Chop. Dice. Mince. Slice. Is there really a difference? Actually, yes! When it comes to cooking and baking, there are several ways to cut up food.

 My good friend, Juliana Gallin, and I have created a list to help even the most aichmophobic folks become pros with the knife, whether they’re mincing herbs for a pot roast dinner or grating a lemon to add some zest to lemonade.

 CHOP: Cut into bite-sized pieces, 1 inch or smaller.

CUBE: Cut into a uniform cube shape, around ½ inch.

DICE: Cut into very small cubes, around 1/8  inch to ¼ inch.

MINCE: Cut into very small pieces, smaller than 1/8 inch.

SLICE: Cut into thin, flat pieces.

SHRED: Cut into small, narrow strips, usually with the large holes of a grater or a food processor fitted with a shredding disc. Cooked meat is also often “shredded” using either your hands or two forks to pull it apart.

GRATE: Reduce to very thin shreds, usually with the small holes of a grater, a Microplane grater, or a food processor fitted with a grating disc.

JULIENNE: Cut into matchstick-sized strips, around 1/8 inch thick by 2 inches long.

CHIFFONADE: This French term (literally, “made from rags”) refers to a preparation of leafy vegetables or herbs by cutting them into fine strips or shreds (for example, “basil chiffonade”). To cut a chiffonade, make a little stack of like-sized leaves, roll them up tightly, and then slice the roll to create little bundles of ribbons.

 Now that we’ve gone through a few of the basics of cutting up food, I think it’s important that you have the proper tools as well. High-quality knives are more expensive, but they’re worth the investment, especially since they’ll last longer, stay sharper, and make cutting food easier (and safer!).

 CHEF’S KNIFE: A 6-inch or 8-inch chef’s knife is a must for any kitchen, as it can cut meat and vegetables.

PARING KNIFE: Great for peeling.

PROPER BREAD KNIFE: Who doesn’t love sliced bread?

SANTOKU KNIFE: A sleek sharp knife that’s more expensive, but is ideal for smooth cuts.

GOOD CARVING KNIFE: Come Thanksgiving or Christmas the family will be glad you have one!

KITCHEN SHEARS: These kitchen scissors are great for snipping herbs, dicing chicken, or even opening packages.

 One last note from one Lazy Gourmet to another: Keep your knives SHARP. It makes prep easier, faster, and safer. Have your knives sharpened about once every year and use your honer (that long, cylindrical piece of steel that comes with many knife sets) to keep your blades in top shape.

 Happy cooking!

ROBIN DONOVAN is the author of Campfire Cuisine: Gourmet Recipes for the Great Outdoors and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Dr. Gott’s No Flour, No Sugar Diet. Her articles have appeared in popular publications including Cooking Light, Fitness, The San Jose Mercury News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and The San Francisco Chronicle. She met her good friend, JULIANA GALLIN when they were both college housemates in Santa Cruz, CA. Together, they wrote The Lazy Gourmet: Magnificent Meals Made Easy (Viva Editions). They continue to cook and eat together regularly, sharing recipes, ideas, successes, and still the occasional culinary disaster. Read their food blog at www.twolazygourmets.com.  

A universal truth: everybody loves cake.  Men, women, children, people of all ages go ga-ga for it.  No matter the time of day, whether or not there’s a special occasion, cake is just one of those sweet pick-me-ups that no one can say no to, calorie counting be darned.

As delicious as it is to enjoy, baking a cake can often be a time-consuming process.  That’s why I absolutely love this Orange Crème Fraiche Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze.  My friend and fellow Lazy Gourmet Juliana Gallin helped me develop this recipe, which lets you toss all the ingredients in one bowl, mix them with a spoon, and whip up a scrumptious cake in a short amount of time.  It’s basically a bajillion times easier than even your simplest frosted layer cake.  Plus, it’s moist (because of the crème fraiche), citrusy (because of the orange), and, well, covered in melty chocolate.  What’s not to love?I recommend a Bundt pan for maximum visual appeal, but a springform pan or a simple round cake pan will do as well.

Orange Crème Fraiche Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze

• 1 cup crème fraîche
  ⅔ cup vegetable oil
  1 cup sugar
  Grated zest of 2 large oranges
  ¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice (from about 1 orange)
  2 tablespoons lemon juice (from about ½ lemon)
  1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  3 large eggs
  1½ cups all-purpose flour
  1½ teaspoons baking powder
  ½ teaspoon baking soda
  ½ teaspoon table salt
  Bittersweet Chocolate Drizzle (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil or butter a 10-inch Bundt pan or 9-inch round cake or springform pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together crème fraîche, oil, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, lemon juice, and vanilla. Add eggs and whisk until incorporated. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk until just combined. (Don’t worry if there are small lumps; you don’t want to overmix this cake or it will become dry.)

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven, place the pan on a wire rack, and let cool for 15 minutes.

Remove the cake from the pan by running a knife around the side of the pan and inverting it directly onto the wire rack. (If you’ve baked the cake in a flat-bottomed round cake pan rather than a Bundt pan, invert the cake onto the rack and flip it over so that the bottom of the cake, not the top, is resting on the wire rack—otherwise you’ll end up with unattractive indentations from the cooling rack on the top.) Let cool completely. Transfer to a large plate or cake platter before glazing.

When cake is completely cooled, drizzle the chocolate glaze over it until covered to your liking (you may have extra glaze left over) and let sit at room temperature at least 1 hour before serving. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 12.

Bittersweet Chocolate Drizzle

• 1/3–½ cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 ounces bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate, chopped
• Pinch of salt

Place 1/3 cup of the cream along with the butter, chocolate, and salt in a microwave-safe dish and heat on high for 1 minute, or until ream begins to boil. Stir to melt butter and chocolate. If a thinner consistency is desired, add a touch more of the cream and stir to combine.

Makes about 3/4 cup.

From www.twolazygourmets.com and The Lazy Gourmet: Magnificent Meals Made Easy by Robin Donovan and Juliana Gallin (Viva Editions, 2011)

Photo by Andres Ramirez

Robin Donovan is the coauthor with Juliana Gallin of The Lazy Gourmet: Magnificent Meals Made Easy, and is also the author if Campfire Cuisine: Gourmet Recipes for the Great Outdoors. She is a San Francisco-based freelance journalist, book author, blogger, and editor specializing in food, cooking, travel, and other lifestyle topics. Her food writing has appeared in Fitness, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, and many other publications. For more receipts from Robin and Julianna visit twolazygourmets.com and follow Robin on Twitter.

Your kids will delight in these snack and there are so tasty even the big kids (a.k.a. Mom or Dad) will like them.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups butter, divided
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/4 cups grape or strawberry jelly
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup light roast peanut flour, divided
• 1 cup salted, chopped
• 1/2 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoons salt

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350° . Line bottom and sides of a 13- x 9-inch pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides; lightly grease foil.
• Cut 1 cup butter into small pieces. Pulse butter pieces, all-purpose flour, and powdered sugar in a food processor 5 to 6 times or until mixture is crumbly. Press mixture into bottom of prepared pan.
• Bake at 350° on an oven rack one-third up from bottom of oven 22 to 24 minutes or just until golden brown.
• Meanwhile, whisk together jelly, peanut butter, and 1/4 cup peanut flour in a small bowl until smooth.
• Microwave remaining 1/4 cup butter in a microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 25 seconds or until melted. Stir in peanuts, next 4 ingredients, and remaining 1/2 cup peanut flour until well blended and crumbly.
• Spread jelly mixture over crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle peanut mixture around edges of pan and over jelly mixture.
• Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or just until jelly mixture begins to puff. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 1 hour).
• Carefully and quickly lift baked bars from pan, using foil sides as handles. Place on a cutting board, and cut into 24 bars.

For a recipe to make it into my ‘make often’ list, it needs to be quick to pull together, made of ingredients I usually have in the house, enjoyed by the whole family, and good for leftovers another day.  This simple summer quinoa salad fits the bill, and we’ve been enjoying it at least once a week through the first part of the summer.  Leftovers stay fresh and crisp for 1-2 days and transport well in a reusable container or thermos for lunch away from home.
Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) seems to be all the rage right now, and in our house, it’s long been thought of as a miracle food.  It’s a whole grain that cooks up in 15 minutes and is versatile enough to go into just about any dish.  Quinoa is also one of very few vegetarian sources of complete protein, so there’s no need to add meat, beans or legumes if you don’t have them prepared or simply don’t want to add them to a meal.  First cultivated in the Andean region of South America over 3,000 years ago, Quinoa is now readily available at grocery stores around the world and comes in white, red and black varieties.

Simple Summer Quinoa Salad

Servings: 4-6
 Active Prep Time: 15 minutes
 Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes (use leftover quinoa and skip the cooling time)
Ingredients:

1 cup raw quinoa (use a combination of red and white for added color)

1 1/3 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups chopped vegetables your family loves (I like to use ½ cup each tomato, cucumber, yellow bell pepper, red onion)

1/2 cup parsley, chopped

1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced (optional)

1 tbsp capers, minced (optional)

juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp dried oregano
 salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
•    Cook the quinoa in the water and 1/2 tsp of salt, as per package directions.  Even better, use up leftover quinoa or plan ahead and make up extra earlier in the week to use in this recipe.  If you are cooking it specifically for the recipe, once it’s cooked, cool to room temperature.
•    Combine the cold cooked quinoa with the rest of the ingredients and mix well.  It can be eaten immediately, or let the flavors meld and intensify by letting it rest for 30 minutes or longer.

Once you’ve followed this recipe through once or twice, you can completely customize it to your preferences or whatever fresh vegetables you have on hand; suggested variations include:
•    Vegetables: corn, zucchini, carrots, celery, radishes, green pepper, and mushrooms are all great additions.
•    Herbs: replace the parsley with cilantro or basil and omit the dried oregano.
•    Protein: for an added protein boost try chickpeas, navy beans, black beans, toasted pine nuts, or cooked and diced chicken or turkey.
•    Dressing: swap out the lemon juice for lime or orange juice.

Rachel Assuncao is an internationally acclaimed health coach, working with busy parents and professionals who are seeking support in eating well and living a happy, energized, and  vibrant life.  She’s also the mom of a spirited 3-year old daughter and knows how important it is to get food into our children that looks good, tastes good, and is secretly good for them.Visit Rachel Assuncao
 at  www.awakenedwellness.com. Follow her on Twitter and check her out on  
Facebook.

It’s happened to many of us.  Dinnertime, and you’re itching to try some fancy, exotic new recipe to bring out the foodie in you and your spouse.  But your kids are refusing to put anything in their mouths that’s not macaroni and cheese.  So who wins?  Break out the Kraft; this battle was over before it began.

It happens to me, too.  Contrary to popular belief, cookbook authors do not make fabulous, home-cooked, gourmet meals every single night.  I try to prepare a “proper” dinner for my family several nights a week, but being the parent of a toddler can make it difficult to move away from boring staples: store-bought chicken sausages, simple roasted chicken, pasta with pesto (possibly my son’s favorite food).  Kids are picky eaters by definition, so cooking for them while still maintaining your personal culinary standards can be tough.

What I love to do is to find dishes that are familiar enough that my son is willing to try them, but interesting enough to provide him- and us- with varied taste experiences.  That’s why I would recommend this recipe to anyone in a similar situation.  It has familiar textures and flavors that appeal to kids (pasta! tomatoes!) but has the sophistication and healthiness that appeal to adults.

Roasting the cauliflower with red onions and garlic brings out the sweet, earthy flavors, and the buttery toasted breadcrumbs add a welcome crunch. Prep is a breeze—you can prepare the rest of the dish while the vegetables are in the oven. Breadcrumbs can be toasted ahead and stored, in an airtight container, in the fridge or freezer. When ready to use, let sit out on the counter until warmed to room temperature.  Also, feel free to use another pasta shape- rotelle, orechiette, or small shells would work well- if your supermarket doesn’t carry gemelli.

Photo by Andres Ramirez.  Reproductions of this photograph must be accompanied by attribution.

Gemelli with Roasted Cauliflower, Tomatoes and Crispy Breadcrumbs
From www.twolazygourmets.com and The Lazy Gourmet: Magnificent Meals Made Easy by Robin Donovan and Juliana Gallin (Viva Editions, 2011)

1 head cauliflower (about 11/2 pounds florets), cut into small pieces

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2–3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2–1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 pound gemelli or other pasta

cups (about ounces) sourdough bread cubes

tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained (reserve juice)

1/4 cup capers, drained

1/4–1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving

Preheat oven to 450°f.

In a baking dish, toss cauliflower, onion, and garlic with olive oil, coating vegetables thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper, and roast in preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes, stirring once about halfway through, until cauliflower is tender and beginning to brown.

While the vegetables are in the oven, heat a large pot of salted water (large enough to hold all ingredients) over high heat and cook pasta according to the instructions on the package.

Whirl bread in a food processor to make crumbs, pulsing, until the largest pieces are roughly the size of peas. Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add butter. When butter is melted and bubbling, add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until crispy, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

When pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pot on the stove. Add roasted vegetables, tomatoes, capers, and crushed red pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring, until just heated through. If the mixture looks too dry, add a bit of the reserved tomato juice. Stir until well combined. Serve in pasta bowls topped with breadcrumbs and generously garnished with cheese.

Serves 6 to 8.

Robin Donovan is the coauthor with Juliana Gallin of The Lazy Gourmet: Magnificent Meals Made Easy, and is also the author if Campfire Cuisine: Gourmet Recipes for the Great Outdoors. She is a San Francisco-based freelance journalist, book author, blogger, and editor specializing in food, cooking, travel, and other lifestyle topics. Her food writing has appeared in Fitness, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, and many other publications. For more receipts from Robin and Julianna visit twolazygourmets.com and follow Robin on Twitter.

Life in an organized home feels so much calmer but we all know easy it is to shift from clear to cluttered. One minute you can see the surface of your kitchen table, the next, it’s covered in papers and other household items. The secret to an organized house can be summed up in one word – systems. If you’re tired of living under the weight of stuff, try these strategies and clear the clutter.

1. A Place for Everything, and Everything in its Place
No matter what the item is, everything—from scissors to socks—needs to have a designated spot. Returning things to their place will not only speed up cleaning but it will improve life in the house because you won’t be searching high and low for whatever you need. When working out where to store items, think about creating the smallest walking distance between two points – items should be stored where they are used. For example, scissors could be kept in a kitchen drawer or in an office drawer, or you may decide to have two pairs if they are used often in both locations. You don’t want to be going backwards and forwards constantly. For items that don’t have a regular home, set up a miscellaneous bowl or basket. Just make sure you clear it out regularly. If there are several people in your home, consider color-coding. Allocate each person in the home their own color and attach that color to their items. It means you can easily pile up and return people’s stuff. For shared items, use a household color. It’s a great way for the household to sort and store things.

2. Do a Little Bit Often
It’s easy to let things pile up but you’re just creating more work for yourself. Keep in mind that old saying: ‘a stitch in time saves nine’. It’s better to have one pile than nine. And let’s be honest: no matter how busy you are, you can always find some time in your day if you really want to. Schedule it if you need to. You’d be surprised at how much you can do in just 15 minutes. Sort, file or toss.

3. Introduce the ‘Clutter Bucket’
This makes so much sense. When sorting a room, everything that doesn’t belong in that room should go into a ‘clutter bucket’ and moved in one go. It’s common to move a couple of items at a time, with a lot of time spent walking between two spots. Move it all at once with the clutter bucket.

4. Have the Right Cleaning Tools for the Job
It’s really important to have the right cleaning tools for the job. You might like to carry items in buckets or plastic toolboxes – it depends on your storage situation and preferences. Whatever you decide to use, just make sure the kit isn’t too heavy. It means you won’t waste time or put off cleaning because you don’t have the right cleaning items. Your kit is always ready to go.

5. Have Daily, Weekly and Monthly Cleaning Schedules
Make your life more organized and easy by creating daily, weekly and monthly cleaning schedules. For example, when you clean the oven once a week, you won’t create a mega-task for yourself. That baked on gunk just gets harder to clean the longer you leave it. Tasks such as clearing out your wardrobe can be done twice a year. Having a schedule – written and placed on the inside door in the laundry, for example – means you have a plan and know what you need to do when you need to do it.

Ensure everyone in the house is aware of your systems. It means they’ll develop good habits and automatically return items to designated spots. In no time, your home will become a well-oiled machine.

Jennifer Fleming is author of six books including Completely Spotless. Buy it through the ABC Shop. Follow her on Twitter.

Busy, busy, busy here in design-land.  So busy, in fact that I can’t write much for this post because I’ve got to get back to designing.  However, I couldn’t let you down on giving you a sneak peek at a few of the blog design projects I’m working on right now.  Check it out:

As the title of this blog “The Savvy Grandma” would suggest, this grandma has CLASSY taste and we had to make the design show that.  She wanted something very simple, homey and classic-looking.  She loved the idea of using a pic of a white door with a wreath on it, which we have incorporated into the design.  She really wanted to use blue-tones.  I found a lot of these pictures where blue was used for decorating to inspire our color palette, patterns and design.  Expected completion date: Friday, December 11th.

Whenever a client orders a design project, I always send them my design questionnaire to get a feel of what style, look and feel they’re looking for.  The typical adjectives I hear clients use to describe what they want is “vintage/retro.”  Carrie of “This Mama Makes Stuff” was a perfect example of how we all tend to think of those terms differently.  Some think vintage means victorian era, while others think vintage means early 1900′s.  Retro is similarly broadly used.  The client behind this design wanted “vintage” and I was thinking vintage as in 1950′s.  My first proof showed this kind of design.  It didn’t appeal to her at all and she was frustrated because she wasn’t sure how to describe what she wanted.  I told her to send me pictures of anything – clothing, room decor, etc. – that had the look and feel of what she wanted in her design.  It worked like a charm.  Carrie used to be a clothing designer so, not surprisingly, she sent me a lot of clothing pics.  From that, I saw that her idea of vintage/retro was mostly rooted in 1970′s design and {ba-da-bing!} we were communicating on the same page and have created a blog design that fits her style.  Expected completion date: Friday, December 18th.

Sidenote: I really believe that good blog design reflects the blogger behind the blog, almost as if an extension of that blogger’s personality.  By getting to know the blogger’s style – fashion, decorating, etc. – I can tell a lot about the direction their design needs to go.

I’ve more projects to unveil soon, so stay tuned next week and I’ll try to showcase some more.  Also, on Friday I have a big ol’ special treat for you!  Woot!  I can hardly wait to tell you!

Blog design availability: I am still accepting blog design clients who need their design completed by the end of the year.  I will only be doing this for a week or so more, depending on my work-load, so if you’re anxious to get your new look going before 2010, send me an email (quinn{at}createdbychicks{dot}com).  xoxo

At the Startup Princess Image + Media Academy I made a complete, goofy fool of myself to Sarah Ward, founder of Cable Car Couture. I was giddy to meet her and – sadly – didn’t have much restraint when I finally did meet her. It was very embarrassing and I’m sure she questioned whether or not I was a stalker. Oh dear. Luckily, however, she is one of the sweetest gals I’ve ever met. She gave me a second chance and we became fast friends.

Sarah Ward is a 20-something Image Management Consultant who loves to helps people look and feel their best. She loves expressing herself artistically through jewelry design, flamenco dancing and music composition. Sarah has been an educator for the last 10 years. She thrives off of meeting new people and networking and has been featured on Good Things Utah and BridesAccess.com TV. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, she now resides in Orem, Utah with her husband Tim and kitten Ginger.

1. Why is creativity important to you?

I am an artistic creature, through and through. It’s the twinkle in my eye, the skip in my step. Creativity is definitely what adds flavor, culture and spice to life. Creativity, for me, is self-expression.

2. What do you enjoy creating the most?

Happy encounters! While beautiful ensembles, jewelry and music definitely add beauty to the world, it’s the encounters and relationships with other inspiring people that really send me over the moon.

3. Do you have any fears when creating? Are your family & friends supportive of the things you create?

My fears have to do with doing the same thing twice. Sometimes I worry that talent, this Midas touch, will run out. I was blessed to grow up in an environment that nurtured and encouraged creativity. One of my earliest memories is drawing on my bedroom wall. My parents are both artists and gave us full reign over creating masterpieces, even on the most random places, like the bedroom wall. That license to create has permeated throughout my life and enabled me to try new things, and create in new, exciting ways.

4. How do you find time to create?

Evenings and weekends are awesome for being creative. Sometimes I feel absolutely compelled to strap on my flamenco shoes, or lift the lid of the piano and that just takes over. Spontaneity is something that totally nourishes that creative flair.

5. Words of inspiration to creative chicks:

Cultivate friendships with other creative women. It really helps to get me moving when I see other women sharing their art with the world. Nourish what inspires you! Even if your art is something that doesn’t pay the bills, there’s nothing like cultivating a creative venture that propels you forward, infuses your life with joy and light and inspires other creative chicks around you!

Isn’t Sarah delightful?!  And she absolutely oozes creativity.  You can’t help but feel more creative when around her.  I love her fashion sense; we have very similar style preferences.  Check out Sarah’s fab fashion site/blog at CableCarCouture.com.  And when you get the chance to meet her, don’t worry if you’re a blubbering fool like I was.

——————————————————

Sarah is hosting a fantastic giveaway on her blog for a Nepali Cashmere ruffle scarf – go RUN over to enter to win; just have to leave a comment.  Also, Nepali is offering the ultimate contest for creative chicks to design a scarf.  The winner will have their scarf created and sent to them!!!  How fun is that?!  Get your creative juices flowing and submit your design for a chance to win!

Lately I’ve been working on completing a lot of design projects as well as starting some new ones.  I’m having a blast; I love blog design!  I thought today it would be interesting to show you the process of a recent client’s design.  Every client begins by answering my design questionnaire which gives me a good idea of the style, look and feel the client is looking for in their design.  At first we thought we’d go with an old-time look for this design:

But after they saw this proof, they decided they wanted a more simplified design.  They had said they wanted purple incorporated into the design.  From their questionnaire and their response to the first proof, it seemed like the style they were looking for was similar to an invitation/bridal look.  I found this image online that guided me in color/style combos:

Then I put together a few more design proofs for them to evaluate:

This one had kind of a victorian, vintage wedding feel (above).

This design was EXTREMELY basic and simplified (above).

And this design (above) was the one the client selected from the proofs.  It’s simple, classy and feminine.  I’m excited to see the header installed to see the complete look.  This is for a brand new blog that’s being started.  It was a lot of fun to design.  And here’s the coordinating button:

To follow-up, I recently finished PheMomEnon.Blogspot.com’s site.  Click on the button I designed for her below to see the full design on her site:

I loved designing PheMomEnon’s site, too.  We have some more finishing touches coming up in the future, so stay tuned for more yumminess!

It’s Monday.  The weekend is over; it went by so quickly… it always does.  However, I have a feeling that this is going to be a GREAT week for all of us!!  It’s in the air!

Mondays I like to share a little about my design work, thus the title “Design Monday.”  Today I’m going to share “what I’m cookin’” (working on).  Whenever a design is ordered, I create a “design file” to use as reference during the creation process.  I have the client send me links to designs they like and links to the style they like.  I also have them suggest fonts and colors that they love and could possibly see using in their design.  I ask a lot of questions to feel out exactly what style and feel they want their design to have.  Everyone has a different preference and I really like each of my designs to well-represent that client’s tastes and personality.

Here are two design files from a few blog design projects I’m working on right now:

Emily wants a really retro theme to her new blog design.  She is looking for something sassy.  She loves Diet Coke so when we found the vintage Coca Cola ad, we thought it was the perfect fit for the feel of the blog.  She also likes paisley so we’re finding ways to incorporate that into her design.  She sent me this image of an Anthropologie display window because she thought the design would fit well with her theme (& she just LOVES Anthropologie).  Em is also a big fan of chocolate so we’re pulling all of these images and genres together to create something really special and unique.  Em’s blog has been really fun to work on!  Expected completion date: Nov. 20th.

Holly is looking for a sophisticated, but warm blog design.  She sent me the image of the cupboard door and picture frames to show me the country, rustic feel she also wants incorporated into her design.  Holly is a food blogger, so we felt it was important to put a gorgeous food pic into her header.  This cupcake pic has the feel we’re looking for: it has sophistication while also being warm and inviting.  Holly feels that her writing style is very non-pretentious so she’s been very concerned that readers will feel welcome and not intimidated by her blog design.  I envision her blog design to be like enjoying homemade goodies on a beautiful country porch with friends.  Holly’s design has been delicious fun to create!  Expected completion date: Nov. 11th.

I can hardly wait to finish both of these designs and unveil them to you!  I’ve really enjoyed working with both of these creative women and together we’ve come up with some really fantastic design ideas.

If you’d like to get your blog design or other design project on my schedule, contact me quickly.  I am booked through Thanksgiving and the wait is only going to get longer.

Also, I’m now an Etsy seller – woot!  You can purchase my design work at my brand-spankin’-new Etsy store, or by emailing me directly at quinn{at}createdbychicks{dot}com.