LETTERING :: The BEST of 2015

     

Hand lettering . . . it has become my true love once again. I studied typography in college (along with design) and loved it so much back then that I wanted to design fonts for a living. Actually my problem in college is that I wanted to do EVERYTHING and never could settle on just ONE thing in design so I went on to become a graphic designer working for several different companies until I started doing freelance many moons ago and then brought it into my blogging, for the past couple years and now . . .  well now, this year in 2016 will be a BIG year for my lettering as I have BIG plans and it's do or die for me. No more waiting, it's MY year of doing it. Wish me luck. ;)

Before all of that happens, I wanted to share some of the most popular posts that you loved last year so you can see what I was up to. Feel free to stop by my Etsy shop too, when you can as I have a lot of them for sale over there. 

As always, I tend to share what I am inking and leak it first, over on Instagram, so be watching there as I love hanging out and even give things away FREE from time to time, just sayin'.

As you are looking through this list of the most popular hand lettering posts from last year, just know if you want more details on the board, simply click on the link for all of the fun details! So let's take a look, shall we?


the TOP TEN hand lettering posts of 2015: 
 

10. HAND LETTERED :: Wedding Signage

 

9. LETTERING :: DIY Party Photo Props

 

8. ART PRINT :: God is Good All the Time

 

7. LETTERING :: Pumpkin Placecards in Plum & Blue

6. ART PRINT :: Save Water Drink Champagne

 

 5. ART PRINT :: Hey Y'all

 4. LETTERING :: Celebration Decor

 3. ART PRINTS :: Love is Sweet

2. ART PRINTS :: Blessed

  

1. ART PRINTS :: Love You Madly

Wow - what a list! There are so many more that I will be sharing with you here soon that I simply have never had the time to post, including some logos and other fun things I have done recently. I can not wait for you to see them. I absolutely LOVE doing these and look forward to my 'ink time'. ;)

So which from the TOP TEN was YOUR fave? I would LOVE to hear  . . . just let me know by commenting below. xoxo

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! :)

New Year Cards & Getting Organized

      Today’s post is sponsored by Minted, but my love for their products is all my own!

Happy new year (again) and as I write that, I actually can not believe we are well into January already, it's crazy right? At least now I feel like this past week I established a work order again after the two week . . .  (okay three week) hiatus I took to relax and recharge during the holidays. This Christmas season went fast for me and I no sooner got all of my decorating done and presents wrapped, then I blinked to find it over, just as quick. One of the things that I had to let go of over the holidays is sending out holiday cards to my friends and family. Some years I just can't even deal with it if I am feeling rushed or pressed for time and 2015 was ONE of those years. But once the holiday passed, I felt like I really missed out, so I decided to go ahead and do something about it and did something different . . . sent New Year cards! 

I have never sent New Year cards and I'm telling you what, after sending these out this past week, I think I may do this every year as I discovered a few things: I was able to take my time sending them, plus they will probably get noticed more (since they are not competing with all the other cards) and it's like sending a nice unexpected surprise for all to receive in their mail!


I chose my New Year cards from Minted and their selection is amazing, who knew that sending New Year cards was a thing? I think it's awesome, that the cards are designed from a community of artists that they have chosen because I for one, can appreciate that and would love to someday have one of my designs possibly listed! ;) Dream big right? But the choices were many and I love being able to upload my own personal photo and it will let you see what your photo looks like in the designs you are considering! It's great!! After playing around with a few different options, I narrowed down my choice by choosing a card design that people could cut the photo off of the top of the card and keep or frame, if they wanted. It's like getting double the fun with my design I picked . . . a card for now and then a photo for later!

A couple reasons you will love these cards: when I got these cards back from Minted, the finish on the cards was very matte and printed in thick cardstock which makes them very durable and not flimsy! Once you choose your design, you have options on colors as well - I enjoyed being able to match up the design and type with the colors in my photo. The hardest part of creating your own cards is picking out a great photo! I hired a photographer back in the fall to take some pics of my mom & dad for their anniversary gift and I jumped in real quick to get this one taken of me and my daughter and I am so glad I did. She is growing waaaaaay too quick and looks about eighteen in this pic (sigh) and she's only twelve!!! So when I needed a quick photo for these cards, I thought why not use this one? I love it, so will my family and it's one I will cherish forever!

Truth. I am one of those people who notice the little things, details, special little touches . . . so every time I get an order from Minted, they never disappoint on their packaging and branding, I mean look, Brian packaged my order and hand wrote it to me with my name . . . it's the little things! ;)

 

Since it's a new year and like everyone else, I am TRYING to get organized and start the year off on a good note, I decided to check out what else Minted had to get me organized and boy was I loving what I found! I'm one of those people who like to have numerous journals around for jotting down ideas when they strike. I also need to have a sketchbook of some kind nearby, to sketch out a design that I don't want to forget or want to put on paper to see if it's going to work.

One of my goals this year is to get all of my items organized with my business, to find places for everything, create a better brand awareness and to work the hardest I ever have on my BIG goals I have set for this year! I am definitely getting organized in style with these perfect pieces I found and ordered from Minted. My favorite part is that everything can be personalized how I want it. 

Check out what I found: 'the Great Ideas' journal is what I will grab to sketch out a new design or lettering idea which is why I had "EC inks" personalized on it as it will be used just for that! The two books with this happen to match (which rocks) and they have my business name on both. One is a journal that has lined pages in it for me to write down notes for my business and keep track of all of those lofty goals for 2016! ;) The other book is an address book. I had never considered having one for my business but it makes perfect sense as I have met so many amazing people who I like to send notes too or a small surprise every now and then, so this way all of those contacts have a place to call home in my new address book! Look at that . . . I am already MORE organized! ;)

I loved partnering up with Minted again this year as I truly do love their products and can't wait to use all of their journals and books to keep me organized this year! Have you purchased anything from Minted before? Let me know below as I would love to check it out!

Thank you so much for letting me share this product with you and for supporting the brands and companies that help support my blog! 

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! :)

LETTERING :: Custom ONE LITTLE WORD prints

Hello there! Let me say officially "Happy New Year" to all of you!

I still am trying to get back into 'work mode' from the holidays but what does get me so excited is thinking about all of the art prints I get the pleasure of hand lettering this time of year for all of you! I have already had a little contest over on Instagram for a FREE print inked by me last week and ya just never know when I may offer another, so make sure you are following along! ;)

What hand prints are popular this time of year, you may ask? . . . well it's the "one little word" or "OLW" art prints that people like to pick to focus on for the rest of the year. Some people pick resolutions, some people pick one little word to push them through . . . it is just something fun to think about and decide if you too would like to join in on the fun. I love hand lettering these one little words for my customers and friends since it's been so popular the past few years! I started doing them a couple years ago, made it official last year and now looking forward to doing even more this year! I already have orders to fill but wanted you all to know that I am doing them again this year in case you'd like one done.

These prints of your custom one little word, look great framed, blown up to a poster size or saved as your desktop and used as a daily reminder to focus on your one little word! Plus they make an amazing piece of art if I do say so myself! ;)

 

Do you want to know why I really enjoy doing these for my clients? I love seeing people get excited about their words they choose as it's a personal journey and it brings people together to focus on making themselves better for the year and I don't know about you, but personally I am always striving for a better 'self'. ;) Plus some of the stories behind why they choose the words they do really are heartfelt! Of course I am super humbled to be asked to do this for you all and it feels amazing to be a part of it.  

 

I would love the opportunity to ink your #OLW for you . . .  just simply choose the custom one little word listing in my shop, to get your custom OLW design inked just for you!

I will be sharing my own personal #OLW soon as it took awhile to decide on a word but I *think* I am finally there! YAY! 

I was asked last week if I could ink kid's names in place of their OLW with this listing and that would be fine. So if you have been wanting to get your kids' names done to frame for their room or even your last name inked for a gallery wall, simply purchase this listing and then we can discuss your custom print! 

Also, in case you don't know, I am always inking some new art prints for the shop and adding them when I can and I am hoping to set a goal to add one NEW one a week in 2016, so we will see how that goes. In the meantime, if you have a great idea for a print, I would love to hear it so shoot me an email at laura@eyecandycs.com and we'll chat!

 
So tell me, what's YOUR one little word this year? Let me know 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! :)

TOP POSTS :: Best of December

Hello and would you look at that! Can you believe we are a couple days into the NEW YEAR already? Crazy right but I was soooooo ready to say goodbye to 2015 as it was not the nicest to me nor my family so we are all hoping this is a waaaaay better year and staying POSITIVE with this new year! ;)

Before we move on though, let's take a look back to see what you all were reading in December & loving the most, before this year gets going too much. As always, I would also like to say THANK YOU to all who stop by to read, comment from time to time & send me emails. I SEE IT ALL! So thanks again. xoxo

:: TOP POSTS for December 2015 ::

RECIPE :: No Bake Chocolate & Peanut Butter Squares

RECIPE :: Coca-Cola Cake + Snowman Bottle Craft

LETTERING :: DIY Party Photo Props

RECIPE :: Oreo Cookie Balls Snowman + FREE signs

RECIPE :: mini Minions Donuts

So now you are all caught up on some of the most read posts here on my blog. Hopefully you will just add me to your BlogLovin feed so you don't miss any posts. =) You can find it on the top right sidebar here - super easy to do!
See you next time! Which post was YOUR favorite this month? Let me know . .

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! :)