Stylish Jewelry Holder

One of the favorite gifts I received this year was this jewelry holder. Finally a stylish way to travel with your jewelry instead of a zip lock bag!

Ace Pear Cider

Instead of bringing in the new year with champaign pour some bubbly Ace Pear Cider in your flutes. Your guests will be glad you did!

Make-Up Artistry

All you brides out there! Check out Julie's new site and book her today for your makeup. She does amazing work.

http://juliestrating.com/

View Amy Carroll's photo shoot to see more of her work.

Creative Twist

I was delighted to receive this card in the mail from Gilson Graphics. I knew the minute I felt the envelope that a surprise laid inside. The design of this card is really creative and the paper they printed the card on is gorgeous. I think the gift tags are just adorable!

Worth the Wait

I've been waiting all year to receive this basket for my birthday. A couple years ago I saw women carrying them at the farmer's market and at first site I always wanted one. Now I am a happy owner! Pick yours up today at Art of the Table.

ICKY Bag

One of my favorite gifts I'm giving this year is the ICKY bag. I found these adorable, locally made bags at the Beneath the Tree event a few weeks back. They are a lined bag so you can store wet stuff, food, cosmetics etc... inside. I drool over the fabrics every time I look at them. Order yours from etsy!

Homemade Magnets

I made these magnets for a fabulous friend of mine and you can too! Print your designs out on your computer, cut some recycled cardboard for the backing, glue a magnet to the back and adorn your magnets with jewels. I also coated mine with some mod podge to make the paper a littler sturdier. If you're not up to making your own designs go and grab some awesome patterned papers from Hobby Lobby or Michaels and add some jewels. Viola you have some hip magnets and a gift that your friends will love!

Add Pizazz to your Gifts

I love a fabulously wrapped gift. The wrapping means just as much to me as the gift! This season think about adding some pizazz to your gifts by attaching ornaments, twigs, ribbon and more. Visit your local craft shop and dig through the $1 twigs and holly or stop in at the dollar store and pick up ornaments and bells for $1! Remember this after the holiday season and pick them up at 50% off for next year!

The Gift of Time

Do you have friends and family that have everything and never put anything on their Christmas list? We go from store to store hoping to find something they'd love and just end up buying something random. This year for my parents my family decided to give the gift of time. We all put together fun themed baskets with notes inside that say, a day on the boat, an evening in Rockford, a dinner at the Stray Dog... In our busy lives all we really want as a family is to spend time together. The memories of laughter and good chats last a lot longer then a random gift from Target. Get creative and think of activities that your friends or family would love to do and go with a theme!

14 days till Christmas

Order your holiday cards this weekend to get them arriving in mailboxes before Christmas!

Holiday Cheer

I received my all time favorite card of the holiday season the other day from a dear friend. It doesn't get sweeter and cuter then this delightful little snow man who says "Thanky Very Much" Thanks for the laugh till my stomach hurt my dear friend and for the best homemade gift of the season.

Break out the crayola crayons and glitter this season and create your family and friends a homemade greeting.

Congratulations Sara, Mark & Big Brother Leo!

Free Desktop Wallpaper

Download this months free winter wallpaper:

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The Gift of Play Date Calling Cards

Order the hip mom in your life a set of play date calling cards for Christmas. Set of 32 cards for $13 or a set of 16 cards for $8. Order via email joylverheul@gmail.com.

See the full collection >>

Personalized Christmas Photo Cards

View my entire collection >>

Photo Christmas Cards

Order your custom photo cards for the holiday season. Sets of 30 for $30.

Give the gift of monogram note cards

Order your set of custom monogram note cards for the perfect stocking stuffer. Find one on my web site you like or let me design you something new! Set of 30 for $35. Order yours today!

Homemade Christmas Gift Idea

I love this easy homemade Christmas gift for my friends and family that love to read. Purchase any combination of beads and string and you've got a book thong! Also this week just in time for the holidays beads are half off at Hobby Lobby!

Get your Christmas Cards this Weekend!

Stop by Beneath the Tree this weekend and purchase your cards without having to pay shipping. Pay $5 to tour 5 homes and shop from over 100 artists to get one of a kind unique gifts for the holidays.

Tour and shop on Friday from 11am to 9pm and Saturday from 9am to 1pm.
The address of the first home is: 2297 Pleasant Pond Dr. Byron Center
From there you will receive a map on where the other homes are located.

I'll also be selling an assortment of my engraved tiles at this event. I'll be strolling around shopping myself Saturday morning so I hope we run into each other!

www.joylverheul.etsy.com

Today I opened my etsy store! I'm super excited about it!!

Not all of my holiday cards are uploaded to the site yet. View my entire collection on my web site:

www.joylverheul.com/makemerry.htm

If you're looking for a custom photo card drop me an email (joylverheul@gmail.com) as I will not be posting them on etsy.

Don't see anything you absolutely love? I'm taking custom orders daily and would be happy to create you a one of kind design!

Happy Shopping!

An Evening in Douglas

Now that these cold evenings are upon us it's time to find cozy restaurants to enjoy a glass of wine and food by the fire. Be sure to add The Wild Dog Grille to your list. If you head out early enough you can hit up the shops. They have the village all decorated for Christmas already and it's like a storybook.

Musical Inspiration

I love listening to music while I design. Actually I can't design without it. I get in a routine where I keep listening to the same disc over and over. When I'm surfing or Google chatting I can listen to anything and put my itunes on shuffle but when I need to get down to business and really crank out some work I fall back on two discs over and over. The National, The Boxer and Arcade Fire, Neon Bible. If you don't have either of these discs go out and get them today. You'll be amazed what they do to your inspiration and creativity!

Logo on 8th Street

Strolling downtown Holland yesterday I wanted to make sure I made a stop at Greg's Greatlakes Database company to check out the logo I designed a few months back. Pretty cool seeing it on the door right on 8th street!

Presidential Logos & the Red White and Blue!

Amidst all the commercials and ads for the campaign I must say I've enjoyed watching the graphics in the backgrounds of the debates, how all the talk and news shows added political jazz to their sets and how the candidates are using their presidential logos. When doing research on the candidates I was amazed at both Web sites and how well they were done. I was impressed with how Obama's Web site used their logo on their people pages so nicely. So creative and well done caring the logo through to every last piece. Enjoy all the red, white and blue this evening!

Free Desktop Wallpaper

Happy November! Here's a free desktop wallpaper for you to enjoy!

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• 1024x768
• 1152x864

Save the Date

Mark you calendars for November 21 and 22 for the Beneath the Tree home tour and artist event. There will be over 100 artists on display selling their art in different homes in the Byron Center and Grandville area. I'm having a table at one of the homes this year which I'm really excited about. Take a friend, do some shopping and get inspired on how to decorate your home for the holidays! More information coming soon!

Peace on Earth Card

Ning's Friendly Help

I've been crawling around Ning debating about starting a social network and I had a question I wanted to ask and was filling out the form and came across a question that asked "I'm Feeling..." and thought how funny. Here I was a little confused because I couldn't find what I was looking for and once I read that question I thought...hmm....what am I feeling? I'm sure it helps frame the response you get back. Right away I was like, "oh, they care about my question." Also it probably helps them rate customer satisfaction and even gives them clues about user navigation. So smart!

Before and After

Design Frenzy

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been a design maniac getting ready to launch Christmas cards! For now you can enjoy this one...

Philosophy eau de parfum

I saw this in Sephora today and fell in love with the simplicity of the packaging and just had to pick it up off the shelf and smell it. Well, needless to say it came home with me... I ended up with inner grace but they all smell fabulous (state of grace, amazing grace, pure grace, and baby grace). Happy shopping!

Business Cards Arrived!

Showing you the way to Victory!

I designed this logo for some wonderful friends of mine starting up a ministry to spread the Word to college students. "Showing you the way to Victory" is the tag line of this clean, crisp logo. The top logo will be used for the overall ministry and when they're specifically reaching college students they will use



Thanks Razel and Camille for this fabulous project. It was an honor to be a part of your ministry and I can't wait to see how God works through you to expand His kingdom!

Stay tuned for the Web site...

Brilliant Advertising

As a designer I just love it when I see an ad and think, "That's Brilliant!" This ad is fresh, catchy, intelligent, and made me stop and just stare in awe...

Moonflowers

Having a moon flower in your garden is a necessity. The beautiful white trumpets open at dusk and remain open into the morning and then wilt in the light. If you have a patio or deck that you frequent in the evenings or early mornings plant one of these in view and enjoy it all summer and into the fall.

Masha D'yans Designs

I love sending notes the old fashion way -via the mailbox. I love Masha's cards and every time I'm in target I have to buy a few. I am definitely putting one of her prints on my Christmas list.

Happy October

The Gallery

I'd like to live at The Gallery just based off of this cool sign! This sign made me stop dead in my tracks and I just had to snap a photo of it. I love how the frames have both male and female characteristics. I can't wait to see what the building is going to look like.