a sprinkle as a springboard...

I haven’t posted anything even remotely design-y in a long time. But I have done a bit of design work here and there, on the side, in my spare time. Par usual, most of my recent design work has been for friends - but that’s honestly my favorite kind. There is something about knowing and loving the person who is going to use the final piece that makes it so much more fun and meaningful and significant. I don’t think it works that way for everyone. Lots of people are happy to design for strangers - but I love stories - I love knowing hearts and hearing heartbeats - so I think that underlying current helps me when producing even the most insignificant of pieces. It’s the motivation I need to keep the computer open and make InDesign work for me even in the wee hours of the morning (in case you were wondering, I hate mornings. And I love sleeping. And beds are WAY more comfortable without computers in them!)

My latest creation was a sprinkle invite for my childhood best friend Anna. She is hosting the sprinkle for her older sister Sarah who is currently pregnant with her second child, another little boy. I grew up with Anna and Sarah - I’ve known them for as long as there has been knowing, so it is especially fun to design for them. Anna is also one of the most enthusiastic receivers of all things creative which adds another layer of amusement to the entire process. She is ridiculously complimentary and never fails to make me think I’m obscenely talented and should quit my day job and just go into business on my own. (This would NOT be a good idea. I would NOT make enough money to survive and I’m almost 30, paying the bills should absolutely stay a priority in my life!) In this particular case, my mom was also a recipient of the invitation and my dad almost instantaneously sent me a text asking if I had designed it because it “looked like me” confirming I do indeed have a signature style. I told him my logo is on the back, but he said he didn’t see it because it’s on the fridge. I feel a smidge bit like the elementary school kid who got a gold star - my parents have my artwork on their fridge! ha!

Anyway, there is a lot of conversation currently happening behind the scenes (and it causes me to have to stop and take deep breaths and calm myself) about moving my blog to my shop URL and working towards a more active online presence from a design perspective. It feels really scary and so much less anonymous, but there is also an element of excitement that is also hard to deny. I have no idea what will ACTUALLY come of this. Perhaps nothing. Maybe I will totally chicken out. But, nonetheless, I will keep designing for friends, and maybe for some strangers, and maybe make some monies on the side and all of that’s a good thing, right? EEEEeeeek! I am really not sure I can do this. CAN I DO THIS? Yes I have an undergrad in Communications and an MBA, I should be able to run a little online shop - but the time, OH MY GOODNESS the amount of time it takes to do this. But maybe it would make my heart beat faster and maybe it would be exhilarating. Maybe it would fail, but would that really matter? Probably not. I haven’t invested TONS of crazy cash. What do I really have to lose? Maybe I should just start running and just see what comes of it. Things always appear so different in the rearview mirror, in retrospect, but we can’t know what we’ll see looking back until we actually move forward…