Starry Night

Thanks Huffpost for posting these incredible images.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/18/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year_n_5841560.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Inspiration: ISO50

I was recently introduced to the blog of Tycho Mastermind Scott Hansen. With featured work from various artists over a variety of genres, this is a great spot to find inspiration.

http://blog.iso50.com/

Tycho

Tristram Lansdown

Sebastiso Salgado

Paul Rudolph

Pinterest

I figure that after years of collecting images and websites on Pinterest that it might be worth mentioning. I find that Pinterest is one of the most helpful tools for me when it comes to inspiration. By controlling my feed to show only Graphic Design, Fine Art, Architecture and Landscape Architecture, I can generate more ideas in a quicker fashion than if I were to go searching elsewhere. Check out what I've been looking at over the past few years:

Rita Manna on Pintrest

Bringing Gardens into schools

If you've been to our website, you know what GreenerSLC is all about. We not only love plants, but we care for our environment and our community as well. We emphasize local and global conscious gardening and building practices and try to provide our customers with as much knowledge about creating a sustainable environment within their yard as we possibly can. We only use organic methods, and we always push our customers to grow their own vegetable gardens. (Admittedly I get super excited when I walk into a new backyard and find a thriving vegetable garden, see herbs in pots or am asked to design a xeriscaped garden.)

Even though these practices were once the ONLY way of life, modern practices have completely negated these basic gardening and ecological concepts from our daily lives. Thanks to inexpensive irrigation and chemical fertilizers we have emerald green lawns thriving in the desert and find tropical plants growing in the mountains. Thanks to the incredible technological advancements by american farmers and grocers, we eat genetically enhanced and astronomically large veggies, eat fruits that were grown across oceans, and no longer need to worry about time of year to pick up a pack of "fresh" strawberries. For seasonal foods virtually no longer exists.

The Woolly Pockets company has created an incredible yet extremely affordable program for grades K-12 that does just that. Its called the Woolly Garden School and it provides all of the tools to bring plants into the classroom. For only $1000, you get a packet full of 50 Woolly Pocket planters, Do-it-yourself hardware and instructions, premium soil, organic seeds, compost tea, a planting chart, a gardening manual, and a nutrition and gardening curriculum lesson plan.

What could be better? Not only that, but the Woolly Garden School makes it easy to bring this program to your school even when the funding isn't present. If you would like to donate to this fund, or would like to emphasize programs like this in your school, contact Woolly Pockets and see what you can do to bring life to your local community.

Changing Pace.

This past summer my boyfriend Tim and I started our very own gardening and light landscaping company. At first I thought, "well, I like being outside, I know enough about plants (well at least enough to know what the difference between a weed and a "plant" is), so why not give this a shot? Might be a fun way to make some cash for the summer." Although I had to drive to make the business a successful venture, I had absolutely no idea that this little company would quickly become the open door to my future career. As a result of a summers worth of planting and designing landscapes, my interest in plants, landscape design and living decor has become so passionate that I absolutely cannot picture myself doing anything else with my life. I have finally, after all these years of searching, found what I was meant to do professionally- to pursue a career as a landscape architect.

Okay okay, so I like gardening and creating living spaces. So why the blog? Well, I am beginning to find myself thinking about plants constantly. All I ever want to do is learn about different plant species, their habitats and how to best incorporate these little guys into creative living environments. I'm telling you, I just can't get enough. Not only has my garden library just exploded this summer with books on succulent container gardens, native western plants, and botany textbooks, but my home has turned into a small greenhouse, and my delicious account is now erupting with countless plant and garden related websites.

So I thought.. yep. Time to make the switch from a graphic design blog to something that I actually feel passionate about sharing.

Here is a little piece of what I'm jonesin on here.

Welcome back.. me...

After a big move or life changing event it can be difficult to continue the habits you once easily fit into your daily routine. For example some of you may go to the gym at 7am before work, eat your dinner at exactly 8:30 each evening, or go out for drinks with your best friends every Friday night. I used to do these things, but lets face it, things change and routines can be hard to maintain. (at least when you're all over the place like me.)

Unfortunately this blog, for which I started up with hopes of utilizing as a tool to bring inspiration to my creative mind, fell to the wayside when I moved to Salt Lake City last November. Oddly with the move I became more fanatical about my personal Internet research, got back into crafting, gardening, interior decorations and revived my love of patterns and color, but I never found the need to write about them. For I figured that if I was being active, why write? When I should have said to myself, "I'm active and this should be documented!" So here I am with a whole new agenda for the blog. I will be posting weekly entries encompassing inspirational works that are pertinent to my current life and interests- regardless if they are design oriented or simply crafty or pretty. So the nature of the blog entries and over all discussion topics posted here will be noticably differnt from here on out.

I am dedicating this spurt of inspiration to my friend Macon York of Brooklyn, NY. She is the writer of the blog Velvet Nectar and design assistant at New York Magazine. Her blog consists of documentation of her favorite items which span a wide range of artistic studies- from photography to typography to culinary. She has created a great body of information that is definitely worth checking out.

So lets see where this goes!

Week 3- progress

I've been up to a lot lately, but it isn't all necessarily "work" or portfolio related. I am basically making moves to get my mind, body, and finances in order to get myself back on the slopes. Obviously I have a lot of snowboarding related projects going on right now - Shred Betties redesign and event planning, FirstChair.info, and various personal projects that will be adding to my portfolio.

But this week I decided to finally get back in the game physically. I bought a new pair of shoes for $95, bought some new work-out clothes and joined a gym. This gym is only for women and has tons of classes that will help me get into a routine and in shape. Even though I have only gone to a few classes so far, I am totally dead. You'd be surprised how much muscle you lose after a year of being completely sedentary.

I have also taken out the time to learn CSS and XHTML.. huge. My next battle to win is to learn how to use CMS (content management systems.) All the sites that I am currently working on (shredbetties.com, firstchair.info, and computersi.com) all use CMS for reguarl updating. I kind of feel like I am being asked to learn how to write and comprehend portugese or something.. this stuff is confusing, but not impossible. Didn't you know that being a graphic designer also means you are a typographer, illustrator, web developer, web programmer, print designer and superman?

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So here's where I'll start. This week I made the following Shred Betties logos.

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I also have created work for my father's website. Here are some examples. This site is going to be completely redesigned now that I have better direction. I dont want to talk very much about this subject because I HATE these designs, and I'm finding this client to be really difficult to adapt my style to.



I have also created a wish list of items that I would like to purchase for next season.
This items include- goggles, boots, snowpants, down jacket, new snowboard.

The list can be seen here:


New Boots (to save my feet from further surgery): $99
http://www.gzskatesnow.com/products/09_Celsius_Cloud_Nine_Womens_Snowboard_Boot-751-106.html
(not my favorite color combo.. but it will have to do for the price!)

New Googley-goggles since my are packed out and have gaps between my face and the lense: $112
http://www.usoutdoorstore.com/outlet/von-zipper-feenom-snow-goggles-legit-kit-pink.html


New Snow Pants: $82!!!
http://www.usoutdoorstore.com/outlet/burton-lucky-pants-womens.html

(below same pants, but in a bigger size.. they also have a price match)
http://www.the-house.com/bt4luw02bl9zz-burton-snowboard-pants.html

New Jacket:
not too sold on this one, but its inexpensive:
http://www.usoutdoorstore.com/outlet/burton-bliss-down-jacket-womens.html

WANT WANT WANT:
Holden Matador OR Holden Isobel
http://www.ladyinshred.com/2010-preview/holden-outerwear-2010/