My newly designed biz cards.. so fun!

I am speaking about my dear sweet blog.  I have neglected this poor blog for so long.. and finally this evening, after updating my theme, and my wp install, I have also updated my portfolio.  (long overdue)  I have been so super slammed with work for everyone else, I have not had any time to blog.  But, for tonight anyway… my blog has a full belly.  Hopefully, I can keep the content coming!

happy weekend!

-S

Have you met my friends Joy and Janet?  They Rock. You can find them over at Moggit.com… and on Twitter… Well, with a lot of hard work on their part, today is NateDay! A day to celebrate Nate Berkus.  He’s a ROCKSTAR designer… and well, he has a new show premiering in September.  Ok, so I have to admit.. If I did not know Joy and Janet, I probably would not know this guys name.  I recognize him as ‘that design guy from tv’.  No Offense Nate.  I spend most of my days designing websites… not much tv time.  A N Y W A Y … Today is/was NateDay.. and a bunch of design bloggers posted various tidbits about Nate… they all had wonderful things to say.  It was pretty cool for me though.. because as a web designer, I look at things on a completely diff plane.  After looking at picture after picture of some of Nate’s interior designs… Here is what I got out of NateDay…

NateDay Web Design -- Click to Enlarge and see it in all it's glory...

Thanks Joy and Janet.. so much fun.. great inspiration.

-shan

and the kids had a blast dying eggs this week….

And so that… turned into this…

So fun!

I apologize for the brief interruption in blog posts! Christmas was sneaky this year and left me *almost* unprepared. I was scouting out stocking stuffers on the 24th… so last minute I am at times. Picking up where I left off…

I skipped a few prompts and move right on to ‘Packaging” last time I blogged. I was so excited to talk about the Francie Pants packaging, I whirled right past a few.

Album of the year… unfortunately, most days, you will find me listening to the Backyardigans, Mickey Mouse, and on good days, the Shrek 2 soundtrack (which is actually REALLY good… I like to put Holding Out for a Hero on repeat play and watch the kids dance like maniacs) I don’t get much time to listed to the stuff I enjoy, but I’m cool with that. I love to watch my kids dance and sing. But, if I had to choose, I would choose the Newsboys latest album, “In The Hands Of God” — Love it.

The best place… Home with the fam, of course!

New food… I have not tried anything new in quite some time. I am a Filet Mignon, cooked rare with long grain and wild rice, asparagus and a little hollandaise on the side kinda girl. I could eat that *every* day. seriously. However, I have really been wanting to try Thai food for a while now. Perhaps in the new year.

Change you made to the place you live… Definitely without a doubt, organizing our “loft” area. This is where the kids play, where I work, etc. Every day it would turn to shambles with toys everywhere. So, I spent about $100 and got a bunch of organizing bins, buckets, etc and viola! serenity.

Rush… well, that would be every Sunday morn, trying to get all the kids dressed and out the door to go to Church. We are always RUSHING! LOL. Seriously though… I get a rush every time I hear great things about my designs. Makes me want to keep on keeping on. Love it.

Packaging… see last post.

Tea of the year… I’m a coffee girl.. and I love lattes. I think I have a *small* addiction to coffee. I crave it. But, alas, it keeps me going.

Word or phrase… Bring it! BRING IT! I am ready.. so just bring it.

Shop… this is really an unfair question since I design mostly ecommerce sites. I can’t mention one and not the other.. so if you want to find some A M A Z I N G shops.. check out my portfolio.

Car ride… there is this stretch of road here that I like to drive down. I call it a short cut to several places around town.. but the speed limit on the road is 25mph, so it actually takes longer. Why do I like this stretch or road? It reminds me of home. It reminds me of where I grew up… my roots. It brings back so many memories.

New person… There are so many new people that I met this year.. both IRL and virtually. I can’t possibly name them all. The all made impressions on me in so many different ways.

Project… I am still working on this one.. it’s top secret for now. But, I am so in love with it.. it’s a personal project and it grows each day. Soon, you will know about it.

Startup… I would have to go with my Hubby’s consulting biz on this one. Semper Consulting Group. While he has had a side consulting biz for a while, he really ramped it up this year and I am so proud of him.

Web Tool… Picnik for sure. While I don’t use very much at all… Picnik has made my life SOOOOOO much easier. Picnik is so user friendly. It has been a breeze for my customers to use and create fab pics, etc. It helps make the websites I create look fab. Thanks Picnik!

Learning Experience… what you want, and what you need are often 2 very different things.

Gift… Lucy… she was the best gift this year. By far.

Insight or aha! moment… see “Learning Experience”

Social web moment… I found twitter. yes, that’s right.. I did not find twitter until THIS year… 2009. while I registered my username in 2008, I did not start using twitter until this year. And holy heck WHERE HAVE I BEEN??? Twitter has been so amazing for me and for my business. I can tell you that I would have been totally lost at Blogher without twitter. I can tell you that it has enabled me to meet (virtually) so many new people. I can tell you that I have worked on so many new projects, all because of twitter.

Stationery… I am soooo an email girl. Stationery is just not my thing. Paper on the other hand… there is this store, Archivers. It’s a scrapbook store. I don’t scrapbook at all. but I go to this store.. I buy scrapbook paper like a mad woman. Why? Because it’s awesome. it’s inspiring.. it’s colorful, beautiful, amazing. This is where a lot of my inspiration come from.

Laugh… The Office. I know, sad, right? I took a year off from watching The Office. I just got busy, and TV was not a priority (gasp!) But lately, I have been watching re-runs and LMAO. So, I think I might squeeze in those episodes I missed. Watching them makes me grateful for my job, and the fact that it is sooo not like that.

Ad… I was totally in love with Comcast’s ad campaign this year

Resolution… I don’t recall making any last year. eeeep. But this year, I want to get in shape. Like really get in shape… while I am still young. (35 is young, right???)

Happy New Year Friends!

I would really like to thank Gwen for hosting this challenge. Gwen, you are so very inspiring. I am so glad to have met you virtually.. and hope to meet you IRL some day. You are a true rockstar lady! Thanks so much for pushing the limits and keeping us on our feet. It was wonderful to reflect on this past year, and also start thinking about next year!

-Shan

*** Disclaimer***
This post was written with lots of LOVE and a bottle of WINE. Sorry for any typos… I will fix them in the morning!
******************

My most favorite packaging this year is 100% for sure the Francie Pants Packaging! I am so so happy with the way it turned out. This was my first stab at packaging design, and working together with Ciaran and Patrick from Francie Pants, we totally nailed it. I keep a box on my desk and look at it from time to time. Reminds me that hard work really pays off.

Check it out!

So fun!

-S

This one had to be a combined post for me. This year has been a whirlwind. Lucy (aka #8) arrived in June. Since then it has been non stop. I had to unexpectedly backburner a few things as Lucy was sick over the summer. Some face-time with the hospital was necessary and that forced me to postpone a few huge personal projects in order to work on other freelance stuff. Paying customers come first!

Peace came for me knowing that Lucy would be OK eventually… knowing all the other kids and my hubs were healthy.

The challenge, I’ve yet to overcome, it will have to wait until the new year. In the new year, I WILL finish those personal projects. Great thing will be happening around here… just wait and see.

-S

I have to pick just one??? I have 3 blogs that I have recently added to Google Reader and I truly look forward to new post each week.

Gwen Bell

Design Mom

IS•LY

Happy Reading!

-S