Recently I posted that I would be sending out my first email newsletter soon. I wrote the email more than a week ago, but I haven't sent it. Part of the reason for sending the newsletter was to announce a new service, but lately I've found myself wanting to pare down. While I'm excited about the specific service I planned to announce, I am also considering the services I currently offer and what I (and my clients) can do without. As I enter the third trimester in pregnancy, my design work has geared up, but my body is telling me to slow down. I love what I do but I'm more tired lately, and my nesting urge finds me rearranging the spaces in our home, hunkering down with my daughter and watching as her imagination and curiosity grows. As my family increases in size, I feel the need more than ever to simplify and focus on the the things that challenge and inspire me, and that allow our family life to flourish, as well as my own creative interests and pursuits.

I met Amy Gustine at Winter Wheat: The Mid-American Review Festival of Writing last fall when I gave a workshop on setting up a website for yourself as a writer. Amy has her first short story collection coming out in February, and she knew she wanted to establish a professional web presence as a platform to promote her writing and allow visitors to learn more about her and her work. Amy was the first client for whom I created an inspiration board (now one of my favorite parts of the process!), which I shared on my blog in April. I'm so happy to share her new website today! Amy wanted a look that was professional while still feeling approachable, so we opted for a clean typographic logo with hand painted watercolor elements. You can see the various elements of her branding below, and visit her website here to see how it all came together.

I'm really excited about this inspiration board for Callista Buchen, an amazing writer of essays, poems, stories, and all things magic and wonderful. I'll be designing Callista's website in the coming weeks and this board certainly has me excited to jump in. Callista wants her site to feel refreshing, baptismal, eclectic, quite, exalting, and meditative.

Happy Saturday, friends! I've been busy with some very exciting projects this week but wanted to share this blog post from Lisa Congdon, On Working, A Lot. I've felt a bit overwhelmed at times recently by all that I've taken on, but the work itself is exciting and engrossing. As a multi-talented artist, designer, and illustrator, when asked how she manages all that she does she replies that she "chose this." What I'm doing now is a mixture of choices and lucky accidents, but I'm thankful for a rich and creative life that's always changing.