Design Sketches

For my Birthday my friend Anna got me the Gluten Free Red Velvet and the Vegan Red Velvet cupcakes from Sprinkles Bakery. I am going to do a post on my comparison between the two and in preparation I took some pics and am designing my images. I though my process might be interesting for you to see...

The design board

This is the original photo. I took it into Photoshop CS5 and corrected the gamma and exposure which really made the red pop against the teal. I also stamped out some annoying stray crumbs.

The Vegan and Gluten free cupcakes come with an edible letter on them close to the Futura font (thank you for figuring that out Shaun). I really liked the idea of doing the letter in bold so I did a knock out of the letter on the red background. When I was searching fonts for the other text I fell in love with the font Handwriting - Dakota but it doesn't really work with the block letter. The "Red Velvet" text on the plate was added after doing a few different designs. I did it on a curved path with the letter getting smaller in font size. I also adjusted the Kerning (space between letters).

I have been into swirly dashed lines and created this one freehand with the pencil tool and then adjusted the loops and curves with the pen tool so it flowed better. As you can see the knock out block letter has no place in this design - I am happy with this one. The whole line "Red Velvet Gluten Free Cupcake was originally white and the red change came after the dashed line was created.

Just an idea to replace the dashed line with hearts - I was thinking valentines day. The hearts are drawn freehand with the brush tool on 2 pt oval.

I had text on the pasteboard in white that I wanted to see better so I added a grey box behind it. Just messing around I added it to the photo to see how it would look in the design. Red white and grey are nice colors together! I think this is off balance.

This was my last design and last attempt to make the knock out block letters work. I liked this one too but it reminds me of some other ad or logo that I can't quite place. If someone knows please tell me - it is killing me!

Overall I think they are still a WIP. I feel like the composition needs something towards the bottom to balance it out. I will just have to look at them for a while - maybe one of them is ok as is after all.

What do you think or which do you like best?

Finding inspiration in finding a new space

I have to say I am up to my ears in soap! It is taking over my life, every nook and cranny in my house is a storage space for product waiting to ship, my garage is floor to ceiling with curing racks, supply shelves, a shipping station with barely enough room for the few boxes of personal items we have to store! It is time for a larger space! This day has been waiting to happen for at least a year and my fear of risk has held me back up to this point. It is a scary thing! San Diego is a pretty expensive place to own a business and the extra overhead will most likely take my debt free business into the red for a little while. All this in a year when I am getting married and me and the future hubby are hoping to buy a home! To help nurture my excitement about such a big step I am thinking about all of the ways that I can make my future space my own. My ideal scenario is to create a happy, inspiring, and organized space for me, my packaging whizz Anna and that new soap maker I will be looking to hire!

A couple of years ago I went on a little texture finding adventure with my friend Debbie to a super cool store she found called Architectural Salvage. I was looking through my pics for some inspiration and some of them turned out pretty nice so I wanted to share! Mind you I am not looking to turn my new soap shop into an antique store but I wouldn't mind decorating my office with some interesting pieces, maybe an antique door knob, a row of glass lampshades on the wall or a blue bathtub full of E's to greet me in the morning!

 

Simply Sweet Sugar Scubs Classes are Back at The Nova Studio! March 12th 2011

Last September I had the opportunity to teach at the Nova Studio in the California Bay Area. My Simply Sweet Sugar Scrub class sold out and the eClass has been the highest selling eClass for the Nova Studio since! We are bringing it back this Spring 2011 with two classes and new scrubs!  I will be showing you how to do the Sugar Cubes, the Lip Sugar Scrub and the Sugar Whipped Soap as well as a new papaya Enzyme Foot Scrub and a new Whipped Sugar Scrub with all natural ingredients!

Here is something nice someone said about the class:
"I absolutely loved this class. Erin was very knowledgeable and forthcoming about the scrubs and her soap business in general. I would recommend this class to my friends and family." – Michelle Ember. Click here for more comments on the class!

Class Date & Times:

Saturday March 12th
9 am - 1 pm or 2 pm - 6pm
$99 plus $35 materials fee

What you will take home!

Awesome handouts and a bunch of products: a 10 oz jar of Body Sugar Cubes, a 4 oz jar of Whipped Sugar Scrub, a 4 oz jar of Sugar Whipped Soap, an 8 oz jar of Papaya Enzyme Foot Scrub & two adorable pots of Exfoliating Sugar Lip Scrub. Erin will supply everything you need, just show up with your sweet self, ready to learn & have fun!

To sign up visit the class page on the Nova Studio Website!

Overview:
Whipped Sugar Scrub (all-natural, from scratch): Demo & Hands-On: This product is a combination of a body butter and a sugar scrub. The consistency is like very thick frosting. Students will watch a demo of the batch being made by Erin, then they'll get to choose which essential oils to use for scent & choose a color.
Sugar Whipped Soap (using a base): Demo: The consistency of this scrub is light and fluffy with just enough foaming action to get you clean and soften your skin. This recipe utilizes a pre-made base that contains the foaming agents as well as the preservative, so you don't have to worry about that. Erin will make this batch demonstration style and students will get a 4 oz jar to take home & try.

Papaya Enzyme Foot Scrub: Hands-On: An invigorating, more intense scrub made especially for your feet that contains different types of sugar, papaya (which contains a natural exfoliating enzyme), oils, butters, a natural cleansing agent and an emulsifier (to make it more creamy & less oily).

Body Sugar Cubes: Hands-On: A single-use sugar scrub that uses a melt & pour soap base, mixed with oils & butters to cleanse & exfoliate at the same time, leaving NO oily mess in your tub. Take home a big jar of cubes, custom scented & colored by you!
Exfoliating Lip Scrub: Hands-On: Made from scratch, a wonderful blend of waxes, oils & butters to gently exfoliate lips while helping to seal in moisture. A very popular scrub, for all ages.

New postcard designs

Things I do late at night when I have had too much green tea...These are some new post card designs I am having printed up! I will include them in orders either blank for you to use/send (frame? LOL!) or with coupon codes on the back!

What do you think?

odds & ends are coming soon to the etsy shop!

this photo is a personal favorite and I think it makes a nice post card!

for when I get requests to include a note in birthday gift orders!