Where has the time gone this year?

Hi People!

I know.. i know.. i don't blog enough for what is good for me.. but I will attempt again to make this sound worthwhile. I must say, this month I was completely taken off guard with the amount of BOOKMARK orders I received! I mean, they just kept coming in.. it was like a bookmark cult.. and they were from all over the country! I wound up calling it by "Bookmark Bonanza Extravaganza!" I think I have done 30 in all. I did several personalized notepads as well. My favorite being the CLEARLY notepad. The husband to whom this notepad is being given says, "Clearly..." all the time. His wife and I just cracked up thinking about how funny it would be when he opens this up. I had given the Queen notepad to his wife. I told her, this is what I want SooBoo to be.. just a lot of fun to come up with your ideas and make them into great, unique gifts! Here is the notepad~


Another fabulous design came from one of the bookmarks. SooBoo Designs has an animal print that is really cute in the typical browns and oranges and blacks.. but this customer has a daughter Liza and her favorite colors are pink, orange, yellow and red. Her request was for me to do Liza's bookmark in animal print in Liza's favorite colors. When i received this order, I thought, "What a super fun idea! Why not those colors?" I wrote the customer back and voiced my excitement over these colors for this style. So here is the final outcome. Is this not the cutest thing?


Another great order for me was a new sorority notepad for my niece who's at Iowa and joined a sorority.. Alpha Delta Pi. Online, I found the sorority mascot and hand drew it and used the computer to add the color for a uniform look. This is the notepad that was so much fun.

I also am trying something new to expose SooBoo Designs. I found this new artist's community called Artfire.com. They have a lot of things planned to make them well known for 2009 and beyond. The owner seems extremely dedicated to the artists and has a great staff, as far as I can tell. I don't have nearly what I have on this site, but here is how you find me.. http://sooboo.artfire.com OR if you want to see all the other cool things on this site, click here.

By the way, here is a cute idea for Valentine's Day!

The weather has been weird. It's been coldish, sunny, cloudy, windy, gorgeous, windy, rainy, really rainy, really cloudy, really windy and really pretty.. no wonder there's sickness all over the place!

I did my annual baking for Christmas. I gave to the one neighbor we like and sent to my family in Chicago. Mom said they arrived in perfect condition.. that's a first. Usually, the Greek cookies, koulourakia which are drenched in powdered sugar, drench all the other cookies in the tin. I finally smarted up and put them in a ziplock.. and then of course, my husband is an expert packer.. where he packed them at work and shipped them. This was Mom's gift from me....and of course Dad's as well and whomever goes to their home will experience a Greek cookie delight. I made another Greek Cookie called Koulourakia which are twisted little snappy cookies.. and another called Melomacarona??? I call them macaroons but they don't resemble any macaroons I have ever eaten. These are made with butter and OIL!!! lots of it.. and some sugar.. but are dipped in a simple syrup of water, honey and sugar.. totally outrageous! I took pictures of some which, when i figure out my new laser printer, I 'll get them posted here.. I can't wait. Oh.. the peanut brittle came out fabulously this year. I wonder if it was the Fisher peanuts or that i decided to stir the ingredients while coming to a boil for the entire 25 minutes! YIKES.. my achin' back. Anyway, it is ALWAYS worth the effort. I love baking, but am happy when it's all cleaned up, especially since I have the worlds smallest kitchen. I don't know how I would handle a big kitchen now! Everything, and I mean everything is at my fingertips.

I made this mid sized notepad for my husband, Jeff. I combined all three UNC logos/mascots in one notepad to show off his love for the school!


New Years Eve was fun with both the boys here. They love staying up late so it was easy. We watched U Party 2009 on Fox ...the cable station and Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly were great as usual. They were freezing, but adorable together. I bought the hats and horns at WalMart, where else?, and these poppers.. Little Tootsie Bella was freaked out and I hid her on the couch next to me under a fleece blanket with her little black nose peeking out. She finally calmed down. Rommel, the standard poodle, by the way, is fantastic to all who know and ask about him.... anyhow, he just got up from his bed and meandered into the computer room.. he said, "Who needs this noise?" He's so smart.

Through an old artist friend, Krista, who has a great business, I found this fantastic drug for Rommel that actually makes the cartilage regenerate! It's a series of shots, directly into his back thigh, twice a week for a month. At the end of the third week, Rommel was bup bup bup..UP those stinkin' 6 outside stairs by HIMSELF! We didnt have to carry all 75 lbs of him any more! His last shot was in September and we've only given him one since... as a booster. Strangly, but not surprisingly, my VET never told me about this miracle drug called Adequan. Krista uses it on her horses. There is an equine recipe and a canine recipe. Well, when I approached my then Vet ( I dumped her!!) regarding this subject and asked what they thought about us giving it to Rommel ourselves, we got a very negative response. We did it anyway and the results have been dramatic and miraculous to say the least. To think, we were seriously toying with putting him down. I look at him with such loving eyes now... thinking how sorry we would have been if we had done such a thing. His time was not up.. he was not ready.. we could see that in him, yet that Vet said that she would put him down today if we thought his quality of life was not good anymore. So, people, don't make hasty decisions regarding your pets. I happened to reconnect with Krista just a week or so before we were up in arms about Rommels future and she told me about Adequan. She was our angel. Truly.. and I thank you for being there, Krista! You Rock!

One more thing I guess before I bore you to death anymore.. My husband decided to bite the bullet and get me a spankin' brand new HP color laser printer! The blacks are black and the colors arent pixely any more and I could go on and on.. I am thrilled with this gift.. the gift of great color and speed! yipee for me!

OK.. thanks for listening..
happy NEW YEAR to ALL! May it bring all better things... constant health, patience, lots of laughter, good feelings and inspiration for a better life; a better you. or me!!

Susie

Boring Excitement

Tri-fold holiday money holder $3.00

Hi People!
It's been a really long long time since I posted here. I'm sorry, although, some of you might be relieved!
I'm remembering when my family and I were traveling through the Iowa plains on one family trip, I recall being in blizzard like conditions and all we could see was snow coming at our windshield at full force in that 3-D sort of feeling. I commented painfully, "This is boring excitement!" That's what my days have felt like in the past month...boring excitement. I seem to have had a lot on my plate. When I'm eating, that's a good thing, but on the things to do life plate, I am always one to get one thing done at a time. I'm not too good at mulit-tasking..or what people call multi-tasking (you can really only do ONE thing, literally, at a time!) Anyhow, here's what's up.

I had some health issues that are all in check now, I'm happy to report. Right after that, my computer took a vacation at Best Buy where we bought the thing in 2005 and it's fortunately under warranty still. The minute after I walked out of the parking lot at BB, a nice lady reported to me, "Did you know your tire is flat?" I just sank my head into the steering and wheel and felt completely sorry for myself. It was bad enough I was sans computer (my livelihood) but another flat tire? We just bought these tires.. to make it worse, the hole was on the rim so I had to get a whole new tire! Let's just say, I had terrible biorhythms that week. To top it off, where I live, the library is open only until 5pm and only on weekdays for me to check my mail. I still can't get over that it's closed on weekends! That's when I would suspect they would have the most customers! Wouldn't you? grrrr ok..

What else? Oh, I, as you can see, got my computer back now. She's hooked up and I get to play again. At least when it was being fixed, I got to clean my house and read all my backlogged magazines that were stacked miles high. Oh yes, the election. Well, I'm sure many of you know that I'm a Republican and backed up the old man and the young woman this year. I even found myself going to the headquarters in our town, donating my time, making calls, handing out flyers, and working outside the polling place in the rain on that fateful Tuesday. It wasn't a total "wash" though. We got our local Representative to keep his job and a new judge in who's only the 2nd republican judge sitting in our county now. It was fun. I felt very strongly about this election and was terribly disappointed in the outcome nationally, yet, I am terribly curious to see how Obama will wiggle his way through of all this stuff he's inherited. In my opinion, he seems to go in the direction the wind blows. So.. one thing I know for sure, he can't blame the Republicans now that they are the majority in the House and Senate. OH!! and the other thing is that I went to grade school and high school with Rahm Emanuel.. the new Chief of Staff for BO! My old girlfriend and I concur; every time we see him televised, we chuckle. I think my husband is sick of hearing me say, "Hey, I went to school with that guy!"

(Above) Rahm in 7th grade.. whodathunkit?

(Below) Rahm in his all his high school senior year afro glory! Go 1977!

Okay now.. is that not the funniest thing ever? I just had to do it. Hopefully, I won't get in trouble by the Obama camp. I'll take that risk. I had forgotten he was a dancer.. but as I look through our old yearbooks, I see that he was in soccer and fencing and I recall him being an actor in a few high school productions as well! (I was a member of Stage Crew my senior year) Something we ought to keep in mind. I must say, though, my recollection of him was nothing but a really nice guy.. although, that's not what his reputation is now in politics! hmm.

I was reminded, as I looked on my webiste, that Halloween is done and gone (we only got about 15 little guests this year) and so I had better do some website clean up. Everyone, please, check it out and see if you need anything. The big holiday is right around the corner.. I still can't believe it! I really do love the tri-fold money holders. It's so easy to give money, and we all know that right now, that is the greatest gift to give. (Thanks, Chinsea for your order!!) At least the gas prices have gone way down...I saw as low as $1.97 per gallon of regular. What? My husband and I would have bet our lives on never seeing anything under $3 again in our remaining lifetime!!

I also traveled to my old summer stomping grounds in Traverse City, Michigan last month. I was welcomed by my cousin, Fran, who's a huge U of Michigan fan.. so I made her a little something I sent to her recently to thank her for taking such great care of me during my stay. Here it is.

I have come to realize that these make the perfect hostess gifts! There are 12 to a clear box and cost $22.00. I added her name in the sooboo black inline style.. and used the good ol' Michigan colors to fill the name in.They're even more adorable in person. With Fran being such a fan, I couldn't see how I could go wrong with these Mascot/Logo note cards!

And the last bit of boring excitement news is that I am going to try my hand at ArtFire.com! It's new launched and I like what it said.. it's a community where artisans can sell their hand-made items online. I got a deal for $7 per month to put up unlimited images to see for as long as I have the account! Although I was having one minor issue with signing up, Jessica at ArtFire helped me out faithfully and with great promise to make this work for me. I've been blogging while she's been fixing my small initial issue. When I'm done here, I'm going to go fill up my literal and then figural plate (is figural a word?) and get going on this exciting, NOT boring, new project!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! There is plenty, in these uncertain times, to be thankful for.. #1, our kids. #2 our health. #3 our family's love.
Enjoy all your boring excitement this holiday season and be careful out there!

Susie

a tri-fold money holder
$3.00 per with die cut oval inside to show money or check value
white envelope, too!

Hi People!

Ok... I am not so great with routine. Maybe because I'm a Sagittarius? Free-spirited, need to be outdoors.. well, not sure if that's me or not... so..when I'm sitting at the computer on a Sunday morning, the breeze is speaking to me from the front porch by way of the softly clanging wind chimes, I am inspired to be at peace and write.
This past week has been interesting for me. First of all, I was rushing around, the procrastinator that I am, to get ready for a "home show" or "trunk show" or "showcase" of my items at a good friend's friend's home in a new and lovely suburb of Raleigh. I was delighted packing my car with my wares, showing them off to my ever supportive husband beforehand. It was a very rainy late afternoon and I was worried that the 15 for sure
responders wouldn't bother to show due to the weather. But it cleared as I drove further away from my home and I wasn't so panicked after all. I arrived at this gorgeous new home to find a table donned in red which was set up for me to place my goods upon. I wish I had taken a picture. It would have been perfect for my blog. The lighting wasn't too hot, so I wasn't sure it would show as well as I would have liked, but in the end it wasnt the light that was the issue, but i think it was the wine. The free-flowing wine. It wound up being more of a social event than a home show. I had some interested parties, but not what I had hoped for. The hostess was fabulous and wonderful and friendly and helpful. I adored her. It was so kind of her to include me in this event of which there was a popular other vendor there as well selling lucite goods and monogrammed luggage and travel accessories.. very nice stuff. My stuff looked homemade (which it is) and boring and lifeless compared. Anyway, I made a few bucks and was delighted with the creative ideas my interested customers came up with. That's what I hope for... personalized.. truly.

There is a blog to which I subscribe called, The Party Goddess. Well, right now it's so entertaining and funny because she gets spam, I guess, and can't get over who these people are who send this junk to her. Well, she is now in part four of her quest to find out about a puppy in Africa from someone called mr carlson.. who apparently is a she. It's rather hilarious and I get a complete good chuckle from her words. I recommend it highly. The writer of the blog, Marley Majcher is a popular party planner in the L.A. area who has created parties for Hollywood personalities like Katherine Heigl and Spike Lee. She wrote that she was going to be on Fox News on a Saturday morning a while back and included the link to it. I watched with wide eyes and sagging chin and complete jealousy that she was on a national cable news show chatting about the latest party ideas for football tailgating parties. It was fun. I was proud to have some association with her. I comment on her blog on occasion, and one day, after she was worried that her child's pre-school bag was not up to par with all the other kid's bags (she wrote in what I would think was a Sharpie, his name!), I commented to her that she ought to look into my personalized tags, sent the link and wella! she bought from me! It made my day. I hope she's happy with them! I look forward to reading her blog a few times a week. There's nothing like reading about other's lives and comparing them to what's going on in your own. The other thing that's come to me is an email from a sorority sister from years ago. We had a reunion last year, which was about 25 years after we all graduated. It was great. We were able to reconnect as well as we could with 40 girls all clammoring around one another in just a couple days. Well, I heard from one of them through an email a few nights ago. This email was about political issues that are affecting Americans. I couldn't let this one pass.. I had to vocalize the stripes I wear. We've allowed it to go on and on and now I can't wait to hear her response to last nights letter. In this particular forum, I am not adaptable (see previous blog). It's been loads of fun and I appreciate her honesty. I am looking forward to hearing her reasons of why she can trust her candidate, when I have made it obvious, I cannot. I have become somewhat obsessed with that particular question, since it is rarely addressed by her particular party. To be continued...

I'm getting ready for a long weekend in my former summer stomping grounds in the upper penninsula of Michigan. Dad asked me if I wanted to go. I found a great price on a flight and made the reservations to Chicago. You would think that I would take some SooBoo merchandise to give as a thank you gift, but so far, for gifts, I have shipped some homemade jellies, preserves and jams made by my wonderful neighbor, Sarah. That's with a long first A in her name. It's a Southern thang. I hope they go over well. Everyone loves a good sweet topping to their toast, or ham or bagel, right?

I also want to get a yard sale going here, but I fear I will have to wait until the spring. I have so much stuff to give.. I need to cleanse this house. I have things stashed in every nook and cranny and it's all ready to go. I just have to recall where it's all stashed! Wish me luck

The only thing I have created new are for orders from the home show. I will post new designs a customer has asked me to create. It's her son's names in alternating colors with little footballs in them. One has the SanDiego Chargers colors and the other is the Carolina Panther's colors. Cute stuff. I am going to mess around with them today. They're all sketched out and waiting to be painted. I did do some coupons for the home show for notepads and gift tags. I even bought a guest book at the suggestion of Laura Bray of Katydid Designs,master of elegant whimsey! Thanks, Laura for the tips.

Well, that's about it. I know it's not fancy or intriguing, but it's all I have right now.

Falling It

October is around the corner. I'm beginning to get my act together...finally! I found myself spring cleaning yesterday after I saw the clock say 3:30 on a Sunday afternoon and all I had accomplished was walking the poochies and dicing potatoes for a nice side for the families breakfast. (I just had a few bites!) and purging unmentionables from my dresser drawers! Anyway, as we have all experienced and learned along the way, omitting clutter is a cleansing thing. Mostly, though, I emit clutter. Polar opposites. I long to be one of those clean artists. One who abides by the "touch once" rule. I'm a Sagittarius, I am not good with rules. I don't know about you all, but I can handle only one room at a a time. Same with the business; I need to get one card done, one bag tag done, one design done.. no assembly line for me in my studio..or apparently in my home...save for dinner. Adapting is good. I think growing up in a four season state is a good thing. You must adapt to the weather, the different clothes for that weather and the different personalities that emerge during those changes in weather!
SooBoo Designs is adaptable with your personalized orders. If the end product is for a person with high energy, the SooBoo style can go right along with that. Maybe the fun & funky style would be perfect. Maybe it's for a young boy... so a spike style or blended colors would be appropriate. I can add different things to the backs of diaper/luggage/bag tags like fish, flowers or frogs. I can add so many different things for boys, girls, men or women. That is the beauty of these designs; they're adaptable. And that's what personalizing really is. It's well, I just went to my college thesaurus (ooo! I spelled it right!) and I found these words synonymous with "personal."
Individualistic, defined, singular, and distinct to name a few. My delightfully optimistic Californian friend, Marianne, reminded me of how people liked to hear their own name. Here is the quote from Dale Carnegie.

“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Don't forget this when looking for a gift. SooBoo Designs brings you a bunch of fun, vibrant and appealing selections from which to choose.

Recently, an adorable girl wrote me and asked if I could do something pirate like for a bachelorette party. I thought that was something I will never do again and of course, I said, "Yes!" She had something particular in mind, so with that, we came up with this.

I had started creating one which was totally different; one without the place to place map feeling. I knew it wasn't what she was looking for, so we talked some more and I adapted to her desires for this little invitation and it worked. We were both happy with the results. Another client needed some calling cards for her recently graduated son. He's into the Rastafarian thing, so she suggested incorporating the colors they use into the calling cards. This is what happened.

I know these are not in typical SooBoo form, but a business must conform to what it's public desires. I really enjoy graphics, especially placement of graphics vs. copy. For some reason, I've always been drawn to that and enjoy piecing these together to make the best visual.

This landscaping business has apparently been in business for many years...without a business card! I was so pleased that they chose me to create their first business card. Who knew? Tom & Mar... you must give these out to potential customers. Conform to the norm!

Ok... as many of you know, I went off to Austin, Texas on of all days, September 11! I know! Our other girlfriend and I decided that was the day we were going to travel. As it turns out, it was great. Even though it was the weekend of the great Hurricane IKE, Austin didn't get a drop of rain. We could not have asked for better weather. At the same time, we were worried about our Houston friends, who got hit pretty hard and turns out, were out of power for way over a week, yet were safe!
Anyhow, my hostess with the mostess girlfriend, whom I deemed "Queen" during our last days in college, got this medium sized notepad made especially for her by me, of course! Could this be any cuter? It's terribly apropos because, HER word is the ONLY word. Trust me!

So, you can see for yourself what can be done if you become creative. Imagine, just one of your ideas might evolve into an invitation, calling card, luggage tag, personalized notepad or personalized note card!
The fun holidays are creeping up on us! If you're interested in having some fun with friends and family this season but don't see what you had your eye on, email or call me . My name is Susie, aka SooBoo and I'm adaptable.

email: susie@sooboodesigns.com
or call the number on the home page of www.soooboodesigns.com

Sometimes we all need to stop and think, "What can I do to adapt to this situation?"
see you soon!

Susie

Dizzy

Hi People!
I just sent on my blog to many a person. I have just hooked up my one week gone hard drive and am so happy to be back. More on that later..
I happened to look at a comment I received in my blog and she told me that the Theta symbol was the kite, NOT the arrow, which is Pi Phi's symbol. Not only that, I used the black and gold Kappa Alpha Theta colors for the Pi Phi Arrow! So, I am going to leave it on there and change it as soon as I can.. the colors, the everything.. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Ok.. No new art since my computer issues, but I have to say, once you've been with your computer for so long and then it's ripped away, well, I had to take it to the Geek Squad, it's horrible. I was not a happy camper for quite a few days. My husband told me to call Best Buy to ask if it's ready yet after one week and it was. They were supposed to call, but I believe made up the story that the last digit in my phone number was incorrect, even though it was fine on the digital printout they sent me off with!. It had been ready for two days. The lesson: Don't trust the Geeks to call you!

Ok.. just wanted to say I'm sorry for the mis-symbol for those particular sororities.

Susie

Waste Not

Hello People!
Ugh.. does anyone ever have issues like I do with your computers? I got some virus in my computer yesterday and it was a real all day effort to get it working again. I shouldn't complain, I didn't have to take it to the Geek Squad or anything like that! The issue was one virus called XPAntivirus and I'm actually a little scared to even write in on the computer for fear it might recollect itself and attack me again! It's all good now, though.

Ok... I have a good friend here who's daughter is going off to private school.. high school. All the kids have to do 20 hours of community service which is wonderful they aren't waiting for these kids to hit senior year to do that. The daughter has always wanted her community to be stronger, or even existent, with recycling.. so I was enlisted to create a new logo for this project, on which, I am very delighted to get started! Here are the ideas. If you would like to vote, please shoot me an email or leave a comment if you're a blogger as well. I would love to hear your opinions. Her project is called Waste Not Recycling Project.

This has prompted me to recycle. I was an avid recycler in my former life, er.. my "northerner" life. When I first came to our little town in North Carolina, I found it almost unbearable to throw out plastic bottles, newspapers, glass, and aluminum cans in the regular trash. Since it is not cost effective, they say, to pick up curbside, as in populated areas in the country, we have to settle here to travel to the big giant recycling bins...wherever they may be located! The newest are a couple towns over. So, I have some kitchen bags designated for all the recycled products, save the newspapers, for which, I have a spankin' new rubbermaid bin! Things have changed since I was last in recycleland... we don't have to separate the items! WOW~ I am still confused as to whether the plastic bottle caps are recycled. I have been throwing them away~ so let me know if that's not necessary any more. I have also spent a couple bucks and purchased more gusseted grocery bags which just ONE holds about 4 plastic grocery bags full of groceries! I LOVE THEM and encourage everyone to get some and REMEMBER to take them out of your car INTO the store before you shop! I have forgotten now on two occasions, but I'm getting better, even in my pre-old person state of mind!

I have some more sorority items up, too. Fun for all those lil' sis' items I hear actives are "highly encouraged" to purchase for initiation. When I inititated, I got an unforgettable blank, inscribed scrapbook! I filled it with fabulously fun pics of my college days and have it to this day. This was before all crazy scrapbooking phase began! I take full risk saying, "That was a simpler time." Now are liv in an era of being "too connected," as my buddy says, with the internet, i-phones, blogs, emails, blackberries, facebooks, and last but not least, bluetooth devices! I have no idea how to use many of these, but obviously, it's a necessity to know the basics!

Enjoy these, as I have had fun making them! I'm drawing these and coloring them in Photoshop. I like the results.

This is a 4.25" x 5.5" blank note card

Below is a notepad with twin anchors.. great for a lil sis gift!
Size is 4.25" x 5.5"

Another Personalized SooBoo Note Card. I like this font a lot!

Notepads can be personalized with your own wording!

Nice Flat Note Card on 80lb coverstock. A really great unasuming note card idea.

Another Photoshop colored but hand drawn lettering sorority note card.

Finally, I've been meaning to add some of those "other" sororities onto my site. Here is the Theta Arrow with scribble inside it. A modern feel to a simple arrow! Below is a personalized medium sized note card.

Great font on this new Kappa Alpha Theta Personalized Sorority Note Card

A medium sized Personalized Notepad for a Theta Pledge or Active

Peace Out~
Susie

Christmas in ...August?

I've been busy creating some new items for Christmas. Check out the latest in
Holiday Money Holders. Each tri-fold money holder is 6.5" x 3.25" and when opened has a die cut oval so your divine monetary gift can be seen easily...
For the holder titled, "recycle the season" I thought it would be fun to give this to anyone who is interested in going greener starting the new year. Maybe pop in a gift certificate from one of many terrific "green" websites! I think it's a peach of an idea.

Everyone loves this ornament, so I made it into a money holder with a nice seasonal message.

People of all ages like to hear from someone special that they've been good. Secretly, they probably were not?

Joy, Joy, Joy.

I had so much fun making this newcomer to add to my holiday repertoire! I adore the polka dots which allow this image to become a very happy holiday holder indeed!
I used this very clever dot marker. Depending on how hard you push down on it, is how small or large the dot becomes. Plus, it's double sided. One fat end for larger dots; the other end is much smaller. Most of the dots are outlined with my old standby rapidograph pen. A very jolly design~

I have liked this Hanukkah design since I made it a while ago. It's done in the SooBoo's fun & funky style with turquoise, blue and yellow. The letters are adorned with polka dots, stripes, swirls, waves, stars and inlines! Lots to look at but the colors bring it all together.

Lots of joy below. Each JOY is topped with a cute red, blue or green ornament. This particular design makes me very happy.

Four gift wrapped holiday gifts. For YOU.

Love, Joy, Peace
A really peaceful design

Cute swirly font for a whimsical design. These 3 packages are a delight. No ink is used on these packages. They are wispy green and red gems!

A design of dancing joys. Fun & Funky design. Dots, stripes and a ray of holiday sunshine in the O.

Another use for a tree.
Christmas in July.. well maybe August.

Guess what, people?
My girlfriend, Marnie, who highly stressed me making my SooBoo Designs website, has decided to include me in a home show October 9 this fall. I can't wait! I'll have lots of things for the girls who will be gathering at Marnie's house in Apex to look at. I am gathering up notepads, holiday gift tags, holiday note cards, and of course, everyone will be able to order there as well. I have a lot to do, so I had better get going!

Our child-free month has just about totally come to a close. It's going to be back to routine starting in late August for all of us. High school is not right around the corner anymore...it's staring me in the face! I hope to make new friends during the band meetings and maybe, if we're lucky, during soccer games!

Enjoy your weekend~!

Peace Out!

susie

To Monogram or not to Monogram...

Hello, People!
Here are some new ideas SooBoo Designs has come up with.
I recently got back into my rubber stamps. I have come to love cows in my time here in North Carolina. Although I love the Holsteins, I totally fallen in love with these beige and cream colored cows as well. I drive by a favorite piece of land where they congregate and
"are having a meeting!"
as my son said when he was younger passing a boat load under a tree before a big rain that we
observed driving by. It was something I'll never forget.

So, I thought this was a riot titling
this creative notepad,
"my utter list"
.

This is a shower that will be going on in my vicinity.
Another stamp..this one by New Media.
I have discovered how to easily color with my Photoshop.
When the design is this small, it's nice to have an optional way to color
since my eyes become weaker and weaker.

Thinking lately that the SooBoo Designs website doesn't have enough
for little boys and big boys, I started to think that sports are not
prevalent in my site, so I came up with this baseball notepad. I will get
started with a football design as well. The background in blue
of the baseball is with watercolor. Everything else is computerized.

A close up of the baseball. On the website, you are asked to
enter your team colors and your monogram letter.

I just love these circular monograms.
Playing with Illustrator is tons of fun. The colors here are so Lilly Pulitzer!
Precious and so feminine and are the colors of my bedroom growing up!

I have a request to try and incorporate LP colors into my name art.
This customer is suggesting that I put turtles and such into the name art.
I will get around to it, just trying to figure it out in my head first!
In the meantime, I am using these colors to get in the LP mode!

You have an option to add your personal information at the bottom of these
PERSONALIZED MONOGRAMMED NOTEPADS

A detailed view.

The use of bright vibrant colors has always been a love of mine. Here, I use Red and golden yellow. A great contrasting color combination!


A detailed view of the red and golden yellow with asterisks around the circle!


I started playing with these circles because I am trying to keep up with what is current
on the market these days. When someone see's these things online at one site, it catches
on in a big way. I don't want to miss out on any sales simply because I might be limiting
my art on my website. Versatility is a virtue!

Below is a detailed view. I love brown and pink.. and brown and blue as well!
This font is just too much. It's delightfully different and chunky.

Below is the monogram in action on the personalized monogrammed notepad.
Again, you have the option online to add your information at the bottom..even
if it's just your email address!

This is the first monogram design I made of the bunch. If you can believe it,
the dashes around the circle are this particular font's equal sign! Isn't that wild?
I added these little equal signs in a line at the bottom picking up all the
colors of the monogram itself!

Another detailed view.
The colors are tremendous and bi-gender as well.

Customers have the option of offering their own color combination on
www.sooboodesigns.com

Please pass on these delicious ideas to your friends and family! These notepads, by the way, are either 4.25" x 5.5" (Medium sized) or 5.5" x 8.5" (Large notepad). Go to www.sooboodesigns.com then click on Personalized Notepads then click on medium sized notepads. You'll see related items then. Thanks Everyone! You're the Greatest Peace Out Susie