Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to write a quick note before I leave town.  I will be accepting new orders, but they will not be fulfilled until after January 4th.  All my current clients, I will be working on your items after December 29th.

Okay, enough business...

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all my readers, clients and friends that have supported EDUB this year.  I couldn't have done it without you all.  You are the reason why my family is having a good Christmas this year (and why I still have my car lol!)  Everyone have a great holiday!

I have GREAT clients :)

I love designing for etsy customers. They are so fun to work with and they send me stuff :)  I was so excited to find these on my doorstep yesterday:

And Tawnya of Vintage Bakeshop didn't just send me the chocolate cupcake mix...She sent me all the mixes with the labels that I designed!  I can't wait to try them out...I think I'll try red velvet because that's my favorite :)  Thank you so much Tawnya!  I LOVE them!

Before and After Wednesday!

So I'm a little behind...oh well.  It will just be before and after someday :)  Sometimes my schedule is just too crazy to actually have a schedule.

Before:

After:  The colors in the first one weren't exacly conveying the modern feel that she wanted for her bakery...so we switched it to orange and green, got rid of the leaves and junk and changed the font in life to look more like handwriting.  The swirls actually came from a previous draft that I did, that I didn't actually save. 

If the food is as good as the logo looks, I want some of that...ha ha :)

A little bit about EDUB...

One of my friends is doing a paper on me for college. It's about a woman entrepreneur...which I happen to be. I was so flattered that she asked to do hers on me...so of course I said yes. I thought she had really good questions, so I wanted to post the Q and A here :)

-How did you come up with the name "Edub" for your company?
Edub is just my initials- EW :)

-How do you balance your priorities (family, business, leisure time, etc.)?
My family is always first. I plan work around Riley's naps and "play time." I don't work on weekends or when Sean is home, unless it's imperative that I get a design out. I work in the mornings usually and start cleaning and cooking around 4.  I'm still working on finding leisure time, but I enjoy what I do, so I guess that is my leisure time!

-What kind of advice do you have for other women looking to start their own business?
For women starting their own business: Have confidence in what you are doing, and find a niche (something that people will want). Having said that, start small. I had big dreams, so it was easy for me to get overwhelmed. By just starting out with $10 jobs, I knew I could grow from there. I'm still in the growing stage, but I know I couldn't have done this if I didn't believe in what I was doing.

-How do you see the future of Edub? 5 years, 10 years down the road?
5 years- I plan to do websites in the near future, but I also want to be more knowledgeable, so I might put everything on hold to get a bachelor's degree in graphic design. I'm thinking it might take me a few years since I don't want to go full-time. In the mean time, I want to start a printing business to attract more customers (I lose some because I don't print :P) And I'm going to start a scrapbooking business.
10 years- By now, the kids will all be in school :) So, I want to do this full-time while they're at school. I also want to have a few employees to help me with the printing and designing. This is where the whole dream big thing comes into play!

-Also, could you give me a date/time frame of when you learned graphic design, then found out about etsy stores and started bidding, and when you made your own business?
Timeline: First off, I've been doing graphic design for forever, but I only used paint. My dad told me to go into graphic design, but I didn't listen :) Parents really do know what they're talking about!
February 2007- Started digital scrapbooking...realized I was pretty good at it!
August 2007- I started writing and designing my company's handbook. This is when I really got interested in graphic design.
April 2008- Moved to Arizona. My company still let me keep my job, but the business was really slow, so I mostly practiced designing while I was there!
July 2008- Lost my job with my company, so Sean and I lived off our savings for the rest of the year. I really started brainstorming about what I could do...
April 2009- Started designing logos for $10 on etsyI have since raised my prices (obviously), and I get about 2 or 3 clients a week!

If you have questions, or would like to know more, just leave a comment!!

Glambaby Designs

I'm way excited to feature this logo. I love it...the colors, the star, the distressed look, the fonts, everything about this. It's totally my style. And this is from yet another etsy store I wish I'd known about when I was looking for baby stuff. Glambaby Designs has the cutest diaper bags!  Maybe for my next baby when my purse is shot :)  If you don't have a baby, don't worry, she has other cute items, like purses, wallets and wristlets!

Before and After Monday

I have been thinking lately about what I can do to make my blog more enjoyable to my readers.  Also, how to get more readers :)  And the thought hit me...maybe I should talk more about the design process...since that's what I do.  Being a first-time mommy (and running around like a chicken with its head cut off), I usually only make time to post the AFTER....the result of hours of work on a logo.  Today, and hopefully every Monday, I want to show you the BEFORE!

This is still one of my favorite logos and one of my favorite people to work with.  When we started, she didn't even have an etsy shop.  Now, she has a successful shop and she's a successful crafter.  I have a key fob she did and it's wonderful.  I never have to look for my keys in my huge diaper bag/purse and it's also very stylish.

So, Kristen of modmomME wanted a silhouette of a modern woman holding a baby, a purse and had a toddler hanging on to her leg.  I was pregnant at the time, so I didn't realize how true this image was.  I think it captures what every mom does every day!  She also wanted pink, turquoise and brown for her colors...with a touch of a chartreuse-ish (not sure of the color tone here) green the first draft looked like this:

Pretty good for my amateur self...but not quite what Kristen had in mind for her company logo.  With a little tweaking, her final draft ended up like this:

A lot of people feel bad for having me do a lot of drafts...but that's why I offer unlimited revisions!  I want your logo to be perfect!!!  Company branding is very important, so you want it to be right.  I think we got modmomME right :)

color.me.sweet.

I am even more behind on this logo.   This is color.me.sweet.  I designed her hyena cart as well.  She makes custom, whimsical clothes for little ones.  Be sure to visit her shop...she has some great designs!