March Fundraising

I decided back in January that I wanted to donate 15% of all my design sales in March to the National MS Society. They do a lot of non-profit work towards finding a cure for the disease and help to raise and spread awareness. 

A dear friend of mine jumped on board the moment I told her about my idea and offered to kick-start my fundraising. By the end of Day 1 in March, I already had $50 in the bank to donate! Awesome!!

Please help spread the word by sharing my ad and thinking of me if you hear of someone that needs some design work done. They say the best way to spread by word of mouth these days is to go viral, especially via Social Media, so lets DO THIS!!

National MS Society - Awareness Week Poster

March 3-9 this year marks the official MS Awareness Week in the U.S.

I got in touch with the society to see what I could do to help out and offer my graphic design skills in some way. Here's the poster I did for them for a campaign that they'll be have up and running shortly, called "Show Your Orange". The idea behind it is to snap a pic of yourself, your friends, your dog, your whatever, as long as the color orange is in it, then post it to Twitter or Facebook to show your support in MS Awareness. 

For more info on this organisation, please visit their website: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/

or "like" their Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/defeatmsoregon?fref=ts

Wonderful people working for a great cause!

AgriFest 2014

The 43rd Annual Agriculture and Food Fair is this weekend!

http://www.viagrifest.org/

What a treat this always is... and Geoff and I ALWAYS come back with so much good, local stuff. This year we got some handmade soaps, noni rub and oil, spices, candies as well as fresh produce...not to mention my favorite local meal of all time - Kalalloo! I got a huge container of it, packed with lots of okra, fish and greens...yummy. No fair day is complete without the obligatory Armstrongs icecream either :)

New Years Resolution - Day 1 complete.

I'm not one for big parties and celebrations usually, but observing two "New Years" is definitely something I look forward to, having now married into a Chinese family. Not only is is a good excuse to cook a big bowl of yummy noodles (long noodle=long life) regardless of what the day brings, but its also an opportunity to re-make those New Years resolutions that have been already broken, or create some new ones if you're still going strong on the 1st of January ones.

Luckily, this year I fell into the latter category despite my hectic work schedule, travel and medical stuff that our little family has been dealing with a lot of recently. So this years resolution that I am setting myself for the Year of the Horse, is to educate myself and further my learning in order to really boost my home business. I threw myself in the deep end today and opened up Adobe InDesign for the first time in literally, MONTHS (if not longer) and searched for a beginner's tutorial online to get the gears back in motion and the brain fluid moving. About 3 hours later and "boom" - experimental book design done and dusted. 

Your thoughts?

*Special thanks to Jiuzhai Valley National Park and CITS for info and verbiage.

Latest work

Attached is some of January 2014's work so far... the first is a wedding invite that I did for friends, Catherine and Steve who are getting married in March. They were after something natural and organic looking, to reflect the country farm that they recently acquired and will host their wedding on.

St. Croix Water Sports is St. Croix's premier, award winning watersport company with over 25 years of experience. They wanted a re-vamp of their logo and marketing and were after something fresh and vibrant that screamed "FUN!" These promo cards are the first in a series of new marketing material!

Volunteering 1.0

The wonderful world of social media strikes again! Recently, I've been investing a lot of time in Linked In, a social networking site that focuses more on professional working relationships as opposed to friendships (like Facebook). A lady that is an advocate for children with learning disabilities on the island sent me a message and told me a little about a dyslexic girl that she works with - also an aspiring graphic artist. This young lady has had a very troublesome time throughout her school and social life, but has a passion and talent in art so deep that is just waiting to be discovered. After some chatting to and motivation boosting, I received a call from her counselor this evening, bubbling with excitement that the young lady was so inspired that she couldn't wait to start drawing and selling her artwork. It was a very rewarding day for me, and I look forward to be able to share what I know and love to do with others.

Island of Aloha

What a wonderful holiday.. so relaxing, yet full of activity. I have been to Hawai'i several times, but each time I look at it through different eyes. Having lived on a little island now for several years, I was able to draw a lot of comparisons and differences. The Aloha spirit is very much alive and kicking,  and it was wonderful to be able to immerse myself in the daily life of a Hawaiian, being here with family.

These first few pics are of Pearl Harbor. They held a Christmas boat parade display, where we were able to see all the ships lit up with Christmas lights.

Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetary... a beautiful, serene spot right around the corner from Popo's apartment. I could definitely see myself visiting here more often if I lived in the neighborhood.

Christmas Day!

Hike to Manoa Falls - this is a pretty popular hike, and in fact, Obama hiked the trail just one day before we did. It is beautiful, a real jungle and from memory, a popular film location for those reasons (Jurassic Park, Lost).

My Birthday - thank you to everyone for making it wonderful! I had a great day with a family outing and sightseeing trip of Oahu island, starting with the "Blowhole"

One of many beautiful scenic spots

Haleiwa Beach...a favorite spot among the locals. I joined them on the boogie board!

...and got thrashed by the waves :)

Oh, and how I got knocked down... sand in every crevice of my body...but I could still get up and wave!

Chinaman's Hat Beach Park - what a beautiful sight! I would've loved to spend the entire day here if possible.

Chinaman with his China hat!

The rugged North Shore - and it's 20 ft. waves

Last stop of the day: Dole Pineapple Plantation. What a colorful, beautiful Eucalytus tree this is, isnt it?

Now, some of the best till last.. these pictures were taken on the day I left Hawai'i. NYE was spent getting to bed early, and waking up early to be one of the first in the water (ok, along with the surfers) to catch the first fish of the season!

The craggy peak that you see in the distance is Diamond Head, a crater.