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Author Archive for haley montgomery – Page 44

sketch journal . tuesday 060215

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Last week during our visit to the farm, I had the chance to get back to basics a little with a simple, old-school Strathmore recycled sketchbook and my fave uni-ball vision fine point pens — waterproof, fade-proof and inexpensive! I guess I got the pen and ink doodle bug again. Sometimes inspiration and freshness comes with switching things up a little. That’s one reason why I love summertime. It seems to afford the freedom to change plans more easily. I suppose it lends itself to a little more wild-ness!

June is Here! [printable calendar]

Happy June, friends! We had some very nice down time at the farm last week to begin our summer vacation. Now, I think I’m probably more excited than the kids are that we have a break from school. It gives me the chance to spend more time with my sweet ones, and I’m looking forward to a little bit more of a relaxed work schedule. I’m hoping we can do a little exploring this summer, which I’ll share more about later. I’m also pretty sure, we’ll have our share of lazy, hazy days!

To celebrate the start of summer vacation, I’ve put together a June printable calendar and desktop wallpaper using some watercolor doodles. The printable includes some cut-away artwork to encourage more summer laziness after the month is over. Enjoy!

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PRINTABLE CALENDAR

DESKTOP WALLPAPER

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sojourn . Summer Farm Views

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The children and I are spending this week at the farm to celebrate the start of summer vacation. It’s a great excuse to enjoy some down time, play time with the kids, exploring, and good times free sketching and painting.

We were last here in March when the scenery was just beginning to show signs of spring. Now, we seem to see green in various hues peeking through every possible crevice, and the pastures look almost completely full of growth. This trip, I brought my Canon SLR, and I took a short walk to capture some of the scenes after we arrived. I loved these views of the “nail hole constellations” in the tractor shed walls. In a dark, shadowed space, the tiniest pin hole of light just seems to grow and vibrate.

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celebrate . Double Digits

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This sweet guy turned 10 at the beginning of the month! My heart is still quite in shock that my first-born is now in double digits, but I’m so very proud of the smart, funny, courageous young man my Little Drummer Boy is becoming.

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We celebrated the big 10 with a small “friend party” at a local gym, and decided on a “magic” theme. I had a great time painting and designing some invitations and trappings for my favorite client 🙂 so I thought I would share a peek at some of the preparations.

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We used a magic hat and wand in the watercolor invitations, so I decided to go with that theme for some of the snacks. We made pretzel stick magic wands and chocolate-covered marshmallows sitting on oreos to create top hats. For the party centerpiece, I built a “magic hat” cake, complete with a bunny appearing out of it — fun times with black gel icing! We made mustache and bunny iced cookies, and I also had fun decorating some sheet cakes as playing cards for the card trick effect.

Now, I’m not a baker or a cake decorator, or even a great food crafter. I don’t really consider myself “good” at that kind of thing,  but I had a couple of crazy ideas to go along with the magic theme, and I had a really great time fleshing them out for us to enjoy. As moms, I think sometimes we try to hold ourselves to a standard of perfection in our pinterest-crazed world. During our prep time, I found myself thinking, “this looks so home-made,” as if the less-than-perfect icing was somehow a negative thing. The smiles on my kids’ faces were a good reminder that it really is the effort — the act of loving through doing and making — that counts most toward making memories. Not how smooth the icing is! So, with that disclaimer, here are a couple of peeks at our magic creations…

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Small Pond Graphics Earns American Web Design Award

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I was very pleased to learn this week that Small Pond Graphics is the recipient of an American Web Design Award from Graphic Design USA magazine for the design and development of the Starkville School District website! The website design, which launched in July 2014, came as the culmination of a year-long process of working with the SSD communications team to rebrand and retool the district’s marketing and communications efforts.

In 2013, SSD embarked on a strategic planning process which identified key communications goals including the development of a bold, new marketing campaign. I was privileged to lead a branding discussion and work session with the strategic planning committee, which allowed us to identify ideas and target audiences. This session served as the seed of the district’s new “Starkville Spark” brand and marketing campaign. The campaign, which included a new logo, email newsletter, media advertising and promotional materials as well as the website, won top honors in the 2015 Mississippi School Public Relations Association Awards of Excellence program.

The new SSD website employs more resources and downloadable information, easier navigation, an interactive calendar, personnel directory, news feed, as well as a cleaner, well-branded design. In conjunction with the desktop site, the development includes an app-like mobile version just like the guys at mobile-ready website design Perth, making it easier to navigate for the growing number of mobile users. So the site became an excellent site with great navigation, and the best of all it was that even the hosting was cheap, we learned at a hosting guide online, you can check them all here.

I am very proud to have the chance to be a part of creating a new face for the public school district in my own community! I’ve written before about my belief in public schools, and it means a lot to me to be a part of telling the story of the teachers and programs that my own children benefit from each day! It has made this client project a very personal one, and makes the American Web Design Award even more special.

For more than five decades, Graphic Design USA magazine has sponsored a prestigious slate of annual awards including the American Web Design Awards program. The awards are judged by a nationwide panel of distinguished design professionals. According to GDUSA, over 1100 entries were received in this year’s competition, with only the top 15% recognized as winners. The Awards program showcases the “power of design to enhance websites and online communications.” GDUSA has been in publication since 1963 and serves as a comprehensive resource on the news, trends, people and products of the graphic design industry.

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