June 2013 - Veda House Veda House

Inspired By: Verily Magazine Summer 2013

ART & DESIGN

Last week I shared my contribution to the summer issue of Verily Magazine. I had a blast working with Jane ( Art Director for Verily Magazine) and I was super excited to receive my copy in the mail. This issue is the first FULL print issue of the magazine and I felt the need to share a few more images because I think it just turned out so nicely.

You can snag a copy for yourself —here.

Planning a Wedding

veda news

Sorry for all the crickets around here this past week. I kind of picked up and left without warning. As I mentioned a week or so ago, I’ll be getting married in Florida next May. Wahoo! The boy and I (along with my mom & pops) just got back from a week-long scouting trip to scoup out the location and get a little more hands on planning done. It’s pretty tricky planning a wedding from afar, so I was very pleased to be able to almost completely nail down our cake deign, venue planning, hair stylist, DJ, furniture & decor rentals, rental home found, and our entire menu picked out. WHEW!! Feels super refreshing to have a big chunk of that done and now.

We’ll be getting married on the Beach at Alys Beach, Florida. It’s a quant little beach community that feels like it’s been plucked out of the Mediterranean. We’ll be renting out a beach house for the entire week and holding are reception in the cutest coffee bar that has the best outdoor patio. I’m pretty giddy and look forward to sharing more DIY projects with you as I go. You can see the first DIY project here.

Is anyone else planning a wedding? Has anyone been to Alys Beach? oh….and congrats to my online buddy Amy Moore for getting engaged while I was away.

*All photos by Veda House

Studio Hours: Tie the Knot / Photo Holders

Studio Hours

Next May, I’ll be getting married to my favorite person of all time. We’ll be getting married on a beach with our closest friends and family. Over the next year, I’ll be sharing some of the personal touches we’ll be making along the way. We want our wedding to feel carefully crafted and full of our personality.

First up are these doorknob photo stands. I’ve been a big collector of small vintage trinkets and these porcelain knobs (found at a flea market) are one of my favorite items. The project was super simple and only required a few things: pliers, aluminum gage wire and a screwdriver. I love how we’ll be able to share our photos and the story behind how we made the stands.

Want to see our wedding mood board?

In The Studio: Spaces Feature

Studio Hours

I’ve been lucky to be featured in the Eva Black Spaces feature for a second time. I’m over on Eva’s blog today talking about my home studio space and how it’s transformed since moving into the new house. You can see my old studio tour here, and the follow up tour here. In the old interview, I talk about where I found some of the vintage pieces and how I started my creative journey.

The SPACES feature on Eva’s blog is one of my favorites in blog land and I love how it shows how diverse the creative community is. The feature interviews several creatives and gives you a glimpse at how they work at home. I hope you enjoy the feature as much as I do. 🙂

Notable No.26

FRIDAY FINDS & FAVORITES

I’ve been saving lots of inspiring links these days, deciding whether to post about things in a full post or just to share in this post. I’m learning that less is more, so although I’d love to share EVERYTHING I find, that’s just not so good for my brand. Enjoy the links below. There are some goodies there!

Notables this week:
1. This cozy fur blanket has stolen my heart…even in 85 degree weather!
2. This home via My Scandinavian Home
3. The RUE magazine June/July issue is pretty great
4. This frame…I want it and CAN NOT find it!! Help!
5. Beautiful pillows by MeLongings studio
6. Super cute french blog called Petite Sweet
7. Amazingly designed soap packaging
8. A fun shop called By Molle
9. I’m in love with these handmade fringe curtains

Recent Work: Verily Magazine

Studio Hours

I’ve got a little project to share with you! My friend Jane (now Art Director for Verily Magazine) was looking for someone to help her with some divider pages for the Summer issue of Verily Magazine. She wanted something bold and hand-crafted that she could use to help divide up the sections of the magazine in a cohesive way.

I decided to take on the challenge and do something not only out of my comfort zone, but also something I’ve always wanted to toy around with – watercolors. After playing around with watercolor like a kid in grade school, I landed on 4 section images that all use watercolor in an abstract floral way. Let’s just say that I had a blast working with Jane, Verily and watercolors and I look forward to possibly collaborating with Verily Magazine in future issues.

* My other friend, Mary Frances Foster has a few of her fabulous illustrations in the issue as well! You can also find a beautiful story by the girls of The WeaverHouse.

Lesson Learned: Tip for Happy Clients

Freelance Journey

As I work my way through the world of freelance I’ve been able to refine how I interact with my clients and how to ensure they are happy with the results. For me, I don’t only want my clients to be happy with the design outcome, but to be happy with me. Frequently, I even become friends with some of my clients because working together is such an intimate process.

One tip I’ve learned along the way and has proven to be successful is to ALWAYS go the extra mile. Do something your client isn’t expecting. Of course this takes extra time (un-paid) time, but I guarantee it will lead to happy clients and more referrals.

Some of my favorite “extra-mile” tactics:
1. Doing a mini photo shoot to provide your client with unique social media imagery to share (facebook, blog, twitter)
2. Throw in a rubber stamp of your clients finished logo
3. Send your client an “I’m excited to work with you” card (use Paperless Post)
4. Tweeting about your client’s brand throughout the process (free promotion for client)
5. If you are designing a blog for your client, offer to write the first post introducing the new blog to their readers.

Do you guys have any go-to tactics? I’d love to find new/unique ways to surprise my clients.

Inspired By: Giant Lion / Ring & Things

ART & DESIGN

I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect jewlery pieces to wear with a wedding dress (getting married next May). I’m thinking something that uses natural elements like quartz, brass or pyrtite. I love the mix of dainty pieces and solid natural materials. Giant Lion, a little online jewlery shop has just those kind of items. I’m loving these pyrite studs and pyrite cube ring. You can view the Giant Lion S/S Lookbook here.

Maybe a little to “heavy” with a wedding dress? I don’t know. I kind of like the unusual contrast. Thoughts?

Inspired By: Petra Bindel (again)

ART & DESIGN

Petra Bindel has been one of my favorite interiors photographer for quite some time. She works with some of the best stylists to create amazing vignettes and stories with her photos. I love her minimalist aesthetic in the above photos, but she’s also really good at creating beauty with chaos (like here, here and here).

Keep exploring her work!

Inspired By: Margaret Durow

ART & DESIGN

Black & white photography + book design = love. No matter what the subjects are, I’ll always be in love with B&W, especially when they are presented in such a perfect storytelling way. What do you think about Margaret Durow’s style / project shown above, called Looking the World Over?

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