Today, I was surprised to find a box full of iPop magnets and paperweights featuring Joel’s designs on our front porch. Joel mentioned he was working with this company a few months ago, but I completely forgot about it until I opened up the box. It was like opening an unexpected Christmas present!

I can’t wait to use them on every possible magnetic surface in my home; in fact, I might need to procure a few more magnetic surfaces to display these little beauties all over the house. Gift-giving for Christmas…hmmm…I know what our friends and neighbors are getting.

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If you are wondering where the inspiration for Joel’s latest line, Deer Valley came from, check out this interview he did for Kim Kight, the editor of the blog, True Up. I know my husband is a good writer, but I was really quite impressed with how articulate he was in answering her questions.

He didn’t make up the part about deer entertaining us all winter long. Seeing the beautiful deer in our yard almost every day was one of the few bright spots during what felt like an interminable winter here in Utah after moving from warm, sunny Florida.

One of the most enjoyable working “dates” Joel and I had earlier this year was to do the photo shoot for the home page of his website. When you are a small operation like we are, you don’t have the budget for a professional model, so Joel volunteered me for the job. Heck, after stressing myself out to sew the dress, I guess I should have been really excited to own that photo shoot and showcase my handiwork. Once I relaxed a bit, it was fun to have Joel photograph me, and more importantly, the dress in such a beautiful (albeit freezing) setting.




We have had dozens of requests for the pattern of the dress I’m wearing in these photos. If you are wondering yourself, I used the NEWLOOK 6748 pattern which can be found at Walmart. The only changes I made to the dress were to make the yoke out of a coordinating print, and then I added a border along the bottom edge of the skirt out of that same print. I know the pattern says it's for knits only, but it worked with the lightweight cotton fabric.
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Before you begin reading this post, you should know this is not Joel writing; it is Laurie, Joel’s wife. I tell you this, not to disappoint you, I just want you to know who’s “voice” you are reading.

You might wonder why Joel hasn’t had a blog before now. We are tech-savvy individuals, we understand the value a blog can have in promoting a business and we have had really good intentions of starting before now; really we have. We’ve just had a few distractions get in the way of those good intentions.

We don’t want to make excuses, but the following reasons might explain our delayed entry into the “blogosphere”:

1) We moved across the country from Florida to Utah six months ago, and it has taken us longer to get settled than we originally thought.

2) We don’t have any other employees; this is truly a two-person operation, so there are too many other things that demand our attention before blogging.

3) Joel has been busy designing a new line of fabric (due out in the winter) that, in my mind anyway, is his best yet!

4) We have been working on a book that, again, has taken us way longer to finish than we initially thought.

5) We have four children; if that’s not distraction enough…I’m sorry, where was I? One of our children just threw a book into my bowl of cereal and splashed milk all over the desk. I’m not kidding. It’s as though he were saying, “Here mommy. Let me help you authenticate that last statement.”

I have been fascinated with Joel’s design talent ever since we met in college and I witnessed first-hand his success as a graphic design student. From that time almost 13 years ago to now, I’ve been fortunate to have his talent add a rich dimension of creativity to our marriage and family life. Simply put, it’s amazingly cool to be married to him!

I love writing on our personal family blog, so Joel asked me to help him with his professional blog as well. Most of the time I will be the one posting here, but you will occasionally “hear” from Joel as well. He’s got to handle the more important part of actually designing though. I am his sounding board for his creative process.

We are ready to share our creative world with you and give a glimpse into our chaotic but rewarding life as a married couple, parents, designers and crafters. We love all things related to design and creativity and enjoy being able to share this passion together and now with you!
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