Unique Valentines Day cards are booming everywhere! Give something fun to a secret crush, your grade schoolers classmates or your life-long love. There is something for everyone from easy DIYs, quick printables and a few fabulous Etsy card inspirations.

Finish off your Valentine's Day Cards with a matching sticker printing order to seal up the envelopes. Find great deals at Next Day Flyers.

Share this Post

Tweet

source: Fortune Teller

Activity cards can be fun for all ages. Present your valentine with a fun fortune telling card. This DIY card could get really creative! The fortunes on the inside could go as far as presenting fun things to do with your day/evening when you give it over... if you have made mystery plans for your crush or loved one, you could let them choose their fortune of events such as dinner, dancing, drinks, foot rub, shots, wine, make-out... you get the picture. ;)

Wallpaper of today is definitely not what it used to be with the installation process and the choice of patterns or images available. Ghastly florals and patterns of the past are replaced by reinvented, contemporary florals, patterns and palettes of the present.

This article is presented by InkShuffle.com offering you beautiful Easy Off Wallpaper – perfect for renters. Millions of designs in categories like vintage, cityscapes, and room openers.

Share this Post

Tweet

We recently published a post about wall stenciling, also a booming trend and a more budget-worthy route than wallpapering, but could also be more work, depending on what you chose to paint. Wallpapering can also almost ensure a very clean, accurate and even more elaborate finished wall as well. At the end of the day, both have their pros and cons like anything else, it's just a matter of budget and preference.

source

I'm falling fast in love with Kreme wallpaper patterns. Very Moroccan-inspired design work with fabulous palettes. The example above is one of their more minimalist designs called, Painted Gate.

"Painted finishes, although great in some spaces, don't equate to the luxury and opulence a few rolls of wallpaper can provide." - Cadee Wilder of Kreme

Sourced from slideshow in Kreme Wallpaper California Collection 2012

Contemporary wallpapers are sometimes so graphically reinforced with such dramatic design work. This type of pattern design is so intricate that paint just couldn't replicate (or could, but with a lot of effort).

Love is most often associated with the color red. Be that by conditioning of incessant advertising or that we are drawn to it by nature. Secondary to red is of course pink, in almost any level of saturation.

Share this Post

Tweet

Red is one of those colors that possesses the strongest Ying and Yang of its theoretical definitions. Between love and hate, rebirth and death, the human relationship in any combination, could literally be summed up in the meaning of the color Red. Pink has what I would describe as a temperamental scale, more based on softness versus loudness than the extreme left or right end of the spectrum.

"Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love." - paper-leaf.com // COLOR THEORY poster freebie

As we know, colors can generate a wide variety of emotions. Red might be the most diverse and along with pink, a tag-along little sister, many other colors in tow can lend a visual message of love a great big pop!

Falling in Love by Etsy artist,  DJEMBE & CANVAS

"Cranes represent longevity and grace. The flocks ascend our champagne symphony, where love is blessed upon those who simply believe." - posted by artist at the listing

The artist gave us a wonderfully light feeling with this palette and the birds adding further motion. I also like how the painting balances the realities of "love" with a little bit of darkness in the bottom right corner. What do you think of this palette and representation of falling in love?

Poster design is a really fun, inexpensive and unique way to explore your creative side. From the 1,000's of fonts, variety of poster sizes, and layouts, sometimes, it's difficult to know where to start!

Once you master your design techniques visit Next Day Flyers for fast poster printing at great prices.

Share this Post

Tweet

Today we are interviewing Jessica Sprague, design guru and owner of JessicaSprague.com. In February, Jessica is heading off a four week Poster Design course. She is also giving away not one, but TWO seats to this really awesome class! I couldn't be more excited about the class after taking Jessica's Subway Art class. I'm a busy mom, so I don't have a whole lot of time to join in a live class, which is why I love Jessica's classes- they are self-paced and available forever!

Follow Jessica: Twitter & Facebook

Can you tell us about yourself, how long have you been designing? Teaching? Do you have a job outside of JS.com?

In my former life I was a web & user interface designer for a software company, so I've been designing in some form or another for about 14 years. I started teaching digital scrapbooking, Photoshop, and graphic design in 2007 when I opened  JessicaSprague.com. Since then it is my full-time job, and I love it!

What three (or less) singular colors do you most identify with, why?

My favorite color is green - I love it in almost all of its shades from lime to olive. It's the color of growth and regeneration, of calm energy, of prosperity, learning, balance, and harmony.

If you had to describe yourself [currently] as a five color palette, what colors would they be? Could you provide me with HEX codes so I can create a JS palette for you? :)

I feel like I am a blue, two greens, and a red, coupled with a dark grey. Hex: aed835, d9ea65, 81c9c0, a90c19, a90c19

The greens I've already described. The blue is an ocean representing responsibility, stability, trustworthiness. The red represents fire and emotion, and the dark grey brings some gravity, but also represents the dark that balances the lighter, fresher colors.

If you could be a shape, what shape would you be? (i.e. a polygon = triangle, hexagon etc...)

I would be a 5-pointed star. :)

For those of you following Leatrice Eisemen's training schedule, her 4-Day Color Training Program is off to a start this very morning in Burbank, CA. LindaHolt and ModernMuse (aka Michelle Stroescu), the two COLOURlovers who won full and half scholarship for the class back in November are excitedly enjoying their first day of learning and meeting Leatrice.

Share this Post

Tweet

To tide you all over until we get to do a followup with both Linda and Michelle about the class experience, Leatrice kindly took the time to answer the intriguing questions each winner had asked at the time of receiving the announcement that they had won.

Q & A From LindaHolt

Linda: I would love to know what the process is and what goes into choosing the Color of The Year? 

Leatrice: I literally travel the world looking for clues.  If I see a color that I think is ascending in importance, I make special note of it and then look for evidence in it gaining momentum.  Fashion is always a good indicator, but it is not the only design area that must be examined.  There are so much creative design areas that must be considered including graphics, the world of art, product design, home furnishings and so on .  Another very important part of the choice is tapping into the “zeitgeist ‘ of the world around us and the emotional message that the color imparts.  For example, with the that big gray elephant  (the economy) still looming large and the concern that is being felt internationally, we would not want to choose a color that could be a “downer’.  Instead we listen to people’s aspirations and try to give them a color that, at least symbolically, satisfies and encourages their needs and hopes.

Erin Loechner is a writer, stylist and designer. She is a quirky girl with lots of style and a great swagger about her. Everything she publishes on her site, Design For Mankind, pushes the envelope just enough to keep you interested and excited about trends and styles. She has graced the pages of many magazines all the while keeping up with trends and colors on her HGTV.com segment.

Share this Post

Tweet

First up, why don't you tell the community a bit about who you are, what you do, how long you have been doing it, and your background. 

I'm Erin Loechner, a 28-year-old freelance design writer and blogger (DesignForMankind.com). I dabble into styling, consulting and rearranging the furniture of any willing party! I'm also an online personality for HGTV.com.

At the beginning of every year I often wonder that the next big things are going to be in the wedding industry. It always excites me what crafty people can put together and bring to life. And every year I am more and more excited with where trends have taken us and where we are now.

Share this Post

Tweet

I wanted to share a look back at some of the biggest trends of 2011 as well as some of the up-and-comers for 2012.

2011: Ombre

Source: Cake, Dress, Flowers, Napkin, Escort Card

Ombre hit big in 2011! It seemed like all of the sudden these monochromatic details were just the thing needed to create a romantic and elegant look. Of course, this trend will continue to hit weddings for years to come, but the gorgeousness that is ombre will definitely be remembered as the up-and-comer detail to have of 2011.

2012: Color Blocking

Source: Dress, Invite, Table, Wedding Shot

Color blocking became popular right before the close of 2011. Every designer, especially Kate Spade, was embracing pairing one bold color to another until you created a well-executed look that made you pop. This trend is something that hasn't hit the wedding industry too hard just yet, but come 2012, we will see it in both subtle and obvious ways.

We bring you a great interview with Jason Allen, of Haft2.com, an intriguing firm that focuses on, yeah, you guessed it, color! The focal point today is to showcase their 2012 Haft2COLOUR Calendar Project, and absolutely amazing piece of quality!

Share this Post

Tweet

I was highly impressed with the presentation of the calendar. It was delivered in a nice silver tin with a branded paper wrap and a wonderful opening letter about the project and the Haft2 mission - I felt like I had just received a very nice gift!

Haft2 is giving away three calendars to some lucky winners on a fun challenge (see bottom of post). I would like to add that I just so happened to come across this project originally from the comments on our previous post about 2012 Calendar Print Trends. I just had to know more about it, see the real deal and get to know what Haft2 and Jason were all about. I'm sure glad I did.

Do you like making jewelry? Do you like playing with shrink plastic? Perfect—me too! Shrink plastic offers endless possibilities when it comes to creating personalized jewelry.

Share this Post

Tweet

When it’s in its final shrunken state, this plastic is incredibly durable and it can be sanded or drilled into just like wood, Plexiglas or metal. So, when you’re creating pendants, charms, or, in the example I’ll share with you here, “beads,” even if you forget to punch holes in it before you shrink it, you can always drill holes afterward.

Start with clear shrink plastic. It comes semi-clear or in several solid colors, but for this particular technique, clear works best. Drop alcohol ink (my favorites are Ranger Ink’s Adirondacks) onto scraps of the plastic, or, full sheets if you prefer. It’s fun to watch the ink blend and redistribute itself. This ink comes in a large assortment of colors, so it’s easy to find and use your favorite palette!

Fashion trends generally change by the season as opposed to by the year, but here we will highlight some of the top trends of this past year along with what we can expect to see this coming year. And we have some good news on the color front.

Share this Post

Tweet

Things are brightening up in the fashion world this year! For the past few years we have seen a growing trend in brighter colors hitting the market and becoming fast trends. Spring 2011 we saw lots of orange hitting the runways, such as these orange pieces below.

Source: Refinery 29, 

2011 was also a great year for the bowtie. This trend hit fast and heavy in 2011, and we can definitely expect to see a lot more of this trend in 2012. And as far as colors? No color or bright pattern is too awesome to match with your outfit.

Source