scrogginsdesign

Update: life's at it again

2011-07-17T11:47:00.005-05:00

Ahhhhhhhh!
Since my last post, I have been busy as all hell. Got a new job which I absolutely love and have just been enjoying summer. Outdoor free concerts, picnics, gardens, pools, and baking ridiculous amounts of goods. Just yesterday, I baked homemade cheese its and today got the vegetable strainer out of storage and using goods from our own garden canned homemade pasta sauce (rendered above by the adobe ideas app on my iPad -which I'm using to type this post!). Delicious!

Hopefully things slow down enough that I can have time to update more and post to the 30 days of creativity, but we'll see.

Happy summer!

Art for Joplin

2011-06-03T16:17:00.000-05:00

Moosylvannia, a Marketing company in St. Louis, working with All Along Press, a nonprofit screenprinting and art studio on Cherokee Street came together to use ART to raise money for Joplin. Art for Joplin is a compilation of posters designed by local artists in the St. Louis area where all proceeds go to the United Way in help of Joplin. Pretty cool idea, ay???

A very talented designer and photographer and collage artist, Fran Foster - whom I also went to High School with:) - designed the poster below. I just love her work, and now I get to own it!

You can too if you follow the link and help out Joplin as well! Its really win win, I think.

You should defintely check out the site and help out the cause!

30 Days of Creativity: Day 2

2011-06-03T14:26:00.000-05:00

Per the 30 days of creativity calendar, June 2nd's inspiration was ice cream, so I just doodled a little diddy inspired by Munch's Scream painting. I then played around with it in photoshop adding saturated colors. Just messing around. Kind of fun to break from the work of the day.

30 Days of Creativity: Day 1

2011-06-02T10:08:00.000-05:00

So, I was very excited to start on my 30 days of creativity yesterday, especially while going through everyone's postings during work. I was amped to get home and make something. I got off work, worked out, tended to the garden, played with the dogs, and got down to making fresh banana and oat bread (seen below).

It turned out pretty amazing. I followed one of my old recipes for it adding a few things like oats, which I love and even though its summer - a dash of pumpkin spice.

Packed up some bags for me and my husband to take to work today and got a delightful email from him telling me how good it was - always fun to hear :)

Now, for a preview of things to come!

One of my New Years resolutions was to learn to knit and crochet. Well I've begun teaching myself with the help of youtube videos and hopefully will have some fun things to make within this 30 day assignment! YEAH YEAH YEAH!

Memorial Day: Remembering

2011-06-02T09:37:00.000-05:00

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Thank God for my life. For the Stars and Stripes. May Freedom forever fly. Let it Reign.
Salute the ones that died. The ones that give their lives.
So we dont have to sacrifice all the things we love.

My Family has a tradition (its about the only tradition we really take seriously or even have) on memorial day to visit graveyards and place flags on sites of those who served in the military as well as family members. We visited 6 in all, ending at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetary - which is by far the most overwhelming.

Grandpa Joe, Great grandfather to me.

Grandma Lodyce. I miss you everyday.
She drank Stag everyday, all day, until she went to bed so we always leave one for her.

And then there is Andy.

I cannot believe its been 3 years. I remember being in my cube when I still worked at JWT and getting the phone call of his passing. I remember hanging up and just feeling absolutely stunned like the air was unable to gain entry into my lungs. He was a year younger than me and yet he gave his life for our country.

What have any of us done that is even remotely of such value?
Try to think of him or the other 4,000+ soldiers killed in action in the Gulf, the next time you complain about something insignificant. Believe me, it will pale in comparison to their sacrifice.

So, to Andy:

I think of you often...

Chesterfield Amphitheater Grand Opening

2011-06-02T09:18:00.001-05:00

Attended the Grand Unveiling of the Chesterfield Amphitheater with Adrienne last weekend. With an all day festival ending with a FREE Edwin Mccain Concert - Party likes its 1997! To quote my husband "I have heard the name Edmin Mccain more in the past 2 days than I have in the past 10 years" haha, it was pretty awesome though.

The amphitheater was very well built for its intended use. Very open and surrounded with trails overlooking the ponds and waterfalls. I guess these are the kinds of things a city gets when you have rich people tax money.

Anywho, the Chesterfield Parks will sponsor free concerts all summer - and you are free to bring picnics and coolers. Fun and Free! My 2 favorite things. All I can say is, I will be back!

Currently Reading: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

2011-06-02T09:07:00.000-05:00

So we met last week for Read Wine to discuss Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter on the day of the severe weather in St. Louis. Everyone shared how they were trapped in their basements at work all day, but never to miss an opportunity to get together - Read Wine still met, although missing many members who had undoubtedly good excuse.

The book was okay to say the least. As an appreciator of history and Abraham Lincoln, I enjoyed the historical accuracy with bits of fantasy. There were a couple things I found to be lazy and could have been better (towards the end) but it was still entertaining. I wont give it away because you should read it :)

Thirty Days of Creativity

2011-05-18T09:29:00.003-05:00

JUNE 1-30 - I pledge to create something everyday! This is such an amazing idea and its got me all aflutter with creative madness!

Twitter was abuzz with all the design and craft blogs I follow going insane with #30daysofcreativity love. All their information from @createstuff can be found on their tumblr where they have inspirational videos and a calendar of ideas to get you started.

I just want to go home and break out my sewing machine and start on all the projects I have been putting off. But I shall wait...maybe take to the weekend to come up with some ideas and watch some knitting tutorials.

Mindsnacks, a language learning program iphone app

On another note in my life, I recently decided to take up Italiano and have spent a lot of my free time studying just for the fun of it. I went to Italy during college for a summer study abroad and would love to go back with my husband sometime in the next couple years - only more fluent. With a bunch of Italian apps on my iphone (I even changed the language setting to Italian which has been a slow start to getting used to) to borrowing some audio and study guides from my local library. My goal is to be able to have basic conversation and understand basic Italian by the end of summer.

Lofty goals, my friends. Lofty bilingual goals...

Thought of the day: Devour

2011-05-13T16:49:00.001-05:00

"When life hands you lemons"

Never understood the saying "When life hands you lemons make lemonade" cause to me lemons should never be associated as a bad thing. They are delicious! I can eat them raw, or with salt or with pretzels. I cant get enough of them.

It is probably why my teeth are so white, even though I will have no enamel when I'm older to fight off tooth decay. But we're talking about the lighter side of things today. Always one with a positive look on life, I can't help but radiate my wonderful mood today. Am I glowing? Its just bronzer and a tan, but it's just a lovely feeling for sure.

Been playing a lot with online tutorials lately just to pass the time and see if I can learn anything new about the programs I use daily. I was going a little mad trying to figure out more complicated wordpress and web tutorials so took a break to play with more light hearted stuff. The lemon above comes from an illustrator tutorial from Spoon Graphics. Boop.

I hope everyone has a glorious weekend. Cant wait for the St. Louis Renaissance Faire this weekend.

I love turkey legs.

I am Ashley Scroggins and I approve this message.

Thought of the Day: Wonderful

2011-05-12T14:09:00.000-05:00

"Things Really are as Wonderful as They Seem."

Doodled this at work and just took a picture of it then played around with the settings on the app
FX Photo Studio. Its $1.99 but I think its kind of fun and worth it. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some Instagram, but I like to play with layers upon layers and get something completely ridiculous.

And you know what...Things really are as wonderful as they seem.
Hope you have a fabulous day and keep the optimism flowing :)

Thirsty Thursday!

Thought of the day: Hustle

2011-05-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

("Good things happen to those who hustle." - Quote posted by @erinloechner of design for mainkind, collage design by me)

Absolutely love this quote! The moment I read it, I knew I wanted to do something with it. It is exactly my motto to get through the work day and life. Designed this little thing for it during some free time. The walrus is my mascot for life. You've probably seen me use it from time to time.
"I don't want to be an animal."
"You're a walrus!"

Have a great day!
And hustle.

Thought of the day: Command

2011-05-10T13:18:00.002-05:00


(quote via @erinloechner of Design for Mankind on twitter, design by me)

Stop typing and breathe.
Today has potential.

It's going around.

Wish List: Locket Love

2011-05-10T10:24:00.001-05:00

I just love this Dancing Couple Locket, I stumbled upon on Etsy. Actually, everything in bellehibou's shop is pretty adorable. I oh so long for a locket. Perhaps someday...

Bridal Shower

2011-05-09T10:57:00.001-05:00

About the only time I spent indoors this weekend was a bridal shower I attended on Saturday at Jilly's Cupcakes. I always meant to go there when I lived in Clayton and never made it out. I did however have one of their delicious goods before after a race in downtown St. Louis. But that is the closest I has come to pastry nirvana until now. These cupcakes are so rich, not to mention gi-normous. You can only eat about a fourth of it at a time!

Thought that I should share this creative little party game - the shower was split into 3 groups and we had to create a wedding dress from 3 rolls of toilet paper. This was our lovely model, Grace (who will also be getting married this August!) so this was a little preview for her. We were going for "modern hippie bride" haha.

Onto the bridal gift. Reprising the Salsa recipe cards and kit (Tim, the groom to be, is an amazing creator of salsa. He has this one he makes with corn and goods - very spicy, just the way I like it. So I thought this was fitting. I also made blank cards for him to dabble his own creations.

Here is the almost finished product without the recipe cards attached. It includes a cutting board and outdoor dining cook book as well as strainer and cute fiesta bowl for all the veggie goodness - wrapped up tight with ribbons and cutting knife.

Hope Sam enjoyed her shower and gifts! I love being able to add a personal touch to gifts - I think it adds a little flavor and added thought to them instead of just going straight to the registry. I know that that's what the registry is for, but I like to give the gift of thought as well ;)

Ofallon Farmer's Market and Founder's Day

2011-05-09T09:50:00.001-05:00

This entire weekend was so beautiful that I couldn't resist spending all of my free time outdoors. From Farmer's Markets to Founder's Day to Produce stands, biking in the park and gardening. Just an all around great weekend for outdoor activities. I hope everyone got a chance to get some vitamin D - absolutely wonderful weekend.

BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich from the Ofallon Farmer's Market.

Log house from the Fort Zumwalt Park. Fun Fact: the city of Ofallon purchased the land for this park for $1 in 1978.
That, folks, is what we call a deal.

Lots of fun stand with activities and demonstrations.

Bought 2 handcarved sling shots from one of the stand. Awesome!


My sister milking a fake cow...?

Microfest

2011-05-09T09:30:00.003-05:00

This weekend was the St. Louis Microfest in Forest Park. A very good friend of mine and fellow designer, Adrienne was tapped to create the logo for this year's event. Thinking of it now, I wish I would have gotten last year's logo for a comparison. Needless to say, her version was a serious upgrade. Love love love the coaster look.

Her design was plastered over all kinds of goodies.

Tasting Glass as well as collectors item.

Because Adrienne was the logo designer, she was given 4 free tickets to the event and invited me and my husband to enjoy in the microbrew festivities...V.I.P! That means we got free delicious food too.

Over a hundred vendors were involved.

Lots of fun advertising.

Me and my homegirl. Adrienne.

It was a beautiful night, weatherwise, in Forest Park. The temperature was amazing. And I'm super excited for Adrienne's involvement. She got to mix her 2 favorite activites: design and socializing. Congrats to her, and thanks for letting me be a part of it!

Preview: Weekend Lineup

2011-05-06T13:19:00.000-05:00

Hancock's Fabric Purchase

A weekend of crafting is upon us!

Happy Friday.

Wascally Wabbits

2011-05-06T09:18:00.001-05:00

So we planted our garden last weekend - a wonderful array of tomatoes, pepper plants, corn, cucumber and onions. However, by the end of the week it was almost all but gone (leaving the one hottest habanero pepper plant standing).

So we decided to build a security system around the perimeter of the garden and this is what we came up with:


			New security system.

I'd like to see those wascally wabbits try to penetrate that! Obviously, the baby bunny that our puppy killed a couple of weeks ago didn't get the message across. We mean business! HaHa. I think MeLady has been sleeping on the job much like those air traffic control peeps.

I'll keep updating about our garden as it goes. Not shown are the blackberry and raspberry bushes, the blueberry plants, the potted patio tomatoes and peppers, lettuce and herbs AND the 2 trees we planted in our backyard. Our green thumbs have been very busy as of late trying to get it all in - in between the breaks from the pouring rain.

Living off the fat of the land...

Currently Reading: Plain Truth

2011-05-05T12:27:00.007-05:00

PLAIN TRUTH by Jodi Piccoult

Last night, Read Wine Book Club met to discuss our latest literary tale -- Plain Truth. I, personally have not read Jodi Piccoult's other books (although I hear good things about My Sister's Keeper), but other girls in the group who have were disappointed by this one. They said it followed the same outline as all her books and that was a bit of a let down. Fortunately, I have not been tainted from those other accounts (I tried to read The Pact, but never made it past page 17 - I just couldn't get into it) and really appreciated this story . I love courtroom drama and have had a facination with the Amish since a 20/20 episode when I was younger.

Yes, I watched 20/20 when I was a kid. I loved Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs always trying to scare the crap out of me with stories of deadly spiders and restaurant germs.

Anywho, this book gets a thumbs up from me. I wont ruin it for you, but the last 2 pages are explosive!

Adrienne design and printed a banner for our meetings and this was its debut. Great job, Pi.

Nichole was our host this time and crafted an amazing spread of dips. Not bad for a prego ;)

And here were the amazing wine choices. I actually brought 2 bottles this time because I wasn't drinking the month of April and didn't get to partake in that meeting with Never Let Me Go. Mine were Monogamy and Irony - they went hand in hand together in this story, fo sho.

I save the best for last because...well Shannon was late and she didn't read the book...but this was still the best wine label inspired from the story, I thought. Great job, Shannon!

TRUTH!

Up next, we will be reading my choice: Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter! Sounds awesome and they are also making a movie.

To follow Read Wine Book Club on facebook, click here.

Happy reading...

Osama Bin Dead

2011-05-05T10:56:00.004-05:00

TIME, May 20, 2011, Art Director: D.W. Pine, Illustrator: Tim O'Brien.

Overwhelming excitement was felt by all when news broke late Sunday night.
Osama Bin Laden is dead.

8 Years to the day of Mission Accomplished.
I must admit, my heart raced as Brian Williams shared the breaking news in his iconic monotone (it's hard for me to take him seriously when it comes off so sarcastic which is why I love him). All those Georgetown kids rushing the gates of the White House to celebrate - oh college.

Then monday came. And I heard things like "I cant feel good at someone else's expense" or "I cant celebrate death." Boo f*cking hoo.

If this was 1945, could you bask in the glory of this image. Because after taking the 3.5 hour tour of the Holocaust museum in DC, I cant do anything but smile at the thought of Hitler putting a pistol in his mouth as his world caves in with Russian and American tanks racing to retrieve his body first.

My point is sometimes violence is the only thing necessary to stop a violent person. As a military brat, I sure as hell CAN celebrate the death of an enemy because growing up - the opposite would mean more harm for my father and friends. So I do feel an overwhelming sense of pride to be an American today, like all days, but more so today.

So maybe you don't have to "celebrate" Osama's death, but you don't have to be a pretentious little snoot about it either. I'd Have to say the best thing to come out of this whole ordeal are the jokes. I feverishly tweeted and retweeted Sunday night anything that made me laugh out hysterically.
Gem's like:
RT @joshacagan Sources say that Obama will also announce a 50 state tour where he will, "High-five the shit out of everyone in America."
and
"A prince got married and a bad guy is dead. It's a real life Disney story."

Now to the art of it all (since this is a art blog of sorts). In tradition of the time magazine X covers as seen below with Saddam and Hitler -- It has been confirmed that TIME will move forward with the Osama X cover as posted above with artwork by Tim O'Brien.

So simple, yet powerful.
For more, you should totally read this article by Big Think. I think it reinforces my thoughts pretty effectively.

Also, I'd like to mention Andy and how he might be alive today if it were not for this S.O.B. and/or the other dicksmack pictured above, Saddam. I salute you and am forever grateful for your sacrifice.

May freedom forever fly. Let it reign.
Ashley

Now we sit and wait for zombie Osama.

Royal Wedding

2011-05-01T10:14:00.007-05:00

People were pretty split on if they cared or not about the royal wedding. And if they didn't care, they sure made you know it which kind of made you feel like they cared enough to complain about it. I, for one, was very fascinated by the process. It is a historical event and me and my friends treated it like any other event: a chance to make crafts, get together, and theme party our little hearts out!
On a bummer note, my grandmother died in 2006 and since I was in college, by the time I got home all the things in her house had been picked over by cousins and family so I didn't really get anything (when all I really wanted was this wooden Cardinal that reminded me of childhood summers visiting her and even making up a song saluting the glorious bird - but alas, it too was gone). 5 years later, my father offered up a couple of her costume jewelry boxes that were taking up room in his garage. As I was going through it all, I came upon this:

Perfect for a Royal Wedding theme party!

Next thing on the list was to acquire a tea set. I just bought a cheap little set at Toys R Us, peeled off the Tinkerbell stickers, and plastered on my very own set of British inspired details.

Before:

After:

With the DVR set, and a freshly toasted foccasia purchased from the Farmer's Market earlier that day. We basked in the glory that was English tradition and fawned over how beautiful Kate looked and critiqued how poorly William has aged. haha. If only Diana were alive...

Another note: why is Queen Elizabeth's husband a Prince and not "King Philip"?
I have so much to learn. But as an American, I feel it is my duty to stay blissfully unaware of Britain's culture.

UPDATE: Found out why he is just a Prince. Turns out back in the day, you could only marry British royalty (inbreeding in the family is pretty well known). Philip was from the Greek Monarch and got permission from Elizabeth's father King George VI to marry her. Since King is a higher title than queen, and Philip is not from the British family he cannot hold a title higher than Elizabeth. Interesting...

Road Trip: OHIO

2011-04-28T21:35:00.008-05:00

Took a week off to visit my grandparents in Dayton, Ohio. They kept us pretty busy while we were there too. Went to a Dayton Dragons baseball game - they are affiliated with the Reds.

Some things you have to do if you are ever in the area: Check out Caesar Creek State Park. They have an amazing visitors center that is a must to check out so you can get your free permit to go fossil hunting! Apparently a few years ago they were carving through the bluff to build a highway and found a 450 million year old preserved ocean floor. They allow people to dig for the fossils and take them home. Needless to say, we stocked up.

Also another beautiful find as well as wonderful hiking and fishing grounds is the Caesar Creek dam.

Also, Fort Ancient State Park and Indian Mounds. They have a very interesting museum with all the history of Ohio Native American tribes. They left behind these incredible mounds. Its just unreal how they were about to build those without the use of any real tools. Just loads of dirt in baskets! Amazing.

The real crown jewel is found just in my grandparent's garage. The soda/beer can airplane hanger. Since my grandpa has retired, he's been trying his hands at different things to pass the time. He stumbled upon this crafty idea from a garage sale and started his own little business. HOW CUTE, RIGHT?!

Anywho, we are back in the Lou and missing them greatly. If anyone is interested in a plane, just let me know and I will relay the message. He sells them for $7 a piece or 2 for $10. He invented the cutest little wooden tools to help cut down the construction time. Such a cute old man :)

Have a great night!
The Royal Wedding is tomorrow. Gonna try to hold off on any coverage until I get together with my girls on Saturday and watch the DVR while eating and drinking british inspired goods...

Better Late Than Never: Home Decorators

2011-04-14T16:03:00.002-05:00

For a couple months at the beginning of the year, I worked with Home Decorators in producing the last of their catalogs before they closed down the St. Louis Office. It was pretty simple production work, but I was happy to help out and the people were great.

The Art Director, Will working on organizing the pages for one of the spring catalogs.

Just 3 of the catalogs I worked on that were printed before I left.

Couple of page layouts for the Home Decorators Catalogs.

I wish everyone from St. Louis Home Decorators the best of luck as they currently look for new jobs. I had a great time working with you during that time. Not to mention getting to look at the Martha Stewart collection on a daily basis! It was a blast.

Currently Reading: Never Let Me Go

2011-04-14T12:54:00.003-05:00

A book of many covers:
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Read Wine met last night to Discuss Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was a very long and boringly written story (6 pages devoted to a pencil case leaving more interesting facets unmentioned) with a very interesting and tragic premise. I think the main disconnect between us readers is as Americans we cannot fathom how someone would just lie down and accept their terrible fate without putting up some sort of a fight.

The movie, however, was much more fast paced and included all of the important criteria of the book tweaking only here and there. I feel like some of the character development was lost in the short time span and I probably would not have understood anything without having read the book. However, the movie did help me more appreciate the story as a whole and the sadness of love lost and life short lived.

Who is to say one life is more important than another…

Anyway, last night was our 10th Book as a group! And it was the first time we got to be outside since the fall. Absolutely gorgeous night full of friends, interesting debate, a little gossip, and watching the film based on this book - which I think helped make the story more enjoyable. Time said it was "the greatest novel of the decade" ...maybe for Europe...
All in all though, I give it a 2/5.

Words to Live By: College Freshman Edition

2011-04-14T12:35:00.003-05:00

Everyone in my family was asked to write a letter to my little cousin who will be leaving for college in the fall. Memories. Tidbits. Advice. How much we love him. I decided to go more for the advice part of it and designed this little number:

Its got all the things I wish people would have told me before I went to college, including taking interesting classes just for the hell of it and how important quarters will become.

But then I found this (How to be a Freshman in College)! Discovered Thought Catalog from a retweet on twitter and I have loved everything they've written since. I kind of wish I would have found this before the deadline. Anywho, if you get anything out of this post, its FOLLOW THOUGHT CATALOG. It'll get you through the day and give you interesting things to think and talk about with others :)

OPENING DAY, Part II

2011-04-01T09:20:00.006-05:00

ST LOUIS, March 31, 2011

Opening Day Rally on Keiner Plaza

It really was a beautiful day, even if the Cardinals didn't end up pulling out the W. I just love the atmosphere of downtown St. Louis - And the pride in the city, the traditions, and baseball.

After the rally was over, headed over to the stadium and watched the game at Paddy O's. It was just like one huge tailgate party. Even got to meet up with my friend and very talented photographer, Megan. You really must check out her stuff. She is just a phenomenal artist. I almost want to have a baby just so she can take pictures of it...

After the game, we were headed over to Beale on Broadway, when kind of randomly, a homeless man gave me his baseball cap sporting a #1 pin. I tried to give it back or give him something in return but he told me to keep it. I felt kind of bad about taking it, but tried to pay it forward later in the night by giving away something else to a stranger.

Beale on Broadway was hoppin' with the bluesy sounds of #winning. Love that place. Such a chill place to unwind with live blues music after a Cardinals game (or Blues game).

All in all, a great day.
And here's to warmer weather and a great baseball season...

VIP: Jim Butler at Opening Day

2011-04-01T09:00:00.005-05:00

It was a beautiful day for baseball, yesterday in downtown St. Louis. The streets were a buzz with Cardinal fans and marketing.

(The view from the top of the parking structure)

As the marketing team behind the Jim Butler display, which included 4 vehicles from the 4 different dealerships, we got to partake in the Y98.1 VIP area at the Opening Day Rally. And I am one to never turn down free food or drinks. I believe it was hosted by Hacienda and Chips and Salsa are my jam. So I was thoroughly pleased :)

Designed the graphics that were on each vehicle which was really just the URL of each dealership to their corresponding vehicle.

(The Hummer to Jim Butler Plaza)

Also designed flyers for the sales person of each dealership to hand out.

(Flyer to Jim Butler Mitsubishi)

The star of the show for sure was the Chevy Camaro. People loved taking pictures of it, but it is indeed very photogenic. Total chick magnet, ay? Sporting the Cardinal red ;)

(Camaro from Jim Butler Chevrolet)

The rally ended at two. But it was a lot of fun. Stay tuned for part 2 of my Opening Day adventure after the "working" part was over. GO BIRDS!

Off Subject: Things That Made Me LOL Today

2011-03-30T15:18:00.005-05:00

So things have been pretty hectic around here this week all in preparation of Opening Day tomorrow. It seems one of our clients will be having a stand in downtown St. Louis advertising the goods with the populated streets of baseball fans and drunk people. And with that advertising, comes designs from yours truly.

So in helping to keep the sanity, I'm posting a few things that made me giggle today:

The Bronx Zoo Cobra is missing. Very deadly. Yet very witty...ahem, twitty. Started following his tweets after watching Jon Stewart's little play with words on the daily show "He's more afraid of you than you are of him, but he shouldn't be. He can easily kill you with one bite. and what are you...a graphic designer?" hehe

Also making the list of giving me the gigglies today: Charlie Sheen remix from the guys who brought us Bedroom Intruder

But this one, to the tune of Black and Yellow, is way better! I chortle...

Man, I really needed that. haha
Can't wait to partake in the festivities that is Opening Day tomorrow.

GO CARDS! #Winning!

i dabble: baking edition

2011-03-29T10:08:00.003-05:00

Currently Baking: Sweet Potato Fries

I am on a sweet potato kick and it's not ending anytime soon. They are so delicious! The best is if you have a mandolin so you can make perfect slices, but they are good anyway you slice it.

Last night was the Tennessee Lady Volunteers game vs. Notre Dame in the Elite Eight. I'm a die ard Tennessee fan (cant you tell by my uninhibited use of the color orange), and thought that the Orange of the fries would be a good treat as well as way to REPRESENT! Unfortunately they lost...

it was the first time Notre Dame has EVER beaten the Vols in the history of the organization.

Anywho, I designed these little recipe cards for things that I make over and over again and thought I would share. Definitely worth a try. They are pretty darn good :)

Also me and my husband are counting calories these days so I included that in the card as well.

Have a great day!
(Opening Day Countdown: 2 days.)

Young Professionals: March - EPC

2011-03-25T11:12:00.003-05:00

Last night was the March meeting of Young Professionals, a group created out of the St. Charles Chamber. They meet monthly for a happy hour (or "After Hours" to sound more professional) sponsored by a business (also meeting for lunches and special presentations scattered throughout the month), aimed at getting together to not only get the sponsor's name some recognition, but also your own. This time the networking rendezvous was at EPC in St. Charles.

EPC is a company that recycles electronics, even giving away a laptop computer at the end of the night as a prize. Their slogan: Resale Recycle Relax.

Relax, we did. Relax, we did...

Currently Reading: Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

2011-03-24T16:20:00.004-05:00

Met last night for the 9th meeting of the Read Wine Book Club to discuss the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which is about a book club created during the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands in England. It's written in letters and is just an intriguing story of hope and good that came out of a terrible situation. Very cute ending.

At the meeting last night, we took a stab at making a Potato Peel Pie which didn't turn out too bad, I must admit. Could have used a little salt and butter, but those things were not accessible to the island of Guernsey during the Occupation so we suffered as they suffered :)

The recipe can be found on this cute website created for the book. Kind of love how interactive they made it. You can send a letter to a friend on Guernsey e-letterhead and it also has ideas for book clubs to partake.

Sarah enjoying Potato Peel Pie

The other part of Read Wine Book Club is for each member to bring a bottle of wine inspired by the book. Lots of farming inspired wine labels. If the Smiley face wine is sticking out to you, that was Claire's and she said she chose it because the book made her happy :)

Definitely recommend this book.
Its a quick read and sure to make you smile when you are done.

To follow Read Wine Book Club on facebook, click here.

UPDATE

2011-03-23T14:28:00.001-05:00

...and lack there of.

I cannot believe I have not updated this since January 3rd. I have been meaning to get around to it for awhile now. Which projects I've been working on and things I have crafted and baked. So Hopefully here is to things to come!

Especially since spring is here :)

Twenty-Eleven

2011-01-03T10:55:00.006-06:00

...and the things to come.

Sad to see 2010 leave. Got married on the beach, ran 4 marathons and set a new PR, grew my first garden, got a bike, and 2 of my best friends got engaged.

1. Create something new everyday.
2. Learn how to knit or crochet.
3. Organize a working closet. (via Kendi Everyday)
4. Bike Katy Trail from St. Charles to August Winery.
5. Run a mile in under 7 minutes.
6. Create a backyard sanctuary.
7. Roast a turkey by myself.
8. Go a month without drinking.
9. Find doctors/dentists in Wentzville and plan checkups.
10. Edit Italy footage into the MOOOOVIE (finally).
11. Bring the lemon tree back to life. Or get a new one, damn girl.

Also this blog is pretty great. Its called To Resolve Project and was created by Chris Streger. He posts iphone backgrounds of resolutions designed and submitted by other graphic designers.

This one currently resides on my blackberry:

Stay motivated! 2011 will be fabulous!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-28T10:50:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone had a great time over break. I know I did!
Here's to 2011!

things lately...

2010-12-20T11:25:00.003-06:00

Things have been a little crazy with the holidays and new year coming up. But here are a few things I've been up to that are not work related.

Hanging with MaLady and Ugly Sweater Parties.

Found this at the Marketplace for only $5.
Thinking about fixing it up a bit.
But checkers are fun :)

Also found a bunch of cute frames at the Market Place in Columbia.
I freaking LOVE that place. Its a giant indoor flea market. So much amazing finds :)

and then of course, baking cookies and getting fat.
Homemade sugar cookies and icing.

Cookies: 1cup butter, 2/3cup sugar, 1 egg,
1tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 1/2cup flour

Icing: 3/4cup powered sugar, 1tb butter,
1tb milk, 1/2tsp vanilla, 1/4tsp lemon juice.

Bake cookies at 350° for 8-10 minutes.
Frost with icing when cool. Mmmmm...

These are just a few things I've been doing in the meantime. Been hanging out indoors a lot due to freezing weather and icy roads. Game nights have become a recurring activity with friends.

Started working on a list of resolutions for the new year.
Definitely looking forward to 2011 and all it has to offer.

mozel tov, sissy

2010-12-17T12:30:00.003-06:00

My sister is graduating from college today!
My how time flies. I feel like it was just yesterday, it was me taking the plunge into adulthood.

Good Luck, Jess. The Best is yet to come!

santa, baby

2010-11-29T14:42:00.006-06:00

Hope everyone had I great holiday break. With thanksgiving over, and the christmas season in full swing, I've been scowering the internet for some friendly cyber-monday steals. I have a goal to be the best Secret Santa! Yay. Anywho, while in search of great gifts for others, I came across a couple of things I wouldn't mind for myself ;)

My sister is supposed to be getting me the Female Brain, but I couldn't resist putting it on my list for the world to see. I've already read it, but it is absolutely amazing. I think everyone should read it! And that means you too!

1. Storm Necklace by Modcloth, 2. Season 5 How I Met Your Mother on Amazon, 3. Suede Ankle Boots by Forever 21, 4. Cute fingerless gloves by fredflare, 5. Navy Blazer by Forever 21, 6. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins on Amazon, 7. The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine on Amazon, 8. LOST poster designed by Ty Mattson

I've been cutting...

2010-11-19T13:00:00.003-06:00

things out of paper.

I don't want to be an animal

AND THAT IS THAT! HA!

aging like a fine trashtalking s.o.b.

2010-11-10T14:51:00.005-06:00

Today is the 235th birthday of the united states marine corps.
My father was in the service for 22 years (16 years of my life)
and retired a Master Sergeant.
We lived in 5 states
(NC 3 times, Indiana, Tennessee, Hawaii and Missouri)
7 different schools.

Marine Prayer card (with my edited text of course)

The dandelion seed is the official flower of the Marine Child.
Me and my sister were talking about getting a tattoo of it for awhile now.

I really feel that growing up a brat was the best way of life. Not only do you get to travel all over, and continually learn the art of making friends (thank god for facebook! I've reconnected with so many), but you also get to live in a world of extreme patriotism and loyalty and honor and truth...that civilians just don't understand. We've been out since 2000, and the one thing I have learned in that 10 years is that people have a serious lack of those values.

All I know is that I miss living on base with all the ache in my heart. I miss the sound of helicopters and planes doing runs over your house and school. I miss watching a group of men in matching fatigues PT on my way to school. I miss going to the commissary and the exchange. I miss going through the gate and having an MP check your plates.I miss the high and tight, the dressed blues, the dog tags. I really miss it all.

Me and my pop in '91 (my first day of school in Hawaii)

This is my Marine. My hero. My dad.
He's pretty awesome.

Happy birthday! And thank you for all that you do.

falling back as I may...

2010-11-08T16:43:00.002-06:00

today i woke up before my alarm and it was glorious.

After a rather productive weekend of cleaning and clearing out the house (as well as a large rather over due donation to Goodwill), I awoke this morning with nothing so much as a yawn. The weather was amazing, so I tried to spend as much time as I could in its 70+ degree splendor since the sun will set an hour earlier tonight. Can't believe its November!

So in between working on web graphics,
I took a 3 mile jog through the park and read on the back deck.

Glorious day, indeed.

Sometimes to get through the day...

2010-11-04T17:13:00.002-05:00

I daydream about mermaids.

Halloween Update

2010-11-04T14:43:00.003-05:00

This year, I was at a loss for what to be.
So this was very last minute.
I also had a request from a friend to build their costume as well
(where the Cash Cab comes into play)

I was a Giant Mizzou Foam Finger.
It was kind of hard to manuever around in that get up but I made do.
Cash Cab was pretty successful. My friend look super identical to Ben Bailey and even walked around with questions...a correct answer got you a piece of candy :)

My favorite day of the year is pumpkin carving day!
I just LOVE baking the pumpkin seeds. We doubled up on our
pumpkin quantity this year just for more seeds.

They were delicious.

Here are 3 of our 4 pumpkins that were carved and ready for the trick or treaters.
Our puppy MaLady is not a fan of Halloween. Too much stranger danger walking around.
She stood at the door in preparation for children all night.
She was prepared for the pounce.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Preview

2010-10-29T11:24:00.004-05:00

Featuring Ghosts of Halloween's Past

Halloween is my favorite holiday, for only the most crafty of reasons.

The weather aint too shabby either.

2007 - Britney Spears on the Cover of an US Weekly

Opens to full page spread.

The tradition of the Cardboard box begin

2008: Foreigner's Jukebox Hero

2009: Andy Samberg's I'm on a Boat

2010: Halloween Preview...?

The Legend of the Cardboard Box Continues...

Butterflies

2010-10-29T10:32:00.002-05:00

I've been trying to get more into the handmade things,

and thought that a wedding gift would be the perfect endeavor.

I kind of got the idea while rummaging through my quote book

from college and just playing around. Came up with the

design just while goofing around with an xacto knife.

The absolutely gorgeous frame is from this

delicious vintage resale shop in Columbia

that is quickly becoming my new favorite.

And the full view presentation.

Some people don't settle for anything less than butterflies.

Happy Wedding to Tara and Andy!

Mizzou beat Oklahoma that day :)

2 cheers for a fabulous day.

2 Marathons in 13 Days

2010-10-24T10:07:00.003-05:00

This year, I had set out to run 4 marathons totaling my completed races at 10 by the end of the year. The Kentucky Derby race was back in April and the Portland race was on July 4th. The last two marathons were in October just 13 days apart in Minneapolis and Indianapolis. While I was anxious because I had never done them that close before, I set out to complete my goals. One of my new year's resolutions was to set a new PR for the marathon so I set out go get things done.

Minneapolis (#9) was pretty great. My husband and I stayed with my college friend who is from the area and we even got to see the Mall of America. My average is roughly 5 hours and 25 minutes, but I finished this particular race in 5'35 - It was a beautiful fall day, perfect weather and a absolutely gorgeous course.

Indianapolis was just 13 days later. The only training I did in those 13 days for this race was walk a couple of miles every day. I dont know why I always get so nervous the night before, but again I began to panic. I am always in denial that I am even running a marathon until 12 miles in when I start to think "holy crap, I'm doing this" By mile 19, I began to notice that i might just beat my PR and I began to run faster. I had never come close to 5'03 since I set it in Denver in 2008 and I was actually on pace to beat it. It was pretty exciting and that extra adrenaline really helped kick things into gear. I ended up beating my PR by 2 minutes! YAY!

So there you have it. I can finally say it. 10 IN 2010!

I am 10 marathons and 10 states deep into this thing so there is no quitting now. Only 41 states left to go (if you add DC to the mix...which I do)

NOW ITS TIME TO REHYDRATE!

This is at a bar and grill called Claude and Annie's in Fishers, IN after my 10th marathon. I may or may not have sang karaoke to Foreigner's Jukebox Hero...

Homemade Wine Holder

2010-08-28T10:17:00.003-05:00

In celebration of the first Read Wine Meeting I started researching little wine holders to help bring in the grown up feel of book club. So I found this template to create your own on Design Sponge where you use the leg of an old pair of jeans. Since I was lacking in the "old jeans" department, I decided to modify the template a bit and just used 2 mitch-match patterns and this is what I came up with:

I think it turned out pretty good. Mmmm, Riverboat Red.

I really like how it turned up and it was a very talked about accessory at Read Wine so I'm thinking about making more of them for gifts and what not. I think it would work well for winery trips or birthday and bridal shower gifts.

Fun stuff.

Fun Bridal Shower Gift

2010-08-28T10:01:00.003-05:00

I always like to be different for wedding gifts. Like I usually give games or something that has some sort of memory of the 2 of us. But when I saw this, I thought it was adorable and thought I would give it a go...

Denny and Rachel are always bbqing and entertaining people, so when I saw this salsa mortar and pestle gift idea in a Martha Stewart Living magazine and thought it was really cute. I decided to take it a step further and give it some identity by designing these little personalized recipe cards.

I hope they enjoyed their gift and their wedding was amazing.
Congrats guys and hope you guys have an fabulous life together.

See you at the Illini game!

I Want To Ride My Bicycle, I Want To Ride My Bike

2010-08-20T19:30:00.003-05:00

Introducing, the newest love of my life...

Yellow Thunder

Urban Assault

2010-08-20T16:11:00.003-05:00

Last year was the inaugural year of the New Belgium Urban Assault Scavenger Hunt in St. Louis and Me and Adrienne volunteered at the mystery location (which was the art museum in Forest Park). I had been hopeful of getting a bike before the next year's event so that I could participate. Alas, the time of the year came and I ordered my bike just a week too late. Oopsies. So I did the next best thing, Volunteer again.

My husband did it with me this time too. It wasn't too hard to convince him when I told him you got free beer. We went to a wedding the day before so this was the perfect breakfast. It was supposed to be another smothering hot August day in St Louis but it actually wasn't that bad.

The object of the scavenger hunt is to promote biking in your city and the race is actually 10 different locations around town and you have to figure out the best ways to get to each of them. Its a very creative way to help you find out new trails in your area.

Our job was at the finish line this year, telling the bikers where to put their bikes and to run to the obstacle course for your finish.

That will be Me next year! I already have my bike...

For more pictures of our Urban Assault adventures, click here.

Read Wine Book Club

2010-08-20T14:54:00.005-05:00

One of my new years resolutions was to read more. Well I haven't exactly done that since the weather turned to spring, so to get myself back on track, started talking it over with some friends about getting together a book club. Well Me and Adrienne can never do anything without turning it into a personal design project so this is what we came up with.

READ WINE BOOK CLUB!
(pronounced Red Wine Book Club)

First rule of book club, wear high heels.
Second rule, bring a bottle of wine to the meetings that inspired you from that week's book.
Third rule, occasionally read.

And there you have it. We even started a blog to rate the wine and books, but also to inform people at want to join our ranks later on. Our first meeting was this past Wednesday and it was a pretty good turn out. We had 7 high heeled ladies with wine and ideas. Our first book was chosen out of a bowl and my choice actually won, Flashforward by Robert j. Sawyer. Spoiler alert, I already read this book but I just REALLY wanted someone to talk about it with because I liked it so much. So sue me.

Next meeting is September 8th where we discuss Flashforward (yay) and pick out our next book.
Happy Reading,
Smash

Resolve Hair and Vein

2010-08-04T19:05:00.004-05:00

One of the newest clients of Farfetched Studios is Resolve: Hair and Vein. Been working on a lot of rebranding for them lately. And it all started with a new logo and business cards.

As well as a brand new website, linked to all of their social media sites that we also created. Cindy wanted something that was very gender neutral because a lot of her clients are in fact men and she didn't want to scare away any other potential male clientele with a feminine look and feel. It was a fun project and we look forward to working with Resolve in the future.

Working with Black Twig Communications

2010-08-04T18:57:00.004-05:00

Spent a couple of days with Black Twig Commications as they needed help making a bunch of web banners for a cable company in New York. I just thought it was cool to work with the images of some of the movies I saw this summer.

Percy Jackson was AWESOME! And I love my superheroes, even if they are DC comics (I AM SOOOOO GOING TO COMIC CON NEXT YEAR!). Ha. Couldn't do anything about the type. That was supposed to remain consistent with the Cable Company's Brand. Just thought I would share some of what I've been up to lately.

Portland (Sauvie Island) Marathon

2010-08-04T18:34:00.002-05:00

Went to Portland, Oregon for fourth of July Weekend to run the Sauvie Island Marathon. It was an absolutely amazing race. Flat and gorgeous. The island was made up of strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry farms. I wanted to stop while running just to eat the stranded berries by the side of the road. I totally recommend this race to any first time marathon runner or someone trying to set a PR. If I would have actually trained for this race (and the weather wasn't so freakin hot in St. Louis), I might have done this very thing. Actually ended up running the last mile and a half with my shoes in my hand, crossing the finish line barefoot.

The next day, we set off to explore the glory of Portland, Oregon. The International Rose Garden was a favorite. It had the most amazing views of the mountains and downtown Portland. The Vietnam memorial was very reminiscent of the DC memorial. Hard to believe Maya Lin got a B on that project because it always gives me goosebumps staring at your reflection through the names.

On the third day in the Pacific Northwest, we trekked north through Washington State to get to Mount St. Helens. We actually climbed all those stairs just days after running a marathon! AND proceeded to hike a good 10 miles or more to see the magnificent sight of Mount St Helens and her destruction.

This was a wondering vacation (if I can call a marathon that). There were so many visitors centers all the way around the mountain with all kinds of interactive things for people to do and learn about the mountain and 1980 eruption. Yep, this year is the 30th anniversary of that eruption which killed 57 people. It was absolutely amazing.

The Fruits of Our Labor

2010-08-04T18:16:00.004-05:00

Started an indoor garden back in February and really got her going outside back in April. Tilled up a 9ft x 13ft lot in the backyard and made way to corn, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, onions, carrots and cucumbers. Proceeded to pot a bunch of cherry tomatoes and pepper on the deck so that they were ornamental as well as a delicious treat :)

Cherry Tomatoes potted on the deck

Sweet corn on the cob

Got a vegetable strainer as a wedding gift from a friend and made salsa using all the ingredients from my back yard. It was the most delicious puree, restaurant style.

Here is another view of the tomatoes being pureed.

And then the aftermath of a lot of hand cranking

HOMEMADE SALSA

The Launch of Farfetched Studios

2010-07-23T11:32:00.002-05:00

As of July 1, 2010 Farfetched Studios LLC is announcing its LAUNCH.

Farfetched Studios is an up and coming Marketing Agency based in St. Louis, Missouri and we've got ambition. We build brands!

In the past 23 days, a lot has been happening. The website has been coming along and we have been trying to put together a portfolio. Our client list has been steadily expanding to include the likes of Jim Butler Auto Plaza and Resolve Hair and Vein. If that is not different ends of the spectrum, I don't know what is!

If you would like any information or have any questions, please contact us and we will get back to you right away.

Working Onsite with the Missouri Botanical Gardens

2010-07-23T10:15:00.002-05:00

This is a little late, but better late then never. Back in May, I did some work with the Missouri Botanical Gardens for their summer Dinoquest exhibit. It was a lot of fun and really laid back to design stuff for kids. Plus all the construction to put together the huge life size dinosaurs around the gardens and Climatron.

Most of the work involved designing all the signage for the exhibit, but also this giant carpet:

as well as billboards, menus, tickets, and other collateral. I think the people working on the project were excited to work with someone who REALLY loves dinosaurs :)

I had a blast working on this project. But the best part was that the Gardens purchased the actual Egg Incubator from the Jurassic Park Movie on Ebay! It was an amazing accent to the whole exhibit and a fun fact for repeating to all who would listen.

Dinoquest is going all summer until October 3rd so if you are in the area, you should totally check it out. On thursday nights, they have this thing called Jurassic Dark which is kind of neat but a little creepy with the dinosaurs in the pale moon light.

Click here for the rest of my Dinoquest adventure. Cant wait to work with them again :)

HAPPY EASTER!

2010-04-05T09:09:00.002-05:00

Happy Easter everyone...and a wonderful opening day (Go Cards!)

My absolute favorite thing about easter, beside Malted Mini Cadbury Eggs, is dying eggs. I think it all stems back to Shibori in my Fibers classes in college. Thats right, while you were stressing over math class, I was learning the the ancient Japanese form of tie-dying. Its fun, and messy and yes my hands are still black from only doing these eggs yesterday. But it is fun as hell. I bought a cheap kit this year and didn't realize there were only 3 colors in the box until I opened it. I was disappointed at first, esp when the red didn't seem to work at all. But I think experimenting a bit really opened the gates for some color colliding fun. The flower design was a fun addition from last years creations. I bought some Martha Stewart scrapbooking stickers that were on sale at Michaels. They sure came in handy for some really cute designs. Other materials used were the round stickers that came with the kit and rubberbands to get that stripy effect.

Anyway, hope you enjoy my designs and today is the away home opening day for the Cardinals (in Cincinnati). I will be taking off next Monday to enjoy the home Opening Day Rally downtown. Couldn't be more excited for Spring. Started my garden on friday, baseball right around the corner...we are finally free of the bonds of winter!

Enjoy it!
Smash

Wedding Branding

2010-03-24T09:26:00.002-05:00

Wedding Branding: Invitation, Website, Party Favors, Thank You Cards
Below are the photos of the invitations. Since it was a casual beachy atmosphere, I thought it would be fun to have the invitation be more of a poster keepsake than just a card. It Expands out into all the information:

This is how it mails. It is closed by a clear circle.

It expands into the logo of the couple and the date of the event.

It expands a second time to more information including the date, location, time, and RSVP info.

And then one more time to the full poster. The invite was a success. It was fun seeing it on peoples refrigerators when I came over. The party was fabulous as well. I will be sharing more when I get the chance. It was fun designing for something so whimsical and chill. More to follow.

Mid February - Personal Update

2010-02-10T12:23:00.004-06:00

Valentine's Day is fastly approaching which makes me realize 2 things:
1. Its been a month and a half since my new years resolution to get more organized and I've barely scraped the surface, and
2. I'm getting married in less than a month! Holy bob hope, thats crazy.

Since snow has staved off any motivation to leave the house (and train for my upcoming marathon) I've been left to dissect those two points I just made.

Which brings me to today - I have made a list of all the things I wish to accomplish and have very slowly started crossing them off. First up, Organize my office which was #4 on my list of resolutions for 2010. And believe it or not, I can actually see the ground! Maybe if it actually gets nice enough to broadcast, pictures of the progress might follow.

Another thing that very quickly dissipated was resolution #1 in which I was to create something everyday. Hopefully, I can get this back on track and really start posting things as they come.

Now on point number 2...matrimony.
My goal was to lose weight for this beach wedding. I also wanted to set a PR for the marathon this year (resolution #2). I thought that the two of these things together would motivate me enough to succeed in both, however the snow has stymied any real progress. Today, however, with my new found fire steadily burning my butt to get up and do something, I actually woke up early and went to the Y!

other resolutions currently getting some action:
#3 - start a garden. - you will be happy to know that I have started some seedlings in a mini greenhouse and it is currently residing in my dining room. I also got a composter for christmas and am starting to obsess. Can someone really be that crazy over a Composter? I found out the answer is YES.

#6 - Read more. - currently reading A Walk Across America, so far...its very good.

#8 - Get a bike. - just started a bike fund. It now holds one-hundred smackers. :)

That is all for now. Have a fabulous day!
Scroggs

BEMAS 2010 USER CONFERENCE IDENTITY

2010-01-08T12:23:00.006-06:00

Last year, SD got to be apart of the BEMAS Software 2009 User Conference by adding the beginning touch to the conference logo. This year we got to help create a little bit more:

2010 User Conference Logo

Back from the holidays and I thought I'd share the launch of what I had been working on before the break: The 2010 BEMAS Software, Inc User Conference Identity. This project included creating the logo for the conference as well as web banners, E-Newsletter Save-the-Dates, coupons, and website:

2010 User Conference Website, Save the Dates and Logo

But it does stop there. With the conference approaching in April, there will definitely be more work ahead of us. Excited to continue this project and I look forward to see how everything turns out in April.

Designing Obama Book

2010-01-04T12:25:00.005-06:00

Politics aside, the 2008 campaign of the Obama team was revolutionary in the design quadrant. You cant deny the involvement and work created by his design team and students across the nation who blew the McCain Star logo out of the water paving the way for future campaigns (Optima font just doesn't speak to the youth of America these days).

Now there is a book capturing the innovation of the Obama campaign by its very own Design Director, Scott Thomas. Designing Obama is a look at the artists and designers who helped create the historic campaign.

My favorite part of the Obama campaign, aside from that fabulous logo, were the posters created. I posted this link after the election but It still gets me today like it did back in 2008.

Peace Out 2009!

2010-01-04T10:11:00.002-06:00

(Image via Design Work Life)

Twas a good year for Scrogginsdesign and myself in 2009. But I have plans for twenty-ten.
Thats right, I said twenty-ten. None of this two thousand-ten stuff. These plans include some pretty hefty goals. I want to expand my empire. BOOOM.

Let's see, I plan on getting more organized and updating my online networking sites more often. Become a fan on Facebook and follow me on twitter! Oh, I also have a Flickr.

The holidays reaked havoc over my health and fitness. So I'd like to get back from my 10lb swing. You know, in time to get married on the beach...ouch.

I would also like to beat my PR for the marathon. Today is day one of my training for my next marathon, the Kentucky Derby in April. A lot of my gifts were fitness and marathon inspired, thanks to some nudging on my part so I'm looking forward to that.

All in all, I wish you all a fabulous year and I plan on updating this a lot more than I did last year, so check back soon! WOOHOO!

Sunday Funday Yellow Vintage Finds

2009-08-31T12:30:00.004-05:00

Had a low key sunday afternoon. Went to the carnival and flea market as well as checked out this local antique shop that I pass all the time and have never been inside. I wanted everything in the store. So much cute cheap stuff. Including this Yellow Vintage Shaker:

and this yellow Bird Candle Holder:

And here are some pics from the carnival. Turkey legs and games and crazy unsafe rusty looking rides. The smell of funnel cakes in the air. A glorious reminder of childhood fun.

This is me and Pallardy on the Ferris Wheel.

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Urban Assault Ride

2009-08-18T10:37:00.004-05:00

This event was totally worth it. It was a biking scavenger hunt hosted by New Belgium and this was its first year in St louis. All proceeds went to help trailnet and promote bike-commute and exercise in the community as well as helping people getting accustomed to the trails in their own city that they may have not been before.

There were seven checkpoints and we were the "mystery" checkpoint over at the art museum in forest park. At the other 6 checkpoints, the riders were subjected to obstacles as well as clues to the mystery checkpoint. Other checkpoints included: the city museum, the botanical gardens, tower grove, clayton, the loop, and webster groves.

I was merely a volunteer this year. But these people have seriously inspired me to get a bike and do it next year. Or hell, maybe even try to learn another city :) But just volunteering wasn't so bad either. Since it was sponsored by New Belgium everyone got free beer (got to replenish those carbs) and then free food from Whole Foods. And for volunteering our time, we got a tshirt and a bunch of cool New Belgium stuff. All in all it was a great Sunday full of great times with new people.

Thanks for allowing me to be a part of your day.
Check out Trailnet for other local events.

Adveristing Mogul

2009-08-05T09:23:00.002-05:00

Mad Men is a couple seasons in, but I only just recently got into it through my glorious Netfliix queue. This show is absolutely genius. And when I say recently, I mean mere weeks ago. Its so politically incorrectly delicious. Too young to be my parents - they were only kids but this is definitely how I imagine my grandparents who are also very young galloped through the 60s.

Anywho, in trying to learn more about the show I came across this:

Where you make your own 1960s avatar.
Here I am enjoying a martini with the Great Don Draper :)
Now you can join in on the fun

Designing for Your Worst Client

2009-08-04T08:41:00.004-05:00

About 2 weeks ago, I updated and redesigned the scrogginsdesign website. It just wasn't cutting it anymore and I wanted it look more modern and sleek. I think it turned out pretty well all it needs is to have the works updated and I hope everyone can be patient while I compile some recent work.
However recently, I found this interesting article via alistapart about how to design a website for yourself and the obsticles that may arise and how to overcome them. This would have been so helpful TWO WEEKS AGO - haha. But I digress. The article is cute and talks about the writer's own toils in designing a personal website. Its a quick read and a little helpful as well.

All Star Day!

2009-07-14T09:21:00.003-05:00

I remember back in the summer of 2004 when I was working my summer job at Bob Evans was the first time that I had heard that the All Star Game was coming to St Louis. And I remember thinking how far away 2009 felt (i also remember that same summer, that same job was when I found out that Conan would take over the tonight show in 2009 - my how the time passes).

If you are in St louis right now, you cannot get away from baseball, even if you try. Its really great. They've cleaned up downtown to look all artsy with the addition of a new sculpture park on market st. for what I'm assuming is so all the people coming from all over the country dont think we are a huge trash heap of murder, crime and homeless people.

I really hope the National League can pull this baby out. I really thought they were going to do it last year when they were winning the whole game and then the AL came back and tied it up only to go 14 innings - goo. But this year we are in St Louis. With the Best fans on earth. We love our baseball in the Lou and how fitting is it that the allstar game be in our great city and have them win it for the first time in 11 years! I'm so excited.

So here's the plan. I'm going to take a guess and say that it might be too crazy to even try to get downtown at this point with parking or even the metro. However, Clayton is closing off streets and displaying the game on a huge outdoor screen for everyone to enjoy. I just want to be a part of the st louis atmostphere right now.

Let the Baseball Coma Commence!

Another Year, Another Crease in the Crows Feet

2009-07-13T10:06:00.002-05:00

"CHAOS," Picture from Cincinnati Marathon, May 3 2009

So I turned 25 this weekend. Had a pretty good time. Cant complain. Just wanted to thank everyone for the birthday wishes and those who came out to celebrate my immanent demise into adulthood. Goo. So with that, I thought it would be fun to post my 5 greatest achievements/memories of my 25 short years.

5. Attained a College Degree - and not only did I accomplish this, but in a field that I love and will be the most useful for my future. I love design and the past few years using these skills have definitely been a blast.
4. Spent an entire month in Italy - I was an Art History Minor, and the Roman empire is my favorite time period to study (tied with WWII for being wicked awesome) and when in Italy I finally got to see all the things I had been studying the previous 3 years. Not to mention the people I was with made the entire trip legendary. oh, and I got to see Sting in a free concert in Milan :)
3. Getting best artist award in Kindergarden - How can they even tell?
2. Running 5 Full Marathons - After completing number 5 in Seattle in June, I cant stop thinking about it. How many people can say that they've run 5 marathons in their life. I cant explain it, but the feeling is amazing. I must continue this adventure to get to all states out of the way, then I think I might do one on every continent. DC in October!
1. The Night of Dane Cook - will always go down as the greatest day of my life (april 8, 2005). Sure most of it was spent in the car trying to get to Springfield, MO and sure it wasn't my finest hour of displaying intelligence (like going north on hwy 63 and almost ending up in Iowa trying to get to SOUTHWEST missouri) but it was a bonding experience with me and my best friend Adrienne and at the end of it all, we got to meet Dane Cook - once on accident, and then for real a second time - and maybe even scared him a little. Hands down, greatest day ever.

Thanks again for the birthday wishes. From dancing to T.I. on stage at the Piano Bar with Griz, to exchanging stories and antidotes at Kilkenny's, and reliving the story of my birth from my mother again - she tells it to me every year and how when it was all over she looked at my 25 year old father, who was peeking over the doctors shoulder, what it looked like only for him to reply "Have you ever gutted a deer?"

- it was a blast!

Self Promotional Stickers

2009-07-08T09:11:00.003-05:00

They're Here!
Just an idea to spread the joy and my name. Since I travel a lot for marathons and stuff. I thought it would be an interesting experiment to get traffic by using these stickers. Kind of a stolen idea from a not so great mandy moore movie, chasing liberty. If you haven't seen it, which you probably haven't, she backpacks through Europe and meets a guy who uses stickers to bring people together and have a connection with people that they dont even know. You take a sticker and place it somewhere and then you forget about it. Then when you go somewhere else, you see the sticker and BAM! are instantly connected to someone you dont know and youre only common interest is this sticker.
Silly I know. But not so much - compared to all the other weird things flying around my brain - this makes more sense than most of that crap :)

If you are interested in spreading the joy, contact me at my website.
J.O.WHY...because we can!

Father's Day Present Getting Usage

2009-06-21T17:48:00.001-05:00

I love my Pop.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-20T15:30:00.005-05:00

I will be in Festus tomorrow celebrating fathers day in style with 6 hour smoked ribs, my pop's pride and joy. So I thought I'd enthrall you all with my father's day post today. It involved a home illustrated card and a brilliant flea market find.

hehe - That is how I used to draw my dad's head when I was little. He's a retired Marine of 22 years and even though he is now 50, he still sports the high and tight. He is obcessed with his garden - its devoted time he gets so he can get away from my mom ;) - and while exploring the flea market one day came across this guy who makes elaborate bird houses and plant potters out of cedar, as well as these lovely butterfly houses.
Hope it blends with the rest of his motif.

Happy Father's Day!

Link It

2009-06-18T08:44:00.003-05:00

Stumbled upon some neat website as well as some useful ones.
We Make Words is kind of cool. Its just a blog of words made from everyday or not so everyday items. Its just an interesting idea. Its two girls taking turns making words and each word corresponds with the one before it. So maybe you should start from the bottom.

Another site that I found thanks to smashingmag posting it on twitter is very useful if you're a freelancer. I do a lot of work on the side, and I usually just go by the clock on my computer. But Less Time Spent helps track your time while you are working on your project so you dont have to...for free. Not sure if I'm going to jump onboard with this, but I thought I'd share since a lot of my friends also do a lot of freelancing.

And the last link of the day is for all my obcessive lost fanatical friends...like me!These are ads created for the Dharma Initiative. Pure Genius! I would just like to say that I just made my cohabitator watch seasons 1-4 on DVD and he is now just as obcessed as I. He is currently trying to find season 5 online, but ABC took it off their site. I guess they want some build up for when it also comes out on DVD. I just dont think I can wait until February 2010 to find out just what the eff is going on!

Oh well. Enjoy.
Smash

Etsy Shop Now Open!

2009-06-17T12:34:00.003-05:00

Scrogginsdesign Etsy Shop

I would have liked to have waited to open shop when I had more screen printed stuff, but I was just getting too excited with all the other little things I've been working on. But here it is, the shop is now open. Inside you'll find some of the artist books I've been working on as well as some other little things. I'm excited to announce that the screen printing has been coming along swimmingly - ha. Its been really messy and fun. Some things to look forward to:

"I Dont Want To Be An Animal" posters
Running Inspirations
"Team Ritter" Tshirts
more greeting cards
more artist books
zine smashley
scrogginsdesign stickers

Stay tuned for more stuff!
Its about to go down!
In other news, Seattle in 9 days...

The Best Kind of Graffiti

2009-06-12T12:38:00.006-05:00

Its like a piece of public art! "OHHHH YEAH!"

Friday, Schmiday.
Signed up to volunteer for USO.
Also applied for a part time design gig with the GO! St Louis Marathon.
design + marathon = my 2 passions blended smoothie
- Interviews next week!
Bonus Plus: signed up to volunteer for trailnet's Urban Assault Biking Scavenger Hunt in August in Forest Park! They still need volunteers (you get a tshirt, food and drink - and there's a party post biking part) so check it out!

Taking the weekend off from working to enjoy the lake.
Have the best weekend ever!

Preview of Things to Come

2009-06-12T07:26:00.002-05:00

My First Screen Print.

This is my first screen print the cheapy DIY way.
I'll be testing another technique next week with
Photo Emulsion and home made screens :)
so much fun.

Also have some artist books and handmade journals
coming together pretty soon. As well as some other accessories
that will be posted on my Etsy shop hopefully pretty soon.

Just thought I'd give you a taste of some things I've been working on.

You're Next!

2009-06-11T16:42:00.004-05:00

Comedians are my rockstars and one of my favorites is Demetri Martin.
He has this joke about flowers saying he doesn't know why people give them on occasions because they die. He says they should be more like a threat...like "youre next" haha

Well I came back from a weekend in Festus and Pallardy got me flowers and the cards reads:

"Ashley,

Youre Next

Love,

Dan"

Haha. Happy Thursday!

Tok Giant Foam Hand!

2009-06-09T11:05:00.004-05:00

Created the design for Tok's giant foam hand.
Come get yours this Saturday at No Way Out Club
and rock out to some Railroad Spike!

Good Times.

NASCAR Vehicle Decals

2009-06-04T09:03:00.004-05:00

I've never really been a NASCAR fan. And I used to live in Tennessee. I know. I know what youre thinking. But one of our clients at work, Landmark, decided to sponsor a driver in a smaller race and I got to design the decals for the car. I think it looks pretty sweet. But Chargers usually do ;)

Just thought I'd share since its not something I'd normally do. I know its just logos and such, but it was still kind of exciting to say that I did that.

Nano Biosphere

2009-06-04T08:51:00.004-05:00

I've been getting into the gardening season this year since we bought a house and everything. Grape vines, lemon tree, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, flowers, etc. When I went to Cincinnati for the marathon, my grandparents took me to this cool quarry place where they let you dig for fossils and actually TAKE THEM HOME! Needless to say, I stocked up with some big 450 million year old rocks as well as a bunch of smaller ones. When trying to decide what to do or how to display the smaller of the rocks (the larger ones made their way to my garden), I went to the garden department for supplies and came across some moss and poof...an Idea! I've had this fish bowl for awhile. A thrifty purchase from goodwill that I just always knew would come in handy someday.

Anyway, it is now a cute little accent on the kitchen table by the bay window :)

Stationary for Mom

2009-05-25T09:20:00.002-05:00

I made this stationary for my mother's birthday. She likes to write people letters in a world of email and to commemorate her effort and old school style, I made her this. Black and Gold of course - her fave colors because of mizzou.

Exterior.
Wrapped box with handmade paper.

Interior.
Includes envelops, handmade cards, a divider,
and a cd of printable designed stationary paper.

Each card is unique to each other
and made with left over materials used to make the stationary box.

This was just a fun project because whenever I ask my mom what she wants, she always replies "just make me something" ever since I was a little kid. This way there is time, effort, and something I enjoy to do involved to make her something that she enjoys to do.

Materials from Artmart.

The Answer To My Problems

2009-05-22T12:50:00.003-05:00

I get inspired a gazillion times a day. I have a sketchbook, post its, pictures, random pieces of paper scraps, check lists, to do lists galore. It really is an organizational nightmare. But all that is about to change with one app discovery today.

Evernote.

This thing is amazing. I've even downloaded it to my Crackberry and away I go. I swear, I'm becoming quite the little tech savvy business woman...one app at a time ;)

Now if I can only find an app that would organize my home office...

Social Networking Seminar, i.e twitter

2009-05-22T08:41:00.004-05:00

Went to a social networking seminar for work. It covered how to use myspace, facebook, and twitter to the advantage of your business. It was kind of interesting but me and Dustin were the youngest people in the room so it was more of a "showing you how to use these websites" tutorial than anything else. Non the less, I was inspired and immediately went home and...

...joined twitter...

haha. I've been trying to put it off for as long as I could. But I finally broke down yesterday. Time of death: 2:27

Anywho, now you can follow scrogginsdesign on twitter.
P.S. I downloaded twitterberry to my Blackberry Storm...and now I'm addicted.

FOUND Comes to St Louis

2009-05-21T15:31:00.006-05:00

Found Magazine creators and brothers Davy and Peter Rothbart were at the Mad Art Gallery in Soulard in St louis last night as a part of their Denim and Diamonds tour. I have to say I had no idea what to expect. I thought that they were just going to be displaying some of their favorite found items. But I can say with confidence that the experience was well worth it. They are more of a comedy team, whose material was that uncreated by themselves but the world around them.Like Davy said "it is like a international community art project" as he read some of his favorite and albeit most histerical ramblings, notes, love letters, flyers and receipts. Peter engaged everyone with some songs he wrote inspired by the some of the greatest found items of all.

The crowd favorite as well as my own of course would have to be "damn, girl. the booty dont stop" which when put to jack johnson-esque music is quite delightful :)

I laughed so hard, my eyes leaked.

To check out more on FOUND, check out their website or you could see where they are performing next on their 57 city tour and make a road trip out of it. And the moral of this story is dont just walk by that scrap of paper lying on the street...pick it up, discover a new world, and send it in!

Lost Season Finale!

2009-05-12T17:46:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is the LOST season 5 finale and I have made no secret of my obcession with the show. So to pay my respects to the genius that is LOST, I decided to create Lost themed baked goods for my watch party tomorrow night. Not pictured are other cupcakes that I made to have the Dharma Logo on it...and you wouldn't know what that is unless you are a nerd like me :)

Tomorrow looks to be one of the greatest days of my life!
Woohoo!

Arbor Day!

2009-04-27T09:46:00.002-05:00

Planted a tree in our front yard on Arbor Day.
It was a gift from my parents for Easter.
Apparently its a special kind of Elm tree that they used to Line the White House with.

Have the Best day ever, Green Bean!
Smash

Easter Art

2009-04-20T08:30:00.004-05:00

Oh what festive spring eggs, you say? Well with the help of some rubberbands and stickers, I was able to create some pretty cool designs. I would like to thank Jo Stealy, my fibers teacher for teaching me the ways of shibori - a Japanese dying technique for opening up my eyes to the ways of dying creatively ;) Also having color theory in college was a definite plus.

No but this was a lot more fun than just dying them one or 2 colors. My fingers may be suffering the cruel aftermath of creativity - they are now black - but it was well worth it.

Happy Spring all!

Coolest Thing I've Seen Today

2009-04-03T08:34:00.002-05:00

Speaking of Lady Gaga.

Poker Face - Lyrics + Electric Guitar = rock n roll genius

lovin it...

Lady Gaga

2009-03-31T10:04:00.003-05:00

I am lovin Lady Gaga at the moment. Just bought her cd on itunes and have been listening to it while I work. Its just very innovative. Her music. Her fashions. Her attitude. Very 80s glam meets european techno meets futuristic robot. Its just awesome altogether. Anyway, just thought I'd share. :)

Freelance Logo Design for BEMAS

2009-03-30T10:53:00.004-05:00

BEMAS Software, the company I designed the tradeshow booth for asked for a logo for their User Conference.
I'm in the works in designing something else for their webpage and they sent me the link to the site so I could see my logo in action.

Click here to see more from BEMAS, Software

Newest Addiction

2009-02-26T14:56:00.003-06:00

This looks like it could be trouble...

I have to be very careful or I could get addicted. It's a font game. My friends reading this who are not designers might call me crazy, but this is what graphic designers call fun :)

hehe.
Too late. I'm addicted.

Lanmark Contest Logo

2009-02-10T11:15:00.004-06:00

This is a logo that I created at my job and I just liked it so much I thought I would feature it on here. Landmark is a dealership in Florida and this is a little promotion they wanted to put together for their online newsletter to get people to go to their website.

Estrella Logo Design

2009-01-29T08:58:00.003-06:00

New year, new designs!

My friend Jeanette is a very talented jewelry maker and sells her stuff at Maude's in Columbia. She asked if I could design her a logo for her line "Estrella" which means star in spanish.

These are some of her designs with the logo on the packaging. ..

She has some pretty nice stuff. If you are interested in contacting her for any of her designs, you can email her at jnbbq2@gmail.com.

Beer Lovers Crest

2009-01-29T08:50:00.004-06:00

Oh Beer Lovers every where will be proud now that they have a crest that defines their cult of lusting after the best beers in the world. This is for you Marty, oh lover of beers. Enjoy your man logo.

Long Tall Cobra Box

2008-11-26T13:59:00.002-06:00

The Tok CD Release Party was a huge success. Congrats to Matt and Bryan for an awesome show and a fabulous following. Below is the table of goodies available for purchase at the show. My talents were projected on the CD and tshirt art.

Here is tok in action. Check out their website for their sound. "I'm a railroad spike!"

The Votes Are In

2008-11-06T13:46:00.002-06:00

I am a Moderate and so I love this poster because it brings both sides together. The votes are in and Obama is our new president. Say what you will about Obama, but I really heart good design and not only did designers brand him as an identity but they did it beautifully. Click here to see some cool posters promoting our new president elect.

It looks like everyone is happy with our executive decision for the election, but I am truely disappointed on a local level. While I'm very excited about the Clean Energy Initiative passed, the Festus schools Bills "kids 1 & 2" did not pass which will prevent the rebuilding of the very overcrowded high school. I guess they will have to resort to more trailers. no matter how unattractive and cramped they are.

Also California's prop 8 was passed which will ban gay marriage. This is 2008 people, no more hate!

Now that i've said my piece,

have the best day ever!

Halloween

2008-11-06T13:34:00.003-06:00

This was my Costume. I was Foreigner's Juke Box Hero! All painted by Muah. A big hit with the friends who love the band. It was really a present to you, Griz. I also played music and had a coin slot for requests. It was burned ceremoniously on November 1st at the end of the night at another party. Tear.

This was the pumpkin I carved...with an Xacto Knife! Those cheap carving tools wouldn't do what I wanted for the teeth so I had to resort to other sources. But it looked pretty cool when it was lit up. The funny thing was that as halloween passed and the pumpkin began to wither away, it started to look like an old person who was becoming toothless.

Then this was me at work on halloween. I had brought little pumpkins for everyone at work at the beginning of October and on Friday, I carved mine into a little baby face. cute.

Cardinals Billboard

2008-10-17T10:20:00.005-05:00

So I already really liked the St. Louis Cardinals new design campaign. The Billboards, the ticket design, the big screen artwork, the commercials, programs and everything...and then I saw this billboard on Hanley by my house. Now I am absolutely in love with it! And with bias and love for the Cardinals aside, this is probably the coolest piece of advertising I have ever seen - well maybe there is still a little bias there...and maybe a little jealousy. I mean who is this guy?

I wish I were him.

haha.

The countdown to the pitchers report has commenced.

Challenge!

2008-10-14T15:14:00.004-05:00

I recently made a mizzou dress to wear at tailgates. Pictures to come. (Just because I watch project runway, I think I can do that stuff...we'll see). But then I came across this dress skirt and I think its a simple enough pattern that I could replicate it. Stay tuned to see if I can pull it off. Have a good one!

Smash

Ashley Scroggins...Art Director!

2008-10-10T12:25:00.003-05:00

New Job. This Post is a couple weeks late since I've been working here for almost a month now, but I wanted to get settled before I posted anything. Things are going pretty fabulous. The work is pretty steady, the people are hilarious, and I love my office. Yes, I have my own office...with a window (actually a couple of windows!). We're located in downtown St. Charles on the Main St. So my view out the window is of the Katy trail and the Missouri River. Its kind of relaxing to be able to look at that all day. And Downtown St Charles is so cute. I'm lovin' it!

Tok Album Release

2008-10-07T20:12:00.004-05:00

Long Tall Cobra Box is here! The album is printed and packaged and ready for distribution. It was a long time coming, but its finally here. The design is representative of a old timey cigar box and the cd is a paint can lid that I wrote on and scanned in. This project was so much fun and freeing to work on. If you would like to check out Tok or even purchase Long Tall Cobra Box, click here.

Tshirt designs to come and also information about the album release party will be posted when it is made available :)