I think the desire to “love what you do” is universal. If you’re involved in the design world, you’ve probably heard of Frank Chimero, a graphic designer, illustrator and writer. I enjoy his take on work, as seen in this Love What You Do set on Flickr.
Another quote worth hanging on to:
“Failure is crucial. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying to get better.”
Do you love what you do?
Categories: it's graphic.
Continuing with my previous post, I found that many people in France enjoy a Kir as an apéritif. Originally the wine used was Bourgogne Aligoté, a lesser white wine of Burgundy. Apparently the wines now used are based on region and the bartender’s choice but often you’ll find a Chardonnay-based Burgundy, like Chablis. In most restaurants, about a 1/4 oz. of cassis is poured in first, and topped with wine.
A Kir Royale is made with champagne instead of wine, and I like to add the cassis last so it floats at the bottom.
Categories: happy hour.
Categories: on the road.
Tomorrow night, head down to support the Mustard Seed and independent boutiques in the Johnson Street shopping area. Fifteen shops are getting together for an evening of 25% off regular priced items from 6pm-9pm. Shop and enjoy some drinks and appys. Also until Dec 20, 2009 you can enter to win $750 in gift certificates with a non-perishable food donation (Proceeds to the Mustard Seed). Still Life will also be featuring a wine tasting with Pender Island’s Morning Bay Winery.
Participating stores:
Still Life, Bliss, Cusp, Mysi, Suasion, Hemingway, Devilish Damsels, Luv It, Flavour, Rebel Rebel, Addiction, North of Wednesday, Paradise Boutique, Only Human, Floating Gold Iceberg
(Links listed if I could find them! Let me know if I’ve missed any.)
Categories: locals only.
Check it out! The Beth Campbell Creative Shop is now open, with 2 limited edition collections of greeting cards and custom greeting cards. This venture sprouted from my roots as an artist, putting pencil/paint/pen to paper. May that inspire you to skip that next email and share a hand-written note with a friend or loved one. More personal stationary items and gift tags to come!
I know, sounds exciting. It is Monday after all. I’ve had many conversations with other small business owners regarding how they keep track of their finances, invoicing etc. If it’s time to graduate from the Excel spreadsheet, or expensive accounting software is bogging you down, I’ve got a few ideas.
For me, it started with Freshbooks, an online invoicing and time tracking tool. No more watching the clock or losing track of time. No more transferring data to Excel invoices. Great for freelancers or service providers, it allows you to send custom invoices by email or snail mail, keep track of expenses and manage contractors. They offer PayPal integration if you’re interested in accepting credit card payments. You can try it free (seamless transition if you decide to sign up) or pay a monthly fee based on how many clients you wish to manage.
Freshbooks works well with Basecamp, a web-based project collaboration tool. Share files, meet deadlines, assign tasks and centralize feedback. Clients can view project status and associated files 24/7 which I find really cuts down on millions of back and forth emails. Clients can view the project timeline and find out what they are responsible for, which helps keep things on track. For accounting purposes, you can import time spent on projects into Freshbooks. If you get in to Basecamp, Timy is a great time-tracking tool.
I just came across Shoeboxed. So get this. You send ALL of your random receipts in to them (by mail, fax, email, from your phone) and they scan them, and organize them in a tidy online account. You can actually view your real receipts by clicking on the online entry. They have automatic categorization and will also keep track of your contacts – all you have to do is send in a business card! Integrates with Freshbooks. Dying to hear of anyone who has tried this!
MailChimp is a email marketing tool and list manager. Integrations with WordPress, Twitter and Salesforce make MailChimp a pretty powerful social networking tool. Store up to 500 subscribers for FREE.
Categories: bits & bytes.
1000 Full colour 4″x6″ super thick premium offset glossy flyers for only $99!!! Perfect for custom postcards or promos. Order must be placed by December 15th.
Categories: newsflash.
It’s a rainy, blustery afternoon. If I had the choice, I’d envision my Friday evening going something like this:
X2 Resort Koh Samui, Thailand
I guess I’ll just have to try their “national cocktail” instead:
Siam Sunray Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
30-40 ml. of Smirnoff vodka
30 ml. of coconut liqueur
15 ml. of syrup
¼ cm. of Thai chilli pepper
3 slices of young ginger
1 Kaffir lime leaf
3 slivers of lemon grass
3 drops of lime juice
Soda water
Preparation:
Crush the small Thai chilli pepper, young ginger, Kaffir lime leaf, and lemon grass together in a shaker to bring out the aroma and flavour of the Thai herbs.
Add syrup, lime juice, Smirnoff, and coconut liqueur, and shake well.
Strain into a glass with ice; top up with soda water; garnish with chilli, lemon grass and a slice of lime.
Categories: happy hour.
Keep your eye on my website home page for my new online store featuring various paper goods and stationary. Christmas goodies being launched next week. Here’s a sneak peak!
Christmas greeting card
Categories: newsflash.
Bamberton website
Check out the photos from the remediation process, BC’s largest privately-funded remediation project, or find out what’s in store for the area by checking out the Bamberton website.
The Bamberton project continues to be an ongoing one, find out more about the other materials I’ve worked on for this project here.
Categories: portfolio.
Worth checking out is the Oyster Bar at 614 Humboldt Street in Victoria. An offshoot of their next door neighbour, Pescatores and newly opened this Fall, the deep red room has high-ceilings, a large central bar, booths around the perimeter, and room for a larger gathering by the front window. They offer an impressive selection of fresh oysters by the half shell as well as various cooked versions along with other delights: Pescatores Anti Pasti Platter, Local Albacore Tataki, Crab and Cambazola Stuffed Artichoke Hearts and Apple BBQ Baby Back Ribs. Their cocktail menu is more exciting than most and all of their beers are local. Check out the decent daily deals:
Every Day! • $1
Buck-a-Shuck Until 6pm
Sundays • $6
Glasses of Prosecco
Mondays • $5
Enjoy a $5 cheese plate with the purchase of any wine
Tuesdays • $6
Martini Night
Wednesday • $8
Buck-a-Shuck All Night, Double Super Caesers $8
Thursdays • $5
All Draft Beer $5
Categories: locals only.
Kuler
Kuler:
Probably the most useful. Kuler is a community driven web app that lets your browse color palettes created by others. You can also create your own by using the color wheel, harmony rules, and color sliders. Love the names of the palettes. Today, the most popluar templates include “Christmas Help” and “Orange County”. Also helpful if you’re searching for a paint colour to go with that cushion.ColoRotate: Instead of using two dimensional viewers, it presents color palettes to you in 3d and in real time.
Colour Scheme Designer: You can actually preview what a web template might look like.
Colour inspiration can come from anywhere – nature, your favorite sweater, or a particular mood. I was taken with the palette generated from these J.Crew shoes from their November catalogue. I’ll be putting this image in my back pocket.
Categories: it's graphic.
Dark and Stormy cocktail
Categories: happy hour.
This is the way to kill outdated cabinets, vanilla appliances, old lino and florescent lighting. Check out more inspirational details from Lauren Liess, a wife, mother and Interior Designer at Pure Style Home.
Kitchen before and after
Categories: in the house.
1000 Full colour 4″x6″ super thick premium offset glossy flyers for only $99!!! Perfect for custom postcards or promos. Order must be placed by November 15th.
100 Full colour 13″x19″ Digital Posters for $75! 115lb premium gloss FSC® Certified Stock, Vegtable Soy Based Toner
Get ‘em while they’re hot! Contact me for a re-print or custom graphics.
Categories: newsflash.
Condé Naste recently announced that Gourmet magazine, which been inspiring us in the kitchen with it’s gorgeous delivery of photography, written word and recipes since 1941, will cease publication with the November issue. Three other magazines are also taking the fall – parenting magazine Cookie and the wedding publications Elegant Bride and Modern Bride. My passion for print design coupled with my hereditary addiction to magazines of all kinds has taken a serious hit. What does this transition to online publications mean for the future of magazines, books and the art of reading?
Domino, House & Garden, and Blueprint have also fallen by the wayside this year. I’m reluctant to join the bandwagon, but if change must come, then at least I can spend some more time on my computer mouse-clicking my way through recently launched Lonny, an online magazine founded by Domino alumni Michelle Adams and photographer Patrick Cline. Be patient, it takes a few clicks to get to the good stuff, but there are pages and pages of home decorating inspiration here. Thanks to LB for the hot tip.
Categories: in the house.
A breath of fresh air. We hopped a train from Stockport and arrived in time to take a few snaps on the beach before the sun went down, flood the bar with a little bathwater from Room 100 and be swept out for a night on the town in Brighton with old friends. One very short sleep after, we were back on board a train to London. I could have checked in permanently to the Imperial Hotel. Thanks to my good friend Nicola for the hookup at Holdsworth Hotels. So lucky!
Click on the images to view.
Categories: on the road.
Travel on the mind but not in the budget?
Westjet: System-wide sale, book by November 6, 2009 (11:59 p.m. MST) for travel until December 17, 2009.
Starwood Hotels: Up to 50% off, book by November 10 for stays until January 18 (some hotels have availability until April).
Feeling uninspired in the kitchen? Check out this crazy deal:
Categories: newsflash.
Let’s hear it for the Queen, pies, beer and accidentally climbing 160 steps with luggage in the Underground after a red-eye.
London sites in a day
Categories: on the road.
They collected the thoughts of 30 of the world’s most inspired creative professionals. Architects, designers, authors and leaders of iconic brands.
Then they asked them two questions: “What single example of design inspires you most?” and “What problem should design solve next?”
I appreciated Edwin Chan’s response. These points struck a chord with me:
View the full conversation here.
FOLLOW Beth Campbell Creative | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
Categories: bits & bytes.
French Onion Soup
It’s amazing what you can do with a 3lb. bag of onions. This is a lazy (wo)man’s favorite, and cheap to boot. Great for a day like today, wet and chilly. Even better the next day. You can do without the booze in the recipe, but if can spare some, at least try to throw in some white wine.
Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée
(French Onion Soup)
Serves: 6-8
Active Time: 30mins
Start to Finish: 2-3hrs
3 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 ½ – 3 lbs white or yellow onions, thinly sliced
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
8 cups beef broth, preferably homemade or quality store-bought stock
1 cup dry white wine, such as Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc
¼ cup Cognac or good brandy
Thick slices of baguette, toasted
1 – 1 ½ cups grated gruyère cheese
In a heavy dutch oven (or soup pot), melt butter and oil over medium low heat. Add onions and stir to coat with the butter. Cover and cook over low heat until translucent and wilted, around 10-15 minutes. Remove the cover and turn heat up to medium high. Add the salt and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally while onions begin to brown. Cook until onions are caramelized, a deep brown color, about 30-40 minutes (note: the onions took 2hrs to reduce and brown for the soup I made this week! The onions were extremely juicy. I’m wondering if it was because they were organic?)
Sprinkle flour over onions and cook for 3-4 minutes. Pour in 2-3 cups of beef broth, stirring constantly to incorporate the flour. Add the rest of the broth, cognac and white wine. Bring to a boil and turn heat down to low. Simmer for 1 ½ hours with a loose lid, adding a little water if liquid is evaporating too quickly. Stir occasionally.
At this point you can either go the traditional route and pour soup into individual, oven-safe bowls, or just place everything in the pot. Either way, place bread slices on the soup and top with cheese to completely cover the bread. If gruyere isn’t available, use a stongly flavoured cheese. Broil until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately, with some good, cheap red wine.
(adapted from Julia Child’s The Way to Cook and the Gourmet Cookbook)
La Frégate
On my recent trip to Paris, I had the best onion soup (twice) at La Frégate restaurant. Located on the Left Bank, on the site of the home of Marshal D’Artagnan, who inspired Dumas to write his masterpiece “The Three Musketeeers”. It’s a great place to drop in if you’re visiting the nearby Louvre, Tuilerie Gardens or Musée d’Orsay.
Categories: flavor of the week, on the road.
