Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. I wanted to share our holiday cards with you. I sent out three different designs this year. All of them featured our cute and cuddly puppy, Abbey. The first primary design is courtesy of Shutterfly (free stuff is always cool). The "Believe" design is one of my own and is available for sale on Minted.com. The last one is super funny and interactive. I found a perfect "naughty" photo of Abbey to place inside and the final greeting reads "Happy Holidays, anyway" - since of course all of the scratch off coins are heads!

Photos ©2011 Keg Design

Believe

I'm excited to announce that one of my holiday designs was chosen as a jury winner on Minted.com. The design, titled "Believe", was one of my favorite submissions and is available for purchase now. Minted is allowing you to choose from three unique color palettes (1. Vanilla Créme 2. Maroon 3. Soft Green) when customizing the card design. My original entry inspired the Vanilla Créme palette and ideally utilized a sepia toned photo for a warmer effect. One of my favorite things about the design is the simplicity of the message - "Believe." I love how one word can remind you to take a step back from the craziness of the holidays and try to enjoy what the season is really all about (family, friends, love, cheer and Santa!). I think it works best with a photo of a cuddly pet, newborn or bright-eyed child. I plan on ordering a set with Abbey's photo and taking advantage of Minted's add-on program. I designed a custom card backer and envelope liner to help personalize the greeting set. If you're interested in ordering your own, use discount code KEG2011 to receive 10% OFF your order!

Original Submission

Vanilla Créme

Envelope Liners and Card Backers

Soft Green

Vote for me!

I entered a few designs into Minted's International Celebration Challenge. All of my card designs fit under the Diwali category. Diwali is an important five-day festival in Hinduism occurring October - November. It's also known as the "festival of lights." Minted's rating scale is 1-5, 5 being the best. If you have the time, I would really appreciate your vote! Thanks! Links below...

Voting links (clockwise): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Da Bears

Mel, over at Chicago Girl Gone Mild, contacted me late last year about designing a custom holiday card for her and her husband. She wanted something unique that portrayed the two of them, but didn't want to use an actual photograph. The solution? An illustration. Mel also wanted the card to embody the spirit of Chicago - hence the skyline and 1980's era Bears sweater. Who would have thought that a Chicago Bears 'themed' greeting card could look so sophisticated? HeHe! I have to admit, this project was a bit of a challenge for me. I'm not in the business of illustrating people on a daily basis, however, I think I pulled it off. It was definitely good practice for the next time someone asks me to render them on the computer. The final card design is below. I've also included the photo of Melissa and Sean that I used as inspiration. Whadda think? Also, check out what Mel had to say about the design on her blog. Go Bears!

Christmas Cards

Santa and his reindeer wish you a very Merry Christmas! Here's our 2010 "Wilson" Family Christmas Card (FYI: Wilson isn't our last name, but I can't handle when the name is scratched out, so I like to change it out for a phony). What do you think? I'm just really happy that we decided to include Murphy in our card this year. I designed these over Thanksgiving and the printed cards arrived a day after Murphy passed away. He was such an important part of our family, and I'm glad he's represented on our cards. Overall, the design is kinda kitschy and fun. I wasn't trying to be too serious. I paired the cards with red, green and neutral envelopes from Paper Source. Hope everyone has a great holiday!

Check!

Woohoo! I dropped our Christmas cards in the mail today. It feels good to check something off my "to do" list. I love how they turned out (I did something a little unusual)... I'll share all the details next week. The only bummer was the basic stamps I had to use. I stopped by the Post Office yesterday, intending to buy holiday stamps, but there was no way in hell I was waiting in that line. Walgreens had to do!

I need your VOTE!

I recently entered designs in Minted's "Be Mine Valentine" challenge. Minted is a great online resource that sells cards and stationary made by designers from around the world. They host "design challenges" each month, and the people (you!) get to vote. The whole idea is pretty cool. You can read more on the details of the Valentine challenge here. My first three designs (below) were hand drawn, in pencil, by me. I like the fact that they're not your typical "cutesy" valentine - they have some character and edge to them - and therefore could be used by boys or girls. I was inspired by tattoos and rock'n'roll when creating them. The last design is more simple, and is for a family photo card. Please vote, pretty, pretty please...I'd really appreciate it! Thank you.

Go here to vote for Design #1:

Go here to vote for Design #2:

Go here to vote for Design #3:

Go here to vote for Design #4: