Inspiration: Vintage Greeting Cards

Vintage greeting cards are a fun source of inspiration for typography and image. Above is a Valentine my cousin sent me the other day, that my Grandmother had actually saved from when our parents were little.

My Grandmother never got rid of greeting cards, even if they were blank ones she had never used! She kept them nicely in a box and now my family is able to use and enjoy them. Its become a nice thing around the holidays to receive cards from my mom or uncle with a little note on the bottom that reads "this card was from Grammy's collection".

Now I keep many of these cards and stationary sets in my studio, a few hanging up and others on my shelves to reference when I need a little nostalgic inspiration.

Inspiration: Petroglyphs

I love the landscape here on the east coast (especially this time of year!), but once in a while its nice to pull inspiration from a place you're not so used to. I freelance for a company in Utah, and while out there for work was lucky enough to do some hiking and exploring. Among my favorite sites were rocks covered with petroglyphs...

Petroglyph: "a drawing or carving on rock, made by a member of a prehistoric people."

These shapes look simple, but are actually very complex. The combinations of graphics were an early form of communication and all tell a story. I'm really inspired by the fact that these petroglyphs are a form of communication, but even if you don't know the "language" they are still beautiful to look at. It really ties into why I love typography, words literally tell a story but they can still look beautiful doing it!

Inspiration: No Carve Pumpkins

Check out this great article with tutorials for a bunch of no carve pumpkins at realsimple.com! Now you can have a great looking doorstep without all the mess, and in some cases with less time.

Use these ideas as is, or get inspired to think out of the box and come up with your own no carve solutions!

All photos are from www.realsimple.com

Inspiration: Community Projects

As I previously mentioned, last week was a bit hectic with finally opening my new Etsy store, triSERIFtops, and all the organization, photography, updating and writing that went along with it.

I missed my inspiration post on Thursday, so here it is a couple days late... and you'll get caught up with another Crafter Profile this afternoon too!

Community art projects were my inspiration last week. Sunday, September 19th was the stART on the street festival in Worcester, MA. Its always a good time with over 200 crafters, community and kids projects, performances and new this year: a vintage section.

Below are photos from two community projects going on that day. The first was a beautiful community chalk quilt. The second project was recycled totem poles with detergent bottles, bottle caps, old CDs and more. Let these inspire you to start your own community activity, or to use unexpected materials for an outdoor piece of art!

Inspiration: Betsey Johnson

NYC Fashion Week 2010 ends today, and there has been some really fun and inspiring stuff. Am I thrilled that a major trend looking to hit next spring is BEIGE? No... I'm not. I'll probably stick with my bright colors...

Which is why I'm happy Betsey Johnson had quite the colorful runway (as always) showcasing her Spring 2011 collection, and thats my inspiration this week. All photos are from the official Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week website, so for even more inspiration and to see what other designers have coming, take a look there.

Now I'm not saying we should all go purchase a neon multi colored, ruffle layered, full circle dress... but we can let the colors, shapes, fabrics, or overall youthful & child-like atmosphere inspire our own work, whatever that may be!

Inspiration: Chocolate Packaging

I love chocolate, but almost as much as the chocolate itself, I love the packaging. Packaging for organic and natural chocolate always seems so thoughtful. We just got a new health food store in the area, and to my delight there are TWO big end-caps filled with organic and natural chocolate.

I selected a few brands that I though had some really nice packaging. Some have strong typography based designs, some incorporate drawing and painting for a real 'packaging as art' feel, and others use pale background texture making the packaging match the delicate quality of its contents.

Have fun looking at these photos—there were many more varieties there, so I'm sure I'll post new ones at some point. And take notice of the flavors, some are pretty crazy. Among the favorites between my friends and I were Dark Chocolate Quinoa and Lavender Blueberry. The least favorite... Coconut Curry.

Inspiration: Flower Garden

The end of the week is upon us and you may be running out of creative steam. In that case, here is some colorful inspiration to keep you going!