Kimberly FitzSimons: Stationery and Design

A Little Lion Art Print

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:12:00 +0000

You may know my obsession with Minted. I try to enter at least one design into each challenge. I feel like it is an excellent way to network with other designers and expand my skill set. I recently entered one submission into a challenge for childrens' art prints. It's called "Little Lion." Fresh and clean, modern and timeless. Just my style. There were so many ah-mazing entries in this challenge. You can check them out here.

My lion started out as a little sketch in my notebook. I am much better at drawing in Adobe Illustrator, but I am really trying to generate most of my ideas on paper first. Look at that scary bunny!

In other Minted news, remember that mother's journal I designed for Minted and blogged about a couple of weeks ago? It won 11th place out of 475 designs! I cannot wait to buy a journal for my notes to Miss Baby Sip. The journal will be available in time for Mother's Day ordering.

Introducing the "Peach Rose" Letterpress Wedding Invitation Suite

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:42:00 +0000

I've been really into soft, feminine colors lately, so I am thrilled to introduce a gorgeous new letterpress suite that is inspired by a blush hue. Below is a mood board that reflects the soft, clean design elements in this new suite.

Credits (clockwise from upper left): style me pretty via pinterest / shoes via weheartit / macaroons via kiss the groom / flowers via pinterest / pearls via our blog of love / lanterns via style me pretty / flowers via pinterest

The wedding invitation suite below is named "Peach Rose" and was designed with Arturo paper in the color Rosa in mind.

Over the past couple of months, I've reviewed paper samples in an effort to add something different to my letterpress wedding invitation portfolio. One new paper that is now available at Daily Sip Studios is Arturo. It is an Italian-made paper with a subtle woven texture and it comes in some gorgeous non-white hues, such as Rosa. You don't see this paper used widely for modern letterpress invitations, so it is a touch unique.

The nice thing about using a colored paper is that you can print with just one ink (which is less expensive) and still have serious color impact. The impression on the Arturo paper is not as deep as the impression on my house paper Crane Lettra, but it is still very nice, as you can see below.

The fonts and ink colors used in this suite are versatile and can be dressed up or down according to your preferences.

A variety of other design elements are available with this suite, including a save the date, information card, menu, and program. Click here to view the entire suite.

You can order samples of Peach Rose on the Daily Sip Studios website.

Let me know - are you digging this colored paper for letterpress?

Daily Sip Studios is Live Again

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:41:00 +0000

After the holiday busy season, I took a couple of months to regroup and plan for the future. I decided that I would concentrate on personalized letterpress invitations and announcements. I had a master plan to print many more designs and then relaunch a 2012 collection on my website. This didn't happen like I anticipated. Due to a long family vacation (much needed) and a broken plate maker (that resulted in many samples not going to print), my 2012 collection will be coming to market over the next couple of months. I hope to have many great designs in place for the launch of my brand new website this summer!

Every week, I plan to introduce you to one new wedding suite and/or announcement. I've sourced some new paper and envelopes and ventured away from standard invitation sizes for some of my wedding suites that I believe will differentiate Daily Sip Studios from other letterpress options available in the market.

The hardest part about rolling out my new designs was revising my pricing across all categories. Going forward, I will be printing some, but not all of my stationery and therefore I need to consider my outsourcing costs. The good news is that I will be able to lower my prices on packages that include more than one piece of stationery (i.e. a wedding suite that includes an extra information card, escort card or thank you note).

After the launch of my new website, I do plan to partner with other designers to launch additional offerings on Daily Sip Studios. This idea is just in the conception phase, but after the launch of my new website, I will have an excellent and engaging platform to sell more products. If you are a designer that may be interested in working with me, I would love to hear from you!

I appreciate all of your support and feedback as I try to develop Daily Sip Studios into a top-notch boutique stationery shop. As always, comments, suggestions and feedback is always welcome!

Assorted Letterpress Heart Boxed Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:23:00 +0000

I decided towards the end of last year that getting into the letterpress greeting card market was not for me. I had an unfortunate experience with Uncommon Goods where I ended up becoming a "finalist" for a holiday card contest and then ended up spending lots of money and time printing 300 letterpress holiday cards that are still sitting on my shelf. To produce greeting cards to sell wholesale, you have to design, print and invest a lot of time in marketing only to sell your goods at a wholesale price, which is typically a 50% discount off of the retail price. For me, it makes much more sense to focus my time and energy on high end invitations, announcements and stationery that I can sell directly to my clients.

That being said, I really love sending letterpress greeting cards so I decided to print a limited number of simple boxed letterpress folded cards that come in handy for most occasions. I designed and printed these mostly for me because I would like to do a better job of sending meaningful notes to family and friends. I feel like they are very "me" - clean, minimal, sweet and modern with a little pop of color. Each card is paired with a brown bag envelope.

A limited number of boxed sets are for sale at Daily Sip Studios and in the Etsy shop. A pack of 8 retails for $20.

Miss Baby Sip: 8 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:12:00 +0000

Miss Baby Sip turned 8 months old the other day. She just learned to clap and says "mama" when she is upset or wants something. Her belly is filling out quite nicely although still no signs of teeth for chomping on real food! The hair bow has a maximum staying power of about 5 minutes before she yanks it out.

She recently took her first steps in the ocean while on vacation in Florida. Grandpa Sip helped her get her feet all wet and sandy! She was mesmerized.

Ink

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:12:00 +0000

I was in the studio today when I heard a knock at the door. Sitting there was this dumpster full of ink. Back in the day there was a large printing company in the building where our studio is located. Rebecca of Rar Rar Press has gotten her hand on some...well, lots of it.

A Wine Tasting

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:57:00 +0000

If you've been following my blog for a while, you've noticed the lack of postings about wine. My stationery shop, Daily Sip Studios, was named after my love of wine so it makes me sad that there's been so little chatter about it! The truth is that Mr. Daily Sip and I decided to start 2012 without alcohol to give our bodies a rest. He was able to go the entire month of January without a sip of wine. I, on the other hand, didn't last the whole month, but it is fair to say that there was significantly less wine drinking going on than any other month since I met Mr. Daily Sip.

When February came around, we decided to resume the wine drinking with a little blind tasting with friends.

We served eight bottles; a mixture of great reds: Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Syrah and a couple of blends. Of course, we also included our 2008 and 2009 One M bottles in the mix. (They are the only two wines that I correctly guessed! Thank goodness!)

I put together a little scoring matrix that listed the producer, region, year and tasting notes from Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, or the winemaker. Each participant marked down the bottle number that he or she thought was one of the eight listings. Our winner got all but two correct!

Let's be honest. The girls chatted more than participated in the tasting.

The guys were a bit more serious with their tasting and their notes!

It was a fun night with friends and a great way to get back into wine! If you want to host a blind wine tasting, I would highly recommended ordering these bags from South House Designs on Etsy. Each bag has a chalkboard patch that allows you to write your own number or letter on it and then erase it. The shop also offers a chalkboard marker, which you can see below. Very cool!

Have you been drinking any good wine lately? I would love to hear!

Exciting Minted Wins!

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:13:00 +0000

The saying goes: "Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride." When it comes to my design submissions for Minted, I like to say "Always an Editor's Pick, Never a Winner." I've submitted designs for Minted for over two years and 16+ of my designs have been chosen for sale on Minted. Each has been chosen as an "Editor's Pick." This is different than being chosen as a "Winner," which means it was rated by voters as one of the top 20 designs submitted to a specific design category.

Last week I found out that my design Graduating Classy finished in the top 10 out of 310 designs, finally making me a "Winner"! After continued design, patience and practice, I feel like I finally am worthy of standing in one of those coveted top 20 spots. I hope to see more wins over the coming challenges.

Also, remember those Save the Date designs that I submitted at the start of the year? I am happy to say that "Circle the Date" and "Forever" were chosen as "Editor's Picks" out of 849 designs! They will soon be available for purchase on Minted. In addition, "Circle the Date" was a runner-up for the "Snapshot Award" for the best design incorporating a full bleed photo.

I am thinking about adding digital prints to my product offering when I re-open Daily Sip Studios in the next couple of weeks. If you wouldn't mind, I would love to know if I should eventually make available any of my other save that date designs that weren't Minted winners. Can you let me know what you think?

A Special Book

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:14:00 +0000

My parents celebrated their 40th anniversary in January. My older sister came up with the idea to make them a book featuring old photographs of their lives. She secretly sifted through old albums and boxes to find loose photos of their childhoods, wedding and our old family trips. We scanned the photos and uploaded them to My Publisher to produce this special book. It came out so great and it really touched my parents. Below are a few of my favorite photos:

Below is a photo of my parents while they were dating. They were high school sweethearts. I love how my mom looks so chic in this photo.

The first page is actually my parents wedding photo. It seemed an appropriate way to start an anniversary album.

Below is a photo of my older sister meeting me for the first time. I love how her hands are pressed on the glass. So sweet!

Below is a photo of us and our dad on a trip to New York City. You can see the World Trade Center towers in the background.

I would highly recommend considering this as a gift idea for family members and friends. There are numerous websites that help you make books. My Publisher was really easy to use and there are a variety of different layout and size options (we went with the most basic). My next goal is to make a book for Mr. Daily Sip and my honeymoon trip to Africa in 2007.

Simple + Sweet (No. 5): Glass Jars Wrapped With Twine

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I really love the look of glass mason jars wrapped with twine. A few would be great for centerpieces for a bridal or baby shower or outdoor picnic or party. The look would be pretty with just a couple of roses or even just baby's breath. So delicate, economical and earthy. This jar was made by Marina of the blog Yummy Kitchen and is featured here.

Do you have something simple + sweet to share? Email me!

Women's Stationery Designs

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I recently submitted some women's stationery designs to Minted. To be honest, I didn't have much time to spend on them because I was on vacation during the submission period. However, I took advantage of having Grandma and Grandpa Sip around to play with Miss Baby Sip so that I could have some quiet design time.

I've really been into soft, pretty colors lately. Perhaps it's my longing for spring.

Happy Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:09:00 +0000

Miss Baby Sip and I are in Florida on a little vacation. We sent this photo as a special greeting to Mr. Daily Sip, who is back home working. Hope you all have a great day with your special someone.

Notes to My Daughter Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I recently submitted a new journal design, "A Mother's Notes" to Minted. Minted was looking for designs for "moms, dads and grads" and I thought that this would be a great Mother's Day gift for a new mom. There are so many moments in Miss Baby Sip's life that I would love to tell her about, or words of wisdom that I would want to share.

If I were to write an entry today, it would be this:

"Dear Madelyn,

Yesterday, you visited Disney World for the very first time. You were such a good sport! We rode on "It's A Small World" and you loved it! And, you screamed and babbled through the entire "Country Bear Jamboree!" performance. It was - by far - your favorite. Some things to keep in mind for theme park visits in the future: pack sunscreen and sunglasses, visit the best rides early before the crowd, and line up early to get a good seat for the parade. Also, remember that jean shorts, daisy dukes, black sneakers, and tube tops generally don't look good on anyone, so avoid them if possible.

Also, we met lots of daddy's business associates last night. Thank you for being such a good networker. Being nice to people and taking an interest in their lives will take you far in this world. The people most likely to succeed are enchanting, authentic, kind and smart. Just don't forget the kind; its the most important."

You can rate my design, "A Mother's Notes," here.

Letterpress Birth Announcements for Declan

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I recently designed and printed letterpress birth announcements for my adorable newborn nephew, Declan. I am planning to introduce letterpress birth announcements on my new site so I was glad to have a really wonderful reason to create and print a new design.

This design includes an adorable printed photo that is adhered to the card. The fonts used in the design are Carolyna Black and Archer (two of my favorite fonts that I mentioned yesterday on the blog!). I love the pop of color in the name - it really stands out, but is simple enough to not distract from the photo.

For this announcement I mixed an acquamarine blue ink and paired it with a brownish gray ink.

The blue ink matches a colored envelope. I am planning to include some new colored envelopes and papers in many of my new letterperss wedding and announcement designs. In the past, I have generally matched invitations and announcements with white Lettra cotton envelopes. However, I am starting to love using colored envelopes to add another visual element to an announcement or invitation suite. My fellow Minted designers have given me great advice on finding new sources for my colored envelopes and paper.

Declan's name looks really great impressed onto the cotton paper. It can be a challenge to not overdue the "punch" of the impression on the paper, but this looks great. The text is clean and crisp, which is a great indicator of a nice impression.

Many of my new birth announcement designs do not include room for a photo, but are large enough to include a photo in the envelope with an announcment. However, any design can be easily modified to make room for a photo, or can be printed on a large piece of paper to include a small photo. I learned the hard way over the recent holidays that most clients do not want to spend time cutting and pasting photos onto their cards. Therefore, I will be offering this service in the future for a small charge.

I look forward to sharing more birth announcements with you over the next few months as I print and photograph them!

I would also love to hear some of your favorite colors and/or themes that you would like to see in the future. Let me know!

My Favorite (Purchased) Fonts for Stationery Design

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:40:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you my favorite go-to free fonts. Then, I promised to share my list of favorite purchased fonts, too! I hope that Mr. Daily Sip doesn't read this because he could not believe him when I once told him that I bought fonts. I've bought these here and there over the last three years and I consider each of them an investment! (Sort of like that new pair of winter boots or a pair of statement earrings!) You don't need to buy any of these to be a great designer, but I really love to try new fonts and they have surely improved my design portfolio.

Burgues Script is a gorgeous font. I still use this script a lot on formal stationery pieces. It also works for one-worders ("love" the smith family, "to" and "from", etc.)

Oh, Archer. I can't believe I had to shell out so much for you, but I am so glad I did! It is a really versatile font and looks clean and fresh. If you read Martha Stewart magazine, then you are already familiar with this one.

Cyclone is a nice font because you get the look above, but it also comes with two other styles that give additional looks (one is similar to Strangelove Text below).

Business Penmanship is really sweet. I used this for the word "believe" on last season's holiday cards.

Filosofia is a font that I do not use enough because I really like it! It is one of those go-to fonts that will always work - with modern or traditional styles.

If you shopped at Whole Foods or J. Crew last season, then surely you saw Strangelove Text. It is informal and a bit whimsical. It is similar to Cyclone Inline and the (free) Ostrich Sans.

I almost didn't add Carolyna Black to this list because I wanted to keep it a secret. However, if you look at Pinterest or paper blogs, the cat is out of the bag for sure! I love this font because it is a realistic, modern calligraphy script. I can't stop using it on my new projects no matter how hard I try!

The reason I bought Archive Tilt is because I love the way it looks letterpress printed onto a card. I used it in the preview of this letterpress card.

Some other favorites that I like to use, but either don't have or are just getting used to are Gotham, Piel Script, Monroe, Mrs. Eaves, Adios Script,....and, oh...I give up - there are so many more!

Do you have any favorites to add to this list?

Sweet Chic Wedding Invitation Suite for Minted

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:20:00 +0000

A couple of months ago, I submitted two designs into Minted's wedding invitation challenge. I am excited to share that one of my designs, Sweet Chic, was selected and is now available for purchase on Minted.

As I mentioned in my last post, my style is simple and I use minimal colors and really embrace white space. It can be challenging for me to create designs for flat printing because I am so used to designing for letterpress printing. Letterpress designs feature limited colors (generally only one or two) and small areas of solid color.

I think that the name reflects the style of this design, especially in pale, soft colors. Minted now also offers custom colors for a tiny charge. Each invitation has a matching envelope liner, backer, address label, and coordinating pieces.

The invitation is featured in three colors on the site: mint, slate and lilac.

Given that most of my business is centered around letterpress printing, I love the opportunity to expand my portfolio to include design flat printed invitations.

Unapologetically Simple

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:15:00 +0000

I've been working really hard on the designs for my 2012 wedding collection. I've finally selected six of my favorite wedding suites to be printed for letterpress samples later this month.

Although I am really happy with my new designs, I have been fighting a battle with a little design devil that sits on my shoulder. He keeps saying, "It's too simple. Not enough illustration. Not enough character." Several times I've listened to that little devil and started to change designs to reflect what I think brides will want. In the end, however, I always seem to change the design just enough to end up back where I started.

My new line will reflect my style. Lots of white space, clean typography, a pop of color, fresh script fonts, and overall perfect balance. Unapologetically simple.

The other devil that sits on my shoulder is the pricing devil. I am still working on winning that battle.

To give you a sneak peek, here is one of the suites. I am still working out colors and coordinating pieces, but you can clearly see the simplicity that I love.

Simple + Sweet (No. 4): DIY Hanging Planter

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:53:00 +0000

Using just four items (pot, scissors, rope and plant), you can make this cute plant hanger. It may be the just the thing to brighten up your living or work space. View the tutorial here.

Photo credit: Refinery 29

January Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:37:00 +0000

I once stated on this blog that I would do a monthly recap of my business. I think that may have happened once or twice, but I definitely did not stick with it. However, January of 2012 was one of those months where things just started to fall into place. I thought I would share a few highlights:

- I changed my blog site from Daily Sip Studios (letterpress shop) to Kimberly FitzSimons (stationery designer). Instantly, it felt authentic and - finally - just right.

- I started receiving more custom design inquiries. Many! It inspired me to create my "Portfolio" and "Custom" pages on my blog, which are expanding as we speak!

- I realized that my love for design thrives because of the work I do as a result of my personal relationships with my customers. I love to work one-on-one with my clients! In other words, I finally decided that wholesale is NOT for me! (Wait, you want to take how much of a cut?!) I love to visit the National Stationery Show, but you may never see me exhibit there!

- I moved my Vandercook into a new studio. I wrote this post in December about how I was planning to start outsourcing some of my letterpress printing (which is still part of the business plan), but my new space has revived my interest in short run printing! I also have two new letterpress "roomies!"

- I submitted a whopping 22 entries into four Minted design challenges, all of which I love! I plan to write a blog post about "creative momentum," which started after my December vacation and is still going strong!

- I put a deposit on a fancy schmancy e-commerce site. Yes, I shelled out the big bucks to develop a great website to sell my awesome new letterpress stationery collections. It will launch summer 2012. I know that is far away, but perfection takes time, people!

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't share the highlights of my personal life in January!

- Madelyn (Miss Baby Sip) turned seven months old and started to crawl (okay, "scootch"). I am absolutely in love with her.

- I welcomed my nephew, Declan, into the family. I fell in love with him while holding him in the hospital! Birth announcement photos coming next week!

- I celebrated eight years of having Mr. Daily Sip in my life. We met on January 31, 2004 at The Hidden Shamrock on Halsted and Diversey in Chicago. Life has been great ever since!

What's in store for February? You may notice that the Daily Sip Studios website is on hiatus. Well, I am actually taking a break and headed somewhere warm for a little while! But, towards the end of the month, I am going on a letterpress printing "binge" and printing a ton for the new 2012 collection. I also to plan to launch some digital offerings, too!

I hope you will stay tuned to see what happens next. I will try and continue this blogging streak over the next couple of weeks while I take a short printing break.

A Little Tiger in the Letterpress Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:05:00 +0000

Tiger, Tiger, where are you?

Oh, there you are, hiding behind the Vandercook.

You want to letterpress print with me today? Oh, okay. But please get off of my nice boots!

I guess I will just print in my socks today.

(Yes, they are Guiness socks. I didn't expect anyone to see them when I woke up this morning!)

It's Party Time: Birthday Invitation Designs for Minted

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:59:00 +0000

I've been on quite a roll creating flat printed designs for my favorite stationery design outlet, Minted. The most recent challenge was to submit birthday party invitations for children and young adults. Remember that one of my New Year resolutions was to learn to draw? Well, I am happy to say that some of my submissions were created by first putting pencil to paper (see the last two designs below for original sketches!)

How do you think I did? I would love for you to rate my designs and let me know. You can do so by clicking the link on the title of the design. There were over 750 entries to this challenge, so I can't wait to find out how they placed within the bunch.

(I really liked Fairy Stars and needed a boy version!)

First Cupcake

A Moment

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:37:00 +0000

I sat down at my computer tonight to write a post on some recent design work. While formulating my words, I glanced outside to see one of the most beautiful sunsets of my life.

So, if you don't mind, I am going to post that other design stuff tomorrow. I think this was a sign to take a break and just enjoy the moment.

Simple + Sweet (No.3): Candy Popcorn

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

I love this sweet popcorn idea, which comes from Eat at Allies. A perfect little Valentine's Day gift for the loved ones in your life.

Moved! The Letterpress Studio Space Reveal

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Earlier this week, I moved my Vandercook, "Wellington," into a new studio space! My Vandercook weighs just over 700 lbs, so even though it looks small, it is quite a haul. Luckily, we had some printing veterans help move our equipment. It is always amazing to hear their stories about how many presses they've thrown to the junk pile over the last 30 years. (My heart aches!)

The movers loaded the Vandercook onto a flat bed truck. The temperature was falling to 20 degrees and it was about to snow, so I was hoping that everything would be ok! They were amazing!

The movers also moved a Chandler and Price letterpress from Steel Petal Press out of my former space. That C&P (Penelope) weighs 1800 pounds and she is a beauty!

I couldn't bear to follow the truck to the new studio space, so below is a photo of the Vandercook in its new home! I give all of the credit to the new space to Rebecca of Rar Rar Press, who allowed us to move in with her! Look at those plants! And, that natural sunlight is A-mazing!

Below is Penelope, of Steel Petal Press fame. She is amazing. A chunk of love.

Rebecca, of Rar Rar Press, uses only wood and lead type for her stationery work. It's really amazing to me. I only use digitally made photopolymer plates, so it is a completely different approach! She has some amazing type! Can you read what this says?

More type drawers!

I also have to credit Rebecca for this amazing retro "kitchen" space. I just love the lime green!

Below is our space with all of the presses. On the left, a C&P; on the right, my Vandercook; in the middle, an offset press. Hiding behind the offset press: the other C&P.

A big THANK YOU to Shayna of Steel Petal Press and Reba of Rar Rar Press for inviting me to join them in their new space! I am so happy to know you, see your beautiful work, and share your space.

Finding Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:06:00 +0000

Last week, I was designing moving announcements for Minted and was really stuck on a submission. I had a concept that was just rolling around like a pinball inside my head, but I couldn't make it work. This design is shown below. There is nothing wrong with it, For me, though, it just wasn't anything super special. I entered the submission only to delete it a few hours later. I gave up on it and stepped away from my computer.

Several hours later, I went to the hospital to meet my brand new nephew, Delcan. Oh my gosh, did that little guy break my heart. I just loved holding him and was so happy to see my brother-in law and sister-in-law expanding their family with a precious and beautiful baby boy.

After I came home from the hospital, I started thinking about my moving announcement design. With my nephew's "growing family" in mind, I edited my design to this one below. My submission has not been rated yet, so I have no idea if it will be sold on Minted, but I really don't care. It is just my style: simple, lots of white space, minimal colors and pretty text. More importantly, it will always remind me of little Declan when he was born.

The lesson I've learned is that whenever I am stuck on a design, I need to step away. Sometimes, the inspiration I need is just waiting to be found.

What has inspired you lately?