40 Days of Design: Week One

I posted last week about the start of my '40 Days of Design', where I am working on the creation of something every day for forty days. I have been busy this week, so fitting in time at the end of the night has definitely been a struggle, but I have enjoyed it. I have been taking a picture every day and posting it. If you would like to see my journey, you can follow me on twitter or on my new page for facebook.

Although it was only the first week of this project, I was finally able to get motivated and finish the huge canvas that has been sitting in our apartment for...too long. Once I have some daylight this weekend, I will post some photos of the finished product, but here is a sneak peek. What to look forward to next week? Logo and website design. Happy Thursday!

40 Days of Design

Today is Ash Wednesday which marks the start of Lent. Every year I try to give something up: Diet Coke, chocolate, desserts...etc. Last year I was trying to figure out what to give up, when Jon suggested I do something instead of cutting something out. So last year I decided to do some type of art every day, for forty days. It was a struggle, but it helped me to get back into what I love doing. 

This year I will be doing the same - some type of creation every day. It could be in the form of designing a logo, taking pictures, or finishing that giant painting that has been sitting in the corner for the last few months... I will do it! I will be documenting some of my work on my blog, and will try to remember to post a picture every day via twitter.

Day One:
I am currently in the middle of editing photos for a shoot I did for some friends back in England. I have a couple more editing sessions to go, but I thought I would post a sneak preview. Gary and Charlo were recently engaged and asked me to take some photos while we were visiting. Here is a peek at the upcoming photos:

 

Bondy Business Card

This past Christmas we were lucky enough to spend the holiday with our lovely fam in the UK. Part of visiting over Christmas-time is trying to figure out what to get everyone.

My sister-in-law had gotten some generic “Mummy Cards” from a website awhile back, to hand out when meeting new friends. I saw them and thought, it might be fun to surprise her with some new ones for Christmas! So after finding out what colors she likes, I went to work and designed her something I thought represented her. We wrapped them up, and on Christmas when she opened them she excitedly said, “You pimped my mummy cards!!” I couldn’t have asked for a better compliment. :)

Sian and her family had moved right before Christmas, and the kids are getting settled in a new school with new friends. What better time to have a new set of mummy cards to hand out?! Hope she has fun handing them out. Missing you, and the rest of the Bonds, sis!

Housewarming Gifts

Finally I can start posting all of the gifts I was creating before Christmas without ruining the surprise! So here is the first installment of the family Christmas gifts. We knew Dave and Carli had moved, and for a housewarming gift/Christmas gift I thought I would paint them something to hang in their new home. I saw this quote somewhere awhile back, and knew I would use it somewhere. I thought it was a great saying for someone buying a new home...and I especially liked the part about 'families', as Dave and Carli are now expecting! Jon and I are so excited to be an Aunt and an Uncle again; what a blessing. So, below is our first gift to Dave and Carli, though I'm sure there will be many more to come :)

Photographing London

Jon and I took the train to London for a day to do some sightseeing and to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We didn't really prepare, as it poured the entire time we were there...and we were without an umbrella. We had a great time, and got some really fab photos, but it was more than difficult to keep the lenses dry. At times, I swear it was raining sideways because of the wind, so there are some water spots - my apologies. With that said, the reflections from the wet ground provided for some very interesting shots. Here are just a few from that trip. I will be sure to post more once I go through them all. Happy Sunday everyone!

 

Dogs For Christmas

Happy 2012 everyone! Jon and I are back from England and have been getting back into the swing of real life. We had a wonderful Christmas and holiday and have a lot to share from our trip. My first post back, I would like to show one of the many Christmas presents I helped get together. 

I have known Britt for several years, so when she came and asked if I could create something for her boyfriend Jason for Christmas, I was thrilled. Britt and Jason love their dogs and she thought it would be a great gift to have a pair of matching paintings of the two pets. Jason is a fantastic photographer, so I was really blessed to be able to work from some quality photography to create these. I asked Britt to send me an email with some inspiration. I was able to include a couple of the special things Jason and Britt found so inspiring, such as a quote from the book of Ephesians (which is what covers the canvas underneath Enzo's mug). The two of them also have a saying about the two dogs, which is located in the top right of Boo's piece. I really had so much fun doing these and hope Britt and Jason enjoy them.

Lots more to come this year! So many things from our trip to share... Have a wonderful week!

New Website For A New Year

After months of hard work, I can finally say that I am ready to launch the all-new Design Velocipede website! I have had such a blast getting my posts together for this blog,  and I realized I needed somewhere else that could easily catalog my past projects. And that is how the Design Velocipede Website was born! Take a few minutes out of your day to peruse the new layout, some of my past work, and enjoy the project that has been consuming my life for the past couple of months!

 

I wish I could say I woke up one morning and realized I knew everything there was to know about web design. That was most definitely NOT the case. I had a TON of help, from my good friend Nick. He helped me with the code, the search engine optimization, and enough repetitive and ridiculous questions to last himself a lifetime. I owe him big time for all of his help, and the least I can do is let you all know where you can go to get a professional website for yourself or your business. Take a look at Ocean Grown Designs to see what Nick can build for you. 

Thank you everyone for supporting me and telling me how much you enjoy my posts; it's what keeps Design Velocipede going! Enjoy The All-New Design Velocipede and have a fabulous holiday. Now, it's time for Jon and myself to get on a plane and head across the pond!

A Holiday Away

Knew I would be away awhile, so I thought I would post some photos of the first time I went to England, when Jon took me into London. We were there to watch the Lion King on West End and Jon thought it would be fun to take me around to see all the tourist sites. St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the London Eye. I was especially obsessed with photographing that ferris wheel. Here are a couple of shots for while I'm away.

 

If you really miss my posts while I'm away, check out one of my favorite blogs of London Photography. I have been watching Kayode photograph London over the past couple of years and can only hope to capture London the way he does. Enjoy, and have a wonderful holiday!

 

Chic Christmas

Happy early Christmas, all! This will be one of my last posts of the year as Jon and I are heading to England on Thursday! Can't believe it; it's been close to two and a half years since we have been back for a visit. We will be gone for about three weeks, and needless to say we have been very busy trying to get things taken care of before we leave. Christmas cards are sent, family-usa are all taken care of, and decorations are up. These decorations are ones that I started making last year. When I was growing up, we had some garland like this, and after digging them out of an old box last year, I decided to make my own. So last year I made two garland, complete with Christmas fabric, raffia, and burlap rope. This year I made one for the front door. I have been super busy and haven't had time to run to home depot for some wire. So next year, there may be a post where I've turned the door garland into a wreath :)

Happy Christmas everyone!

A Holiday Wedding

A couple weeks ago, Jon and I were invited to a wedding over Thanksgiving weekend. We have known Dragan and Jen for awhile now, and were honored to be invited to their special day. We met the newly-weds playing indoor soccer, down in Northpark. The two of them used to live there, and as Jon and I tried to figure out what to give them as a wedding gift, we thought it would be best to give them something that would reflect how we met them. We got one of the photos I took down in Northpark enlarged, printed and framed for them. Getting something from a registry is great, but to get a new, meaningful piece of art for your new home seemed like a better idea. We had a great time at the wedding and can't wait to see the happy couple this week at our indoor game.