My Office and My Home

These days my office is my breakfast table. I am no longer employed with my previous ad agency since the doors are officially shutting down. I have been working like this for the past week since I don't have a formal work desk. I have my 24" monitor along with my 17" MacBook Pro and yellow sticky post-its everywhere reminding me of things to do and deadlines to meet. :)

This set up isn't going to last that long–thank god. A new fancier desk is on its way. It's from West Elm and it's called the Sawhorse Table due to the style of the legs. This desk is going into our living room area as a casual work desk for me to put my monitor and laptop on. I wanted a clear top desk so it doesn't visually crowd our living area. It will help keep the room visually open and airy. Stay tuned for pics of my new office when I get it all settled in.

{Images from WestElm.com}

Retouching Photos – My Thai Grandparents

For some reason, I like to retouch old photos. It's one of my many random skills that I have under my belt. It seems like a pretty mundane task and probably not that interesting, but I like the challenge of bringing old photos back to life after years of wear and tear.

These portrait shots below are images of my Thai grandparents on my mom's side. Based on when my mom was born, I believe these images were taken back in the late 1940's, or early 50's. As you can see, both pics have a lot of damage from water stains, tears, yellowing of the paper, and loss of image in some areas.

~Before~

~After~

After several hours in one of my favorite programs, Adobe Photoshop, the images are back to their original state. My sister and I are going to get these images professionally re-framed for my mom as a present to her for Christmas this year.

If anyone out there needs a hand in bringing old photos back to life for a loved one, I am a very good resource to get it done. :)

Business Cards are on the way!

Slowly, I am trying to get all my stuff together to get my business in full gear. And one huge step in helping making that happen are my very own business cards! I just finished designing them, and they will be going to print sometime in the next week. I can't wait to see the final product.

(Business card designed by Chon}

I worked with Bryn, a calligrapher, from Paperfinger to create a custom logo signature for my name. I worked with her once before for a custom addressed stamp. Before I was using a free handwritten-l00king font for my name to give it that personal touch. However, this new look is a huge step up from where I was before. It adds a level of more sophistication, and it's an original design that will branded across all my business materials. That reminds me, I need to update this graphic header in my blog. :) Bryn was great to work with once again, and I just love my new signature.

For my print vendor, I am working with Gary over at AccuColor Plus. I worked with him once before for the printing of my wedding invites. His printing skills are impeccable and his knowledge of paper, inks, offset and the artistry of letterpress printing is what sets him apart from other printers.

Flowers always brighten my day.

One of my favorite flowers are tulips. They always remind me of my husband, because back in the day, he always sent me these flowers as a surprise. I didn't want the standard looking rose. Tulips look great together when they are jam packed in a huge cluster as you see here on my breakfast table. I love simple arrangements like this one.