Some Design Work

This semester has been so much fun. Busy, busy, busy....but fun. I am learning and growing and enjoying. But with all that work, I also did a few things on the side. One is not quite done yet, but I will show when it is! :) The other is what I am showing today! Maybe it can inspire you somehow.

One of my old roommates from BYU and a very dear friend just got married. I was so excited for her, it was great to see her so absolutely happy. Funny how much can change in two years. I remember sitting with her on our crappy futon in our apartment eating ice cream and talking about boys. Now we are both married. Oh, life. :)

Anyway! She asked me to do a few posters for her wedding and I absolutely leaped at the chance.
So fun!

I made two versions of the one below--she went with the black and gold one eventually, but I thought the color one would be fun to show as well.

Loved this project!!! :) 

Current Happenings

(via)

waking up has been very hard lately--late nights to get homework done has been the norm around here.

sleeping in my mind. Someone let me take a nap. ;)

experimenting with design software/ideas

watching Big Bang Theory--almost all caught up. Bazinga!

so enjoying any minute Hubby and I get that isn't overshadowed by school or work. 

making a Shepard Fairy style portrait for class

writing down lots of ideas...

wearing a university sweatshirt... and a dirty hair "princess bun." You know, the glamour of no sleep. 

ordering these boots... Um, I wish. Maybe. We'll see. 

planning out homework and when I can get to the printer. 

dreaming about my own free-lance graphic design business. 

hanging  our shelves!!! FINALLY!!! Well, we only hung one, and then I hung our letters above it. Pictures coming soon. :) 

drinking water. But hello, Mtn. Dew when I get to school today. 

feeling stressed/excited about being in the graphic program. 

reading Shaken Faith Syndrome. A really interesting read--helpful info for many people in my life. 

loving hot chocolate. Had a "coffee" date with a fantastic friend at Starbucks last Saturday. Um, Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate craving as I write this. YUM.

xoxo 

What I Learned From the First Week of Design School (U of U)

(First Week's Outfits) 

No Textbooks! Yay!

Uh... $500 in supplies and software? Not so yay...

Get to know the people in your class, if you don't already... Uh, because they will be in all your classes.

They'll also be in the bookstore, trying to get the same supplies you are... Which can be fun. Or awkward, if there is only one bottle of spray adhesive left.

People always know you are an art major. It probably has something to do with the 4'x5' museum board you just bought and have to haul around campus with you all day.

There's another drawing class. Really.

Your teachers tell you not to work over 20 hours, and you know you have to work 30... Crap.

The teachers referred to the first year in the Design Program as "Boot Camp." Um, yay?

You already have a project due in your Visual Design class.

Everyone on campus will be very aware of what your major is. Mainly because you have to haul around giant poster boards, rolls of paper, and 24x36 drawing boards. And your other materials. 

The first day is just going over the syllabus and you are out, right? Wrong.

That 6pm-10pm class you signed up for? Yah, that dude took all 4 hours on the first day.

It is so incredibly interesting, exciting, intimidating, time consuming and amazing. And it's only the first week.

You will fall in love with it. 

An Unnecessarily Long Story (But It's Worth It)

Ok, for everyone with a short attention span, here's the short version: I got accepted to the University of Utah's graphic design program (for my bachelor's degree). 

For anyone who wants to hear an awesome story, stick around. :)

The 25th was marked on my calendar in red. 3.25.13, the date of truth. I nervously assembled my artwork and walked to the art building. After an agitated office lady and a little paperwork, I was walking into the gallery area, my feet echoing against the wood floor. I set my portfolio against the wall, took a deep breath, and silently prayed that it would be good news when I picked it up. It sounds soooo dramatic, but I had worked it up in my head so much it felt like I was in a Mexican soap opera. :)  Then the waiting began.

I would not receive a phone call or anything, I was just to return on Friday to gather my portfolio. If I was accepted, there would be a letter of acceptance in my portfolio. On Thursday I asked the office when I would be able to pick up my portfolio. She revealed that it may be as soon as this afternoon! I came back at 3:30, walking slowly up to the building, telling myself to not get my hopes up. The construction on campus was making those high-pitched noises you hear in horror movies--the kinds that screeches and wails and makes your hair stand on end. Perfect life theme music in that moment. I walked in to find the gallery doors open and the lights on. I tentatively asked the office if it was ok for me to pick it up. They nodded. Oh my goodness it was happening. My footsteps echoed again, and I knelt down to open my portfolio leaning against the wall. I flipped it open, ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, pleasepleaseplease. Don't make me take another year of generals. Let me get in. Let me be moving on with my life.  2 Papers. I grabbed the white one on nice stationary (usually a good first choice). I read the first line and burst into tears (thank goodness I was alone). Congratulations on your acceptance into the Graphic Design Program. Me. With my name typed out and everything.

And it was then that I saw clearly how everything in the past few months had been laid out perfectly for me to get in. It started last Fall, when the U lost all of my incoming transcripts. What did they tell me? Tough luck, try next semester. Paperwork drama is the worst. But thankfully, I was able to get in for Spring semester (this semester). I didn't know I could "test out" of any art classes, but my adviser rushed me to apply and try to get into an upper level art class. I applied and got out of a few drawing classes. This gave me the opportunity to apply to the graphic design program in March of this year, and not next. Needless to say, this saved me a whole year and thousands of dollars.

And if I hadn't been "rejected" in the Fall, I would have never tested out of those classes in the Spring. I would not have been a transfer student, and would not have been eligible to apply (I would have had to take 2 semesters of more basic art classes).

I prayed so hard to get in, especially in the week leading up to my application and the days when I was waiting. But I didn't realize that the Lord had been guiding me since the Fall, watching my back. I was upset about Fall semester--I was only thinking about the "now." But He knew it was better in the long run, just like he always does. Trials so often lead to bigger blessings, and I am so grateful for all the little adjustments he made in my road to lead me to right now.

So maybe it sounds cheesy. Or lame. Or coincidence. But I know in my heart that my Father in Heaven loves me, and cares about the little things in my life that are important to me. In the grand scheme of things, was one more year of school going to make that much of a difference? No. I would get through it. It would probably fly by. But the Lord saw how important it was to me, and made everything work out.

 "It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. … If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers." - Gordon B. Hinckley

Yes, it works out. Yes, He loves you so much. And yes, He's listening. 

xoxo