Back to business

I know I haven't posted since March. Let me explain my absence: The college semester was wrapping up from April to May. I was deep into HTML, CSS, and web graphics. My finals went well, and I now know more about web standards, best practices, and browser compatibility.

Also in May my boyfriend and I attended the wedding of one of my close college friends. The ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was a lot of fun. It was well worth the 14 hour flight from Sydney to Los Angeles to be there, and we even got a shout out during the ceremony for our feat.

Shortly after my boyfriend became my fiance. Very exciting! A little overwhelming! Completely awesome!

A few days after getting engaged, my fiance and I left California for the East Coast. We bounced around visiting some of my family and friends, and seeing a lot of sights. I started a travel diary blog of our trip. (I realize I should have posted about this sooner, but it slipped my mind. Call it engagement brain.)

After six weeks of travel, we returned to Sydney. Since returning I've been busy filing visa paperwork, mentally planning the wedding, trying out Instaprints, and looking for a job.

So yeah... very busy summer, and it's not even over.

Keep the productivity going

Yet another new design, this time for a save the date:

Banner Save the Date

This adorable design will eventually have a wedding package to match. With my holiday retail job ending, my Etsy productivity will hopefully increase. :)

Invitation, Part 2

As promised, another new wedding stationary design:

Sweet Wedding Stationary Package

Invitation

New item alert! 

I've (finally) designed a complete wedding invite package. These are digital files, that are customized to include all your wedding info and colors, created to work with MOO templates.

Bold Wedding Stationary Package

More designs are on the way, and I will be ordering and photographing actual sets once a few more designs are up. I also plan to create sets that work with Vistaprint templates for budget conscious couples.

And while we're at it, there have been some small changes to my shop policies that you may want to check out.

Update

I've been much too busy to post lately (work, school, new Etsy projects, reading), but wanted to post a quick update on a previous post.

Last year I made a little outfit and blanket set for a friend expecting her first baby, and she recently posted a photo of her son wearing it:

Such a cutie!

It was a challenge picking gender-neutral fabrics (my friend opted to leave the baby's sex a surprise), but I think this outfit would be darling on a girl as well. :)

Like this, please

I finally bit the bullet and created a Facebook fan page for my Etsy shop: facebook.com/artofsallymack. Please head on over and "like" my page.

On a related side note, is Facebook going to apply their new Timeline features to fan pages? The current layout just looks so old compared to the new design, especially the lack of a large banner image. I hope Facebook updates this, so every page can include lovely large images.

Love is in the air...

Christmas and New Years seem to be the season for proposing.  Two former coworkers are now engaged (to different people, not each other) and this Yahoo article gives a rundown of recent celebrity proposals.  Perfect time to introduce my newest Save the Date design: 

Word Cloud Style Save the Date

Congratulations to everyone tying the knot this year!

Books I've Read, 2011

+Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations by Georgina Howell (More famous than 'Lawrence of Arabia' in her time, but nobody's made a movie about her. Sad.)
+The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (reread)
+Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (reread)
+Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (reread)
+Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
+Across the Universe by Beth Revis
+Different Seasons by Stephen King (I only read "Rita Hayworth & the Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body," but I think it counts as reading a King book. Especially since these were, in my opinion, his two best movies.)
+The Maze Runner by James Dashner
+Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton (A good graphic novel, but the original is just too complex for this format to do it justice.)
+From Hell by Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell (I found the chapter notes more intriguing than the actual story. Not a great sign.)
+The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (Why do I have to wait until August for the final book? I need to know how this ends NOW!!!)
+All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (reread)
+Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris (So, somehow I skipped the previous book in this series. :/ )
+All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris (OK, I didn't skip a book. I just have a terrible memory.)
+Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
+Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
+Delirium by Lauren Oliver
+Bossypants by Tina Fey
+Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (Interesting beginning to this series. Will definitely be continuing it.)
+Matched by Ally Condie (Yet another series I am anxiously awaiting the next installment of...)
+Specials by Scott Westerfeld (My first borrowed book using my new Australian library card!.)
+Fables: Legends in Exile by Willingham, Medina, Leialoha, & Hamilton
+Fables: Animal Farm by Willingham, Buckingham, & Leialoha
+Enclave by Ann Aguirre
+Fables: Storybook Love by Willingham, Buckingham, & Leialoha
+Luxe by Anna Godberson
+Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Willingham, Buckingham, Hamilton, Leialoha, & Russell
+From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris




Best Books: I always enjoy Mary Roach, and Packing for Mars is just as funny and interesting as her previous books.  I know non-fiction isn't for everyone, but I definitely recommend her to even the most ardent fiction lovers.  Tina Fey's Bossypants is another humorous gem.  All Quiet on the Western Front has always been one of my favorites, but it's not exactly an uplifting story.


Worst Book: This year's list doesn't have any real losers, but there were a couple disappointments.  As a Jack the Ripper buff, I was looking forward to reading From Hell.  While the story itself was only OK, I found the chapter notes very intriguing and often quite funny.  The graphic novel version of Fahrenheit 451 was also a bit disappointing.  This is another of my favorite novels, and though the artwork was 
great, I feel the story is just too complex for this format.


Looking forward to in 2012: As a fan of the Harry Potter series, I know the agony of waiting for the next installment of a series to be published.  So you'd think I'd avoid newly published series in order to avoid this, but it seems like I'm drawn to them like Harry to the Mirror of Erised.  (Seriously though, is every young adult novel these days part of a series?  Sometimes it's nice to read a book and be finished with the story at the end.)  Across the Universe, Delirium, Enclave, Luxe, and Matched all have just released or soon-to-be-released sequels I plan on reading.  I also need to read the final installment of The Maze Runner series, and I'll probably continue with some Sookie Stackhouse books.  They are light, entertaining palette cleansers, and vastly more interesting than the True Blood TV series.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Between work, school, and family time I've been very very busy.  However, I did take a little time off to browse Etsy and create some holiday themed Treasuries.  Hope they get you in the Christmas spirit!

Blue Christmas

May All Your Christmases Be White

 Candy Cane

 

RIP Steve Jobs

What can I say about Steve Jobs that hasn't already been said?  He was an innovator, a visionary, an unapologetic "tech geek."  But to me he will always be the man who brought Pixar to life: seeing the potential of computer animation, and helping to create many of my fondest childhood (and adulthood) movie-going experiences.

He will be missed.

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011