What Anni Does in Her Spare Time :)

I failed to mention over the past couple months that I had been working on a couple commissioned graphic design pieces in my spare time. One, a logo for a wooden jewelry carver in Pennsylvania, and the other, a design for a grocery tote for The Market in Park City. I had so much fun!

My boss knows folks around the globe, and recommended I help out one of his buddies in Pennsylvania with a logo design for his business. I brainstormed a little bit and came up with this:

He seemed to really like it, so I hope it'll help get him the publicity he deserves. We did a trade off for our talents- I designed him a logo, and in return, he sent me some of his beautifully crafted earrings and ornaments. I'm open for doing trades for my work rather than pay, if I am a fan of the product, which in this case, I was. I love win/win situations.

Some of the pairs I chose. Fun, huh?

The other project was for my long-time family friends who own/manage/run a grocery store, The Market in Park City, UT. They were looking for a design to put on tote bags that would really grab shoppers attention, tourists in particular. We discussed how it would be fun to create something that had a cool Park City feel to it, so I did a lot of brainstorming on this one, and this is what we came up with:

Tada! It's printed and ready to go

I added a lot of iconic features that are relevant to Park City, and hope that this design will sell well for my friends. I had a lot of fun working on it, and would love to work with them again in the future.

If you know anyone who is looking for an artist to help them with a logo, wedding/graduation/birthday announcement, or just someone who wants a fun, unique, commissioned piece to hang in their house, I'd love to be of assistance. They don't need to be local!

As for mine and Vance's 2012 bucket list, that will come in the next post.

Ciao!

Brown Christmas Re-Cap

I feel badly that I haven't written more the past couple of months, but I try to update when I get a moment or feel inspired to do so. Guess the inspiration hasn't struck in awhile, or I'm just too busy living life :) Let's go with the 2nd...

Vance and I had a very good Christmas. I dare say I do love Christmas as a married woman. I love having my own home and tree to decorate, having a hubs to shop for, and I especially love double the family to celebrate the holidays with. I love the gift of giving, and get so excited to see people's faces as they open a present. I am sure the feelings are mutual, as I got spoiled yet again and could hardly contain my excitement for the gifts I got. Vance did a great job this year, as did both sides of our parents, and Vance's cute brother and sister. Everyone was so thoughtful! Vance got me the iHome radio for my kitchen I have been eying. It makes cooking and cleaning in the kitchen so much more enjoyable!

He also surprised me with a bottle of some of my favorite perfume (Sparkle, by Rue 21-  the scent reminds me of freshman year of college, being 18 years old, and lounging in Hawaii, as that was my scent during that year of my life). He also got me Skull Candy headphones, some pretty cool necklaces and scarves, and a fun stocking full of my favorite goodies. I was all around surprised with the gifts he got me, and as always, was touched by his thoughtfulness. The idea of Vance going out on his own, and finding things for me that I will like always makes me smile and melts my heart.

I got Vance a new coat, hoodie, a new dress shirt and tie, stocking stuffer stuff, and the big one.... a certificate for a share as a partial owner of the Greenbay Packers team. He is so excited to have this hung up in the "man cave", (aka right now the movie corner in our living room.)

We made out like bandits with present overload from our families as well. Movies, sweaters, coats, jewelry, wallets, money, gift cards, pajamas, and even tickets to go to a Jazz game next month! We are so excited and feel so blessed. We honestly would have been happy just being with our families, but  getting and giving really cool stuff makes it even better :)

Christmas was such a blast because it was 4 days of cram packed Christmas. Friday, Vance and I took the day off and spent a fun afternoon together, just the two of us. We did a little last minute shopping, ate delicious lunch at Olive Garden, looked at Christmas lights in the evening, and watched a Christmas movie. We loved driving around this Christmas season to Christmas music by Michael Buble, Josh Groban, and Kenny Chesney to name a few.

Christmas Eve we went to Davis County to celebrate the traditional Brown Family Swedish Christmas. It was a blast! So much food, family, gift giving, and fun. I got to witness the Swedish Lucia and Tompty for the first time. And the cherry on top of the cake was that Vance's Aunt, cousins, and Grandma drove from California to Utah to celebrate with all of us.

Christmas morning we opened gifts at the Brown residence, all in our matching pajamas Vance's mom gave us, and went to church together. Then we headed to Pleasant Grove and had another party and gift exchange with more aunts, uncles, and cousins. The food was amazing and the games we played were so much fun. Good times were had by all.

That night we spent up at my parents house, and had Christmas on Monday with the DeCastro clan.
My mom and dad got all of the girls beautiful stone amethyst necklaces which I absolutely love. What makes it even more special than knowing that all my sisters and my mom have matching necklaces, is that this is also Vance's birthstone.

All in all, we had a great Christmas, and rang in the New Year with just to two of us. 2011 was very kind and giving, and we cannot wait to see what 2012 holds in store for us. We have a few things on our 2012 bucket list, which I will reveal at a later time. Until then,

Dashing Through the Snow

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Vance and I went dashing through the snow, in one horse power 4 wheeler, up Ephraim canyon, where we found the perfect Christmas tree. And yes, we were laughing all the way!

We went with my sis and bro-in-law, Kirstin and Joe, and his family. It was fun to be back in Ephraim for a little bit, where I went to college so many years ago. I showed Vance a few of my old stomping grounds, before we stomped the grounds in the mountains to get a tree. We all had a great time!

Ready to find a tree!

:) :) :)

This is the one!

Ah....so peaceful and pretty :)

Vance doing his weird victory thing he does...

Timber!

Our poor nephew was freezing! Look at his sad little paws :(

Next time, I think I'll remember to wear my snow pants :)

What a stud

I will admit, I do feel constant remorse for  cutting down one of Mother Nature's beautiful creations (and don't know if my conscience will allow me to chop another one down in the future), but it looks so beautiful all lit up and decorated in our cozy little home. And you gotta love that fresh pine needle smell!

I'll post a better picture soon, but in the meantime, here's a pic I taken from my lousy phone

Merry Christmas everyone!