Giveaway! First Annual Blogiversary!

October 18, 2012, marks the one-year anniversary of my first blog post on this here project blog. Little did I know what an amazing community I was yet to discover and become a part of!! I’m gonna get all down & personal here now, so if you wanna sit this one out, or just skip down to the giveaway, I’ll totally understand

A lot has happened in a year; I’ve learned so much, and come so far!!

In sewing, I’ve participated in my first sewalong, made my first pants, did my first FBA, sewed my first buttonhole and used boning for the first time, along with so much more! I’ve learned so much about fitting, fabric, and technique. I’ve begun to discover my own personal style & have started my first planned capsule wardrobe!

In my personal life, I’ve spent the last 10 months trying to improve my health, inside & out. For me personally, unless I follow a strict diet & exercise plan, my self esteem suffers greatly. I have a really slow metabolism so I easily gain weight, become lethargic, and just feel generally gross – physically and mentally. Through tracking calories & a daily exercise regime, I’ve lost over 30 lbs! I still have a ways to go but I’ve come a long way & I’m on the right path^_^ I am also very blessed to have a wonderful man and mum in my life who are loving, supportive, and patient with me no matter what I’m going through

In my professional life, I just recently lost my job of almost seven years. No boo-hoo-ing though; this is one of those transitions that was meant to be. As emotional as it was, (after so long, the people there are like family to me), I was going stagnant there from lack of creative stimulation. With the changes in the company’s focus, there was less and less work for me, so while I still do work for them a few hours a week, I’m free now to try & find a new home that will challenge & grow my creative abilities… and that’s exciting! (even if I have to be poor for awhile lol)

Over the last month, two lovely bloggers I’ve met along the way have nominated me for blog awards. Thank you to A Gastronome’s Closet and PunkMik!! Since I have already received one recently and handed out the honours to others, this time I would like to, instead, give back by hosting my first giveaway!!

The giveaway is for a set of three patterns; one for each of my award nominations and one for my one year anniversary! ^__^

The first two are brand new, unused patterns:

Simplicity 2339 Amazing Fit blouse:

And Simplicity 4192:

In addition to these two, you will get one of your choice from the vintage patterns shown here

Alternatively, if you’re not a sewist, I’m offering a personalized blog header for your blog, designed by me (you tell me what you want & I’ll design it!)

This is my thanks to you all for being so awesome!!! Feel free to pass the giveaway info on to your friends; anyone is welcome to participate!!

To enter, please leave a comment on this blog post by the end of October and let me know what prize you prefer I’ll draw the winner on November 1st Happy October!!

Love & Loss; Fun & Games

Hello friends!

It’s been a heckuva 2 weeks or so!

So after my last post I haven’t done a darn thing in terms of project work. The last day of my job was approaching and honestly, it was too hard for me to focus, with trying to figure out finances & job searching.

Then last Friday was my birthday, and my partner and I (who are huge gamer nerds, FYI) trekked down to Seattle (just a few hours from here) to attend NA’s largest public gaming convention, Pax Prime!!

Here’s us on the bus very early Friday morning:

Pax Prime is 3 days of gaming bliss: nonstop panels, shows, parties & demos – we had a blast!

We even attended a party held offsite for a game we’re both super excited for; Dishonored – the party was a murder mystery held in the mansion of Lady Boyle; a character from the game.

It was an awesome weekend but I’m glad to be back home – I missed my kitties so bad & my fluffy one (Mama’s boy, Starsky!) still hasn’t forgiven me entirely yet ^__^

Now we’re back & reality must set in. But before I became a hobo (LOL) I had ordered some custom labels with my logo on them – very nice quality embroidered damask – and they arrived today to help cheer me up!

I love them & can’t wait to start adding them to my creations! I know this will help me really focus on attention to detail & think of my clothing as I do my design; as representing me and my quality

It’s still hot here – summer isn’t through with us yet! Hopefully I can get back my focus & deal with all the business-y stuff so I can get some project work done too!

Hope you’re all well – I’m trying to catch up on posts missed so forgive me if I’m a bit behind!

New look for Symon Sez!

As you can see, I updated my blog header!

As I’ve recently been designing my identity, logo etc for professional purposes, I thought it would be nice to extend that to my personal endeavours as well, since let’s face it… as a professional artist, sometimes the lines between the two are a bit fuzzy ^__^

I’ve also got business cards and fabric labels with my logo coming soon!!

My Portfolio Site Launched!

If you’ve been following you’ll recall I got laid off about a month ago, and since then have been working very hard to compile the last seven years worth of my work, narrow it down, and create a portfolio so I can get my butt out there and get a job. LOL.

I’m still working part time at the moment so I’ve actually got a couple months left, in which I will be designing my resume, takeaway piece, and logo… but until then, I have an online presence now, which I can share with you:

http://symondezyn.prosite.com/

The Wave of Change… an Artist’s Journey

I have been slack in my posts and my projects lately, because as of late, I have been swept up in a tumultuous wave of change crashing through my life.

I’ve been working at the same design firm for almost seven years… which is the longest I’ve worked anywhere. This can mainly be attributed to the fact that the people I work with, including my bosses, are wonderful people – like family to me.

I have come a long way since I first started here. I took a production artist position, knowing there was no guarantee that I would ever get an artist’s chair. Eventually I was given a small job to test my skills, and it all exploded from there… to this day, where I can say I’ve earned my badges at being a skilled senior designer, packaging design expert, and illustrator.

The company is shifting and has been for some time now, though, so the opportunities for me to do creative work have been less and less, and so the inevitable has happened; I’m moving on.

There have been tears and laughter, incredible triumphs and some painful learning experiences. I am sad to see this part of my life end, but I’ve been stuck in place for a long time and I’m excited for more growth and challenge again.

I will still be working part time for awhile yet, and will retain work for them as an independent contractor, but there is definitely some big changes ahead. I don’t know yet whether I will move on to work for another firm, or open my own business and take contract work.

I’m scared but excited… I am a bit sad but I can’t help but look eagerly ahead to what awaits me. I know I will take with me the best of these last seven years, and build on them.

I am talented, intelligent, experienced and skilled… driven and passionate. I am positive, optimistic, and joyful!

I am a Creative.

the 1960′s: Mad Men & Simplicity

I have always been a huge fan of the fashion, hair & makeup from the 60′s. When I was a kid, I pored over the pictures of my mum from back then, admiring the clean lines, graphic colours, and sense of playfulness and creativity they conveyed. I proudly told people my mum got married in a pants suit she made herself: a long tunic and wide pants in cream, edged with gold braid – it was gorgeous!

I have heard about Mad Men a lot lately, and seen countless pics of that style vixen, Joan – but just recently realized it was about an ad agency!! Well hello? I’m a graphic designer so there were two undeniable reasons I should check it out.

So we watched the first episode last night (yay Netflix!) and I loved it! Hello clothes…. but also it was enthralling because of the social stigmas, and cultural differences. I found myself saying, “wow, I could never say that to a client!” or “imagine drinking with your boss in your office!” lol but the creative angst of trying to work with clients and be innovative on cue was all too familiar to me so I totally loved that.

Now to the other part: Simplicity. Not just the style element but… this!!:

I popped into the Sally Ann after work the other day on a whim and look what I found!! The Simplicity sewing book from 1969, complete with tons of detailed info and pics, as well as a hefty section on fitting, including a full section on pants:

with several detailed and photographed instructions for each fitting issue. It also covers style details, finishing, hand stitching, working with special fabrics (the era of faux fur & leather) and lining/interlining As an added bonus the center has an insert of 4 glossy full colour spreads of fashion plates:

I was giddy!

I’ll probably post more once I get a chance to read it more thoroughly as it’s a lot more detailed than most books I’ve seen, and covers a wider variety of topics.

And I’ll definitely be catching up on the Mad Men this weekend!

The Creative Doldrums

[NB: I love that word "doldrums" - it reminds me of a book I read when I was a kid, The Phantom Tollboth]

Normally, I find inspiration everywhere – in doing research for design projects, in reading other people’s blogs and seeing what they’re creating; in fashion, in advertising and in every aspect of regular life. Often I have dreams about projects i’m working on, even working out problems I’ve come across – it’s very helpful when you wake up with that TA-DA!! fresh in your mind!! LOL.

But recently I’ve been plagued with the designer’s nemesis: chronic tension headaches which turn into migraines, for me. Weekends are my mecca: the only time I really get uninterrupted to really work out problems and gain ground on any projects I’m working on, and I spent half of the last one in bed, totally non-functional, with a massive migraine.

Needless to say, this has put a great damper on my creativity, and my drive and motivation has taken a plummet this week. It doesn’t help that Pastille is kicking my butt!! Ok it’s not the pattern’s fault, let’s face it – blame it on my inexperience, but I thought fitting a basic sheath dress would be a lot more linear and logical. As it turns out, it’s a wild wild ride, friends. LOL. I’m only hoping and praying that the things I’ve learned I can pass on to the next project and maybe it won’t be such a nightmare LOL.

The bright side is that I’m visiting the chiropractor today, for the first time in years, and hoping they’ll be able to fix broken little me LOL. In the meantime, my better half kicked my butt into gear last night and made me work on Pastille for an hour. Evil man. What would I do without him?

Project Update: Fluevog Ad

So here’s an update on what’s been keeping me busy these days: I’ve designed & submitted an ad for Fluevog’s spring campaign!

If you have a sec, Please take a moment to go ‘like’ my submission for the Fluevog Spring ad campaign – thanks!

http://www.fluevog.com/code/fc_gallery.php?brief=23

This is my ad, for visual reference :