the Bb blog.

I love hand.painted, hand.made signs! I found a treasure when I found Mike who still hand.paints & builds his signs. He was able to take a Bb design for The Willows Lakehouse in Downing, Missouri and create a work of art that will last for years to come. When I met Mike he told me that the majority of his customers will make many times more than what they will put into one of his signs. Sometimes we look at the initial cost and forget how long the sign {logo, website, business card design etc} will actually last. Especially if you hire someone who cares just as much about your business as you do and puts that into their work.

Signage is just as important as your logo, business card, website etc… when someone walks or drives by your shop you want that sign to reach out and grab them, draw them in. “Ohhh… that is a beautiful, cool, amazing sign, I need to see what else is inside.” Some of the shows on HGTV might call it curb appeal… if we don’t put much into the outside why would someone want to come in and check out the inside. Anyway… you get the idea.

See a couple pics of The Willows sign below… now, you cannot tell me that this sign does not make you want to know more about The Willows. And it definitely gives the feel of a Lakehouse Retreat. The secret is getting out about the Willows… your own private lake and lakehouse with a full kitchen all to yourselves… you gotta check it out. {www.thewillowslakehouse.com} For those of you that live in NEMO… it is perfect for a weekend getaway, think ‘save on gas’, amazing sunsets & rises, fishing on the lake and for those of you who need it they also offer a bigscreen with satellite, there really is something for everyone.

We also had Mike build a sign for the Red Rooster, all I can say about that one is WOW! … so come back soon for that post. And if you are interested in getting a quote for a hand.built, hand.painted sign give Bb a jingle {509.429.1989} or shoot me an email {design@brittaburrus.com}

Thanks for stopping by…
–Britta

Once in a while you have to take a break from work and do something different.

So, besides design, paper, pens, fonts, color, fall, kittens {and of course my husband, Justin & kiddo, Branton} I {heart} cooking/baking. Let me tell you a little story and give you an amazing recipe for salsa!

It all started the spring after we moved here… of course we are going to have a garden, Justin says. And so we did. There was already a plot that just needed worked up. For not knowing much about gardening it did pretty well. We do have an endless amount of resources {a.k.a. family} to ask what we are doing wrong, what to plant or not and how to get rid of weeds. We were able to put some beans up and make a ton of zucchini bread — our neighbors & family were generous enough to share their sweet corn too. I hadn’t gotten my salsa recipe yet, so didn’t get that done.

The next year comes & my sweet Justin decides we need to make our garden plot even bigger than it already was. So he did. And we had the best sweet corn you can imagine, beans coming out our ears & enough tomatoes that I needed to find a salsa recipe and quick! I found one recipe & my mom was here so she pretty much made it while I was on my computer. It was really good, chunky, had good flavor, but just not quite what I wanted. Well, in my googling of salsa recipes I learned a couple things. You are supposed to use paste tomatoes for salsa… ha, what are paste tomatoes? Romas are one… and of course I had no paste tomatoes at all in my abundant supply. So, back to google I went… I found this recipe and this time my mom was back in WA so Melinda {a.k.a. mom-n-law} took on the duty of the salsa queen, while I supervised and said too much or too little. The things moms do for their kids!

We tried one batch… great flavor, this is it… but not hot enough. So next time we added more jalapenos… we ended up using 40 jalapenos in a recipe that called for 6. This was definitely it… it had just the right heat, was nice and thick & had the best flavor ever. Anytime we pulled a jar out when we had company it was gobbled up pretty quickly. That’s gotta be a good sign.

This year I was so excited about making salsa… we ended up planting close to 100 plants. And wouldn’t you know… we had the worst floods & extreme weather this year and it probably didn’t help that I did a little {or a lot} experimenting with epson salts. Needless to say, I got NO tomatoes. It was pretty sad to think that I wouldn’t even have a chance to make salsa. Well… our generous relatives came through yet again. Aunt Carla shared her tomatoes with us! And Melinda once again stepped in to help me with the salsa… have I mentioned that she doesn’t even like salsa… this is where the sacrifice part comes in. She stood there and cut the 6 cups of onions with tears streaming down her face. She did draw the line at cutting up the jalapenos… I didn’t mind doing that especially if it meant having salsa. We ended up putting up 20 pints and used these cool ball jars… see pic below.

This is where I think of God and how amazing He is. Of course I could have lived without the salsa and been fine, even happy. But He loves us so much and cares about us… even the little things. He wants us to enjoy life, He knows how hard it can be. And I just love it when He gives us these little blessings… keep your eyes out.

AMAZING SALSA RECIPE
This is where I found the salsa recipe.
Click {http://www.great-salsa.com/canning-salsa-tomato-paste.html}
Of course I tweaked it a bit, cause that’s what I do.
I didn’t add chiles or oregano. I did add the cumin, 1 T chili powder and cilantro. And I added about 10 jalapenos this year… taste it and make it the heat you enjoy! The recipe said it wasn’t safe to tweak too much… but I had to do a bit.

I hope you are inspired to cook/bake something… thanks for stopping by & have a great labor day weekend.
–Britta

Since it’s Friday, I thought I would share a fun baby announcement I got to do a while ago. Our dear friends, Nate & Jessi, had one of the cutest little babies ever. Her name is Anne… I had the privilege of designing her baby announcements. Nate & Jess pretty much gave me freedom to do whatever I wanted… Jess does love flowers & one of her favorites is the daisy. So, I took that and ran… of course I found the cutest pink envelopes with a string to close it & added some coordinating thank yous! When you have such a sweet face to design around… you really can’t go wrong. See pics below.

Thanks for stopping by & have a great weekend!!

Hi there… thought I would leave you with this for the weekend. I was asked by a friend to design an invite for a bridal shower they were throwing. She told me the bride to be’s colors were navy & copper, flowers were Calla Lilies & Blue Hydrangeas. Oh… how that got my mind spinning! I love both those flowers & was excited to see what I could find to bring in the copper… I was able to take a photo of each flower, stylize them & create a beautiful bouquet to use as the main design element for the invite. And oh my goodness… I found the coolest copper envelopes ever! Check out the end result below.

You know… custom invites & announcements {whether for a wedding or baby} might be a little more expensive than the bulk pack you can get at walmart… but do you know the joy of getting such a piece of art in the mail. I get so excited when I receive a hand-written note, letter or a beautiful custom baby announcement or wedding invite — it makes me feel special… that they would take the time & effort to put something like that together or pay someone else to do it. A lot of times people cherish these pieces and don’t just throw them away. They keep them to remember that special occasion, some might even frame such a thing of beauty.

Anyway… I will stop rambling & let you enjoy the pics below. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend! — Britta

Get creative this year when you are thinking of Dad!! Check out these cool gift ideas and Happy Father’s Day!

As a designer when I look at a logo I always wonder how many steps it took them to get to the final. I am sure that others go about getting there in a different way than Bb design, but this is how it works around here. {As all designers will know, not every story goes quite this smoothly… sometimes it might take a few or several more steps to get to the end.}

Step 1. Initial meeting with client — in real life or virtual — get any ideas client might have, colors, style, what they want their logo to say about their business etc.
Step 2. Dream, pray & think about ideas. Seriously, praying for me is a big part of the story. After all God is so big and look at His creation… talk about a creative! His supply of creativity is limitless and He knows my client even better than I do! Ideas and concepts sometimes come at funny times, while I am supposed to be sleeping or while I am out on a run. I love this part of it!
Step 3. Research — see what’s out there for the client’s profession or business. How can we stand out from the crowd? Get outta the box, yet still remain professional & true to their profession or business.
Step 4. Concepts — Depending on the package we come up with 2-3 concepts for the client to choose from. This is always fun, cause I get to work with fonts, colors and the mark.
Step 5. Client chooses one or a mix of all the concepts and it is revision time.
Step 6. Present final logo to client & it’s time to use the new logo in all promotional materials!

Benefits of a custom Bb logo: a.} You will get what you want. b.} Each logo is a custom design. NO clip art here. c.} You are part of the team, it is important for Bb to get to know each client and from there build the logo they want & need. d.} Each logo is built as a vector-based file, so you will get all the file formats you need whether for a website, billboard, tshirt, business card, signage etc.

The latest logo project Bb got to work on was for the Scotland County Pharmacy. This is the story…

Client said he likes old time apothecary, blue, and mortar and pestle, but maybe the mortar and pestle was used too much? { Do you know how excited I was when I heard old time apothecary?? }

After the initial dreaming, praying & researching Bb presented 3 concepts to SC Pharmacy… and we mixed a couple of them to come up with the final logo. Even if other pharmacies are using a mortar & pestle as part of their logo I haven’t seen it used quite like this and we added an old time apothecary bottle to make it stand out that much more. One of the fun parts of building a custom logo is reinventing an idea. After all … there isn’t anything new under the sun, but it sure is fun trying to present it in a different way!

Check out the images of the initial concepts, final logo & business cards below… we were all very happy with the end result! What do you think?

Ok… so we are not totally done with the whole package… but we are getting there. I met with two wonderful ladies that are on the board of the Memphis Area Pregnancy Care Center, Ellen & Pam… and there are others that give their time to basically save lives. What a wonderful way to serve our community!

We started with the logo, they had the concept down so I just took the idea of little feet wrapped in a heart and added a little Bb style. Then I got to design business cards, letterhead & envelopes to go with it. Our next projects will be signage, brochures & a website. You can visit them right now on their facebook page here. {MAPCC on Facebook} You know how it is with finding volunteers, it is not always the easiest thing to do. So, if you are in the Memphis Area and interested in either volunteering, helping financially or giving baby items I know that the gang at the pregnancy center & the people they serve will be most appreciative.

Check out the initial package below…

I had the opportunity to design & build this site a while back, but recently they had me add some of their products to the site. They decided to use paypal to accept credit card payments securely. I highly recommend paypal { for products and/or services }… it has a lot of pros and haven’t come across too many cons. { PAYPAL Pros : very user-friendly, easy to set up buttons, secure, no ssl certificate required, no merchant visa acct required, they take care of the credit card numbers so that you don’t have to have that responsibility, first level has no monthly fee and a low per transaction percentage, I know there are more… }

Anyway… check out the site here CAWSS. And if you are interested in a custom website or adding paypal to your site I would be happy to give you a custom estimate. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Well, I just had to take a moment to post pics of these business cards. I made them for a friend who has an antique and craft business… if you are in the Yakima, WA area you will have to stop by her booth and see what treasures you can find. { Memories on the Ave, 509 West Yakima Avenue, Yakima, WA }

These cards were a birthday surprise, so I had to be sneaky. I couldn’t ask her what exactly she wanted, good thing I have known her for a few years and she posted some pics of her booth on facebook which helped inspire. She loves color, texture, old things, nature… I printed the colorful design on cool textured paper, gave the edges a bit of a vignette and roughed em up to add to the whole effect.

I am just so excited about these cards. They were almost too hard to give up, I wanted to use them for myself… hehe. It was really hard for me to wait til she received them to blog about them… I did it though, couldn’t ruin the surprise. Hope you ‘likes’ them Nik! Check out the pics below to see what I came up with.

I just finished updating the website of vagabond photography. I recoded a bit of it to make it easier to update in the future, cleaned it up some and re-organized. Guess you could call it spring cleaning. Then for the fun part, I got to add more of her amazing pictures to the photography page and vagabond has reduced the prices of her belts!

Did you hear that? You can get your very own vagabond belt with reduced prices!! You’ll just have to check out her site for yourself and find your belt. A vagabond belt seems like a perfect gift for mom too, after all Mother’s day is just around the corner! If you don’t find that perfect one, you can always go for vagabond custom… contact her for more info photography@vagabondstyle.com. See some pics below and to get the whole story check out the site. { www.vagabondstyle.com }