This blog is a place for encouragement, color + design inspiration, tips for creative entrepreneurs and small business owners, and general creative musings.
Creative people need to be around creative people to thrive. When life is busy, it can be hard to make those connections, so the Art is a Record Creatives Community was born. Join our private Facebook group, where you can ask questions, share what you're working on, and be inspired. It is a place where we can share with confidence and encourage each other to grow. I hope you’ll join us!
As a design nerd, at the end of each year I anxiously wait for Pantone to announce their color of the year. I was pretty excited yesterday to hear they selected Classic Blue for 2020’s Pantone Color of the Year. I mean it’s almost my branding color blue!
Read MoreWhen you’re a creative person you go through mountains and valleys. There are some days where you don’t have enough hands or time to get everything that is in your brain out into the world.
Read MoreHave you ever felt like you didn’t fit in? Like everyone in the world exists at a 90° angle and you’re living at 45°? Did it make you feel insecure? Like no one could ever truly understand you?
Read MoreWhy do we create art? For the joy of creating, for beauty, for self expression, for an outlet, for any number of reasons. No matter the initial inspiration, what does art always become? Our history. Once a piece of art or design exists in the world it is part of our history.
Read MoreWe had a pretty significant snow fall this week in mid-Michigan. I am not ready for winter, to be perfectly honest, but it was so beautiful!
Read MoreHave you read Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert yet? The full title is Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. It’s fantastic and it’s not just for artists.
Read MoreAs a graphic designer I can never have too many fonts… I’ve been on a signature style font kick lately and I wanted to share my favorites with you!
Read MoreI was listening to Elizabeth Gilbert’s podcast, Magic Lessons, a few days ago and came upon the episode with Glennon Doyle…
Read MoreInspiration can come from strange places sometimes. Did you know bugs could be so beautiful?
Read MoreLooking back at my early art helps me remember who I was, and who I am. It validates my artistic choices now and reminds me that I’ve always been interested in life, beauty, pain, death, and hope. Here’s a look back at my first large scale art installation…
Read MoreSpring is HERE and I’m dying to see all the beautiful blossoms begin to bloom here in Michigan. We just have to push through the rest of the rain, and mud, and brown, before everything turns green again.. and then. THEN. This…
Read MoreIn late 2018 I rebranded Paper Heart Design in a day. It was one of those things that just hit me and fell together in the most perfect creative way. When it came time to order new business cards I thought long and hard about what I could do to set myself apart from other graphic artists…
Read MoreTwelve years ago, before Paper Heart Design was a thing, before Pinterest was a thing, I designed my wedding invitations for a class credit; an independent study. I was recently asked about them, so I dug one up from the archives…
Read MoreWhen I was a senior at Eisenhower High School, back in 2002, I had a fantastic class schedule. My first two hours were a block class of Vocational Mechanical Drafting IV, followed by two hours of Graphic Arts, then an independent study class for 2-D Art, and English was my last class of the day…
Read MoreFor those of you who don't know me well, or at all, I have a strange diet. People are puzzled when I talk about it. I try to be vague, so I don't have to go into all the details. This week I was dismantled by potato chips…
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