Happy Birthday!

To my dearest friend Gaby, Happy 23rd Birthday!

I found some cards today on Etsy. Your traditional box store card is just not the same after you have seen these puppies! Who in their right mind would not absolutely swoon over a letterpressed Happy Birthday? (ahem: hint, hint! my birthday is in two months)

{via inkadinkadoodle}

{via ink & iron}

Gotta love this one! {via Vintage Script Press}

{via ink & iron}

{via ink & iron}

Yes this is always a good thing! {via Zeichen Press}

All of these wonderfulls were found on Etsy. If you have never been, you have been missing out on a huge plethora of goodness.

Happy Birthday to all the birthday people out there!

Punctuate away,

Jessie-Lee

Words to Live By

Really loving these prints from Roll & Tumble Press, I feel like some of these cuter, more inspirational yet kitschy ones could look really awesome collaged above a bed. Sort of like a words to live by mantra sort of thing, you know you have to have stuff like hope, laughter, and love in a marriage. Well that is the way I would take them all.


Congrats Dude's great work! I will be purchasing one of these, or maybe the whole collage idea (gotta clear it with the Hubs). Above the bed sounds good. I like it! Just got to hit up the Estate Specialists for some awesome frames! Oh and by the way, wouldn't the print with the pink accents look awesome in that house from this morning? I wonder if they even know about it? Ha! Gotta love the connections of the blog world.

{image cred: Roll & Tumble Press via Etsy}
 
Punctuate away,
 
Jessie-Lee

Always Make The Best of Things

{image cred: Olivo Barbieri via you have been here sometime via apartment therapy via this is glamorous}

Punctuate away,

Jessie-Lee

Can I live Here?

Good morning good world! So I really don't like taking things from the super popular blogs I read, but this has exceptional merit. I love Design*Sponge. I could sit there all day everyday and just dream that I was actually one of those brilliant ladies that worked there. (Don't get me started on dream jobs, we would be here for years). But for now I want to show you this super awesome home.

This is the home of Abigail Ahern, an interior designer from the UK (damn Brits, always bloody brilliant!) Don't I seriously wish I were her? Ahh to dream.

I really do love these bookshelves. I have such a hard time finding an attractive way to store my books. Right now they are on a lovely put it together yourself Target black veneer bookcase that is not even level. Oh well. These remind me so much of the build in bookshelves my Dad now has in his den, as well as the ones I grew up with in our "old living room" as we used to call it. I remember being so little and wondering if I would ever learn to read all those books. I want this some day. Hey Jon! Do you hear that? Our first house has to have built-in's!

Can I just say how much I love these dark walls? You would think it would make a home so dreary and uninviting, but it looks so cozy! And the hot pink! So risky, but they pulled it off wonderfully. ...Swoon.

Woody (more on the fatcat later) and I would be perfectly content curled up napping in this window on a rainy day.

I long for a staircase in my home one day. So I can do just this! I want to purposefully place a bunch of random photos, or letters, or my art or anything striking in a random yet perfectly placed manner. So wonderful. And do we need to even mention the hardwoods? Oh what I wouldn't give...

If I had records, this is what I would do with them. Build a floating shelf, put a super chic vintage lamp on top and store all of my magazines right underneath.

I love the consistency of this place. Each room holds its own personality, but you don't have any kind of shock value from one room to the next. It's nice, peaceful, serene. I would love to come home to such a safe haven of good design. Maybe one day, for now its all about saving for a down payment. But, just to let you know this is excellent inspiration.

A big thanks to Design*Sponge for the original post!

If you are seriously swooning over these images, find out more here and here. It is totally worth it!

{image cred: Design*Sponge via Graham Atkins Hughes}

Punctuate away,

Jessie-Lee

P.S. What do you think of a "Can I Live Here?" regular Tuesday post? Let me know, I would love to know if I have any readers!

Can You Say Ahhhhhmazing?!?

Wow, these are incredible. Bravo Louella Press! Bravo!

This gives me total inspiration for another project! (At least I have a little while on that one) Two of my bestest are getting married sometime in the future and these are very similar colors to what they have chosen. I love the quirky, but graceful elegance of these invites. While I may not be able to reproduce this process, I hope to be able to create something just as vivid and unique for their nuptials. I love these, they really are wonderful, I only hope I can do as great of a job!

Whoa, and NAVY paper! Yeah get out of here with that! Fabulously gorgeous!

{image cred: Louella Press via Paper Crave}

Punctuate away,

Jessie-Lee

A Little Inspiration for Being a Little Behind

So, a while back our lovely and most fabulous wedding planner asked me to draft up some save the dates and invites to her yearly Party with a Purpose. She specifically asked for an Eastern Shore theme to include some lovely colors. And to flatter me even more, she wanted them a lot like my very own wedding invitations. Boy did I feel special! But besides all that, I am extremely behind!! She asked me about a month ago and I am thinking I need to draft up something like, yesterday to still be considered for the job. Any who I found some wonderful inspiration today and I thought I would share it with the rest of you!  

I found these over on Nothing but Bonfires, read the full post here. It was a diy project for this bride to be over a year ago. I applaud her efforts! I know mine were complicated enough and I didn't even attempt the thought of envelope liners. They truly are a job well done. I hope she was proud. I would have been!

Just for a little preview I enjoyed this piece of advice from the lovely Holly Burns of Nothing but Bonfires:

"May I give you a piece of advice? I think you'll find it fairly useful. If you are considering becoming engaged, I would suggest that you become engaged to a graphic designer. Sure, a stockbroker might make you rich and a doctor might make you healthy---or at least treat you to a little free liposuction now and then---but a graphic designer? Well, a graphic designer will, when the time comes, make you some really kickass wedding invitations."

Oh it's all about the details! I love the envelope liners and just all of the little touches. This is what I hope to bring her. And might I add, that font is to die for. I am over to Veer now to purchase it! I will keep you updated on the final product, hopefully it won't take too much time.

OK now just to find the time, work is crazy (quarter end = mucho overtime), MBA classes start tomorrow, and I have this job to do. Welcome to the real world self!

{photo cred: Nothing but Bonfires}

Punctuate Away,

Jessie-Lee

On a More Personal Note...

I pre-apologize for any ranting that may occur on this post.

Today I want to formally reflect on a very personal note in my life. My parents divorced when I was 16. Big deal right? Something like 50% of the marriages in the United States end up this way, and by NO means and I trying to cry about me being the only poor kid out there. I just want to reflect a little bit. I was older when my parents split. While it was no shock or surprise that it happened, the after effects were not the happy peace my sister and I had been looking for in all the years before. But here we are seven years later, and the same battles that were waging during the marriage are carried on as my sister enters her college years. All I can say about that, is I need to make the choice to personally remove myself from those problems. I cannot and will not be present for another four years of this situation.

Without all the gory details, which I am sure by now you have decided you have no need to hear I am going to get to the purpose of this post.

I was affected in what I thought were different ways from that of younger children, even my own sister. I didn't realize until I started researching for this post that it is a universal feeling. Anyone who has ever had to deal with these emotions on a daily basis I am sure, will be comforted by this post.

I wanted to explore children's art today. Children's art is sacred in my mind, they are so fearless, so unafraid to just pick up a crayon and draw. They don't worry if they make someones skin purple, or if their nose looks too fat for their face. They use art as it is meant to be, a creative outlet for their thoughts and emotions. And it's honest, oh most importantly, it's honest! It's comforting in a way. As an educated but aspiring creative professional, it grounds you, it forces you to go back to your roots and realize why it is that you are doing this in the first place. It is almost backwards. As an adult, to look back on children's artwork you realize that you don't have to be so precise. Let loose!

So let's take a look at how children perceive such a fragile state of affairs.

These images are just so genuine, and it is a comfort to know that children of divorce at any age all feel the same way.

These postcards come from a website that I will, from now on, frequently visit Postcards from Splitsville. It is just an amazing feeling to know that you are not alone, and even at 22 seven years after the incident, you can still feel that way. Getting people to change is hard, and I know I have all but given up on my own parents. Expression like this gives you hope to keep going. It is OK to live with these feelings, you are not the only one experiencing them. The comfort in that is priceless.

{image cred: Postcardsfromsplittsville.com}

Punctuate away,

Jessie-Lee

Gloomy Day, Go Away

I was feeling rather morose this morning, with all the gloomy skies here in central VA. Once in a while it is nice to just sit, be gloomy and think. You know, think into those deep dark cavities of your mind you only visit on occasions such as gloomy days. Well one thing led to another and I found myself pensive in the works of The Hub's favorite musical showcase - Brand New. I got a little too into it, and started reading some lyrics. "Sowing Season," the first song off the bands third album The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me, is actually quite pensive. I never realized just how methodical Jesse Lacey really is. It makes me want to dig further. I can officially say, "Hey Babe, I get it, and I may love them as much as you do, but for different reasons."

But getting to the design bit of this post...

The purpose of referencing the song is that the talented Mr. Lacey "laced" (haha no pun intended) the song with a poem from the iconic Rudyard Kipling (yes, the guy that wrote the Jungle Book). After doing a little researching I found the poem, and it's quite inspirational. It was enough to lift me out of the morose spirit I have forced myself into today. AND on top of that I found an amazing image I am going to have to have. It needs to hang in my home. No joke. This girl graduated from college the same year I did, I need to track her down, tell her she is way talented, and buy this print from her. I have to.

I know, I know it is a little difficult to read, which is why I am providing you a copy of the poem, word for word right here:

If

If you can keep you head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream-and not make dreams your master,

If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Just wonderful! And not to mention the typography in that print. That is a long poem. Therefore that is a daunting task that was not easy. I don't even want to think about the technical aspect of that piece. I also appreciate the pink, it helps to break up such a text heavy piece. It gives the eye somewhat of a rest. It's beautiful and once again, I have to have it!!

There you go, just a little pick me up and some inspiration. Oh and if you have never heard that song before, download it! You are in for a treat!

{image cred: Trysten Ursula Coblenz}

Punctuate away,

Jessie-Lee

Swoon...

Oh the texture, the mismatched patterns, how I wish my whole life could reflect your effortless chicness!

I need to learn to silkscreen. I mean how lovely are these? I am sure The Hubs would loooove the mess that would produce around our place. But just look at these, they are incredibly gorgeous! Envelope liners are an excellent touch, it just lets you know immediately after opening something there is something way prettier to come. Such simple invites and then all the punch in pattern. It reminds me as a designer that not everything needs to be front and center. You can purchase these lovelies on Etsy, via neapolitan.

{image cred: neapolitan}

Punctuate away!

Jessie-Lee

Hello Blogging World!

Welcome to The Hyphen Tantrum. My name is Jessie-Lee and I am a graphic designer and lover of all things visually attractive! My hope is to use this blog as one big idea notebook. I want to post inspiration, recent work and potentially some facts about my life. I recently got married, and throughout the process I really opened up to the world of blogging. I had no idea how vast it is out there! After some time I thought to myself, why am I not doing this? I love, love, love looking at all the beautiful images that inspire weddings. I found that the same inspiration inspires great design. I had tons of fun designing my own invitations (post about that later!) and have since decided that has to be my niche in the design world. Funny how big things can lead to even bigger ones! I hope you will enjoy reading about the lovelies I hope to find. Happy reading! It would be so nice to meet you, drop me a line!


Punctuate away,


Jessie-Lee