Spring Break Style

Spring break was just last week and I headed west with my friend Kaitlyn to the great state of California. While our trip started out colder than expected, that beautiful Cali weather finally showed up about three days in and I was able to break out some of my favorite spring and summer attire. Check out some of my favorite current trends below.

// High waisted & distressed shorts.
You can see the ones I'm  wearing in the picture
below too, but I loved wearing all of my DIY shorts in Cali.
(I made those shorts from $4 shorts from Goodwill!
Distressing shorts is so easy, I'll probably make a million pairs for the summer.
I even added my own studs on the front pockets.)

// Rounded sunglass frames.
I ordered these from FreePeople.com for spring break.

// Hair wraps.
Kaitlyn and I both have these hair wraps from Free People.
I was so excited to rock mine over spring break!

// white Converse.
One of my recent trend obsessions is white low top Converse.
They seem to be more popular these days in Kansas and Kaitlyn
let me borrow her pair in Cali. I have got to order some of my own soon.

// crocheted shorts.
I bought the cream crochet shorts seen here while shopping in Cali.
They go with so many things - I'm so glad the weather is finally warming
up here in Kansas so I can wear my new shorts ASAP. (Also pictured here,
the sunglasses and hair wrap from above).

California is my new favorite place to be and I can't wait until I go back!

// Musical Musings.

While in Cali, Kaitlyn and I went to the Imagine Dragons concert. They were absolutely amazing live, so you should check out their tour schedule and see if they're coming to a city near you! If you've never heard their music I'd recommend the songs Demons, Tip Toe, and On Top of the World. Those are three of my favorites. 

// Imagine Dragons.

A Logo low-down: Fly N High Productions

I recently had the privilege to design the logo for a local music video production company called Fly N High productions. A KU student started the company and was looking to have a logo designed for it. I've slowly but surely been working on it for about a month now, and I'm really excited with how it turned out and it to share it with you. This logo was so much fun to design and while it went through many brainstorming periods, the client ended up just as happy with the logo and I am.

My client was very open to color combinations and options, so a lot of the sketches and beginning ideas I made included a lot of color. With the final logo he chose, I gave him for different options. He ended up liking them all and wanting to use them all in various things throughout the company. Below you can see the four different variations of the logo.

Design & Etc.

I realized after getting back from spring break that I never posted about my final box. The two weeks before spring break were a total whirlwind, without much sleep, so it must have just slipped by me. Here are some photos of the completed wooden box:

As I mentioned before, this box was created to hold KU jewelry my grandma had given me that she didn't want anymore. It was fun creating a box that had so much meaning to me, just because it holds items that my grandmother gave to me. I love that.

One of my more recent designs for Chi Omega was for a poster promoting our spring philanthropy for Make A Wish. We are hosting a sand volleyball tournament called "Hoot Set Spike".

I based the poster off of the tank top design I made, which includes the owl volley ball on it that you see top right of the poster. I'll post pictures of the tanks once they are ready to order. 

Another design I'm really excited about is my v-neck shirt design for mom's weekend for Chi Omega:

Spring break went by way too fast, as I was in California, and coming back to the snow seemed way too harsh. I'm ready to finish the semester strong, and excited about design opportunities this summer. Stay tuned for more design and inspiration.

Back to the Drawing Board

Yesterday was one of those great days where I realized I had to re-do most of my project. Maybe wood shop isn't really my thing, because when I first cut out my box the top and bottom did not match up because I cut it wrong. I've learned a lot about the wood shop and the band saw, as I have no previous experience. So I'm looking at all of it as a learning opportunity. Because if there's one thing I've learned in BDS this year it's that failing isn't always a bad thing and I'll probably end up with a better result because of it. The photos below document my process of cutting out the foam core model with the band saw as well as some wood practice.

I used some extra wood to practice using the bandsaw.

Practicing using the band saw with my foam core model.

Finished foam core model. Cut with the band saw & glued with spray glue.

The beginning of attempt #1: after gluing the wood together I cut it in half and
 then spray glued the "pattern" of my box on the wood to cut with the band saw.

After figuring out that the wave of the bottom half was too dramatic to perfectly cut
with the band saw, I tried to save it by cutting a piece from the top section and
 re-gluing it to the bottom. It ended up not working out, but it was worth a shot.

This wooden box is due next Tuesday, so tomorrow studio will consist of me attempting to finish cutting out the box and then I can sand my life away this weekend. Spring break can't come soon enough. :)