Inspiration Board DIY

The end of the year is just a day away now and I'm itching to finish up some things that should have been done months ago. I always have a bunch of little things on my todo list that tend to get shoved aside for more pressing matters. Hanging photos, cleaning up the mess of cords under my desk and other stuff that will help me feel less cluttered and more organized without much effort. I have been focusing on clearing these sorts of things off my list this week to start the new year off feeling accomplished and ready for what's next.

Right after I moved into my current house I started a DIY project on some cork boards I had set aside for my office. I was less than impressed with the outcome of this project and never hung them up. Last night I decided to just try something new to cover the DIY don't and turn it into something I'd be excited about. I'll start backwards and share the finished product first. Here's my brand new inspiration board: Not only am I really excited about how much I love the finished product, but I also have a new blank canvas to fill up. I'm thinking wedding inspiration, ideas for new Vivi Dot designs, keepsakes from the year that has past and new ideas for the year ahead!

This project was super easy! All you need is a cork board (or three if you want to do it just like me), black duct tape, Elmer's spray adhesive, and an old, beat up paperback book (mine was left over from this project). If you want to connect multiple boards together then you'll also need some screws and a power screw driver. To start, simply spray the adhesive on individual pages and cover the cork on the board. I alternated horizontal and vertical, overlapping at different widths so nothing looked too uniform. Once the entire board was covered I ripped a few pages on the diagonal and glued those over the top every once and while to create some more interesting patterns. Next I simply covered the frame with black duct tape to give it a nice bold, finished edge. I tried a ton of different layouts on the floor before deciding on this vertical option with one diagonally in the middle (on top of the others). My handman, Duncan, drilled the screws in to attach the boards together and then I attached them to the wall as he used a level to make sure everything lined up just right. I bought some thumbtacks that have magnets on the end of them which are perfect for special prints like the fashionable ladies that are on the board now (by Danny Brito). I think I'll make some pretty thumbtacks out of Vivi Dot buttons as well for things I don't mind putting holes in.

Do you have an inspiration board? If not, are there other ways you like to visually get inspired for what's to come in 2011?
If you prefer to compile your inspiration online via Pinterest make sure to follow my boards there!

Face Time

It actually feels really good to be back at my desk and back to work today! I think my body deserves a nice break from all that holiday merriment! I promise this blog won't turn into a non stop Audrey photo fest, but for now I'm a proud new Auntie that's just dying to share. Duncan, my mom and I flew out to Las Vegas to meet this little cutie last week. She's only a week old in these pictures, but she's already keeping us entertained with a wide array of facial expressions. I could just stare at her for hours which is pretty much what we did. Grandma Pam was in heaven! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and have some fun plans brewing for the new year!

Audrey

I'm an Aunt, my Mom's a Grandma, Duncan's an Uncle, Grandma Dot is GREAT Grandma! Most importantly, Emily and Bryce are Mom & Dad! Audrey Jean was born at 2:02 pm yesterday December 16th and I can hardly wait to go see the little cutie in person next week. She's got a full head of hair and is just so pretty already! Emily and Bryce were deciding between a few names and I'm so happy Audrey won out. It was my top pick and I think it fits just right. Jean is my Mom's middle name and Bryce's Grandma's name which makes her middle name so special.
My heart is melting!

Merry Stressmas!

I always have such great expectations about what I want to get done and blog about in December. Well, truthfully it's a year round struggle, but December just seems especially difficult when it comes to time management. There's the usual: full time job, teaching dance classes, and Vivi Dot orders to take care of with the added holiday craft shows, festive parties to attend, shopping to be completed and, and, and. I need to face that fact that my visions of multiple, fabulous, holiday DIY tutorials and new handmade decorations likely ain't gonna be executed. As of today I'm allowing myself to feel okay with that. Heck, I haven't even bought a tree yet! So with literally no time to deck the halls I've decided to the deck my workspace in the meantime. I strung up these adorably festive stickers by Michelle of Bubbly Shnooks above my desk. I do spend a good 10 hours a day in this very spot so it makes sense to start here. Plus once I do finally get to some holiday gift wrap blog posts (I WILL do at least one of those) they'll be nice and handy!
Do you find time management extra tough during the holidays too?

Graphics Alive 2

Last spring I was contacted by Victionary and asked to submit a ton of product photos for a book they were putting together, Graphics Alive 2. This book is a follow up to the best selling first addition and I was elated to be in the running for the second! Duncan and I had a week full of late nights snapping photos, editing photos, and answering their questions. I am beyond thrilled to finally share with you that we are IN! Not only are we in the book, but we're the first brand featured! I always thought that even if I didn't get selected it would be an honor to be considered, you know just like being nominated for an Oscar? Though I still think that's true, it sure feels darn good to have made the cut.
I know I'm a bit biased, but this book is awesome. If you're into product design or graphics at all I think it's a must have. The cover alone would have sold me on it in the bookstore! It has a canvas, soft cover that slides inside this amazing sleeve and the eyes are holograms that appear open and shut from different angles. Here's the first page after the forward. Vivi Dot!! Unfortunately, they didn't quite get the credits right. Duncan and I did the photography. Hanna Brooks Nation created the girl images I use on my packaging and Kami Shallenberger created the very popular feather image. They also changed some of the wording for the descriptions, but ah heck who cares.
The second and third pages for Vivi dot: Duncan and I did get our names listed in our bio section in the back! Thanks for reading and sharing this exciting day with me!

An EventFULL weekend

I had quite an eventful weekend! I'm lumping Thursday and Friday into my weekend too because that's when I took off for San Francisco. My alarm woke me up at 4:15 am on Thursday morning and it was pretty much non stop until Sunday night. I headed straight into the office after I landed and picked up my sweet Ford Fiesta rental car (a total party). I worked from the office all day and then headed out to a client dinner at Alexander's Steakhouse. The food was really incredible and I had a cocktail I'll definitely be trying to recreate (vodka, muddled strawberries, mint, balsamic syrup, and black pepper). After dinner took almost four hours I headed over to my friend Jeni's house to catch up over a few more drinks before hitting the air mattress. Jeni and I used to be roommates so it was good to snuggle up with this old roomie too (Luci).I was back to the office Friday morning and then headed across the city after work to the Mission where I'd be staying the rest of the weekend. I got dressed up for my office holiday party and headed out to another tasty dinner and some good times with my coworkers. I rocked my new favorite accessory (a Giant Dwarf Starlette Crown) as a belt that night. Saturday morning Allie, Summer and I hit up Greens for lunch before we did some great holiday shopping at the Bazaar Bizarre at Fort Mason. We squeezed in some downtown shopping as well, went out to dinner, and to a holiday/bday party. The three of us finished off the night dancing in the Mission for old time's sake. Donald Glover was also there and since I am a huge Community fan I couldn't resist and said hello. I met Danny Pudi earlier this year when he randomly ended up stopping by my Brother In Law's birthday party. That's two characters from the show down- now if only Joel Mchale would be next!

After a quick coffee date with Vivianna on Sunday morning I was headed to the airport where I FAILED the body scan. Apparently there was an area of my body they couldn't 'clear' so they ushered me to a private room where I had a very thorough pat down. It was so crazy! What the heck did that machine think I had inside of me?!! My flight was late which is always a pain, but I kind of welcomed the chance to have a glass of wine to unwind after my TSA groping.

Mr. Joe Zee (the Creative Director of ELLE Magazine) made my day much better when he posted a message I had tweeted him to all of his followers. I get really excited just thinking of the fact that he's now read the name ViviDot! Now I'm just waiting for my call about that big magazine feature ;)
I went straight to the Vivi Dot workshop to finish up orders and prep them for shipping. Olive completed her final shipment checks as well.Duncan was very excited to have me back home and I was rewarded with some of my favorite things- pink champagne, fancy cheese, a fire, and cozy time on the couch with the fam.
I packed in a ton of fun, but I'm also excited to have a relatively low key weekend before the final Christmas countdown begins. If you need a little relaxing escape I suggest watching this dreamy time lapse video Duncan made while I was gone.

Clouds Over the Puget Sound from Duncan Hooper on Vimeo.

Crafty Moving Pictures

For someone with a video editor for a fiance I sure don't have many videos up here on the blog! Now that Duncan has a new camera he's really excited to use I'm hoping to change that starting with this video from the Urban Craft Uprising show where we had a booth last week. As I mentioned before, my Grandma Dottie (yes she's half of the Vivi Dot name) came by to check out the event. It marked her first time seeing Vivi Dot in action so make sure to watch out for her special shout out in the video. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Vivi Dot at The Urban Craft Uprising from Vivi Dot on Vimeo.

UCU Finds

I did some speed shopping at the Urban Craft Uprising show last weekend, usually on quick trips to and from the bathroom. I always had to hurry back to my booth so I'm sure I missed some good stuff, but I found lots of great items. There are a few I'll have to keep under wraps so holiday surprises won't be ruined, but there are some things I can share. Dave from Manticore Stencil Art was right next to the Vivi Dot booth. He stencils iconic pop culture characters onto records. His wife made a trade with us at the end of the second day so I got this rad Labyrinth Bowie record and Duncan got a crazy one with E.T. and Michael Jackson on it. Good stuff! I don't know why it's such a strong memory, but I totally remember watching Labyrinth at my friend Erin's house when I was little. We ate popcorn and dipped it in Taco Bell hot sauce while we watched. Random, but true!
Next up is this pretty little notebook I picked up at the very end of the show. It's by R&L Goods, comes with a moleskin notebook and good old #2 pencil!
Duncan and I love our hot sauce so we bought this spicy bottle of Tabasco by Rakkadeer for our kitchen.I'm pretty sure my not so subtle hints may lead to one of these under the tree for me this year. Heather from Material and Movement makes the most stunning and unique jewelry with pieces she makes from fine china with pretty patterns.
Last, but certainly not least is Berkley Illustration. I'm hoping I'll end up with one of these this Christmas too though I have no idea how Duncan would be able to choose which one! If you're still looking for holiday gifts may I suggest jumping over to Scissor Quirk's Blog Party. Michelle has all sorts of fabulous giveaways going on this week including a gift certificate to the Vivi Dot shop for 40 big ones! Go, go now!

An Urban Craft Weekend

My first Seattle show is complete and I am so happy to report that it was a great success. It was actually my most successful consumer show yet! The Urban Craft Uprising was held at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, right in the shadow of the Space Needle. There were 120 vendors which seemed like the perfect size with tons of great stuff to choose from without being totally overwhelming. I bought so many great gifts that I wish I could show you, but I worry I'd ruin the surprise for the people they're for.
It was also a special treat to have my family finally be able to see a Vivi Dot booth in action. My sister has been to my shows before, but this was the first show for my Mom, Aunt Diane, Cousin Katie and Grandma Dot. Yep, Dottie half of the Vivi Dot name was there and helping out in the booth. She also reads this blog so, Hi Grandma! Thanks for coming and helping out! Duncan shot a bunch of footage of the show on our new camera so I should have a nice little video to share with you in the next few days.

Now that my big show for the holidays is complete I'm hoping I'll have some more time to decorate my house and blog about some fun gift wrapping ideas I have. I'm also headed down to San Francisco on Thursday morning for work. I'll be packing in some client meetings, an office holiday party, as well as some dinner and shopping with some of my San Francisco friends I miss dearly. Can't wait! Oh and.... my sister, Emily, should be having her baby girl any time now! She's due on the 11th so we're just waiting to hear 'it's time!'

What are you up to this week?