Saks Off 5th Event

Last night I attended an awesome blogger event at Saks Off 5th at the Legends sponsored by KC Blogger Meetup, a group that my friend, Jeanee, co-founded.

Admittedly, I was a little nervous about the event. I'm shy in large groups and didn't know what to expect, but more importantly, shopping isn't really my thing. I tend to pride myself on my frugal nature and (somewhat) minimalism. Clothes shopping terrifies me, nothing ever seems to fit right and I'm not really a fashionista.

BUT I was proven wrong. I had a great time pursuing the goods at Saks Off 5th with lots of lovely blogger ladies. In true Stephanie fashion, I was mostly found hanging around the home good items and the food table. Surprise, surprise, I know!

I even scored this lovely turtle. OMG guys. I've wanted a Jonathan Adler turtle for years. I even blogged about one in my post on BHG style spotters blog recently and here around Christmas. My friend, Crystal, found his younger brother hiding away in a box that I had skimmed over and I quickly snatched it out of her hands claiming it as my own. Truly the treasure of the evening.

As the store manager stated, they have everything from $5.00 to $5,000.00 price tags. I was very impressed with the price range and truly felt like there were a lot of things that fit my budget and my style. Many items in the store were discounted or on sale, which is also a huge bonus in my book!

Don't worry about my friend who I swiped the turtle from, she walked away with these adorable whale salt and pepper shakers, also by Jonathon Adler. And who wouldn't adore the lovely turquoise bracelet and bright color-blocked totes!

Thanks Saks Off 5th and KC Blogger Meetup for organizing and hosting such a great event! Now, I'm really looking forward to the Madewell Fall Preview Event!

Lotta Jansdotter Fabric Line

Image via Purl Bee Blog

Looks like Lotta Jansdotter is coming out with a fabric line! Hooray, hooray! I think I can postpone new pillows a little longer, right? I'm geeked, all of those colors are so me.

Christmas Colors

I grew up in a household (yes, we said things like household) that cheered for teams with red. The Huskers, ISU, Jefferson-Scranton Rams, etc. My parents Dad loves supporting his teams so much that we had red walls, red accent chairs, red cars, even license plates expressing his affinity towards red growing up.

So now, I am a graphic designer for retail store signage. The Christmas season is our biggest season, meaning we spend nearly a year working on Christmas graphics. Translation: I spend nearly a year in a sea of red, because in retail Red=Christmas.

Being tired of red, I have tried to omit it from my personal Christmas vocabulary. (Although this year I had actually considered the possibility of using red as an accent... but it didn't make the final cut)

Below are some of the contenders for our 4th annual Christmas Cookie Exchange:

The finalist was selected because:

1. I got a sneak peek of Christmas graphics for a to-be-named retailer in KC... they were inspired by amazing vintage graphics and colors.

2. I currently love, love, loving dark teal, olive, jadite, and craft paper. So let's mix them all together into one glorious palette.

And there you have it. The extremely long winded version of my 2010 Christmas color palette selection.

Color: Autumn

With class in full swing and the chill in the air, it is apparent that Autumn has arrived. This season, I'm really into this beautiful color palette from Heath Ceramics.

p.s. For those of you reading this in Google Reader, Google Buzz, or Facebook, I've made some updates to the blog... I'm still working on some particularly stubborn elements, but come on over and take a peek at the new look!

The Dewey Color System

I've always love, love, loved color. One of my favorite parts of being a designer is selecting colors to match the personality of the project. Maybe that's why my personal color preferences are so fickle... they're always changing to adapt to the colors that I'm currently working with.

A work, we're working on a branding project and my Art Director brought in Neenah Paper's promotional piece: Olive is not drab. (A particularly captivating title for me, as olive is creeping up in the ranking of my favorite colors) It is a beautifully constructed color manual based on The Dewey Color System, according to Neenah: "the world's only scientifically validated, color-based personality testing instrument."

While, they no longer have the "Olive is not drab." promotional piece available, they have converted some of the components to a web-based format.

There's a simple test based on the Dewey Color System to understand how the color preferences and combinations you select can reveal some shade of your personality. Mine?

Another, perhaps even more useful tool, is their Color Unleashed: "It's the first proven system that lets you explore the psychological meanings of color, ink and paper combinations." Pretty cool.

Happy St. Pat's Day!

Hope you're wearing your green today!

Color Career Counselor

Another quiz. I am flabbergasted by this one... a color test that can predict possible career occupations, all by placing colors in order of your preference. Seriously? That's absolutely amazing. Check it out here. Mine is pretty accurate:

Best Occupational Category

You're a CREATOR

Keywords

Nonconforming, Impulsive, Expressive, Romantic, Intuitive, Sensitive, and Emotional

These original types place a high value on aesthetic qualities and have a great need for self-expression. They enjoy working independently, being creative, using their imagination, and constantly learning something new. Fields of interest are art, drama, music, and writing or places where they can express, assemble, or implement creative ideas.

CREATOR OCCUPATIONS
Suggested careers are Advertising Executive, Architect, Web Designer, Creative Director, Public Relations, Fine or Commercial Artist, Interior Decorator, Lawyer, Librarian, Musician, Reporter, Art Teacher, Broadcaster, Technical Writer, English Teacher, Architect, Photographer, Medical Illustrator, Corporate Trainer, Author, Editor, Landscape Architect, Exhibit Builder, and Package Designer.

CREATOR WORKPLACES
Consider workplaces where you can create and improve beauty and aesthetic qualities. Unstructured, flexible organizations that allow self-expression work best with your free-spirited nature.

Suggested Creator workplaces are advertising, public relations, and interior decorating firms; artistic studios, theaters and concert halls; institutions that teach crafts, universities, music, and dance schools. Other workplaces to consider are art institutes, museums, libraries, and galleries.

2nd Best Occupational Category

You're a RESEARCHER

Keywords:

Independent, Self-Motivated, Reserved, Introspective, Analytical, and Curious

These investigative types gather information, analyze and interpret data, and inquire to uncover new facts. They have a strong scientific orientation, enjoy academic or research environments and prefer self-reliant jobs. Dislikes are group projects, selling, and repetitive activities.

Mellow Yellow

Whew! It has been an extremely busy year so far! I hope the rest of 2010 isn't this crazy. Here's something I haven't done in a while, a color/personality quiz from True Value.

I'm Yellow:

You are quite the powerful thinker. It’s this talent that allows you to overcome a plethora of great obstacles. Luckily, this doesn’t affect your ego and you give off a pretty easy-going appearance. You enjoy the finer things in life and also have an attraction to art. If you can help it, you try not to rock the boat. But you also can’t stop yourself from searching for new ideas, methods or styles.

Pretty accurate. I like yellow... and lemons.

Navy + Raspberry

Photo by MeiTeng

Olive + Granny Smith

This season I'm really into deep colors as neutrals, think navy, olive, plum, etc. Here's a palette inspired by my afternoon snack... the granny smith apple!

Photo by awottawa

Gold + Navy Dust

Photo from jf

Color Palettes to Inspire

Last week, I checked out House Beautiful's book: Colors for your Home: 300 Designer Favorites. I was so inspired by the layout of the colors. The designer of the book came up with the most beautiful and unique color palettes for each page. The book isn't promoting these specific colors together, it's just how they were laid out. I spent some time going through the book and assigning Pantone colors to each of the paint chips to create a color palette "library" for myself. The color palettes going horizontally are the original selections, but after printing it out, I realized there was other dimensions to the color palette love (diagonally, vertically, in squares, etc.) I tried my best to diagram the combinations I thought worked best (this only hints at my severe nerdiness).

Disclaimer: In the conversion from paint color, to PMS chip, to a jpg and then depending on the calibration of your monitor, the colors have probably shifted a bit in hue, value or intensity and may need to be adjusted before using.

Spring countdown

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring... it just may be my favorite season (I think it has something to do with my birthday being in April!). I created a couple spring color palettes, both inspired by nature. The first picking up on the very beginning of colors of the season, full of moody blues and greys infused with the bright green of new growth. The second is inspired from the more mature blooms, creating a much more vibrant palette. Hmmm... I can't pick a favorite!

In the mood...

for some Christmas mood boards? I'm not quite feeling the Christmas spirit this year. I have been working on Christmas projects at work all year (sans about 3 months). I have been working on Christmas 2009 for about 4 months now, so it's hard to get into the Christmas spirit at home. Below are a couple of the looks that I am feeling this year... if I had the space for them.

This first look is inspired by natural elements; birch, pine-cones, greenery, paper whites, etc. with a sophisticated twist with great, earthy greens and small pops of cranberry. My mom loves pine-cones; every year at Christmas she gets our her special pine-cones to decorate with. She's very protective of them and doesn't like them to leave the house for fear of losing them. I would love to see her home decorated in this look.

I also really enjoy the complete opposite of the nature-inspired look with the combination of the bright red and white with pops of the radiant blue, all grounded with the charcoal. I secretly kind of wish I had this look in my home! It's so fun and cheerful. Candy cane elements seem to really becoming back with a modern flair, as shown in the Martha Stewart candy cane topiaries.

This silver-blue look is what I currently have in my apartment, mixed in with frosty violets, shiny peacock-blues, and minty greens. The photo in the top right is actually from my apartment. I would love to get a white Christmas tree to finish off the look. Snowflakes are my favorite winter icon... I love all versions of them!

Owl Shower

We finally had our orange and blue owl shower this past week. I love how the colors turned out, there was lots of orange, blue, and brown; everything coordinated perfectly from the food to the table service to the gift wrap! I can't wait to plan the next shower and already have lots of ideas!

Guess whooo!

My manager is having a baby boy in December; so a couple co-workers and I have been working on shower themes for him. We recently sent out the above invitation for the party.

The baby bedding this super cute Silly Owl bedding, so we decided to really play up the owl theme and colors in the party. We're using lots of orange and warm gray with hits of light blue. And of course, no owl-themed party would be complete without Tootsie Pops!

Everything Leo & Amy have picked out for their baby room is super modern, so we want to carry the same simplicity through to the party. We're using the modern baby shower from Blueprint as inspiration, it's even the right colors!

Whoa, Baby

Ok, I can't hold it in any longer... I'm obsessed with baby & kids bedding. When did these rooms become so posh? (Chalk it up to materialism...)
There are so many fun options out there right now for kids and babies, in much bolder and brighter colors than years past. In the October edition of print mag, there was article discussing the rise in Million Dollar Babies (because that's about as much as it takes to afford this babymod look). The trends that they pointed out were: orange, sans-serif type, stripes/patterns, illustrated animals, and shapes/dots. Here's one of my favorite quotes from the article:

The article also touches on "yoga moms" who are eco-conscious and dislike commercial licensed characters as much as I do... thank goodness for this trend!

Below are some of my favorites:

I love the transportation, robot, nature, and animal motifs for boys. Also, what graphic designer isn't going to love an alphabet print?

I'm not a big pink fan and like more modern colors colors for girls. I love the polka dots, stripes, and other unique shapes/patterns for girls.

I've always thought that I would let the sex of my first child be a surprise... but I don't know if I will actually be able to do that when the time comes (many years from now). I'm such a planner and after talking with an expecting co-worker, I'm realizing how hard that would be planning-wise. There are lots of great neutrals out there for babies now, especially when the color lines are starting to blur between boys and girls.

I just had to include these farm-themed prints! Being from Iowa, you see all sorts of tractor and other traditional farm prints for babies... I'm glad there's finally a modern take on a country look if families must insist on decorating with this theme.

I also love the idea of handmade elements in a baby room. The above quilts are from Etsy designers. I love the Alexander Henry Turtle Bay fabric... how perfect is that for me?

The above looks were found on these babymod websites: Nurseryworks, Modern Nursery, alphamom.com, 2modern, Design Public, Room & Board, Etsy, Hable Construction, and Target.

DISCLAIMER: I am in NO way thinking of babies for myself now, give me 7+ years or so... right now I'm satisfied with looking from a distance!

Colorstrology

I saw this Colorstrology book created by Pantone Inc. at Paper-Source a couple of months ago and was surprised at how well it matched me. How About Orange recently posted the internet version.

April 24 . Ultramarine (Pantone 17-4037)

Creative . Responsible . Nurturing

You are creative and talented and can achieve success and monetary wealth by connecting your abilities with action. The performing arts are a good vehicle for you and many people born on this day have lovely voices (ok, not all of it fits me!). Sensual and attractive, you are capable of pulling good things toward you. Being in a loving relationship is vital to your well-being and you need someone who is attentive and devoted. Your personal color helps to balance your moods. Wearing, meditating or surround yourself with Ultramarine integrates your need for artistic freedom with financial security.

Is Autumn here yet?

Some friends and I are planning a fall party to celebrate the upcoming season with all the best foods, like pumpkin (not my fav), apples, squash and all the other yummy goodness that autumn brings. I am excited for the cool weather and especially the beautiful color palettes! I created some mood boards to show my excitement...

Photos are from stock.xchng and Martha Stewart.

Hey, Knit Happens

I thought this was super-cute and wanted to share, I was tagged at work recently with this cute orange and green phone “sweater.” And look, it matches my July wallpaper (from ImageHaus) perfectly! Thanks to the ladies of Knit Happens for thinking of me!