The End of an Old one and the Link to a New one

Hey all!

Just letting you all know that even though my summer is over I am still going to try to keep a blog of graphic opportunities, my Senior Project and life as a Senior! Please continue to read! I would love to hear comments on anything I do or say!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Remember to keep finding that JOY!!!

Thanks for all your support and prayers throughout the summer! God blessed me in so many ways!

new blog: seniorprojectsenioryear.blogspot.com

Thursday_Day32

Well... Today is the LAST day of my (wonderful) INTERNSHIP.

It is a sad day. I am going to miss all the people that I have gotten to work with, build relationships with, laugh with. I am going to miss designing for the Church. But I am excited to see where God takes me now!!

OH... EXCITING NEWS. I am going to continue to work for the Church throughout the school year! They are going to be sending me projects that need designed, created and pay me for it!!! WHOOHOO! no more worrying about Tuition. I know God is going to give me some great opportunities to get it paid! That's lots better than loans! :) PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Well I have the September Bulletin Done... it is being sent to the printers!

FRONT
BACK

I have also designed this sign for the Resource Center here at the Church:


I had to fill out an evaluation for my Internship today and the last question asked what was the main thing you learned during your Internship. Well I responded saying that before this summer I was questioning a lot of stuff, if I had majored in the right thing, if I had wasted three years just majoring and taking classes because Art is fun for me, But now I can honestly say that I know for a fact that I have majored in the right area. I still don't know for sure where it will take me or what "job" I want... but I do know that I am following what God wants for me now, at this moment! He gives me such a peace!

Graphic Design, Art, begin Creative is who I am, what I am about. I love designing and creating projects that are unique and different. I love it when I hear people tell me that I am so creative! But I know that I don't want that Joy in my life to overtake the passion and Joy I have in serving God. I want to always put him first! Now if that is doing art, being creative I am definitely ok with that!! :)

Don't stop reading today. I have more to add. The Summer isn't over yet. I have two more weeks left and those weeks are getting full of many plans!! Yes... this is my time to be crafty! :)

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Wednesday_Day31

Designing Logos, Shirts... Having a Blast!!

BEFORE

This was the logo. But the Youth Director wanted it changed, tweaked a bit, so this is what I came up with for her!

AFTER

To kick off the new school year with the Youth, they have decided to go with the Theme...
Let your Story Fly
(inspired by Donald Millers book, A Million Miles in A Thousand Years, and paper airplanes!!)
Here is a Shirt design to go with the Theme!
Also... I created this Poster to help Promote and Announce the NEW THEME!!!

Tuesday_Day30

This is my last Tuesday of my Internship. Wow! I never knew it would go this fast, and that I would learn so much.

Well Today I worked on a flyer for the Woman's Ministries. Then I sent all the information to the printers to get the Haiti Shirts printed and shipped this way!! I can't wait to get them!

Designed a few signs for the Resource Center. This was the first draft:

Second Draft:

We will see what the final will look like tomorrow!

Currently I am working on a book cover! It has been so fun, and I can't wait to find more time to work on it!! But... I am going to wait til I am completely done with it to share! So make sure you keep checking in to see how it turns out!

So... remember how I was praying and trying not to worry about tuition and all that jazz... well... GOD IS SO GOOD!!! In his perfect timing everything has worked out! Still fine tuning some small details but I feel such a peace with it all and know God is in control!! :) Life is so good when you don't worry about things! Thank you GOD.

I have gotten the opportunity to work with a designer who does corporate designs! It has been such a great experience and so stretching. I am enjoying stretching my style into a corporate approach. The designer is great to work with as well, he is very encouraging and always provides some sort of educational step, if it is with critiquing, style, color! I can't wait to get to the finished design so that I can share all the steps and the process!!

But until then... I will continue to smile and find Joy in every aspect of life! :)

Thursday_Day29

Today I got the experience of getting to search and search for "that perfect t-shirt" that is high quality but still cheap.

This is just a little summary of how it went:
First I looked for distressed type of shirts, because that is what's in. Well you have to pay a pretty penny for what's in. But I found the best shirt for the Haiti Design. It was from Alternative (which is a nice quality of t-shirt) and it have a "Burn-Out" finish to it. Pretty cool but it was too expensive. So I continued to search. Looked at American Apparel, Canvas, Authentic Pigment, Anvil, there were a lot of good finds but I finally came up with the best choice for the best price! Thank you Alternative for making the Men's Basic Crew!!

Now's the joy of finding a screenprinter who has descent prices!! This should be fun! Wish me luck!!

I have gotten the opportunity to work on designing a book cover for Ted Cunningham! I have until Oct. 1st to come up with a few designs!! I need to buckle down and come up with something really grand!! Something new and fresh!! :) I have some ideas so now I just need to sit down and get them on paper. I need to use photshop and do it all on the computer but I find that I just work so much better the old fashion way, pencil, paint, ink on paper!! I definitely feel more comfortable doing it the good old fashion way!! (personally I feel it has more talent in it too!) But I won't let you quote me on that. There are many talented computer artist out there that could blow me away any day.

ONLY 1 more week left. It sure is bitter-sweet. I am excited to have some time off and enjoy the end of my summer... maybe the last one I will have without responsibilities... but it will be sad to not be in the office and working with all the wonderful people I have met this summer. I will miss it.
So we won't think about it until Thursday, August 12!

Wednesday_Day28

I am currently in the process of getting the tees printed! I am excited to finally have those done and be able to wear the design!!

OH... THE MAINSTAGE BANNER came in today!!!! So exciting and it is sooo big! It looks great and I can't wait to get it hung! I always get so nervous when I am ordering large graphics. 11'x22' is a very large banner. I think I have come to the realization that I like to do small designs! They are definitely easier when it comes to sizing and resolution and all that. whew... not my cup of tea.

Designed this handout for the new Ladies Bible Study starting in September:


Well that is about it for today... more to come!!!

Tuesday_Day27

Only 5 more days left of my internship :( It is going to be a sad day on the 12th when I know I won't be coming in to the office and working with all the great people here at Woodland Hills Family Church.

I had my last ALL STAFF meeting today. We went out for Lunch for a farewell party for me. It was so fun. I was told that I have been the best Graphic Designer they have had yet! That felt good to hear and I know God has so much to do with that! Then they surprised me with such an amazing gift! They paid for part of my tuition for this coming school year! Such an answer to prayer. God is so Great!!! He is always looking out for all of us every minute! Love Him so much!!!

Can't wait to be back at HU but am going to miss Missouri so much. Everything about it... the people, family, the ranch, the boys, the Lake!, my brothers, the mountains, the church, everything. But I am excited to be back the friends, to finish my major!, and to be back in the cornfields!

Thursday_Day26

The Day is winding down...
Today I worked on another logo to go with the Coffee Conversations Logo:
combined the four tee's to come up with one Great Design:
Finished an informational handout sheet:

Front

Back
Now.. to work on my corporate logo!!



One of the boys from the Ranch went home today. I am so proud and happy for him but can't seem to smile just yet. I will miss seeing him everyday and miss laughing together at our inside jokes! I know he will continue to have struggles and challenges in his life but I am sure he will conquer and continue to grow in a positive way.

Wednesday_Day25

It has been such a GOOD Day!!!

The banner for the MainStage at the Church has been ordered!! Check it out!


After Designing this I want to now paint the walls of my room like it! I am enjoying the straight lines of each shade of color interrupted by the sketchy mess around it! I just love design and color! So fun.

The Tee's are coming along. I think they have finally narrowed down all the options to just a few. I am thinking the final design is going to be a combination of these four (in some way)

God is so... Words can't describe!
I have been giving the opportunity to work for a Designer! He has given me the project of creating a logo for a new company!! I have sent in the first draft of logo ideas and am currently working on the second draft!! It has been challenging because it is a corporate logo. Now this is challenging for me because my style is not corporate. So I constantly have to be reminding myself to keep the logo simple, sleek, but yet I still need to add that unique spin to it, so it doesn't look like every other corporate logo! I have enjoyed it so far!!
I have been so blessed this summer! I have gotten many opportunities to work on projects for my portfolio as well as just getting my name out! I am sooo excited to see what God has planned for me in this next year!! I know it is going to be a fun trip!!

Tuesday_Day24

Well... I ran out of time to update. Which is a good thing because that means I am busy, very busy.
Here is a list of what I am working on at the moment!
- Finalizing and Ordering MainStage Backdrop
- Tee Design for the Haiti Project
- Informational Handout for Critter Street (Nursery)
- Book Cover

It's all so much fun! :)

Have a blessed Day!!!

Thursday_Day23

YEP... thats right! JESUS WAS HOMELESS, TONIGHT!!!! Looking forward to eating at Jimmy Johns, Hanging out with the Best Brothers in the whole WORLD (minus Garrick cause he is sick), and handing out meals to those who live in motels in Branson.

WHOOO - Designing Tees. Well just one, but coming up with many options. Good news is that we have narrowed the design down... just need to come up with the text!
CHECK THEM OUT:
NEWS!!!!
I just got the opportunity to design a book cover for Ted Cunningham's new book!!! The pressure is on but I am excited to conquer it and succeed!!!

Wednesday_Day22

I must have woke up on the right side of the bed today cause... I feel like I am cranking out the Designs, and I like what is coming together too (which is always a plus)!! First draft of the Haiti Project Tee!I already know that the words on the back are going to go, and we are currently trying to think of another name than "HAITI PROJECT." Other than that the design is a GO!

Idea for the MainStage Backdrop...

OK so the Office is done, Redecorated and up to date!!! I am so frustrated, I forgot to take before pictures, so you will just have to believe me when I say it looks totally different!

Ok so I might of gotten a kind of before photo. (Before decorating, After new paint job)

Now, that the Office looks good, I was recruited to work on the teacher's offices in the school. Should be fun!!

I am so glad I picked Art to Major in. I just love what I am doing!!

Tuesday_Day21

It's weird how some days I feel so creative and ready to conquer anything, and other days nothing seems to come.

Well today was not a creative day. I seem to not like anything I worked on today. Bummer I know. ha! Well I guess that just means I am going to have to get with it tomorrow and crank out some great designs. I am working on a T-Shirt Design for the Haiti Project here at Woodland Hills. I want it to be different and unique, which is kind of something hard to do with a T-shirt since there are millions of shirt designs.

Still working on thinking about what to do for the mainstage backdrop. hmmm....

Well that's it today from the internship.

RANCH NEWS
the office is officially all finished!!!!!! Photos will be up tomorrow! :)
Now I am working on redecorating, rearranging, cleaning and organizing the offices for the school at the Ranch! It looks awful now but hopefully in a couple of weeks it will look like the office!!!


it's 4:00 and I am ready to get home! Tomorrow is another day!!! (hopefully i feel creative)!!!!

Thursday_Day20

I am not a fan of tiny little ants
These little things are trying to be my best friend today. Yuck. There are so many in the office. I would have been fine with God not creating the tiny little ants. I know they are tiny and not that big of a deal but they always travel in packs and to be honest... they really freak me out. Other than that today was Great! :)

My NEW PROJECT is to design the backdrop for the mainstage at the church. I wasn't given any direction, just to try and make it look modern and urbany. So here is my first idea. I like it but I am not pleased with it. I have some more ideas, but they are still rough drafts. This project is definitely stretching me. I am just having a hard time thinking of what would look best on the stage. Well here is what I have so far:

I think the backdrop needs to be less busy. More simple. And I am thinking lighter would be better. I am thinking about possible making the whole backdrop look sketchy (don't know how yet but something will come to me)! Hopefully!!

Also worked on creating another Rotator for the Web page: I like it. But it hasn't been critiqued yet.

Something I need to work on...
So I have a wacom tablet and love it but I am not quite very good at it yet. I am still better and way more comfortable to draw the old fashion way with a pencil and paper and then scan it in. I need to work on being able to just use the wacom tablet to draw with, so that I can delete the extra step of scanning.

Wednesday_Day19

Just a little bit of my vacation fun!! Enjoyed time spent with brothers, parents and grandparents! I am blessed to have such a fun and loving family. I am so glad we got a chance to just hang out, relax and enjoy each others company!!

Mitch, Garrick, and I with our wonderful Grandparents!!! (and COTTON CANDY)


Love my Brothers!

GUESS WHAT ... !!!!!!
The banners are here! They were shipped yesterday and they arrived a few minutes ago. My heart was beating and I was so worried to see them, (I didn't want to see a mess up). Well John unfolded it all for me and ... They look good! phew! It was a large project, which equals a lot of money. The one banner itself was 16.9' x 8' and the other was 72"x 42.5" . Not something that I could have afforded to mess up.
I am just thankful I am not the one who has to hang them up now!

Other than that today has been good. I have taught Denise some about the web program as well as just simple design tools. She took me out to Panera, it was delish!!! I have also worked on the September Bulletin! It is coming along very well! I can't wait to get the first draft finished so I can post it on here and share what it will look like.

NEWS FROM THE RANCH
The Ranch needs our prayers. I get so frustrated with adults sometimes. Some on the Ranch are acting like children. Pray that they all will start to work together and put their problems aside so that 100% of their focus can be for the boys. I believe there is only a small window of opportunity for us to help these boys, we don't have time to waste, on jealousy, greed, pride, or anything else. I love my internship and everything about it but I do miss spending time with the boys. Sure I have evenings but that is hard because it seems like all the boys can do on their free time is watch tv or play video games. Pray that I can come up with something that they could do that will be of interest to them as well as something that wouldn't be considered a safety hazard or cost money.

Life is good! Still trying not to worry about the struggles of tuition this fall. Working on getting loans and figuring it all out. I just need to continue to pray and not worry. But that is one thing that is very hard to do. I know God has a plan and it will all work out!

Until then and for forever I will continue to smile and find all the JOY in life that I can find!

Tuesday_Day18

It has been yet another Great Day!!
I came in today with another list of things to design and get done! I love it when I am busy and I love being busy with all the things I like to do!! Just Great!! Fun News... I was just asked today if it would be possible if I could continue to design projects and such for the church once I go back to school!

I don't have much time to make a post but I wanted to get on and give you a brief picture of how my vacation went!!


The most beautiful view from the most beautiful and peaceful resort ever! More photos to come! Get excited :)

Wednesday_Day17

Well... it has been a slow day.
I came in thinking I would be crazy busy, working on the September Bulletin. I got half way done... and got bad news. You see the focus of the bulletin was going to be around the Event, Family Fight Night, that the Church was going to put on. Well they aren't going to do that event anymore. So... the Bulletin can't be focused around that. Bummer I know. Now I just have to wait until they come up with another idea to focus the Bulletin around. What luck.

Other than that... I can't wait to get done today BECAUSE......

It's a little vacation time! :)
My Grandpa and Grandma came out to visit so we are going to take some time off and enjoy family! The plans we have made are sounding so fun!!
-TONIGHT... Dixie Stampede - Dinner Theater! (Locals get a Discount!)
-TOMORROW... All day at Silver Dollar City! (the Ranch has connections so we get in FREE!)
-Then... Thursday - Saturday... we are going to stay at a Retreat in Southern MO. Not far but still nice to get away. And the people that run it are the nicest old couple ever! We visited them once and I feel like our families became friends immediately. I love it when you meet nice people!!

So there will be no post tomorrow, I will be riding rides and relaxing by the water! I hope you too can find time this summer to relax!

Be back on Tuesday with many photos from the Little Vacation! Until then... Remember God is Great and Every minute counts... don't waste time, decide now to live for HIM every minute of every day!!!!!!

Tuesday_Day16

It is interesting to look at life and wonder why things are the way they are, why things happen to you and to those around you. It is easy to get confused, lost, angry and even depressed at times because of "life." But today I was just thinking and realized that it is pointless to get confused, lost, angry and depressed over circumstances in our life, because no matter where you go or what happens to you God has a plan. I find it best to just laugh at situations. Find Joy in life, in the little things, because that is what will keep you going. We can't focus and fret over all the "bad" things that happen, we must just deal with them when they come and face those moments with a smile on our face and peace in our hearts, knowing that God is in complete control! Why let life ruin your day... Just something I have been struggling with and thinking through. Great is our God!!!

INTERNSHIP
Well today at the internship has been laid back and restful!! I worked on the website a bit, adding a few rotators to the homepage. Learning that, is actually fun and pretty easy. Just took awhile to understand the program.


Its really cool I have been asked to not go back to school and continue to work for the church. So I must be doing things right here!!! I am blessed to have had my internship work out... But I am excited to get to school and finish my Senior Year!! Which brings on another worry that I am working on trying to give to God. Tuition is due August 10th and I need to come up with a large sum of money by then. So I am currently trying to give it to God and know He has a plan, if that means loans I am willing to go there, I just hope I can get loans to cover the cost. Pray that it all works out!

Thanks for all the support! I have been truly blessed this summer!!! If you have anything you need me to pray about or help you with please let me know!! I would love to help you as you are helping me in so many ways!!!

Thursday_Day15

It felt like I didn't do much today but I was busy the whole time.

First when I came into work I got the chance to sit in on a meeting where we were discussing updates and changes that needed to be changed on the web. I have to say that part of the time I was lost but the other part I knew exactly what they were talking about!!

After that I was told that I needed to send the bulletin to the printers again because the CD that was taken to them didn't have it on it. Shoot. I know. So I emailed it to them, and was good to go. But I was worried they wouldn't be printed in time for Sunday. Once again here I go worrying about everything... I should have just reread the name of the printing company, SirSpeedy. At 3:00PM I got a phone call and the bulletins were ready to be picked up. Wow... they are speedy!!!

After all that I struggled with sending some signs that I have designed for the church to another printing company. You see the files were too big to send over email so I was instructed to upload them to an ftp site. Well once again this is something entirely new to me I have never heard of a ftp site before. Needless to say, I couldn't figure it out. Ha. It took many emails and many phone calls but at the end of the day I had it figured out, the signs were sent and I got a confirmation email saying that they would be shipped on July 12th! Can't wait to see how they turned out and see them hung at the church!!!

Wednesday_Day14

Whew... I can finally breath. Today was busy...

This is just something my Dad asked me to do for him... It was really fun... took a lot of time, ha, but now I know I can totally change something! Check it out!

Before Photoshop

After Photoshop

I guess this Bronco is some one of a kind, special edition. It beats me but Dad sure did like the outcome!

INTERNSHIP:
Well... Today started out by searching and learning about papers and all the different options. I am learning the what different weights mean, 20lbs, 32lbs, 110lbs, if you want glossy, or matte, the brightness of the paper. There are so many options, so many choices. Currently I am learning it all from books... but I think I would be much better if I could feel and see all the different options.

The July and now August Bulletin is being sent to the printers as I type this post!!! So Exciting. I can't wait to see it in print and finished. It is funny how you think you are done with a project but the final steps are so long and there are so many. Just little things here and there, but they matter greatly if you want your piece to be a perfect as possible. Take a look at the series of changes and revisions to just the front of the bulletin:

#1

#2

#3 - 6 different ways

#4 The Final Piece

Now to the back of the Bulletin:

#1

#2 Final Piece!

Also. Remember the Sister's logo that I worked on for the Ladies Group here at the Church. Well that too has been through a lot of changes. Not only has the logo changed but also the name of the group. It went from Sisters to Coffee House to Coffee Conversations. I am very pleased with how this project ended.

#1

#2 - Two different ideas

#3 - one of the ideas taken and then modified

#4 - Critiques and then finished!
What was critiqued; they decide no coffee beans, I agreed (the coffee beans were only in because the ladies wanted them) , also they wanted the coffee stains to look like lady sized mugs. Made a lot of sense to me and I am glad they gave me the critiques! Finally the last thing I worked on today: Diaper Tags for Critter Street, aka, Nursery. Now... A lot of design has already been made for the Critter Street so I just used graphics and decided a layout for the tags.

Front

Back

I am feeling much better today about my frustrations yesterday. I love it that we can always give anything that is bothering us to the Lord and takes it all. But not just takes it but shows us that the frustration we once had was silly. Today while I was saving the final project to get ordered, I realized that I do know what I am doing. I have been able to learn it on my own and figure out what the best process is in printing! Now the web stuff is another story but I am having a good day so far so I am not going to think about it! ha