Color of Love: DJ $crilla + Lauren Lanzaretta

color of love // dj $crilla + lauren lanzaretta

Today is an exciting day. My good friend DJ $crilla (aka: Chris Harris) is releasing his latest album!! Color of Love is actually a different kind of project for the Celevland based rapper: this time, he paired up with songstress Lauren Lanzaretta.

This duo met through Facebook and have been working their butts off to make Color of Love. I was honored to receive a physical copy of the CD this weekend (thank you, Chris!) and I couldn't be more proud. I've been listening to $crilla's music for a long time now and I have to say, these might be some of the most inspired rhymes I've heard from him. As for Lauren, her voice is smokey, rich and full of soul – you can hear passion in her voice.

One of the most unique aspects of the release: it's FREE. Yep, you can download Color of Love absolutely free of charge. You have the option to leave a donation and every dollar collected is being given to charity: Berea Children's Home

Chris and Lauren really made a killer piece of work and you can watch the video for the title track here. Best of luck to Chris and Lauren today... I'm cheering for you!

What are you waiting for??? Download Color of Love!

#chooselove

back view – isn't it pretty?

i love the color palette.

inside!

beautiful people: lauren + chris

i better keep this... $$$? ;)

Save the Date // Katie and Dave

congratulations k + d

Look what arrived in the mail today!! This is the Save the Date invitation that I designed for my sister and her fiancé. The outcome was exactly what every designer hopes for: a pleased client. ;)

Truth be told, what makes this project particularly special is the collaboration behind the scenes. Katie and Dave had already compiled a collection of images they had found online to convey the look and feel the wanted. From there, I was able to give them plenty of options to choose from. They took a couple days to pick a layout and suggest a few revisions. Printing was expertly handled by Dave's sister, a rep for a printing company. Everything went seamlessly — and we all live in different states!

Weddings can be stressful even for the calmest or closest of families. I love knowing that my sister's wedding process seems to be bringing their two families together in a positive way. I'm so excited for May! (And designing the wedding invitations, of course...)

k + d... sitting in a tree...

the perfect finishing touch – a stamp they found at paper source

What to see more? Check out these other Save the Date designs >>

Giving Thanks!

gratitude > $4

My holidays were really great this year. I am quite fortunate to have so many people in my life to care about me... This week I'm working on making my own custom thank you notes* for friends and family. If you're not the crafty type or just don't have time to make your own, why not send this card?

The type illustration printed with archival ink and mounted onto a bright red, folded note card. It comes with a matching red envelope and sticker all neatly wrapped in cellophane. As an extra special 2012 bonus, if you mention you saw this item on my blog, I will include a postage stamp** for you to mail your thank you note! And it's a pretty stamp, not just the boring ol' bell stamp... ;)


* I'll post samples later this week!
** While supplies last. Please mention blog post in "message to seller" section of your Etsy order.

Girl Hunter & Food Karma

girl hunter // georgia pellegrini

Just as I was about to turn off the Today show this morning, I saw a clip about chef/huntress Georgia Pellegrini. In short, she left a job in finance to pursue a career in cooking. I looked her up (thanks, Google!) and found this great article about how she began hunting. It's inspiring to read about how hunting her own game has brought her closer to nature and closer to cooking. 

"I wanted to take part in every part of the process, I wanted to pay the full karmic price of the meal."

Food is so readily available to us, yet we rarely stop to think about where our food comes from or how it gets to our table. I love the idea of thinking about eating in a karmic sort of way: the predator/prey relationship is something to be respected rather than shunned or abused.

Besides having an interesting philosophy that she's turned into her lifestyle, it's great to see a strong young woman find something she's passionate about and chase it... and succeed! High fives, Georgia!

p.s.  —  she just wrote this book, too!

New Owl Plushie – Errol

meet Errol

he was just added to the Lab83 family

a new friend for just $12! ( + shipping )

The Mustache

black mustache necklace  { $10 }

Anyone who's spent some time on Etsy could probably tell you how big the mustache is right now. For us, the mustache was part of childhood. My sister and I have a dad who we've only seen mustache-less one time. Ever.

This new found mustache popularity is what inspired a gift for my sister this year: the mustache necklace! It's handcrafted out of polymer clay with acrylic paint and hanging from an 18" ball chain. She liked it so much I decided to include it in the Lab83 line up. I listed it in black but it's available in any color you could think of!

Who knew facial hair could be such a trend among women?? Happy 'Staching....

merry xmas sister!

"Save the Date" with Lab83

One the exciting new products Lab83 will be exploring in 2012: 

customizable 'Save the Date' wedding invitation cards!

I've designed a variety of wedding pieces (save the date cards, invitations, table numbers, programs, welcome signs, etc.) for friends over the years. The truth is, they are a large part of Lab83's decision to now offer wedding related products; they are amazingly supportive of my Etsy shop  - and keep telling me I need to "put this up on Lab83!" 

I am a formally trained graphic designer and a self trained artist. Though the two are undoubtedly linked, I generally have kept the two areas separate: graphic design is for my "real" job and all the other art is for fulfilling the whims of my imagination. Recently I have started to change my attitude by letting the line between my two disciplines blur a bit.

While working on 'Save the Date' designs for my sister's May wedding, I decided it was time to go for it. She and her financé chose a great design but I had been so excited to design options for them that I ended up with all kinds of extra layouts. And I knew exactly where they needed to go...

Save the Date // Clean & Light

Save the Date // Awesome Ampersand

Save the Date // Simple & Elegant

Save the Date // Simple Spring

Save the Date // Sweet Stripes (this one has a cute back side, too!)

Everything can be customized to with your names and location, as well as your wedding colors! Any questions or custom order questions? Please email me!