decided to share with all of her fans, is of course, you guessed it . . .  my hand lettered art prints! I will be contributing over there once a month and my hope if that her readers will love what I design for them just like you all do here! I may change it up from time to time and get a little crafty but if you would like to check out this art print I designed for her readers as a FREE download, then head over there and grab this print that I designed this month! 

Hope to see you there!

 

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? 

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram or

check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop! 
 
Looking forward to seeing you again! :)

Our Christmas Cards

I can finally say that my Christmas cards are addressed and in the mail! I finished them up yesterday and it was great to cross that off of my 'to-do' list! Do you remember when I asked you all to let me know which Christmas card design you thought I would pick, based off of this blog post about shopping for cards? Well I am sharing with you all today, which design I picked! Did you guess correctly?

I am not sure about you, but I love sending & receiving Christmas cards every year, event though I am finding that I receive less and less every year. Most people refuse to pay the cost of stamps to send them out but I just decided to limit my list of recipients to a book of stamps and that's it. Nevertheless, I love taking the time to figure out what I want my cards to look like, decide on a photo and then what feeling I wish to convey when a person is holding our cards . . . classic, whimsical, humorous!

This year I got my Christmas cards from Minted as I have been wanting to give them a try for awhile and this year was the year! So how did I decide on the design that I chose? Well it's simple. I decided that since this was the first FULL year that my daughter has had with her new puppy Chili, that they would be the focus of the card this year and we'd go for more of a whimsical feel, since that's how we do Christmas too!

The photo has a kind of a retro feel to it and when I got these cards back from Minted, the finish on the cards was very matte and printed in thick cardstock so it all blended well together and I was happy with the way they turned out!

Quite honestly I picked the card design I did because once I got done editing the photos, I decided this photo looked the best with this design. I simply uploaded the picture to their website and typed in our names and ordered them. They arrived pretty quick (within a few days) and then I was anxious to sit down and do some nice hand lettering on the envelopes before sending out.

We had an extremely busy week and weekend so instead of inking the envelopes with some fancy hand lettering, I simply wrote them out quickly to save on time and get these babies in the mail. I still think they look pretty good. I of course, at least, matched the pen color to the color of the cards. Duh! ;)

Do you send out Christmas cards still? I would love to hear whether you design your own or order them from somewhere. Or perhaps you simply go 'old school' and send out actual cards that have a pre-printed message inside. I do those every few years too as I still love them.

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? 

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop! 

Looking forward to seeing you again! :)

SALE :: LOGO DESIGNS

Are you or someone you know currently in the market for a new LOGO DESIGN? In case you didn't know, I am a graphic designer and my background is in design so I love designing logos as well as what you see me doing here. I get inquires all of the time and have designed many logos for you all but I have been asked in the last few months if I ever have a sale on my logos.

So it got me thinking, as when someone hires me as their designer, they also get many options to choose from, for their logo, on the first round with me, as I want to ensure the client gets exactly what they are looking for. Often times, my clients have a hard time picking just one design and I am left with a lot of great logos that hit the design floor, 'so to speak'. So here is my idea as it may help those of you that have been inquiring about a new logo or a makeover on yours . . . why not take some of these logos and sell them to you all 'as-is'. Meaning I will share them with you and they will be at a discounted price since they are already designed and ready to go for the most part. The price will include inserting your name into the logo and of course your color palette for your biz. I will have it include MINOR changes to the logos and you will receive ONE proof/round of changes. ANY other design changes will be discussed and most likely incur an additional fee. However the savings on these will for sure be a benefit to someone looking for a cost effective way to gain a new logo!

Be sure to stop by my Facebook page starting Tuesday Nov. 18 as I will start listing them there first and eventually move them into my Etsy shop if there are any leftover. Feel free to stop by as they will be first come, first serve on them and I would love to help you out with a deal for your business!

Interested in knowing what else I can design for you? Take a look at this blog post that has some of my popular design services. 

Hope to design something for you soon! ;)

 

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? 

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop! 

Looking forward to seeing you again! :)

 

DESIGN :: Watercolor Bridal Luncheon Invite

 

     
Hello there!

A couple weeks ago, I was all excited to share with you some of my recent client works that have been keeping me busy. I shared a few of the hand lettered prints I had completed plus a new custom watercolor invite that I was doing for a special friend.

Well I am excited to share a few more details with you today about that custom watercolor invite. It was designed for a bridal luncheon that was going to be a little bit rustic but elegant, simple but beautiful and an intimate gathering to celebrate this upcoming wedding.

We decided on a watercolor with illustrations of flowers, mason jars keeping with her color palette of gold, pink-ish peach and mint. I also wanted to hand letter the person of honor's name for the invite so I made sure to do that and have it stand out by using gold when inking it.

I love the way it turned out, my friend loved it and it's now available in my shop for you to order if you would like to have your own for a special event. 

 

Remember, if you EVER have any special custom design hand lettering idea requests, PLEASE feel free to email me anytime & I can design one for YOU! laura@eyecandycs.com

Have a great week!

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? 

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop! 

Looking forward to seeing you again! :)

DESIGN :: Watercolor & Hand lettering

     

Hello there!

I have been so busy these last couple weeks that I feel like I haven't had much time to blog and talk with all of you. However I wanted to pop in and share a couple peeks at to what I am currently doing as far as custom work and to let you know that you may be seeing some new items hitting the shop soon. ;)

Some of my favorites lately . . . 

a hand lettered design from a very catchy song . . . . ;)

I am pretty sure I have to make this into a print ;)

 . . . this hand lettered print will be in the shop soon. 

Great for anyone getting married soon or a bridal shower, can be adjusted to say "soon to be, mrs." instead. Imagine this on a banner, art print or sign.

 

Speaking of getting married and brides . . . I can't wait to show you how this gold hand lettered burlap decor item ends up. ;)

 

ohhhhhh and this, a watercolor design is for a very special bridal shower.

 and one more peek . . . . this hand lettered piece will be in the shop soon as an art print!

Remember, if you EVER have any special custom design hand lettering idea requests, PLEASE feel free to email me anytime & I can design one for YOU! laura@eyecandycs.com

Have a great week!

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? 

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop! 

Looking forward to seeing you again! :)

DESIGN Services :: LOGOS, Blog Design & More

 

Are you, by chance looking for a new logo for your business? Perhaps new business cards or a facelift for your blog?

A hand lettered art print with a saying that you choose?

I thought it was about time for a reminder of what I LOVE to do most. DESIGN WORK. You may not know this about me but I went to college in Los Angeles for Graphic Design, minored in Fashion Illustration and now have 25+ years of experience in the field. And still, after 25 years I still LOVE it just as much as the first day I fell in love with design, heck maybe even more now. ;)

I sometimes get so busy that I forget to update my folders on Facebook showcasing my latest design projects or sharing them here so I felt I needed to give you a quick update and share some of the latest work because I am always designing something. ;)

Like I mentioned I LOVE designing logos, which is probably one of my favorite things to do since it is the first step in your branding . . .ya know, your overall "packaging" of YOU, so I think it's important to have one you LOVE! That's what makes it so exciting! 

Here's a few of the latest LOGOS for some local clients and then one for a landscaping company in Orlando.

 

And a matching business card:

Do you sell items in an Etsy shop? I can design an Etsy banner for you along with custom listing & any other buttons/ graphics you may need.

 

 

 

 

Most of us have a blog and if you are finding that you would like to give your blog header & graphics a facelift, well . . . I can do that too for you. Or a major blog overhaul if you need. ;)

 

 

 

 

I also can do hand lettered art prints, calligraphy pieces, illustrations, etc.

 

Just ask if you need anything graphic-related . . . I would LOVE to help!

You can contact me at laura@eyecandycs.com for all the info and to reserve your space on my design schedule! ♥

I, of course, am still doing custom printable collections as well if you need one. Plus you can always check out my Etsy shop to see what I already have in there, ready to go.

Enjoy your day & thanks for being a FAN of me & my work! xoxo

 

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram or check out more designs in my Etsy shop!   
 
I would love for you to connect with me by email or become a blog follower too! {on the right sidebar}  Looking forward to seeing you again! :)

Business Cards :: Promoting Yourself at a Conference

     

What do you hand out at a conference?!

Last month I had the opportunity to {finally} attend SNAP conference as I have been wanting to go for a few years and it worked out this year for me to go. What is SNAP conference you ask? Oh just this uber amazing conference where a ton of creative women & a couple men gather to join forces and take over the blogging world. LOL . . .what you didn't believe that last line? ;) Seriously, we all gather in one place and spend about 4 days together learning from each other, connecting with brands, listening to amazing speakers, attending jam-packed classes, having dance parties, going on fun outings and just being ourselves all in a judge-free zone. Sounds amazing doesnt it?

Well it is. BUT. What the heck do you bring to one of these conferences to promote yourself??? I started keeping my ears open to hear what others were doing since this was my FIRST time attending SNAP, I really wanted to make sure to do something cool and fab right? PLUS I had just re-branded and given myself a small 'name change' so new cards needed to be done anyway! ;)

I heard "oh just bring the standard business cards as no one wants all the frills with the special ones". Special ones? What did they mean "special ones"? And then I found out that people design these amazing business cards and then gave a "special" gift along with it . . .ya know  . . . to make it memorable! 

The business design part was NOT a problem since after all, I am a graphic designer. Then I heard you should put your photo on your card so the brands you talk to and all of the people you meet will remember you. OK, photo on business card - check!

Then I decided at the last minute that I SHOULD make some "special" business cards as I was so looking forward to meeting all of these amazing bloggers so surely I wanted to leave them with a special gift because after all, they will be my new friends right? So off to making art prints I went.

I have recently started sharing my hand lettering pieces with my fans, that I have been doing for years so I decided to make a mini one for everyone I met. AND I chose the word "CREATE" since it IS my "one little word" for the year! 
So this is what everyone received that I met at SNAP. It's the perfect size to put in a frame & keep it as a reminder to CREATE something everyday! ;)

(btw - I will have this CREATE art print available in my shop soon but email me if you can't wait ;)

 




But that's NOT all. I felt like I needed to do something just a little bit extra & then it hit me. Why not play up on my name! Ya know, the part of my name that says "candy"?

So I went and purchased packs of hot pink and neon green Sixlets to attach to the back of my promo package I was handing out to everyone. Because it IS all about branding - so the colors HAD to match! ;)

And if you met me at SNAP, I said something that went like this . . . 
"Hello my name is Laura and I designed you some eye candy, attached some candy and it's all from Eye Candy (creative studio)!"
Corny? YES. But I got quite a few laughs & people loved them. YAY me!

I really do love how they turned out & I specifically made 100 of them to hand out so it would force me to get out and meet & talk to 100 new people. I think I came home with about 10 left so that was pretty good. I did however have extra business cards as well that I handed out too so I DID hand out more then 100 business cards but just about 90 "special ones".

It was so much fun to see what other people did/used to promote themselves and make it memorable. I think after going, that doing a "special" card with an extra something IS effective when the item you are using to make it "special" is useful to people. I saw plenty of silly things attached to cards and I didn't mind them at all but someone else may have thought it unnecessary. I say do what you want. Make an impression whether it be silly or not, after all isn't that the point . . . to make YOURSELF memorable?


Have you ever attended a blogging conference and thought to create a "special package" to hand out to people? What creative ideas did you come up with? I would love to hear from you below . . . .

  

 

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? 
 

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop! 

 
  Looking forward to seeing you again! :)