The Year 2010

OH my gosh! Where has this year gone!!!! With all the craziness that took place I decided to sit back eat a Chocolate Santa and recap on my year :)
It started off as usual a new semester... and my final Semester!!! Yea 2010 was the year I finished College. Only something I've been thinking about since as long as I can remember. I graduated and was thrown on my ass in to the "real world." After all that stressing and summer school it only took me about 2 months to ask myself  "Why the eff was I in such a hurry!?!" I got my first real job on June 10, working at SSI as a graphic designer.

With the new job came a new car. My 2001 yellow beetle was traded in and I must say it was sad seeing the little guy go... some great memories in that car. But as they say in with the new out with the old.

I also got a sister in law this year. My brother Orry, got married on October 30th :) In 2011 I'm going to be getting a nephew.

Sadly this December my Uncle Phil passed away. He died of cancer and it was quite the blow to our family. He was loved and he was awesome!  This is him. And yes I was a ginger baby :)

2010, although went by super fast was overall a great year. I can't wait for 2011 hope everybody has  a Merry Christmas and a great new year :) 

A

My Christmas Wish List

In some of my spare time I like to browse the web.... in doing this I have come across several things that I am adding to my Christmas list.... enjoy :)

The first thing I found on the Cup of Jo website. This would be great for any Beatles fan. Its like a Where's Waldo except with Yoko instead. 

Another thing I'm obsessing over this year is these cute little Ipod nano wrist bands! I need a nano Ipod  as well. Not only are these super cute but convenient  as well!

Next on my wish list is of course the super cute pillows that my cousin Erin Flett makes! I love them!!! And not even because I'm related to her! Her new patterns are perfect for those in Colorado :)

Something for my Kitchen when I get my own again someday is these little bird salt and pepper shakers from ModCloth. Which is possibly one of my new favorite online stores.

And finally because I need to get back to work... are these pot holders also from Modcloth! I would love having these in my kitchen with my bird salt and pepper shakers while cooking and listening to my nano watch :) 

Today is the DAY!

Ok I have been so lazy with my blogging! But today is finally the day I'm putting up my brother's wedding pictures! Although we're not "professional" photographers Shanna and I both have a love for photography. So we were thrilled to get to shoot a wedding!  I think they turned out splendid. Enjoy!

Ink Lounge Robots and Cupcakes Oh MY!

So this weekend in another amazing adventure of Shanna and Amanda Series we went to a craft fair in Denver and ran into our screen printing friends Nicky and Stu from the Ink Lounge/ IdahoStew.  I took my screen printing class with these two and I don't think I've ever met nicer people. Not only are they super cool but they make the cutest stuff from robots to seahorses, calendars, notebooks etc. I had to buy a robot sketch pad! I almost don't want to color in it because its so cute!! But they make perfect gifts especially for those like me who are scattered brain and need to write all my ideas down or they are gone forever :) Check them out  here for some cute christmas stuff or for a screen printing class (if you in Denver) You won't regret.

WEDDING!!!!

Ok so I haven't put up photos yet but I have something better, a VIDEO!! I made this from footage from one of those flip cameras, and it didn't turn out half bad :) We had some excellent videoographers/photographers including Shanna McNear and Cody Brady and myself. Enjoy!

The Letter E

I call it the most wonderful time of the year :) Happy Shopping Season :)

The Letter D... again

I decided to re-do D I wasn't pleased with it at all!  So here is the a vintage 3d D :) Enjoy

Super Cute Pillows

Having difficulties find that perfect present for that designer/ art enthusiast in your life? Then do I have the perfect solution for you! Erin Flett, graphic designer/surface designer extrodinaire makes the CUTEST pillows!  They have a vintage feel and there is a color or design that could spice up any room! They are not only a perfect gift, but a perfect accessory to change up a room instead of doing a total room make over!

Not only is E a wonderful designer but she is a wonderful person, friend and cousin. She is my design hero and one of my greatest inspriations. If it wasn't for her I would probably be a journalist right now (no offense just not my scene)
To check out her stuff you can find her on the web or check out her etsy shop.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and good luck on those black friday steals (speaking of that if you become a fan of Erin's on facebook you recieve 35% off!! only tell monday) Happy Shopping!

These two are my favorites!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have been a terrible blogger lately... I haven't created any new fonts, or updated really anything for the simple reason I'm preparing my brain for break! After being on a computer for about 40 hours a week the next four days my time will be spent with my family, eating, taking pictures, coloring and enjoying the break. I hope you all take the next couple days to do nothing and enjoy life, because as much as I love what I do nothing makes the creative juices flow like a lot of food and interesting people that I love. So with that I will be back maybe sunday maybe monday who knows! Have a great thanksgiving. I love all four of you that follow me :)
A

New Orla Kiely!

Ok so thanks to the blog Poppytalk my Friday was started off fantastically when I discovered that Orla Kiely had new patterns! I love her simplistic colors and patterns. Not to mention they look straight from the Mad Men era... oh how I love Jon Hamm. That is a whole other post though.  Happy Friday :)

Happy Weekend

I know I haven't don D yet but I will I promise. I got distracted by a 30 minute dreamweaver tutorial that ended up being like 3 hours. Anywho it will be there by Monday hope every one has a great weekend :)

Mr.T C

This is C :) I call it Mr.T C ...enjoy

Love,

A

Todays Letter is B

Ahh Sesame Street thats what I feel like my blog has become an adult version of sesame street. So for all of you who have been dying to see what I come up with for the letter B the wait is over... cause here it is. It is inspired today by Colorado's weather. It was raining/snowing and couldn't really decide what it wanted to do... so I thought what would that look like in letter form and this is the conclusion. I actually really like this one... I'm hoping by Z my fonts will be amazing cause B is already way better then A... sorry a but you kinda suck ... A for effort though. I am also starting the sketching part of my Christmas cards.. .I'm thinking mustaches this year.

We will see :)

Happy Tuesday

A
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Type Continues

So my inspiration to start this type "quest" is because of Jessica Hische. Her fonts are so fun! Check out the siracha one not only is it inspiring in the design aspect but it really makes me want to go to Noodles. Looking at her blog makes me realize I've got a long long way to go... and please feel free to tell me if the font could be a success or is a piece of sh*t :) I love constructive criticism. I have had b's on the brain all day.....

A

The letter A

Ok yes it is Monday...but I'm not doing wedding pictures yet.... on account of the bride and groom need to fully look at them first... so instead I'm revealing my latest and greatest project, or I should say exercise. I have always been very interested in type but I feel like its an area of improvement for me.

I'm not the kind of person that can just read about it and fully understand or appreciate typefaces. I need to actually attempt to make them which is what I am doing. I am going to for the next 26 days have 26 different letters with 26 different typefaces that I have made. They are going to be a little rough around the edges on account I have never made a typeface before so this is a whole new ball game. So more or less blog spot I am using this as my sketch book... because I am not taking significant amount of time on these they are done in about hour to get my ideas out there and in motion... and to inspire me. I have been so bored with my real job projects that I need to keep getting better as a designer and I need to really push myself and work hard to get where I want to go ... and being a lazy ass (excuse my language) isn't going to get me anywhere but on the couch and fat. End of Rant.

So enough of my babble here is the letter A. The name of the this typeface is called "The beginning" and not just for the obvious reasons that its the beginning of the alphabet but but its the start of this project... the start of new chapter in my design study, and well the letter form doesn't make a lot of sense and its hard to tell where it begins, its partly 3d partly not... anywhere could be the beginning.

Who knows what B will be? Until B

-A

Monday Preview

They are coming soon... wedding photos that me and Shanna took..... here is a sneak peek thanks to Shanna :)

A

I'm Sorry!

I am sorry for being a terrible blogger and not keeping things updated. I know you were all dying to see my pumpkin carvings... but fret not fellow readers because I will not let you down... too much anyway. This weekend my brother Orry aka Orrwhore aka Oreo is getting married and I'm the photographer and those pictures will be posted!!!! So stay tuned and stay with me.... I will be a better blogger/tweeter/everything/ pumpkin carver.... Until the next post (which will be sooner then later)

-A

Happy PB&J Monday

Since I have been doing nothing but working, and not on the fun projects, but rather projects that pay the bills, I have nothing new to post at the moment. However I am carving pumpkins tonight and Cody (the bf) has designed a pumpkin titled "baby pumpkin who woke up from a nap." I'll be sure to post those pictures soon. However there is something that is pretty exciting that I came across today and if you click here you will see how fricken sweet this is! So hint hint everybody for my birthday next September.... :) Happy Monday!

Turning of a new...expensive page

Yesterday was a big day for me... I made my first adult purchase and signed my name on the title of a brand new car, or should I say a tonka truck. Of course I was super excited but at the same time it was a little bittersweet because I had to sign off on my bug. My VW Bug was my first car and I LOVED that car. I had so many great memories with my friends from high school and college in "Todd". So I decided to share a few memories... When we were 16 we went to our friend's Grandma's house to go to her pool and whenever we went there we had this stupid ass ritual that we did. To get to this pool there was a dirt road we had to take that had a huge hill on it so we came up with the safe and brilliant idea to put my car in neutral... push it down the hill and run and try to jump in the moving car oh and of course while playing some Ozzy Osbourne. Amazingly nobody got seriously hurt ... some bruises but we thought it was awesome and hilarious!!! Looking back now I realized wow.... that was beyond stupid (Sorry Mom). Through all my crazy high school shenanigans the bug was always there. The boys in my class use to often steal my keys and park it blocks away... so sweet, or the day I burnt the clutch out on main street before school and I blocked one of the main roads in Eaton... which there are only so many to choose from. That phone call to my dad was an interesting one. I can't wait to see what happens with my new car.... hopefully a lot more wiser decisions then the ones with the bug.

Mustache Ride 5cents!?! That's pretty reasonable

I finally have some time to upload my much anticipated prints from my screen printing class!!! YEA!!! My class was fantastical! Nicky and Stu at the Ink Lounge in Denver are seriously the nicest people I think I've met...Things have been beyond crazy! I also attended Bordo Bello and even participated and painted a board.. sadly no one bought him but thats ok next year I'm going all out :) Oh gosh the things I've been up too... mustache ride posters, squids, poop logs, and scuba diving... and throw in a t-shirt here and there. With all of this craziness I seriously have had major problems remembering my passwords for things. Cheese and rice balls we need a password for fricken everything and my ADD brain can not remember them all!!! But back to the main point of my post... the epic mustache ride poster.... let me explain the story behind this creation... and no pervs its not what you think. While we were waiting in line for Johnny Cupcakes we came across a sticker that said Mustache ride 5 cents.... and as casual as can be my friend Alex said " That seems pretty reasonable." Apparently he didn't think it was as funny as we all did because it stuck with me :) I have new goals to become a better blogger and so we shall see my two follwers... we shall see :)

xoxo

Manda

Screen Printing class......

This weekend I'm so excited I'm taking a screen printing class..... Pictures on Monday!

My newest and greatest creation! The LOG BOOK! This is a gag gift that I'm making for my brother for his birthday I think he's really going to enjoy it. Its a guest book for him and his fiance for their bathroom. Its very strange I know but hilarious especially if you knew my brother's sense of humor. Any thing that involves a bowel movement is hilarious to him and he is the type that feels his need to share his with everybody, giving our family a constant TMI. So I decided this would be a fun perfect gift for him and all of his grody friends that can document "their creations" and share them with each other. Its almost done just have to get the cover re-done. But here is a sample.......If any one wants one of these gems for their loved ones let me know I'll give you one. Yes that is a Toilet Paper Bow....oh yes 4 years of art school and see how crafty I am :)

Literally so so so busy!!!!! I started a real job.... I'm a real life adult now! Yea! Working on a ton of projects and hopefully will finish them soon.

Until then.....

Manda

Ah so I haven't done anything recently because of my new addiction.... Mad Men. I love this show despite the sexism and constant smoking I love it! But I also have any obsession with "vintage." Speaking of vintage for my graduation my grandma bought me a book of old matchbooks.... now I'm not talking like an book from borders I'm talking about a book that somebody spent years compiling of match books that they collected on their travels.... and whoever this was did a lot of traveling. I really want to know who made this book.... I sometimes try to imagine who they were and I've come up with some pretty good things I think:

1) A hoarder.... this person kept everything like you see on and A&E their house was overloaded with junk and craziness and the matchbooks from all around were dumpster dived out. I hope its not this one because that is effing nasty if it is.

2) This person was either a wife of a truck driver or a truck driver because they're are some "dirty" ones in there if you know what I mean.... One of them advertises good food and sanitation... very good to know.

3) The last thing I've come up with this person was a graphic designer before their time and just had an eye for good typography and cool designs. Some of the designs on these matchbooks are amazing! So cool... so inspiring love it. By far one of my favorite gifts that I got for my college graduation... my G-ma is awesome like that.

....oh and one more thing .....they were slightly racist back then as well so you are warned..

Seeing as everybody has realized the downfall of smoking... like it will kill you.....nobody really has a need for matchbooks anymore... I mean a person can only light so many candles... I take that back marijuana is basically legal and so I say matchbooks should make a comeback because they are way more exciting then business cards, what promotional stuff would you rather receive something that lights on fire or something that will light a fire? If you don't hear from me in a while its because I'm sucked into season two of Mad Men... bon voyage.

So I've decided to make a list of things I want to accomplish this summer. I feel like I need to set goals or else I will just work and take naps so here is a "I hope to get off my lazy ass" list:

1)Hike to horsetooth

2) Take and publish a picture everyday!

3) Finish my mom's website (That is a must)

4) Go on a road trip

5) Get a t-shirt design onto threadless

6) Go to the drive in

7) Go to a concert at Misuaka

8) Camping trip!!!!!

.....well on the car ride home from work I had a great list but this one I guess will have to be a work in progress! This isn't a very exciting post because its been a long long week and its wednesday!

I finally graduated from CSU!!!!!! After 3 long hours of listening to names being called I finally got to move my tassel and throw my hat... accidently striking the girl in front of me! So after thinking a lot about it I decided there was a lot of things I learned in college... a lot of important lessons for life and narrowed it down to a few things

1) Shots of Jager= puke on your own shoes

2) Don't let people tell you what to do!

3) Breakups are good for weight loss

4) Don't always judge a book by its cover but sometimes it's a good idea

5) Say Please and Thank you

6) Don't be rude to your servers

7)Disney movies really help teach you life lessons

8) Some times things turn out way better then what you had in mind

9) SPELL CHECK!

10) No matter how mature you are drawing from a live nude model is always uncomfortable

11) Wearing flip flops to parties is never smart

12) Don't put bra's in the dryer

13) Your mom was always right

14) Parallel Parking

15) To laugh at your mistakes because... well there are quite a few of those in college

16) Dream big

Congrats to the class of 2010! Good look on the job hunt!

So after having "one of those weeks" of finding a spelling error on my expensive letter press
business cards, not finding a job and other petty mishaps I came across this magnet at a Walgreens while buying hydrogen peroxide for the cuts on my leg. There was tons of these random little magnets. When I asked Cody who thinks of these things the cashier's reply was "Someone who is on something!" Which made the magnet even better. SO after this week of feeling like life is crap I had to laugh and I realized that at least I didn't get hit in the face with a rake, I'm not a cashier at walgreens and well that I'm not on anything.... so right now I guess things really aren't that bad.

A real Website oh boy!

My Website is finally working! After only 3 months of coding and pulling my hair out it finally is up and running!!! I'm going to actually start blogging now instead of using this as my portfolio site! Now people will believe me when I say that I can make websites! So after learning these last couple weeks that I have a serious issue with spelling I also got to meet Johnny Cupcakes. For those of you who don't know who that is he is literally an accidental t-shirt designer that has developed a cult following. Cody (my bf) doesn't get the big deal about him but I guess its a design thing because he is my hero! Of course when it came time to meeting him all I could say was would you sign this for me? Lame! The four hour wait to meet him and a buy a shirt was totally worth it! So next on the agenda is learn to spell or find somebody to read everything for me to point on the errors! Enjoy my website!!!

www.amandalesh.com