What I like about what I do
Designing takes me on a creative journey and a process of discovery unique to every project I work on. I get to create for a living - art and products that trigger attitudes, emotions and/or actions. It’s a great feeling of accomplishment to be able to creatively solve a problem. What else is the process of design, if not creative problem solving?
Edgar Degas, said it so beautifully: “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
Design is always present. It affects our lives in ordinary, mundane, as well as remarkable ways, and most of the time we are not even aware of it. It’s satisfying and humbling being part of this process!
How I came to do what I do
I remember enjoying pencil drawing as a kid, something I rediscovered not long before starting the Graphic Design program. However, photography has always been my passion.
When applying for college, I chose the Design program over Photography, a little by chance. I didn’t have enough money to afford all that the Photography program required.
While in the Graphic Design program, I saved enough eventually and bought a film camera. Along with the few photo classes I took , I studied and researched photography at length, on my own.
I started creating marketing templates as a way to give back and say thank you to the photographers who took the time to help me and answer my questions. And that's how EW Couture Collection was born.
Outside of creating photo templates and surface patterns designs I like to...
I am very passionate about what I do and while it is more than a job for me, it is not my life.
I enjoy cooking for my husband and our 3 children. It’s my happy place. …I love the bounty of flavors in Italian food, especially!
When I am not creating art or something new in the kitchen, I am playing and laughing with the kids and Paul, kissing boo-boos, reading, or we are out as a family. I am still fascinated with the ways the kids experience and discover life every day.
I am always ready to read a good book. My favorite movies are probably the Incredibles, Gladiator and The Martian. Making others smile makes me content. I would like to visit Prague soon, and I dream of planting my own vegetable garden and a butterfly garden in our back yard.
all family and artist photographs courtesy of Velvet Owl Photography/Heidi Haden
Random facts about me
In no particular order...
1. I was born in Europe, Romania. For the curious, Romanian is Latin based and sounds a lot like Italian.
2. I grew up in Transylvania, but no vampire encounters to report on ;)
3. I’ve never broken a bone, but scraped my knees plenty as a child.
4. My favorite weekday is Tuesday.
5. One on one conversations with new faces are still an adventure, and take me way out of my comfort zone.
6. I won a Silver Letterhead Award in a Neenah Paper’s Paperworks Competition with one of my first projects soon after finishing school. The fear that I wasn’t as talented as they thought I was, was greater than the excitement. I wish I would've been more laid back and allowed myself to fully enjoy the experience.
7. I shared this with only one person ever, until now …I never followed up with Neenah Paper rep's phone message and invitation to meet over lunch, after receiving that award. ...Don't feed the fears!
8. I get attached to people and places, and I get my sense of home from belonging. And when it comes time for big changes, even for the best, I cry a little for what's lost, before I can fully take in the new and move on.
9. I can’t focus on work unless my desk and office are organized. Clear space, clear mind.
10. Stationery and designer pencils are a couple of my guilty pleasures.
11. I am in the habit of buying pretty blank journals and not filling them up. ...Eye candy and inspiration for uninspired days.
12. I've been married for 20 years, and I have never liked my husband more.
For two years out of the twenty, I routinely got asked “And you are still married to each other?” For two years, while working for the same company, we carpooled for 1 and 1/2 hours every weekday, and shared an office, desks 6 feet away from each other. …I married my best friend and my forever mate. I love him dearly and I always will. Even those days when the going gets hard. Because let’s be honest it’s life, and life is like a box of chocolates.
13. When I first stepped in a design lab 20 years ago, I knew very little about computers and not knowing how to use them terrified me. Much has changed since then.
14. Behind the Stories (by Diane Eble) and Abundant Living: 364 Daily Devotions (by E. Stanley Jones) are two of my most favorite books that I like to randomly pick up and read. Bite sized wisdom on every page.
15. A perfect day out has my husband in it, a honey lavender latte + a pastry at Bent Willow Bakery and a drive through the mountains.
In a Nutshell...
I have a passion for creating designs that allow the photographs and memories you hold dear, take the spotlight, and patterns that tell stories …Products that bring joy and become treasured and cherished family keepsakes.
I am inspired by everyday people doing kind things, by rainy afternoons, watercolors, and currently, handmade everything - especially handmade typography and hand lettering.
I am an illustrator, pattern designer and photo greeting card designer, with a studio based in North Carolina and serving clients worldwide.
I design and create artwork for brands and their products - art that elevates the brand experience, tells authentic stories and sparks enthusiasm and delight; Art that creates a connection with your ideal client and engages them.
Together with my husband and three children, I live by a lake, surrounded by ducks, geese and wildlife, in a small town nestled in North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains.
When I am not creating, I am most likely cooking, playing a card or a board game, out on a drive and doing life with the kids and Paul, - or reading.
My little secret...
Photography is my first love, stirs my soul, and inspires and enriches my work still.
If you want to know me better and see the world through my eyes, click the image bellow. It will take you to my old photography blog and photo galleries. Enjoy! :)
