The New Me

Hi everyone, It has been a while since I've last updated. I've been knee deep in mommyhood and loving every minute of it. Along the way I did feel a bit disconnected from blogland so I've decided to reinvent freshlyblended, it's still me but more about me and my design side of things. No more ads, reviews, sponsors...just me in the raw. For six years on freshlyblended, I've been looking at other peoples work and getting inspired by it, this time I'm putting myself out there in hopes to inspire. My new space is more of a pintrest type of layout where i'm posting about my work in the publishing industry with a few tidbits of personal work and random inspiration spread throughout. This is a fresh new start for me so I hope my friends and regular readers will stay connected...I've miss you all so very much. see you there!

Sad Announcement

Hi friends,
I realize I've been lacking in posts over here on FB. This time in my life has been completely wrapped up in mommyhood and Design work, so I had to make that painstaking decision to let something go for a while and unfortunately it's my blog which I've been running since 2005. I'm not getting rid of it entirely for hopes that some day I'll get back into it again. I'm leaving you with what has inspired me for over 5 years in hopes that It will continue to inspire you in the future, and become a constant reminder for me that it's "OKAY" to start a new chapter in my life and still be inspired by beautiful design.

I'm going to play a new roll in the blog world and become the "reader" so I can still be involved but without as much pressure, so anytime you find a great place for design inspiration, please leave a comment here so we can all follow along as our niche evolves. You will still see me around on twitter, facebook, linked in  designrelated, etc...  as I further my career within the publishing industry and please feel free to say "hi" every once in a while, I always love hearing how my friends are doing, especially the ones I can't see everyday.

So I leave you with hopes of a great new chapter ahead of me and wishing you all the same. Remember to always stay inspired weather it be by design, food, nature, family and friends....it's what keeps us going as creative minds.

Until we meet again, xo
Nicole

Announcing the 6th Annual Holiday Ornament Swap

Hi friends,
Even though I'm taking a blogging break, I've found someone really great to host this years Holiday Ornament Swap. Meet the very talented Alisa Bobzien. She along with many others were nervous that since my announcement we wouldn't have another swap. After getting a lovely email from her and many others about how much this has become a staple to many of your holiday traditions, I decided that the Swap must go on. Alisa has taken the steps in setting up the swap via swap-bot and is ready to be your host this year. I'm glad this can still happen even though I won't be around and who knows maybe I'll be back next year. So go on over to Alisa's great blog and sign up today!
happy holidays to you all and I hope to see many wonderful creations this year.

Holiday ornament swap

I've been receiving a lot of concerns that there may not be a holiday ornament swap this year. I have someone who I'm passing the torch to this year and when she is all ready to launch this years swap, I will post the info here for you. Unfortunately I will not be participating this year but I feel really confident that it is in good hands. More info coming soon.

retro-autumn-vintage-navajo-chic

a season inspired by navajo folk art...i'm so inspired by the graphic line work and the bold samples of color. These prints are new at the howkapow shop. hope to see much more of this style popping up here and there.