Spirit Beauty Lounge — sustainable beauty

So maybe everyone else has already heard of this site, but it was news to me. I'm referring to Spirit Beauty Lounge—a site  that sells luxury cosmetics, fragrance, hair products and skin care. The interesting standout to me is this company promotes itself as being hosted with 100% solar energy and all facilities powered by 100% renewable energy. They are also paying attention to products without toxic ingredients like nail polish without toluene and other harsh chemicals.

Sure it costs more for these more carefully crafted products, but I believe in the adage "put your money where your mouth is." If we really want to see sustainable energy sources developed, more handcrafted products and fewer corporate megastores, we can't always shop for the cheapest price.

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Pink Heels painting of the day(ish)

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So I took a little holiday over the Labor Day weekend and extended it a bit. Finally back to the drawing board and computer today. The shoe exploration is going to go on for a while longer as I'd like to build a series of about 20 styles. I usually don't go for shoes quite this girly, but the combination of hot pink and satin bows won me over. Two-sided, customizable calling card featuring the illustration can be found here.

Caribbean blue and lime green color palette

We recently purchased a new, reversible quilt with two of my favorite colors—a caribbean blue and green apple, lime combo. I really like the green thread contrast on the blue side though it's a little tough to see in the image. I'm going to use this color palette in our personal Christmas cards this year, so stay tuned. Next sewing project will be some coordinating pillows or shams.

In love with letterpress printing

Like most graphic designers, I adore letterpress printing. It has the most elegant look and the designs and letterforms are literally "pressed" into heavy, 100% cotton paper. I just received samples from Jazyrain and am looking forward to printing some of my invitation and business card designs. The samples were exquisite and I can't imagine a beautiful printing technique—especially for wedding invitations.

 Just look at the detail on the flourish framing the monogram initials. I love the birds perched atop.

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My books came—hurrah!

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I got a box from Amazon yesterday with two new books—"Simply Sublime Gifts" and "Creative, Inc."

One of last year's resolutions was to make more gifts this year and Jodi Kahn's "Simply Sublime Gifts" has over thirty projects and most are no-sew or low-sew techniques. Don't you love the apron on the cover? It's made from Wonder Bread bags!

"Creative, Inc." is a guide to making a freelance business a success which as a freelancer myself is pretty much my top priority.

Can't wait to dive into both.