White-Out (and some stuff)

I continued to subscribe to a certain magazine (let's just say it rhymes with "Veal Pimple") long after I stopped having interest in their articles. There was no way I could afford a $225 vest on a seminary budget, and no way I could start my own compost heap in a seminary apartment (gross), yet I continued to subscribe and read.

Why? Great design.

There was something about the way this magazine was laid out. Text & photos from articles only covered the bottom 2/3 of the page, and the top was a brilliant white space with a headline in a crisp, sans-serif font - large enough to read clearly but not so large it felt like a billboard on a page.

I loved the clean feeling of the magazine. And all the white space somehow made me feel calmer just reading it. Which I guess is a good thing, considering the whole point of your magazine is simplification.

I love white. I love how it feels open, clean, crisp. I love how it really sets off whatever is placed on it. It's why food stylists always recommend displaying a meal you've prepared on white dishes. I've had to really reign myself in and make sure that not all my Christmas card designs have a white background. But here are a few of my favorites that I just couldn't resist.

All of these cards can be found in my etsy shop.

What do you think? Do you love white like I do? Or does too much white seem boring to you?

Want a chance to win one of these cards (including 50 prints + envelopes)? Then you need to head over to Talk 21 and enter the giveaway before it ends this afternoon!

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And now for the other stuff. Last night was the craft fair our school hosts every year. I started making bows and headbands a few years ago (needed to make custom stuff that wouldn't fall out of my girl's super-fine hair!) so I booked a table for the craft fair. When I first asked my hubby if he cared if I did the craft fair, he goes, "I don't know, you always get so stressed out during those things." So this year I vowed that I would just have fun and not get stressed at all.

And it was working. I was cool as a cucumber all day yesterday, looking forward to fun evening. Until 5:30. When I realized my bag full of $100 worth of change was gone.

I dashed home and tore up the house looking for it. It became more and more evident that the bag was NOWHERE in the house. I called my husband and made him tear through the bags of bows and headbands I'd left in his office as I dashed out (his office is in the student center where the craft fair was being held). Nothing. I searched my car, my purse from top to bottom. Nothing. I started to cry - the ugly cry.

I called my hubby and asked him to go find the fair director and ask her what I needed to do, since one of the requirements to be a vendor is you have to be able to make your own change. She had $60 cash that she took to the school business office to get changed for me and told him I could pay her back with whatever I earned. So I came back, mascara running and red nosed and splotchy faced.

I felt horrible. As I was chastising myself over the stupidity of losing the bag, one of the campus police came up to my table. I saw the fair director behind him smiling. "Did you lose something?" he asked.

"Yes, yes I did!" I could feel the tears stinging my eyes again.

"Can you describe it for me?"

"It's a blue bank bag with the word AmSouth on the side in white, and inside was $100 cash."

"Hold on one sec." He walked over to the police station and came back... with my change bag.

I burst into tears again. The fair director came over and gave me a huge hug. The police officer told me someone had found it in the parking lot and turned it in to campus police.

I could not stop crying. I was rejoicing and praising God for returning the money. I wished I could find the person who turned it in so I could tell them how unbelievably grateful I was to them.

The rest of the night went wonderfully. I sold a lot of bows & headbands. And I got teary-eyed again when my little girl came over and asked for 50 cents to get a cupcake, and I watched her walk off and buy it herself. Then she asked for $3 to get a bracelet, and walked over to the booth with her friends and bought it herself. How is it she is growing up so fast?

I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend. We had talked about going to Secret Church tonight (FBNO is doing a simulcast) but I think we're now leaning towards having a quiet evening at home, just the family. I have some custom designs to make - one a peacock-themed Christmas card and the other a Cars invitation, so I should have those up by the end of the weekend.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! We finally got some cold weather today, although it will be back in the 70s tomorrow. Fall weather will get here (and stay!) eventually!