Invitation Design

I'm a little slow on getting this post up. Here is an invitation that I designed for The Waldorf School of Orange County in CA, back in the fall.

This was a community event & fundraiser for the non-profit private school. The event took place at Strawberry Farms Golf Course in a big red renovated barn. It was the perfect rustic-contemporary place for this fall soiree!

Biodegradable Ribbon

I am very excited to report that on a recent trip to The Container Store I found Biodegradable ribbons. I originally went with the intention of checking-out what recycled wrapping paper they had, but was delighted to find these ribbons. The company, Charles Clay & Sons unfortunately is in England & only takes wholesale orders, but if your in the neighborhood of a Container Store, you can pick them up there.

This is the first time I've seen a biodegradable ribbon that actually looks and feels like a thick satin ribbon. I'll be testing it out soon so check back to see how it looks in action. Plus, I will test how it irons-out. A good way to re-use ribbons is to iron them first, they often look brand-new.

Save the Date for building a Green School

I designed this "save the date" card for The Waldorf School of Orange County, CA. This event spearheaded their fundraising efforts to purchase land and build a "green certified" school for pre-K through high school. This plan would also include a bio-dynamic farm for the students to tend-to.
In two years, this campaign has raised close to $2,000,000 in funds and pledges!

Sustainable graphic design with New Leaf

New Leaf paper has a new and improved website. It's great, you can do an Eco-Audit, find a local printer, and watch a counter of resources saved by New Leaf's eco-practices. In an age of information sharing, I will share with you some information on SUSTAINABLE DESIGN that New Leaf shares, which was borrowed from ReNourish.

What is sustainable graphic design?  

Sustainable graphic design aims to eliminate the negative immediate and future social, economic, and environmental impacts of the printed and digital material produced by the profession. Paper fiber, the substrate most used by the graphic designer currently, should be collected, recycled and injected back into the market as a post-consumer product in order to move towards a sustainable industry. Ideally disposal of paper fiber will be eliminated altogether and instead a Cradle-to-Cradle practice of manufacturing and recovery will be utilized. Sustainable graphic design considers the impact of its creations on communities where materials may be sourced, and aim to support a local economy by working with vendors in their region to increase prosperity and minimize their environmental footprint. Global interdependence, environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic viability are the goals of the sustainable graphic designer. Achieving these goals will thereby improve our quality of life overall.

Re-Purposed "wrapped-up"

My daughter was invited to a birthday party for one of the boys in her class who is turning 11. I knew I wanted to wrap his gift (gift certificate to local book store, Inquiring Minds) with Re-Purposed materials, but I wanted it to look a little less "green" and a little more edgy. I got my inspiration from a bag my husband brought home from the liquor store (he should know better!).

I then headed to the garage and poked around and came across some gray plastic netting I found. The color was a perfect match to the gray stripes on the bag.

I wanted a contrast in color, so I headed to my daughters crafting materials and found blue duct tape. The result was quick and simple, but I think it will stand-out.

Creative kids Rock!

My 11 year old daughter came home last week with a pair of socks she knit in Handwork class at school. These socks were knit with 100% wool, hand dyed with vegetable dyes. You can read more about Handwork in Waldorf Schools from the  AWSNA site.

Almost FREE EcoWrapping

My daughter inspired me when she brought me this beautiful bouquet she collected from the yard. Pussy Willows, a sure sign that Spring is around the corner! (yes, that is snow holding the bouquet together).

So, for my next "wrapping" I will Reuse a brown paper grocery bag. This bag from Stop and Shop actually has a nice printed graphic, it has a "hand-stamped" texture in person. The cloth bag is from a set of organic cotton pillowcases I purchased from Target. I've Reused the bag to hold the hand-made artist book I purchased as the gift.

Now going back to the Pussy Willows. I put the cloth bag in a recycled box and wrapped it with the brown paper bag. Then, I used jewelry wire to connected the pussy willow twigs and wrapped them around the wrapped box. 

The brown twigs and the brown paper needed a little color for contrast, so I added-in some green moss. Once this is dissembled, the pussy willows and moss can make a nice natural accent on a book shelf, table, or framed in a shadow box.