Thought of the day

Today I'm thankful for the little things, like these cute mustard coloured slippers my mom knitted me. Every time I look at them, it makes me smile. Thanks mom.

You've Got Mail Project

Hello! Hope you had a great weekend, whether it was celebrating Valentine's with the ones you love, watching the Olympics, or just relaxing. I had a little of each this weekend. Here's a pic I posted on Instagram of a little Valentine's project I made. The white tin mailbox and cute Valentine's heart-shaped lights are from Target. I used a gold Sharpie for the words. The wooden pins are from Cabin and Cub and Fox and Fancy that I got from past Got Craft? events. How cute are those? I wrote a little note for each envelope and placed them inside the mailbox. You can get the love card in my shop here. Even though this was a project I did for Valentine's I think it might be something I would do for any other special occasion.

Introducing Our New Look!

I'm so excited to share the new logo for Designs by Val with you today! I've had the urge to re-brand with something a little more modern and fresh. After many MANY sketches (the pages in my sketchbook can attest to that) this logo came to be. The "Val" is hand-written lettering, with the rest of the text in a round sans serif font. The idea came to mind late one night when my mind was elsewhere. Funny how these things happen sometimes! I hope to share more of the logo with you as I get the business cards and other stationery goodies printed. Would love to hear your thoughts on the new look!

We're in UPPERCASE #20!

Thanks to UPPERCASE Magazine for including my I Button U and Sew Into You card in their latest issue! I was so excited to receive it in the mail last week (my first issue as a subscriber). It's been a little nutty around here these days, so I've only been able to have a quick look through. I love the cover by the very talented Jason Munn (one of my favourite posters of his, She & Him Cassette Puzzle, sits in my living room). I'm looking forward to spending a nice afternoon going through each page, hopefully sometime over this upcoming long weekend. All cards can be found in my online shop here.

All you need is love love love...

As I'm getting settled into the new year, I realize Valentine's is only about a month away! I've started to see pins and cute DIY projects online. Here's a peek at some of new Valentine's cards. They are available in the shop here, along with the rest of the collection and favourites from seasons past. xo

It's 2014!

Hello & Happy New Year (it's nine days in already, but I think it's still OK to say that)! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and 2014 is off to a great start.

Things were busy busy over the past few months. A major part of that was from working on a new collection...And here it is! I'm so excited to share it with you, as some of these design ideas have been sitting in my sketchbook for awhile. 

There are over twenty designs in the new collection, and these are a few pics that I've taken. More to come soon. You can view & shop the full collection over here :)

UPPERCASE Issue 19

This post is LONG overdue, but as I sat in my studio this morning with Issue 19 of UPPERCASE Magazine next to me, I thought it was time I got to it! A few months ago, in response to a call for letterforms inspired by office supplies, I submitted the letter 'O' created by erasers I had collected since childhood. It was a fun project to work on and a trip down memory lane. I can't tell you how excited I was (and still am) that it ended up in the issue! Check out page 75 if you have it, or see a video of a flip through for all the amazing submissions here.