Noogle is your one stop shop on Etsy for party printables, childrens room decor and wall art, and learning activities such as flash cards and busy bags! Created by Shannon, busy working-mom to a toddler, with the philosophy that learning and partying should be, well, fun, Noogle is focused on providing quality, creative items for whatever your need.
I have personally ordered party invitations, tent cards for our food buffet, and signs for the front door and have never been disappointed in what we have received. Each item is printed and cut with precision, packaged with care and delivered well before my deadline.
Shannon also takes extra time to work with you to ensure that your designs are perfect. Check out this pirate party invitation that she designed for Owen 3rd birthday party.
Noogle also offers digital design and printables so that you can print at home, or at your desired printer. If you're in a time crunch, this option is really awesome. For our Halloween party, I wanted to send out a quick email invite, so I had Shannon whip up a spooky, creepy design. She did a fantastic job and all of our guests were impressed.
As a special treat for you.....
If you don't see it in the shop, or have a specific idea in mind, just send Shannon a Convo and she can create whatever it is that will fit with your event, children's room, or party!
I recently have had the pleasure of working on my blog re-design with Tiffany Kuehl Designs. My bloggy bff, Shizz from Baby Shmizz, referred me to her when we were in New york City at BlogHer'12 and I contacted her after attending Mandy's {Harper's Happenings} protips session and leaning the importance of having a clean, professional design for your blog.
I knew what I wanted and the feeling that I wanted the blog to exude - professional, clean, and artistic. I wanted it to be a space where readers will be inspired, and I wanted it to reflect who I am as an artist.
Tiffany took my very archaic Paint drawing and turned it into something spectacular. From adding every individual piece of stitching to the page tabs, to creating the perfect ombre for my social media icons, she truly took my vision to the next level.
My favourite part about the entire design is the coral brushstroke. It fits so beautifully well, and it's perfectly imperfect.
I cannot thank Tiffany enough for giving me exactly, to-a-tee, what I was looking for. I would recommend her over and over again to anyone looking for a designer who is inspired, creative and simply easy to work with. Waking up to emails and proofs was a great start to the day, and I definitely feel as though I was able to connect with Tiffany as a person - she got to know me and my story, and was open to sharing hers.
If you are in need of a new design, and want to work with someone amazing, I would definitely recommend Tiffany.
Good morning everyone! You are certainly in for a treat today!
I am pleased to introduce you to Ashley, the mastermind and creative genius behind Fancy Designs...yes the same one that design my spiffy new logo and who I consulted in rebranding Sweet Stella's just prior to the holidays. She has a wealth of knowledge in branding and logo design, and I strongly encourage you to take a read...and contact her should you be needing her services or contemplating a rebranding!
Hey y'all! I'm Ashley, an almost 23 year old graphic designer from Louisiana. I own Fancy Designs, an online shop specializing in invitations, stationery, business cards, and custom gifts. Before Fancy Designs I worked for an advertising agency, working specifically on logo design. I was recently pulled back into the logo design field by my dear friend Stephanie from Bleue Moon Web Design. As a business owner myself, I've learned the importance of branding and seen plenty of mistakes, and I'd like to share a little of what I've learned along the way with you guys :)
As a designer, it's in my blood to check out branding. I check out branding like other girls shop for shoes. It's not uncommon to see me purchase things based solely on the brand and packaging. Some people just REALLY know how to sell it with their branding, and that's what ANYONE building a brand should want to do. Whether you're looking to build your own company, a small online shop, or just want to build up a blog and have people see your badge/logo and recognize you, branding is important! All great businesses have a strong brand that supports their products, services, or message.
Building your brand is a lot like starting a very complex puzzle. The brand you put together is like putting together those corner pieces. It sets you up for all the pieces to come. A lot of people are under the assumption that fancy text and clipart is all it takes to put together a brand. Sure, that's the meat of the brand, but the "brand" goes so much deeper. Your brand should speak to your clients/viewers. It should send out your message clearly. A good brand doesn't have to be complex and it doesn't have to be over the top. If anything, we've learned that even the simplest logos can be the most memorable (Golden Arches anyone?) The whole idea is that you want people to see your logo and REMEMBER it. I know we all live in the over the top, Lady Gaga, world but sometimes less is more. That's not to say that there aren't some pretty spiffy, wild logos out there! If you've got an idea that seems a little wild and out there, sometimes you just have to go for it.
Plenty of people completely skip the branding process of their business. In my opinion, this is a risky step, a step even myself took. My eyes were opened when a client I worked with a few months back told me she couldn't remember which designer I was but she remembered my cards had a chevron pattern. Did I want to be remembered as "the chevron designer?" As much as I love those fancy chevron patterns, I want Fancy Designs to stand alone, in a simplistic way. It was the final straw. I already had the building blocks together, I just had to put it all together and stop changing it, and I put it together within a few seconds. If you know anything about me or my work, you know that these 3 elements, 2 fonts, and a little bird have shown up as my "logo" more times than I can count, but never put together so well. It took me 3 seconds to go from "chevron designer" back to FANCY DESIGNS. Branding really is important, you don't want to be forgotten.
Of course, skipping branding altogether probably seems like the biggest offense, I think it pales in comparison to BAD BRANDING. I've had people ask me to "make me a brand like hers." That has to be the biggest mistake. Building YOUR brand based off someone else's. Just because their brand is successful for them, does not guarantee it is going to be the same for you. It works for them because it's THEIRS. I think the second thing would be BUTTERFLIES. I must get 3 logos a month where their only concern is, "Can there be a butterfly." I have no idea what happened or how butterflies became the butter on the bread of a logo, but butterflies have got to go. (If you have a butterfly logo, I'm not trying to be a bully, I'm sure it's lovely, I'm 3 parts serious to my every 10 parts full of the sillies.) Colors are also an issue for a lot of people. I either get a lot of, "I don't know, you pick." or "Can it be red, green, orange, purple, and black? And make it pretty." I think sticking with simple but eye catching colors is a good way to go whether you are clueless as to what color you want or you just can't pick and want to use them all. You can always look at ideas to how you plan to package/sell your goods, services, etc. and choose colors accordingly. If you sell a lot of colorful fabric, then a lot of colors will fit you. If you're selling a lot of neutral toned products, less is more. Want to get 15% off your graphic design needs? Mention that you found Fancy Designs through Sweet Stella's and get a friendly face discount!
I have a guest blogger today that you all really need to meet. Her name is Stephi Williams and she is the brilliant mind behind Bleue Moon Web Design. I know alot of you mama bloggers out there sometimes struggle with formatting and you Etsians wonder about having your own .com and e-shop...well look for further for some words of wisdom (and crazy reasonable prices for a template overhaul!)
Without further adieu...welcome Stephi!
Bonjour! My name is Stephi and I'm a wife, mother, homemaker, aspiring artisan and web designer. There's this one amazing quote that sums it all up:
"The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.” I have been designing blog templates since 2004 and usually when I was supposed to be spending my time somewhere else. I have watched morning sunlight peak through my window blinds more times than I care to admit. To say that web designing is a passion of mine might be an understatement. In March, I was invited to join The Artisan Group and in April the founder, Valerie, contacted me about designing the group's blog after seeing my personal blog’s template.
After the group’s blog was unveiled, Tina Dean Designs asked me to help her with her shop and blog too. I never ever considered shop templates but I'm not one to say no to challenge either. And I'm so happy that she took a chance on me because as they say, the rest is history.Today I proudly help growing artisans take their business to the next level whether it be a stand alone online shop, blog template or splash page at Bleue Moon Web Design. It brings so much happiness to my heart when the project is complete and I see them brag about it to bits! I love helping other people get a little closer to making their dreams come true, I really, really do!
So the million dollar question is always "What do you suggest for a beginner?" Now I'm a self-taught designer for the most part so anything I say is simply personal opinion. With saying that: Do what's right for you! Some might tell you that you can't have a colorful background because it's unappealing. I say you can have that bold background but just know that you need to dial down the rest of the site. A bit like accessorizing, yes? Design with thought and care.
I also believe in the mantra of K-I-S-S: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Keep your header and sidebar clean. You don't have to cram all your information in those areas because that's the ideal place for side pages. The sidebar should quickly sum up who you are and/or business along with easy to see navigation for new viewers. I also think a good logo or header is visually important. If you want to be seen as professional, a high quality graphic is a good start.
That's one big reason that I say it's okay to hire outside help... ya know, not just because it helps my business! Do what you do best, right? I have full faith that you could design your logo or site, but think about the time you would have to spend to make that happen. I can make my way around Photoshop, but even I hired Fancy Designs to create my logo. Why? Because the hours I would have spent creating that graphic would have been hours I could be working. If you have limited time to spend on your business, a designer can take the stress away from you while you're creating products and networking. Win-Win! And I do realize that there are plenty of templates out there to choose from for all sort of site platforms, but why wouldn't you want a site that is as unique as your voice or the products you offer? Support small businesses including us designers! :-)
Are you a scrapbooker? Blogger? Graphic Designer? Well this is the software for you {and you'll have a chance to to win it at the end of the post!!}
I'm not exactly the best with graphic design and making this pretty. Give me paper, scissors and glue...I'm your girl. But a computer, eek! Or at least, that's what I thought...
The MyMemories software makes digital scrapbooking SO easy! The program is incredibly user friendly, gives a step by step and has really amazing layouts!
First and foremost, the installation process is a breeze. I could let it run in the background, and come back to it when it was finished...but still be able to work on things that needed my attention...and not have to reboot when I was finished.
I LOVE that I can select any template, add in pages to make sure I have enough for the album, then select pictures from my computer to fill in the spots. This makes organizing all of the special events in my son’s life so incredibly easy! The first album I did was all about his first birthday party, and the On The Spot template was perfect for his Mickey theme!
The Control Panel at the side makes it really easy to add word art to customize your pages, which means that you can journal literally anywhere to tell a story. I especially like that you can save and return to your projects at any time. For me, I’m on the go with my son so much that I only have a few minutes here or there to work on projects like this (very much the reason why I have printed pictures for a physical scrapbook that hasn’t even begun to materialize over the course of 16months!). Ease of use, and ease of time! Brilliant!
And this isn’t just for scrapbooking folks! Think about the possibilities….books customized for your children, calendar’s for the Grandparents, gifts for everyone! Which is perfect with the holidays just around the corner!
I played around with…
Christmas cards – simple and beautiful, and I can share it digitally with our family! Eco-friendly! How cool is that!?
Family collage of my maternity and newborn photo shoots with a buttercream background, I love it and will definitely be framing this one for our new house.
Product collage for Sweet Stella’s with cool backgrounds, screw embellishments and string!
A birthday invitation for Owen's 2nd Birthday! LOVE IT!
You can even add media and video! How cool is that?! We have alot of family that is out of town, so being able to share the moments when Owen first rolled over, crawled and walked is something that is really special, and MyMemories makes it so easy!
MyMemories Digital Scrapbooking Suite is giving away to one lucky reader of Sweet Stella's a full version of their amazing software!
AND for you lucky, lovely people a special code which provides a 10% discount off the purchase of the MyMemories Suite software, and a $10 coupon at the MyMemories store! A $20 value!
