Friday, November 21, 2008
Werkin' werkin' werkin'!
Just a quick note to say hi and to let ya'll know that the new line is looking S.W.E.E.T! I am putting SO much concerted effort into this venture and I could not be prouder of thy self! Here's a sneak peek of what's to come...
Saturday, November 8, 2008
The "Fall" of New Arrivals
Haha, I just had to do a play on words in the title in regards to our current season.
I'm cool like that tho. ;)
S'guess what?
I've been a busy beaver!
In the coming weeks, urbanLove will be unveiling an
e-x-p-a-n-d-e-d line of stationery!
That's right folks, in a few weeks time you too can shop for something other than invitations!
I'm so excited about this venture! This does mean though over the next few weeks I will be diving in head first into my design time and won't have much time for anything else other than sleeping and eating, lol.
This being said I may not be blogging for a while. This saddens me because writing is cathartic for me but my business is my passion and no one ever said it was going to be easy. I will actually appreciate my art alot more after putting all this hard work into it. It will be worth it!
Let's do some quick math shall we? Just for poops and chuckles.
I've currently got around 30 designs posted.
Then I'm going to add several other items based on each of those 30-ish designs.
Several times 30-ish equals to...(pulls out calculator cause I'm bad at math)...just under 300 new items. Well, you know what I mean :)
So I figure after I get the new items created and posted on my soon-to-come revamp of my site, then I can really sit back with my hot toddy (or in my case, my Hot Nick) and look ahead to the good things that will come! By then it will almost be 2009...oh, and so not Fall anymore...so much for my title then - dammit I was so close!
Oh well.
Point is you need to check back in a while and see how things are going to be moving and shaking at urbanLove. I guarantee you will like!
I'm cool like that tho. ;)
S'guess what?
I've been a busy beaver!
In the coming weeks, urbanLove will be unveiling an
e-x-p-a-n-d-e-d line of stationery!
That's right folks, in a few weeks time you too can shop for something other than invitations!
I'm so excited about this venture! This does mean though over the next few weeks I will be diving in head first into my design time and won't have much time for anything else other than sleeping and eating, lol.
This being said I may not be blogging for a while. This saddens me because writing is cathartic for me but my business is my passion and no one ever said it was going to be easy. I will actually appreciate my art alot more after putting all this hard work into it. It will be worth it!
Let's do some quick math shall we? Just for poops and chuckles.
I've currently got around 30 designs posted.
Then I'm going to add several other items based on each of those 30-ish designs.
Several times 30-ish equals to...(pulls out calculator cause I'm bad at math)...just under 300 new items. Well, you know what I mean :)
So I figure after I get the new items created and posted on my soon-to-come revamp of my site, then I can really sit back with my hot toddy (or in my case, my Hot Nick) and look ahead to the good things that will come! By then it will almost be 2009...oh, and so not Fall anymore...so much for my title then - dammit I was so close!
Oh well.
Point is you need to check back in a while and see how things are going to be moving and shaking at urbanLove. I guarantee you will like!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Saturday Morning Cartoons :)
If you grew up in the 80’s like I did, I’m sure you remember with fondness the greatness otherwise known as Saturday Morning cartoons.
Here I’ve compiled a list of cartoons that I watched with deep fascination; an imagination so bold that it was to the point where I could almost see myself living their lives amongst mushroom huts and tree trunks and the concert stage.
You’ll understand what I mean in a moment.
But these cartoons shaped my imagination as a child, they made me believe, they made my mind expand and ultimately, made me be the imaginative genius I am today.
Yeah. Over a cartoon.
Well, they were really great!
You may recognize some of these cartoons, or maybe not, but either way I had a great time when I was a kid in the 80’s. Teletoon Retro has now enabled me to revisit that time. Woot!
The Smurfs – I didn’t clue into this until I was a teenager, but think about it: one girl living amongst an all-male village. I think you know where I am going with this one…and don’t you think that Handy Smurf could have been a precursor to Mike Holmes?
The Gummi Bears – these cute and fun characters were a joy to watch and during the intro when they slid down the trunk of the tree I could almost feel the wind whipping through my hair and my stomach do a somersault.
The Barbapapas – Lickity Split Barba Trick! LOVED this cartoon, I don’t know why, but I did. Maybe because they were enabled with the ability to mold themselves into any object. How acrobatic of them! ::tries to lift leg over head…can’t…quite…do it…::
Fables of the Green Forest – I used to live in the country as a child and go exploring amongst the forest for hours. I could smell the nature in the air, see the sun shine through the trees with a beauty that only the forest could give, and hear the chipmunks and squirrels flutter about the leaf-laden floor. Watching this show made me want to be a small animal so I could spend my days running up and down trees and in and out of hollow trunks.
Jem and the Holograms – the ultimate 80’s girl band cartoon. Yeah ok and probably the only one. Regardless, an awesome show. Watching Jem made me wanna rock out like Madonna and shop at the malls like I had all the money in the world. A girl’s dream come true: music and clothes and the love of a hottie boyfriend.
I dunno, that’s what I got from it.
Sesame Street – not technically a cartoon, it was still great to watch, as I swayed my head from side to side during the intro song. And somehow even then I knew that Gordon and Susan were getting’ it on. Don’t ask how, I just knew, ya know? And how addictive is the 12 song? “1234 5 6789 10 11 12, do dododo do do! Twelve!”
Here I’ve compiled a list of cartoons that I watched with deep fascination; an imagination so bold that it was to the point where I could almost see myself living their lives amongst mushroom huts and tree trunks and the concert stage.
You’ll understand what I mean in a moment.
But these cartoons shaped my imagination as a child, they made me believe, they made my mind expand and ultimately, made me be the imaginative genius I am today.
Yeah. Over a cartoon.
Well, they were really great!
You may recognize some of these cartoons, or maybe not, but either way I had a great time when I was a kid in the 80’s. Teletoon Retro has now enabled me to revisit that time. Woot!
The Smurfs – I didn’t clue into this until I was a teenager, but think about it: one girl living amongst an all-male village. I think you know where I am going with this one…and don’t you think that Handy Smurf could have been a precursor to Mike Holmes?
The Gummi Bears – these cute and fun characters were a joy to watch and during the intro when they slid down the trunk of the tree I could almost feel the wind whipping through my hair and my stomach do a somersault.
The Barbapapas – Lickity Split Barba Trick! LOVED this cartoon, I don’t know why, but I did. Maybe because they were enabled with the ability to mold themselves into any object. How acrobatic of them! ::tries to lift leg over head…can’t…quite…do it…::
Fables of the Green Forest – I used to live in the country as a child and go exploring amongst the forest for hours. I could smell the nature in the air, see the sun shine through the trees with a beauty that only the forest could give, and hear the chipmunks and squirrels flutter about the leaf-laden floor. Watching this show made me want to be a small animal so I could spend my days running up and down trees and in and out of hollow trunks.
Jem and the Holograms – the ultimate 80’s girl band cartoon. Yeah ok and probably the only one. Regardless, an awesome show. Watching Jem made me wanna rock out like Madonna and shop at the malls like I had all the money in the world. A girl’s dream come true: music and clothes and the love of a hottie boyfriend.
I dunno, that’s what I got from it.
Sesame Street – not technically a cartoon, it was still great to watch, as I swayed my head from side to side during the intro song. And somehow even then I knew that Gordon and Susan were getting’ it on. Don’t ask how, I just knew, ya know? And how addictive is the 12 song? “1234 5 6789 10 11 12, do dododo do do! Twelve!”
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Mmmm IndianSummer :)
This is a quicky just to say:
Guess what I did today?
I left my window rolled DOWN on my car.
Yeah.
What's today?
November freaking fourth!
That's right...a high of 17.5 degrees in my small town.
Not looking forward to winter so I am soaking up the sun while I can!!
Guess what I did today?
I left my window rolled DOWN on my car.
Yeah.
What's today?
November freaking fourth!
That's right...a high of 17.5 degrees in my small town.
Not looking forward to winter so I am soaking up the sun while I can!!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
My 1st Bridal Show
Holyohmygooddness!
I launched my business 6 weeks ago and have already got a Bridal Show underneath my belt! WHOOPIE! I's doin' good!
So yeah, if you can't already tell, this blog is about my 1st bridal expo. Set up was initially supposed to be on Friday night but seeing as though I had nothing but a small box of supplies, a bag of green bricks (yes. lime green bricks), a rolled up vinyl sign, a chair and a portfolio, I simply asked if I could show up on Saturday an hour before the show to set up because it wasn't going to take me long.
I got permission to do so and it took me all of 35 minutes between going back and forth to my car for the bricks (someone forgot how heavy those suckers can get) and the other supplies and displaying them on the table provided.
I wasn't sure what to expect. I was a little nervous because although I liked my designs, I realized that for some people they may be too bold and outrageous. Not everyone can handle colour, lol.
Anyways to make a long story short, I rocked it! People LOVED my designs, they commented so many times on how fun and colourful they were, how it was really great to see something with these design elements in a wedding invitation, and how some of my designs had a sense of humour which seemed to reflect the personality of several brides that stopped by.
Everyone loved them! Well most of everyone. I realize that not every bride is looking for something as unique and different as I was offering, and there was alot of selection at the expo in terms of invites; traditional "from Grandma's era" styles to beautiful thick metallic cardstock, to pocketfolds...
It was a great weekend, and a long one (I. am. whooped.) but one that I won't forget! I've included some images; one being a sketch I did a few weeks ago when I was trying to blueprint my booth in my mind, and the others are, as you can see, from the Expo itself.
Had a great time, looking forward to the next one! Maybe I'll see YOU there!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Music @ Work
Ahhh music. It's like my blood.
Like most creative types I need music while I design. Letting my imagination flow through my veins and out my fingertips onto the canvas otherwise known as the screen is one of my most favourite ways of release. And really, grooving in my seat to a good tune as I work on a new idea is like, the BEST.
I was first going to list five of my top faves, but that proved to be both silly and difficult. I love all kinds of music too much to try and limit myself to five songs that I feel would define me as a person. But the five I have listed are pretty rockin’ tunes! Maybe you’ll like them too!
I've also written a little "behind the scenes" blurb about a memory I have attached to it. It's just a simple way of letting you get to know me. :-)
Spin Spin Sugar - Sneaker Pimps
Story: This song was first introduced to me by an old boyfriend who frequented raves and bars that played this kind of trance-style music.
For a short time I was into him.
For a long time after that, I was into this song. To this day I can still rave dance to this song for extended periods of time with nothing but a bottle of water to quench my thirst.
Taste My Blood – Trole
Story: Trole was the band to see if you wanted to lose yourself a rock n’ roll show that coupled high impact energy and band members that interacted with the crowd with enthusiastic stamina instead of just standing there on stage.
Based in St. Thomas/Port Stanley Ontario, Trole’s music was influenced by punk rock, rockabilly and blues and fused all three styles into one helluva show that was loaded with electricity. I should know; I’ve been to enough to say that I danced my ass off at every show I attended and was almost as sweaty as the band members at the end of the night.
Now about the song. Taste My Blood is by far the sexiest song I’ve ever heard. IMO. It’s saturated with a melody that makes you want to tear off your clothes and dance naked in the rain and intoxicates your senses better than any basement manufactured mood enhancer.
The bluesy groovaliciousness of the opening rift immediately catches your attention. Couple that with vocals that are soft and sexual and gentle guitar picks you have a great beginning to a song.
It builds from there with a culmination of guitars and drums that make your hips want to cha-cha-cha to the beat, and a melody filled with beautiful energy that brings you to the climax of the song, where all departments explode into a harmonious atmosphere that swells like a wave of emotion and carries you right to the end, leaving you staring at yourself in the mirror going “Reow chicka rewo reow!”
Feel Good Inc. – Gorillaz
Story: godilovethissong!
This song reminds me of Kerry. Kerry was the girl who introduced me to my boyfriend Nick. ::insert heart emoticon here::
She always had it playing and it didn’t take me long to get into it myself. I’ve since adopted it as my favourite get-me-up-and-running song.
Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard
Story: This song takes me back to the teen dances that were held at the local community centre when I was a teenager.
I'd attend every month, and me and my friends would hang out in the bathroom checking our makeup and gossip about boys which always lead to them giving me a hard time about if I was finally going to summon the nerve to ask my latest crush to dance to the next slow song. (I never did; fear of rejection choked me every time).
But as soon as the opening vocals to PSSOM blasted out the speakers, we would beeline to the dance floor and rock out as if this song was ours and ours alone. This is one of the many songs that takes me back to a time of first stage rebellion, junior high crushes, pinning your jeans (ugh, yes I did that), popular girls who weren't so pretty on the inside, and all the rock music we could handle, being 15 and all.
Mayonaise – Smashing Pumpkins
Story: This list would NOT be complete without mention of my most favouritest band in the whole wide world!
Mayonaise is a beautiful song, plain and simple. The melody matches the mood, the lyrics convey genuine emotion, and Billy’s tone of voice envelopes the passion that makes this song worthy of praise. It's also on my imaginary dream acoustic set list, for whenever I master the art of playing guitar.
Like most creative types I need music while I design. Letting my imagination flow through my veins and out my fingertips onto the canvas otherwise known as the screen is one of my most favourite ways of release. And really, grooving in my seat to a good tune as I work on a new idea is like, the BEST.
I was first going to list five of my top faves, but that proved to be both silly and difficult. I love all kinds of music too much to try and limit myself to five songs that I feel would define me as a person. But the five I have listed are pretty rockin’ tunes! Maybe you’ll like them too!
I've also written a little "behind the scenes" blurb about a memory I have attached to it. It's just a simple way of letting you get to know me. :-)
Spin Spin Sugar - Sneaker Pimps
Story: This song was first introduced to me by an old boyfriend who frequented raves and bars that played this kind of trance-style music.
For a short time I was into him.
For a long time after that, I was into this song. To this day I can still rave dance to this song for extended periods of time with nothing but a bottle of water to quench my thirst.
Taste My Blood – Trole
Story: Trole was the band to see if you wanted to lose yourself a rock n’ roll show that coupled high impact energy and band members that interacted with the crowd with enthusiastic stamina instead of just standing there on stage.
Based in St. Thomas/Port Stanley Ontario, Trole’s music was influenced by punk rock, rockabilly and blues and fused all three styles into one helluva show that was loaded with electricity. I should know; I’ve been to enough to say that I danced my ass off at every show I attended and was almost as sweaty as the band members at the end of the night.
Now about the song. Taste My Blood is by far the sexiest song I’ve ever heard. IMO. It’s saturated with a melody that makes you want to tear off your clothes and dance naked in the rain and intoxicates your senses better than any basement manufactured mood enhancer.
The bluesy groovaliciousness of the opening rift immediately catches your attention. Couple that with vocals that are soft and sexual and gentle guitar picks you have a great beginning to a song.
It builds from there with a culmination of guitars and drums that make your hips want to cha-cha-cha to the beat, and a melody filled with beautiful energy that brings you to the climax of the song, where all departments explode into a harmonious atmosphere that swells like a wave of emotion and carries you right to the end, leaving you staring at yourself in the mirror going “Reow chicka rewo reow!”
Feel Good Inc. – Gorillaz
Story: godilovethissong!
This song reminds me of Kerry. Kerry was the girl who introduced me to my boyfriend Nick. ::insert heart emoticon here::
She always had it playing and it didn’t take me long to get into it myself. I’ve since adopted it as my favourite get-me-up-and-running song.
Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard
Story: This song takes me back to the teen dances that were held at the local community centre when I was a teenager.
I'd attend every month, and me and my friends would hang out in the bathroom checking our makeup and gossip about boys which always lead to them giving me a hard time about if I was finally going to summon the nerve to ask my latest crush to dance to the next slow song. (I never did; fear of rejection choked me every time).
But as soon as the opening vocals to PSSOM blasted out the speakers, we would beeline to the dance floor and rock out as if this song was ours and ours alone. This is one of the many songs that takes me back to a time of first stage rebellion, junior high crushes, pinning your jeans (ugh, yes I did that), popular girls who weren't so pretty on the inside, and all the rock music we could handle, being 15 and all.
Mayonaise – Smashing Pumpkins
Story: This list would NOT be complete without mention of my most favouritest band in the whole wide world!
Mayonaise is a beautiful song, plain and simple. The melody matches the mood, the lyrics convey genuine emotion, and Billy’s tone of voice envelopes the passion that makes this song worthy of praise. It's also on my imaginary dream acoustic set list, for whenever I master the art of playing guitar.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
I. Am. In. Business!
It's official! urbanLove's website is up and running! It's all so very exciting, this is a new adventure for me so I hope it's one that will take me places, show me things and allow me to grow personally and professionally.
When I first considered going into business for wedding invitation design, I wasn't sure where I would end up with it. I did massive research for businesses both local and from afar. Most people were doing the traditional, hand made cards where some were doing them in a fancy scrap booking fashion. It was rare if I found a company that designed their invitations digitally.
I wasn't sure which route I wanted to take. First I wanted to make the traditional kind with simple card stock and ribbons because that seemed to be the easiest but quickly learned that that is not who I am. I am more eccentric than that.
So then I thought I would do them by hand by going the popular scrapbooking route and adhere embellishments or what I called "card candy" to make them look perty. And I made some pretty neat looking cards during this phase...but something was still off. I needed to do more internal research and figure out who I was and what I wanted to offer.
Then it hit me. I love graphic design, and have always wanted to enhance that creativity within so why not learn a few tricks and design them using the right software?! Perfect!
I knew that was the right decision because I felt it. You feel things sometimes, kinda like trusting your gut. And I felt that by creating the invitations on a computer and harnessing my inner graphic designer, I could combine the love for both art and emotion. Now how cool is THAT?
I was a little, shall we say, apprehensive when first embarking on this entrepreneurial journey. I mean, I realized that I would be putting out my ideas, my blood and sweat for all to see and critique. But I've always stayed true to myself so as long as I didn't lose that, I'd be fine.
So I got a web designer to work with the initial ideas I had created in Illustrator for my website and he worked his magic from there. I had a small budget and he was able to work with that along with my many changes and ideas and the outcome was perfect!
So now it's official.
I'm in business.
Me. Lisa.
My very own boss/decision maker/solution finder/designer chick.
Woohoo!
When I first considered going into business for wedding invitation design, I wasn't sure where I would end up with it. I did massive research for businesses both local and from afar. Most people were doing the traditional, hand made cards where some were doing them in a fancy scrap booking fashion. It was rare if I found a company that designed their invitations digitally.
I wasn't sure which route I wanted to take. First I wanted to make the traditional kind with simple card stock and ribbons because that seemed to be the easiest but quickly learned that that is not who I am. I am more eccentric than that.
So then I thought I would do them by hand by going the popular scrapbooking route and adhere embellishments or what I called "card candy" to make them look perty. And I made some pretty neat looking cards during this phase...but something was still off. I needed to do more internal research and figure out who I was and what I wanted to offer.
Then it hit me. I love graphic design, and have always wanted to enhance that creativity within so why not learn a few tricks and design them using the right software?! Perfect!
I knew that was the right decision because I felt it. You feel things sometimes, kinda like trusting your gut. And I felt that by creating the invitations on a computer and harnessing my inner graphic designer, I could combine the love for both art and emotion. Now how cool is THAT?
I was a little, shall we say, apprehensive when first embarking on this entrepreneurial journey. I mean, I realized that I would be putting out my ideas, my blood and sweat for all to see and critique. But I've always stayed true to myself so as long as I didn't lose that, I'd be fine.
So I got a web designer to work with the initial ideas I had created in Illustrator for my website and he worked his magic from there. I had a small budget and he was able to work with that along with my many changes and ideas and the outcome was perfect!
So now it's official.
I'm in business.
Me. Lisa.
My very own boss/decision maker/solution finder/designer chick.
Woohoo!
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