Olive Juice

Have you ever heard of people saying olive juice instead of I Love You.  If you watch someone say it, it actually looks like they are saying I Love You.  It's kind of one of our things from time to time, so when I had to design three posters for one of my classes, it came to mind.  The posters are movie posters advertising a fictitious autobiographical romantic comedy.  Want to see what I came up with?

The idea of them is to use a phoot of ourselves and use Photoshop to manipulate it.  The first poster has to make use of changing our photo.  The second has to change another aspect of the images and focus on color painting.  The third poster must use glyphs.  all three must have underlying similarities and be considered part of a series.  My favorite is the third poster because I taught myself this very cool comic book technique.  I only wish it had not taken so long to do.  Do to time constraints I did not have time to add Mr. Fantastic to this one.  Perhaps this will be a free time type of thing!
Loves!!!

52 Lists. 52 Weeks. Goals for February

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!  That's what I get for being late all the time - a list that doesn't make sense for me to make!  I'm pretty sure this has happened to me before, right?!  Interesting!
Well, I know what I will do, I will share with you my list of things to try and accomplish in the next two months while Mr. Fantastic is away.  Here it is:
Paint the Mudroom
Build a bench and put up hooks in the Mudroom
Complete the tile back splash in the Kitchen
Paint the Kitchen
Put the handles on the cabinets in the Kitchen
Stain the table dark
Break all the tile out of the center of our dinning table and re-tile it
Finish the wainscoting in the 1/2 bath
Put up artwork in  the 1/2 bath
Find a little cupboard for the 1/2 bath in order to store toilet paper
Make and hang up curtains for our stairwell
Sew a seat cushion for the window seat in the stairwell
Paint the cord hider in our living room to match the wall
Paint some comic book inspired canvases for the gamer room
Hang shelves in the gamer room
Finish painting the wall in our Bedroom
Hang up the curtains and shelves in our bedroom
Paint the tops of the night-stands in our bedroom
Finish decorating our bedroom
Paint the master bathroom
Build a shelf and mirror frames in the master bath
Paint the guest bathroom
Install bead-board in the guest bathroom
Decorate the guest bathroom
Complete the "In this house we do..." painting in our entryway
Set up the digital photo frame that Mr. Fantastic got me for Valentine's Day 2 years ago
Make or buy a rug for our hallway
Finish making my jewelry holder/display
Paint the door edges of all the doors a bright and awesome random color!
Hang up lots of pretty pictures
Work on putting together my office/studio/craft-room/school room
And that's it!  Ha - I know, you are probably wondering, "that's it?"  It sure is a ton of stuff to accomplish in 2 months.  I will probably not accomplish even half of it, but wish me luck.  When I am not watching television, I will be working hard on this stuff.  That means I am going to also have to be more efficiant in doing my school work.  I really need to start a time planner again!

Well, I hope you all are enjoying the weekend!  Is the weather nice were you are at?
Loves!!!

A Little Inspiration to Jump Start Your Week

Happy Monday!
I want to share some really awesome projects with you today along with the links to their amazing creator's blogs.  I hope these pretty things get you out of the Winter blues rut and thinking about Spring coming soon!  Click on the images to be transported to their blog.

 

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Oh, I hope you all have fun with these pretty projects this week.  Enjoy!
Loves!!!

Critique Me: Shape and Space

This project turned out way better than I expected it to.  I spent a lot of time perfecting it.  The goal was to create a collage image that emphasized shape and space.  Below the image you can find explanations for what we should be thinking about while creating this.  Basically, the way that I understood it was that the placement of each element was supposed to represent it's distance from the viewer.  Things that I are smaller are further away.  Things that are behind other things are further away.  We also were to make sure that our positive shape and negative shapes were balanced at 50% each.  Come Wednesday, I will have to explain myself and critique my own work.  I'd love to hear some constructive criticism from my readers before I critique it myself!  Let me know what you think of this:

• Spatial Plane: The spatial plane is the area that your design will be composed within. It is made from the dimensions of height and width. In this case, your spatial plane is 8.5" x 11".
• Shape: Shape is the illusion of three-dimensional form, created with value, and without the benefit of line work.
• Positive and Negative Space:
  • Positive space is defined as the subject matter in your collage. This will be defined by the images that you choose. For each positive space element, find an image that you can cut along the edge, thus defining the shape of the image.
    
    Be sure that your images are of large enough scale that they will work well in your composition. Images that are too small will not work, as you will need too many of them to properly balance your composition.
    
    Use great caution when cutting your positive space images. Cut cleanly to the edge of the subject using your X-Acto knife. Be sure to use a cutting surface under your image to protect your working area.
  • Negative space is defined as the space that you will place your positive space images on, and relates to the mid-ground and background. Build your negative space as you would a background to lay your positive space images on, and build your composition from the bottom up. Your positive and negative space should be balanced at about 50% positive space over 50% negative space background.
• Composition: Composition refers to the visual balance within your collage. Will you use elements of symmetry, asymmetry, repetition, rhythm? How will you find visual balance within your composition using your cut shapes? Your composition should be visually balanced with a good ratio of 50% positive image and 50% negative space as a general rule of thumb.
• Compositional planning: Before you glue anything down, play with your shapes and backgrounds to find the very best visual balance.
• Scale: Scale relates to the size of the positive images within the composition. To create a well-balanced composition, have elements that are in the foreground, mid-ground, and background of the composition. Remember, things that are in the foreground are larger than in the mid-ground, and smaller in the background.
• Proximity: Proximity refers to the spatial relationship of one shape or object to another.
• Overlap: Images that overlap create the illusion of space. The shape or object in front that overlaps an image in the mid-ground or background creates the illusion of space because of this overlap.
• Image resources: Magazines, brochures, periodicals, junk mail. Find photographic images that are bold and large that you can incorporate into your collage. A minimum of three images and maximum of eight images (including one or two background images) will be sufficient. You may also use found materials, such as foil, string, and textural surfaces to incorporate into your collage.

Let Me Explain

 

The very first thing that I did for this project was start researching quotes.  I chose the theme of design/art because I really wanted to emphasize the elements and principles of design and have a chance to practice them again in a very obvious way.  As I mentioned before, I believe that the most important element of design is line, so when I came across this quote that spoke of line, I knew that it would be perfect and offer a lot of options for a poster design. 
The first thing that I decided upon was a color scheme.  I chose to use a triadic color scheme to create a strong visual contrast. In a triadic color scheme, the colors create good contrast (I love contrast) but also remain harmonious and compliment each other.  Not one color calls for more attention than another.  Through experimenting, I discovered that it was best to choose one primary color in my palette and use less of the other two colors.  This helped keep the focus on the important part - the quote itself.  I also decided to add in a neutral color for more interest without being overpowering.
My original thoughts about ways to illustrate the quote involved a box, but it seemed too cliche.  I happened to look at some notes I had laying on the table and realized that I have a bad (or good?) habit of writing on lined paper but not writing in the lines of the paper.  This stood out to me as an excellent way to give more meaning to the quote.  I knew that I would have to incorporate this idea into the poster design.  I continued to brainstorm other ways that I could illustrate not staying within the lines.  I came back to the idea of the box and realized that the outside format of the poster could serve as a box and I could create an illusion that my design continues outside of the box.
This idea brought me to yet another idea of repetition.  I knew that my quote was not long enough or popular enough to only use one time if I wanted it to extend beyond the edges of the design.  I would need it to repeat several ties so that the audience would be able to read each word of the quote and piece it all together in the correct order to understand the concept.  I decided to write the quote repeatedly within a text-box larger than the format of my design so that each visible line of text would have a slightly different placement than the ones before it or after it, guaranteeing that each word of the quote would at some point be visible within the design format. 
In the end, I manipulated each line of text so that I could highlight a word on each line in a way that made the entire quote readable in one flowing line. The highlighted text runs from the top left corner and curves around the poster in a way that defys normal left-to-right reading habits but at the same time, it demands to be read in a proper sentence because of the emphasis that the bright pink places on the text. 
To imitate the curving pink text, I chose to curve each line of text as well.  This creates a peaceful rhythm that, starting from the top of the design, seems to ripple down the poster to the bottom, again bringing the eye from top to bottom and reenforcing the readability.  I chose a font that incorporates line in order to once again bring to surface this important element of design.  To show hierarchy within the text, I used a couple techniques: 1) I made some words a larger point size than others (You Don't Have To, and LINES).  I also made these words in all uppercase letters. And  2) I used color to color in the word lines to emphasis it.  Lastly, I chose to make that color go outside the lines of the word "LINES" to complete the emphasis on line and to prove the point of the quote.

No Matter What

Here is my latest project for school:

Have a lovely weekend!

Loves!!!

Design Principles

Hey all, did you all have a great week?  My week was super busy and out of the ordinary.  I worked a crazy shift that I am not used to.  The great thing about this week was that I was working for a different section of the company like I will be doing for a while more.  I learned so much this week about my job.  It was truly exciting and amazing.  I got to see so many things that I had never before seen.  I love this! 
This week was also my 4th week of classes.  It's hard to believe that we are already almost half-way through the term.  I thought I would share with you a really simple assignment that we had in my design fundamentals class.  Let me know what you think of it!

Upper Left – Rhythm/Movement

I’m interested in progressive rhythm. Starting at the top of the design and going toward the middle, soft background lines appear closer and closer until meeting and then begin pulling further apart again as the eye continues to the bottom of the design. This rhythm involves repletion of lines, however the lines ( or rectangular white negative space shapes) are changing in a regular manner that creates a progressive rhythm with a calming effect that is enhanced by the horizontal lines. Where the lines converge in the center, it creates a visual focal point enhanced by the addition of the darker jagged line that crosses through the design. While the horizontal lines create a peaceful effect, the jagged line creates a sense of motion. The line begins on the left and travels to the right. As it pulls our eye across the design, the line change abruptly at each point and begins traveling in a new direction. The diagonal slices suggest rushed and impulsive movement. The overall design is balanced in two ways. First, it is balanced between calming and jarring. Second, it is balanced by a dynamic combination of top to bottom symmetry in the background, and left to right asymmetry in the foreground.

Upper Right: Emphasis

In this design, the light value of the letter R is in complete contrast to the rest of the elements. It is centered in the design. Obviously, it is the focal point of the design. The use of a letter helps in creating this focal point. The subtle use of lines coming in from the edges of the design leads our eyes to the center as well. As one last use of emphasis, a bold dark shape that resembles a comic book style thought cloud or a star-like sparkle surrounds the letter R. The viewer’s eyes are first drawn to the center of the design, then they follow the directional points toward the edge of the design as they would follow an arrow , are finally brought back into the center through the subtle lines and once again focus on the emphasized focal point – the letter R.

Lower Left: Scale

To enunciate scale, this design uses both large scale and small scale to directly oppose each other. Initially the eye is drawn to the large white circles heavily contrasted by the black background. There is an obvious diagonal separation running from lower left to upper right where the black background gradually becomes a white background through the use of pointillism. This transition draws the eye upward to the smaller scale black dots that that gradually decrease in number the closer the eye comes to the top left corner of the design. Balance is obtained through the amount of texture and value on the opposing sides of the diagonal. The combination of asymmetry, pointillism, value transition, and repetition creates a unified design.

Lower Right: Proximity/Repetition

The proximity of the tightly grouped line combinations in the center of the design create the focal point or main component of the design. As the shapes ripple outward, they grow further apart and less defined. This creates less of a draw to the eye. Despite the change in shape as the eye moves outward, there is still a repetitive implication through the use of curves that imitate the initial shape running through the center of the design. Adding more visual interest, the soft stripes of the background repeat the vertical lines that format the edges of the design. This subtle mimicking of the formatted edges in close correlation to the calmness of a ripple, the repetitive elements of this design combine to create a soft design that also mimics a cloudlike shape of weightless dreamlike tranquility.

I'm super excited for this weekend.  Tomorrow night, my friend is coming over so that we can work on decorations for the party we are having on Saturday.  It is a gender reveal party for some friends who don't yet know the gender of the baby they are having.  My friend that is coming to help me decorate and I are the only ones that know!  Super exciting!
I hope your weekend is just as wonderful!
Loves!!!

Regarding Being a Designer

As designers we have an intended message.  Do we always get that message across?  No.  However, there are certain things we do that increase the likelihood of getting the intended message across.  The most important thing we can do is to know our audience.  Without knowing our audience, there is no way to understand our message in the same way that they will understand it.  Often times we don't necessarily have commonalities with the audience so research becomes an important part of the design process.  We must research not only our message, but our audience.  We must know their culture, what they find funny, what they find sad, what angers them, makes them smile, interests them, turns them away.  Each design project that we set out to complete must begin with visits to a library, surfing the internet, or immersing yourself within the audience.  Success as a designer depends upon this.
Unity is the most important of all the design principles.  Without unity, a piece feels lost and broken.  Each part of a work of art must have a purpose.  Each brush stroke, each line, each hue, each subject within the piece is there for a reason This purpose or reason is what causes unity within a piece.  Without purpose and reason, each element of the piece serves simply as an individual part rather than an entire whole.  My example of unity is the picture of all the hands interlocking.  Separately they are just hands, but together they are a web of support and unity.

Line is the most important design element.  It is the simplest form of design but without it, nothing else would exist.  Lines or the combination of multiple lines create shape, pattern, texture, space, motion, and value.  Now you don't need line to create color, but color is also just the cherry on top of the ice-cream sunday....it doesn't make or break the sunday, but it makes it just a little better.  In sticking with this analogy, line on the other hand is the ice cream.  You can't have a sunday without the ice-cream.  Without the ice cream, it's just toppings; it's just the extra stuff that makes the sunday a sunday instead of a basic bowl of ice cream.  The example image I chose for demonstrating this concept shows merely a bunch of lines.  However, each of the lines combines into a shape. The lines create a pattern and texture. The shapes create texture as well.  The positioning of the shapes creates motion and an illusion of space as the shapes move back and forth in front of you coming closer and then receding into the distance.  without the simple line, none of this would be possible.
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Well, I hope you have a wonderful start to your week.  Wish me luck in starting my new position tomorrow.  I'm a little nervous and have no real idea of what to expect.  Scary!!
Loves!!!

Photoshoot! Beautiful baby girl!!

This little lady was such a pleasure to work with.  She is very photogenic and always loves to smile.  I asked her mum if I could use her baby girl for practice with my new camera and she was quite excited to let me.  The shoot was about 2 hours long which I now know is probably excessive, and I took about 500 pictures.  Later, during editing, I brought that huge number down to 200 total.  That includes all the originals that were good, black and whites, and special edits as well. 

How sweet is she?!  Love to pieces! She is such a doll baby.
Loves!!!

And To Think That I Am Old!!!

So, it's true, I had another birthday!  I love birthdays, but sometimes they make me sad.  Instead of thinking about all the things I have done and the accomplishments I have made, I start to think about the things I have not done or falling short on goals.  This year was different though...I was very excited.  I can hardly believe that I am 27 now.  That seems so wrong.  27 is almost 30 and 30 is old!  It's not really, but looking back in the past when I was much younger, it did seem so old!
For my celebration, I left the planning up to mr. Fantastic which was a silly idea.  I wanted to go to dinner with friends and then to the piano bar.  the day before, I decided that I should probably call for reservations since a lot of us were going and he had not called yet.  The restaurant was booked and so was the piano bar!  What?!?  I was so sad.  It was time for a plan B.  My friend and I started brainstorming and decided it would be fun to eat at a different restaurant and then play rockband back at our house.  That's what we did!  The day of the party, the Mr. went out to get his car fixed so I asked if he could get me a cake.  How had he not thought of that yet either?  Such a guy!  He brought back 3 cakes because he couldn't decide which one I would like better.  We still have cake!  So, that evening I curled my hair and prettied my face and out we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory for an amazing dinner.  My friends decided that it was very important that the balloon bending guy make me a birthday crown.  He made me a giant candle that looked more like a penis and wrote happy birthday on it.  I was so embarrassed but I wore it all through dinner!

So silly!  After dinner we went back to the house and played games and enjoyed company.  It was lovely.  I love my friends!  For the actual day of my birthday we ordered pizza from the gourmet pizza place that I love and watched a mvie together all curled up on the couch.  It was so sweet.
He had already given me my birthday present the month before on my fake birthday November 17th.  It is my new love.  I've wanted a really nice DSLR for a while now and I finally have one.  She is beautiful and the pictures are incredible!  Check her out!

Yup, my beautiful new camera!

I'll show you some pictures I have taken with her real soon.  Have a great weekend!  It's almost Christmas, so enjoy your time with family!
Loves!!!

Finding Peace

I really am here!  All goes oh, so well!  Life is treating me kindly.  Happiness is all around!  Things have finally quieted down and now I am back to blog.  Now, please know that at first, it will be slow, but I'll get there.  In the meantime, here are some videos for you to watch!  Enjoy!


Hudson - Against The Grain from Dropbear on Vimeo.





Loves!!!

Our New Home - Building, Moving and Starting to Decorate

Alright, alright, alright!  I think I have held off long enough on a post about our new home.  Let me tell you a little bit about it, and then I will share some pictures...ok, a lot of pictures!  When my younger sister was down visiting, her and I must have looked at a million houses and each one just had little things we didn't like.  A huge issue we kept running into was houses that smelled like pets or had problems from their last owners.  One day we decided that we just really wanted to look at a home that was still being built.  The home we had chosen was in the drywall stages and already was being planned as a model home so it had many upgrades planned for it.  When little me and I looked at it, we loved it!  The floor plan was huge and spacious, it had an upstairs, and was in a cute new neighborhood.  We decided to bring Mr Fantastic to take a look.  He took a look and said ok without even looking at the other similar model homes that were finished!  so the next day we started the paperwork and went to pick out a few things that were not already set in stone.  We decided to upgrade to granite countertops in the kithen and Marble counters in the bathrooms.  In the end, we did have them move the kitchen island out 18 inches and put down a little more of the "wood" flooring.  We are so happy that we made these changes.
Move in day was pretty easy because the moving company did most of the hard work.  They did all the heavy lifting!  All we really have to do is unpack the boxes.  Easy enough, right?  Yeah, well, it's a month later and we are still unpacking, and painting, and decorating!
So now comes the fun part.  We really like color and pattern and all that jazz, so we have been working super hard on getting it the way we want it.  The pictures below are some from the finishing stages, the moving stage, and then the beginning of the decorating phase.  I hope you enjoy!

getting ready for siding

starting to look pretty

the

picking out flooring and granite

the great room

again

getting a window seat

getting the kitchen cabinets in

deciding on a backsplash

paint colors for the living room

bathroom vanity

the entry

starting to get the flooring down

the outside is complete

bathroom colors

things i found for the living room

move in day

dinning room colors

picking out cabinet handles

do the boxes ever end?

a full garage!

the crafting studio

getting the fridge

brown for the family room

Getting the stripes started in the family room

putting on the finishing color - turquoise!

yellow in the laundry room

gray in the master bath

my first attept at the master bedroom walls

the stencil just did not meet where it needed to so....

I switched it up and tried again!

Here is what I have so far!

Mr Fantastic picked this out for me and put it together!

The rest of the bedroom furniture

and our new bed!

 Alright, I promise to put more pictures up really soon!  since it is Friday for me, I hope your weekend rocks! 
Loves!!!