lovely leaves in crimson and violet

I wish I could tell you the name of this plant. It has broad leaves that unfurl from the center. The plant has a bit of a tropical flair to it. I secretly snapped some photos of my grandmother's garden recently for use in a future Christmas gift and this was one of her fine specimens.

I adore funky old signs

This spring we ventured to Lakewood, Ohio to celebrate Grandma's 80th birthday at an ice cream shop and a fabulously vintage flavored bowling alley. Love the signs!

this campaign impressed me!

I saw this drunk driving campaign on a blog I read at work and was equally impressed with it. So, I know this is not much of a post, but I am going to direct you to check it out and read all the details (including the English translation of the copy). Simple, memorable, and effective – quality graphic design for sure.

summer pinks

The Meijer Gardens, a local favorite, happens to be open late on Tuesday nights – perfect for an after dinner adventure when the weather is perfect and bathtime is worth skipping. There is nothing like playing and taking in some nature for relaxation.

sparkly fun summer reading t-shirts

 One of the favorite part of my jobs as the graphic designer for the Grand Rapids Public Library is designing the summer reading t-shirt. I get to place an order for thousands of them (isn't that amazing?) and, as the summer plays out, I have the pleasure of spotting them on enthusiastic young readers all over my city!

This year's theme is "Dream Big" for the kids and "Own the Night" for the teens. I always try to glean something out of the provided clip art and expand on that for our summer reading logo and t-shirt design. This year we used eyes peering out of the darkness. I was thrilled to find out that using a metallic silver ink wouldn't cost any more than white. Snazzy!

A note to my dear readers: I am so sorry for my recent blog negligence! I have been snapping photos, designing things, emailing myself with post ideas – but I just haven't made it to the computer. You know how summer weekends can be, packed with all the good stuff but only pit-stopping up at home. I am anticipating some "home days" in the near future so I hope to get blogging again. Happy summer and happy crafting, gardening, creating to all of you!

foxglove freckles and fur

The foxgloves in my backyard garden are especially pleasing to me this year. I added more last summer and now there is a whole lovely grouping of them just beginning to bloom.

in honor of handwork

From my personal collection of pieces by my great-grandmothers (you may have caught a glimpse in this recent post):

Some of it is embroidery but others must have names that I don't know. The tiny green woven knots floating in the openings on the pillowcase? The astounding intricacy in purple on another pillowcase? If you happen to know what the processes used to create these are called, please leave a comment and let me know.

purple, pink, and lovely lime

Now that I have completely redone my front and back gardens and filled any available space in the side yard with plants and flowers, I have moved on to an attempt at some container gardening. Something has to scratch my greenhouse itch!

We visited a HomeGoods store when were in Ohio where I picked up the pot for a mere $15. The plants I chose followed the color scheme already established up fronts: reddish purples, pinks, and lime green. I am especially excited to see this hot pink grass get taller!

Note: The white tag is for the plant I know as "sweet potato vine."

tasty color

My apologies to my vegetarian and vegan readers, but these kabobs on the grill just looked beautiful to me!