New Year's in September

I know September isn't really the time when people reflect back on the last twelve months. That's usually left up to New Year's. But, for the first time in twelve months, I am finding myself at a pause. Here's why:

Last August I started the final, most difficult semester of my grad school program writing a 45 page public relations plan for the National Oceanic & Atomospheric Administration (NOAA). In Decemeber, I finished and graduated after two years of hard work.

Just when I came up to take a breath in January, Kevin proposed and we started planning our Do-It-Yourself wedding at a farm in Maryland. Then because we just weren't busy ENOUGH, in April we decided to buy a house. In July we closed on the little 50's brick rambler of my dreams, refinished the original hardwood floors ourselves** and moved out of our apartment of two years.

At the beginning August I was promoted to a new role in my company requiring lots of overtime, patience and people skills (did I mention that grad school, wedding planning and house hunting were't my full time job?). And finally, two weeks ago, we got married in front of 75 of our friends and family on said farm complete with BBQ, pie, a barn and some goats.

Our Sneak Peek photo courtesy of Sweet Tea Photography ;o)

Let's recap: new degree, new house, new job, new husband. Those are just the highlights, but in between those milestones there were months of slogging and celebrating, anxiety and excitement. In the last few months, when I was describing my situation to people the most common reaction was, "how are you still standing?" 

For months I have been pining for the cool freedom that September would bring and now we're here. I can't help but ask myself (as many others have begun asking me), what am I going to do next?

Mainly I just want to focus. I started this blog so I could explore and build my design skills, maybe somehow meld them with my PR/Communications stratEEgery skills, share my quirky artwork and focus in on the things that make me really happy.

Like this picture of a whale I started.

So, this is just a post to say, I'm back after a crazy awesome year and I'm ready for whatever comes next.

Help! I'm drowning!

Hi Blog! Long time no type-y. That's because I'm currently in communications plan HELL. I'm used to whipping out a couple slides or a couple pages of strategies and BOOM plan done. The plan I'm working on for my grad school capstone project is running at 56 pages. It's gross. Like, disgusting.

Anyways, my favorite part is that I get to slap together a couple creative materials to support which means I got to fire up the Photoshop again. As I've mentioned before, my client is the NOAA Office of Aquaculture.

Flyer for "Science Night" Event

Above is a flyer/ad for an event. Below is the beginnings of a flyer to help explain where farmed-fish comes from (it's so complicated).

Brochure Front (not quite finished)

Brochure Back

So hopefully I won't go completely bonkers (I'm close, trust me). And hopefully these pretty materials will earn me some good creativity points. Sooo, anyone want to proof-read 56 THRILLING pages for me?

Taking an Ocean Break

I turned in my outline for my grad school final project yesterday so it was finally time to take a little break tonight. My client is the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration which has actually been really interesting.
Granted, I've been kicking myself for picking a complicated topic since there's just so much to learn about aquaculture. Who knew? Some of the photos on their website are really cool and beautiful. Like these pictures of deep sea corals. 
So I thought I'd draw some "ocean-y" patterns and these look a bit like waves, which was a surprise actually because it started out looking more like this. I really love blue and white!

Loop Dee Loops

Ok, I'm getting ready to take off for the weekend to the super fun Dogfish Dash in my super cool Battery Brewing t-shirt. But last night as I was procrastinating on paper, I adapted another part of my secret project into another pattern. This one kind of blows my mind (if I'm allowed to say that...)


This was actually taken from a large script, block print "W." I just cropped the loop and started messing around with it.


I love how the blue reads differently on the light green vs. the dark green. Anyways, hope everyone has a great weekend. I'll be back Monday with those fun Team Battery Brewing pics :o)

Block Prints Gone Digital

Woohoo, I have to keep this short because it's been a long day of "real life" work, additional "real life" work on top of work, grad school scariness and Declaration of You worksheet-filling-out. I just wanted to share the patterns I created with my block printing experiment over the weekend.

I love navy and white  as evidenced by my blog's design duh. Make sure you click this one so you can see the funky block printing mistakes details.

Next I tried to incorporate some colors from another design. In theory (maybe totally not based in reality because this is just something I'm inferring) if I want to make a line of fabrics, papers, pillows, dog costumes, there has to be a cohesive color theme thingie (lots of things around here are "thingies," I guess I need learn some of the vernacular). So I recycled the color from my beloved dot from two weeks ago.

So there ya go! I can't wait to start working on some other patterns using this method... as soon as I'm done with all this other stuff...

Recycle Part Two

Ok, am I crazy that I'm spending my Labor Day weekend working on patterns, drawings and blog posts instead of relaxing? The bad news is that I'm really procrastinating (already) from working on my grad school capstone project. Uuugghhg.

So here's part two. This was a pretty easy update from the original. I can use this as a tile to make a larger pattern, but I kind just like the one block. What do you think?

A Different Shade of Green

Took some time today to polish the first botanic print I made last week. I used Kuler to pull the actual colors from the photo so that it looks more natural and I really like the results! 

In other news, I finished my final two regular grad school classes last week so I'm onward to my capstone project. My client is the NOAA National Maritime Fisheries Service so expect some fabulous fishy prints coming soon!

Botanic Garden Inspiration, Minus the Snark

When people talk about inspiration I have to admit I sort of tune it out. I feel like its one of those fake things that people brag about. "I'm sooo inspiiired by traaavel." That being said, I had a moment this weekend though where I was like, "Oh, I get it!"

I've talked in the past about where Snarky Beagle doodles come from (I'll give you a hint, the stork doesn't bring them), so on a trip to the U.S. Botanic Gardens I was a little surprised I found myself snapping tons of photos of different beautiful, natural patterns.

Obviously, no one here is shocked that flowers are an amazing inspiration. My favorite is the top right with the pink stripes.

But I also couldn't believe how amazing some of the succulents they had were. The colors and patterns had me staring at them (that is until I melted in the humid 95 degrees temps). So stay tuned for some Botanic Garden-inspired patterns I'll be working on (as soon as I'm done with two 10-page papers for grad school... much less inspiring).

What's your favorite photo? What do you get inspired by?

Multitasking Is Hard

Oh hi, internet. Happy weekend! This weekend is going to be a little rough for me so I thought I'd just pop in here to let you know. I'm working on a project for the Pinterest Challenge. Here's a hint:

Also, since it's close to the end of the semester I'm basically swamped in papers. For my research class I decided to do a little multi-tasking. So if you have three minutes and want to help shape the future of The Snarky Beagle pop on over here and take my survey. It would be immensely helpful and I'll heart you forever! Here's my second hint about my Pinterest Challenge entry.

Hopefully I'll be back Sunday to give you all the details!

Let's Call it Plan B-Dot-0

Alright, let's talk a little about me. If you don't want to talk about me, you can just admire my latest and greatest pattern seen below. If you want, you can click on it and make it your desktop wallpaper! Because I love you Internet. Ok? Ok. 

Let's be real. I am not an easily motivated person. Really. I know that's shocking. So I've decided I need to lay out a plan to help me be more motivated towards a creative goal. Here are some of the steps:

1. Draw: I doodle a lot, but now the goal is to make those doodles into patterns. Also, I just need to practice, practice, practice to keep getting better at drawing and stuff.

2. Share: Share everything I'm drawing/creating plus maybe get some feedback?

3. Read: There's a lot of people on the internet that like to give advice to creative people about how to turn their creativity into a living. I'm gonna read some of it. I'm also going to read the blogs of illustrators, graphic designers and surface designers who inspire me.

So, I'm hoping that these first three steps will help me decide the next steps to take. Despite the fact that I'll be finishing my grad degree in Public Relations in December, should I go get an art/graphic design degree next? What kind of products could I make/sell with my patterns? Should I open an Etsy store? Is this just a hobby that I love and nothing more?

Yeah, that's A LOT to decide and it's pretty important to me. I'm not gonna quit my day job or anything, but I really love this stuff. Anyways, enough about me, what do you think? Do you have a three-step plan? Any suggestions on what to read?

Infographic: People LOVE Movies

Here's an infographic I made for a class presentation this week. The assignment was to do in-depth interviews for communications research on Netflix. I was dorkily excited to put my Photoshop skillz (the "z" makes it real) to good use. If I hadn't left it to the night before it was due, I probably would have polished it a bit more but I was really proud of the end result. 

Important to note is the little logo I did for our fake PR/Research agency, Lemon Communications. My team decided since I missed class while in Scotland that they'd nickname me Lemon (like Liz Lemon, har har). So when it was time to pick a group name, Lemon Communications was a clear choice. I said that was fine as long as I was the boss :o)

All joking aside, they were a really great group to work with and we pretty much knocked it out of the park. Go Team Lemon!

Response 6: Summer Colors

So this is really my LAST last post for class. My classmate Jonathan made a post about how much he's looking forward to summer and I have to say, "ME TOO!" 

As I mentioned in the last post, I've recently discovered the wonder of color-izing my old black and white designs in Photoshop. I knew there was a reason I had been saving all these high-resolution scans. Here's one...

Here's the black and white version. I had originally named it "Chlorine," because it reminds me of the way the sunlight hits the bottom of a swimming pool (a very summer-y thought). Here's another one that was originally called "Rivers" but adding the green really made me realize how much it looks like growing grass or uncurling ferns.

Anyways, adding fantastic colors to these designs will be keeping me busy for a while I'm sure. What do you think? Better than the originals?

Week 13: The Moral of the Story

It seems we've come to the part of the show/semester where I get to talk about what I learned. Not to get all mushy about it, but being forced to blog for class was probably the best thing that's ever happened to this blog. It not only forced me to practice my writing, but also to stretch my design skills. 

The above illustration is a good example. I took an old ink drawing from forever ago and digitally colored and manipulated it in Photoshop, something I've never done before for some reason. Before this semester, I was sort of in a lull on the creative/doodling front, but this has forced me to make time and to WANT to make time to create new things. 

I've really remembered how much I love drawing and designing. I've been flattered by friends, co-workers and classmates who have commented in person, on Facebook and here. 

So the moral of the story is that I'm going to keep it up even if it's challenging to find time. As was the case in the beginning of the semester, I'm still not really sure where I go from here with these weird doodles... I'm not quittin' my day job as they say. But, maybe someday :o)

Thanks and stay tuned!

Response 5: Vacation Countdown

I've been a little (ok, a lot) on the stressed-out side lately. Here's how I feel depicted in a drawing that I did during a meeting today. Don't worry, I was also listening but I'm a habitual doodler.

This just looks stressful doesn't it? On one of my classmate's blogs, she has been asking for input on planning a cruise vacation which has launched me into a fit of daydreaming about lounging on beaches and the like. There's nothing like napping in the sun to relieve some pent up anxiety.

In fact, I am actually getting ready to take a vacation in June however lounging on a beach is not really on the agenda. I'll be headed over to the U.K. When I bought the plane ticket I was overwhelmed with a sense of relief and excitement. A full week away from the office and school will surely be grand. We're going up to Edinburgh, Scotland so if anyone has been there and has trip on what to see or do. Let me know!

Week Twelve: Oh Hai New Obsession

I really can't tell how late I am to this party. I'll claim to be fashionably late. Have you heard of Pinterest?! I finally got my official invite last night and I'm already pinning away. Pinterest is basically an online, social bulletin board where you can pin inspiring photos, recipes and designs, and see what others are pinning.

This is such a great tool for someone like me (read as "scatterbrained messssss"). My previous method of bookmarking inspiration was starring Google Reader items, which I would scroll back through, uh, maybe once a year. Needless to say... it was ineffective. 

Another thing that's great about Pinterest, other than filling in for the MIA-Right-Side-Of-My-Brain (I must have bounced off our trampoline and into the bushes a few too many times as a child), is that I can create as many boards as I want. 

I started with a "Snarky Style" board. Similar to my earlier post about finding and defining my style, I think this will really help me hone and broadcast that image. I also started boards for:

• What's for Dinner
• Sugar Coma Central
• If I Had a House

So to fulfill my "crowd sourcing" obligation for class. Tell me what I should pin! Designs? Recipes? Something a little more off the wall? Also if you are interested in joining, I have five invites so post a comment and I'll send you one!

Response 3: Moms are the BEST

Those of you who know me, know that my mom is literally the hands-down-best mom ever. Not because she does my laundry when I take it all home (though she does that) or because she cooks amazing meals (she also does that), but because she's our in-house therapist. When I was a senior in high school my mom decided to go back to school (sadly she picked Florida State... ew) and get her Master's of Social Work.

Simply put, my mom is a bad-ass therapist. She is widely known (at least in our family) for taking no prisoners when it comes to her clients. She is honest with them even if that means being a little snarky. So when I was reading Candyce's blog about the Teen Mom II finale with Dr. Drew, I thought a lot about how my mom would have handled those girls.

So when it comes to motherly advice, she can't be beat. But while I'm in the midst of listing my laundry list of "things that are turning me into a gooey clump of stress," her favorite thing to say to me is "I'm so sorry about you." I still haven't figured out what this means exactly. She's not sorry FOR me... she's sorry ABOUT me. Hm. She cracks me up every time she says it and I've been trying to remind myself to do a pretty drawing with that statement. The drawing above is not pretty. I did it in about five minutes so I could get this post in for class. Maybe this is why I am a gooey clump of stress... see what I did there?

Response 2: Paper Pushing and a Project

As previously admitted, I've been increasingly enamored with wedding design blogs, so my classmate Gina and I have been sharing our favorites since her blog falls right into this category. In her latest post, she shared some fun invitations/save-the-date designs all of which I love.

There's just something about fun notecards and stationary that really make me wish I wrote more than a handful of thank you cards in a year. Below are the note cards I used for Christmas and birthday thank you notes this year. Both were picked up from the Michael's dollar bin while I was there probably buying a whole bunch of stuff I miiiiight need.

In addition to note cards, I also love paper products in general. I am super envious of so many designers who create patterns for cards, wallpaper, fabric, you name it. One of my recent favorites has been Jessica Swift. I can't even remember how I stumbled across her blog a few weeks ago but I was instantly in love with her fun designs and products. So when she posted an amazing deal to get a pack of scraps of her beautiful paper I jumped all over it envisioning the many decoupage projects I was about to embark on.

Materials ready!

So here's the first of many (so many scraps left yaaay). I transformed a Mead composition notebook into something infinitely more stylish with some Mod Podge glue and a roll of contact paper. I picked out some coordinated scraps and glued them to the notebook, then covered the whole thing with contact paper. The whole thing took about 20 minutes. Here's the result!


Front

Back

I haven't decided yet what to write in said notebook (a chronic problem for me... buying beautiful notebooks with no intention of writing in them) but I love how it turned out!

Week Ten: Everybody Loves Crafts

"Crafting, or 'making things,' has always been a delightful pastime of mine because it requires putting common elements together in order to achieve a lovely something that nobody needs." - Amy Sedaris, Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People.

So our Border's bookstore is going out of business and everything is 50-70 percent off. Perfect excuse to buy a useless/hilarious book. Amy Sedaris is like a snarky Martha Stewart. Her book Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People is useless AND hilarious. For example, one featured craft is a Kitty Tea Cozy. Instructions: "self explanatory." I plan to put this on my bookshelf right next to my Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts.

In addition to releasing the book, Amy also created several funny "how to" videos demonstrating some of the crafts in the book. Here's one:



In case you have any doubt how funny Amy Sedaris is. Here's a clip from NPR's "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me," where Amy plays the game "Not My Job." (class note: I hope this counts as a "type" of content...) Her brother, David Sedaris is a regular on This American Life, another favorite show on public radio. I highly recommend both Amy and David's books if you are looking for an afternoon of snarkiness, but only if you think you need to learn to stretch before and after crafting.

Week 9: Connecting

This picture is what our apartment would look like if it was a Metro map which has nothing to do with this blog post for class about Facebook.

I remember the first time I ever saw Facebook. Ironically, I was at work, which at that time was an internship in the summer of 2004. My co-intern/office mate said, "are you on Facebook?" and little did I know that I was joining the biggest time sink EVER. There were a whopping five people from my high school that were on Facebook and we immediately friended each other for lack of other options.

Week after week, more friends arrived from high school and college. Whether we were BFFs, frenemies or acquaintances, we became online stalkers together.

Over the years, while others have culled their friends lists, I've just coasted along occasionally deleting that person I met once at a party, or had one class with, or can't even remember where I met. (That is unless I think the contact could come in handy down the road, like this one kid I met at a party who oddly works as an engineer for Facebook now... is that weird?)

But what I find most fascinating is seeing how people have changed. Like watching television, I've seen people get married, have kids, start jobs, quit jobs, move to Europe, South America and Asia, fall apart, pull themselves together... the drama is intoxicating. They are not the 18-years-olds that they were and neither am I. It reminds me how far I've come and keeps me connected and grounded to the journey I've been on.

Part of that journey is sharing with them my thoughts and drawings on this blog. I share almost every post through Facebook and hope that the people who I have lost touch with can still feel connected to me. Even if it's just by looking at a Metro map of my apartment.

Week 7: I Hate Charlie Sheen, but I Love #Winning

This week for class we discussed how Google is scary. Right? Ok, maybe that wasn't the actual takeaway but we're supposed to be blogging about how we're making our blog accessible to people out there on the internet. Hi internet people! 

So one way that was suggested was capitalizing on the latest trends and memes. I feel like this is a really cheap way to get blog traffic, but I did it anyways. I guess in comparison with some tactics, it's totally ethical but I have to say it was pretty difficult to find ways to integrate memes with the topic of this blog. 

So as we all know, Mr. Sheen has been on a wild ride worthy of Mr. Toad. Fortunately for Mr. Toad, he was only addicted to motor cars. Anyways, I made this little doodle in honor of his favorite Twitter hash tags, #winning. I have no idea what he's rambling about and I'm pretty sure no one else does either. 

In unrelated news, this week was Spring Break. I guess you get to a point after you graduate from college and before you have kids when you completely forget there is such a thing. You just go to work every day regardless of season. But yet again, I was the recipient of not one, but two bunches of flowers (daffodils this time) and they made the week considerably brighter. 

So happy Spring Break to my classmates, and happy random day in March to everyone else!