Freckle & Speck

Besides go to school, raise children and be the best wife ever I also am a small business owner! 

I make wooden signs! Check out some of my work! 

www.facebook.com/freckleandspeck

Projects on the go!

This semester has been pretty difficult for me. I do not consider myself an "artist" and thus far we have been hand drawing everything! It is fun to grow in an area that I have never really explored but I'm not going to lie... I am very much looking forward to the computer end of things! We do have one computer class, Photoshop, and it has been a ton of fun learning how to use it! 

Here is some of my recent work! 

CKMY color wheel

Here is an illuminated manuscript I did for our history of graphic design class. 

This is a painting done with gauche paint. It is supposed to be an ad for a fishing lodge. 

These are a few ads I did in photoshop. It's going to be fun learning the program better but this was a fun start! 

Hubbard family shield I made when we studied Heraldry in history. The sun, moon and stars represent our little family and how they are my universe and I threw Mickey Mouse in there because my teacher thinks that Disney is my life so I did it to humor him. 

Hope you enjoyed checking out my stuff. I am excited to learn and grow and produce client worthy work in the future!!

Cheers! Ashley 

Pretty Perfect Packaging!

The way a company packages their product has a huge impact on sales. For this assignment we were asked to find packaging that was different and neat. I scoured the web and found some pretty cool packaging ideas. They say "don't judge a book by its cover" but in advertising, people do!! I think its important to put effort into the packaging of your product and it will pay off. I would be willing to pay a few dollars more for a product in a cool bottle or box as opposed to something super plain and boring. 

Here are a few of my favourite finds!

These are a few of my favourite things...

For our intro to Graphic Design class we have been asked to start a blog! I've always wanted to try and make an actual go at one but have never felt I had anything to write about. 

Our first post is supposed to be "An artistic journey of my favourite things". I thought I could use this as a "getting to know you" type exercise, but sharing a few of my favourite things you will get an idea of who I am, what inspires me and what I would love to do after school!

I freaking LOVE Disney. As a kid we watched "The wonderful world of Disney" on Sunday nights as a family and that kick started my love for all things Disney. I have been to Disneyland 3 times (and am going again in December with my little family EEEEK!!) and to Disney World once. Disney is just so magical. I makes anyone feel like their are a kid again and it brings back so many amazing memories as a child. I love sharing my love of Disney with my kids now, introducing them to older movies and enjoying all the new ones with them too. I would LOVE to work for Disney (or Pixar) some day as a Graphic Designer. 

Social media is amazing! I love how it connects people from all over the world who have something in common. I find inspiration via social media daily. Pinterest is my "go to" for ideas and tips. Facebook is great for connecting and networking with past friends and family. Since I have been at PDA (Pacific Design Academy) I have connected with a few friends from high school who are also Graphic Designers. They have been such encouragement to me and I look forward to networking with them once I am done school. Instagram is my other favourite social media site. I love seeing other peoples work, families, trips, and yes... even their food. It makes me feel close to people. 

I spent the majority of summers when I was young in Whitehorse in the Yukon. My mom was born and raised there and all her siblings still live there so when I was young my mom would pack us up in car and we would make the 27 hour drive to nature. I love the Yukon. It is so beautiful and peaceful. My mom was taught by Yukon artist Ted Harrison and I am obsessed with his art. 

 I mentioned in an earlier post that I love interior design. I am always looking for new and fun ideas to decorate my house. I spend a lot of time at home and I want to feel proud and comfortable in my space. These pictures are not of my home, they are just pictures that inspire me and something that I look forward to in the future. 

  

I am loving finding graphic design that inspires me. I really love the "hipster" type feel of logos, but I also really like classic stuff too. I am exited to spend my life creating from things that I have found inspiring in my past. 

Hi, how are ya? I'm Ashley.

Hi! I'm Ashley! 

A mom of two crazy (and I mean CRAZY) boys, a wife to an amazing man named Andrew and now... wait for it.... A STUDENT. That's right. 

As if I didn't have enough on my plate, at the age of 30  (almost 31), I've decided to go back to school. So, here I go! I live in the most beautiful city in the world, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. My husband and I moved here just about a year ago after 2 years of trying to "figure life out". We always said that "when we won the lottery" we would move to Victoria, but we realized we don't play the lottery, so the chances of winning it are pretty slim. If we wanted something, we had to go out there and make it happen!

For the next 2 years I am going to be attending the Pacific Design Academy, studying Graphic Media Design. I am so excited about this. I have always loved design but seemed to lean more towards the interior design aspect of things. I love to decorate my house, playing with new colours and designs (my husband LOVES that... wait, maybe not) but I realized a number of years ago that making a carrier in interior design was going to be tough. With the prices of gas, housing, food etc, people are living on a super limited budget and hiring someone to make their house look pretty when they could do it themselves might not be top priority. Last year I started playing with the idea of going to school. I fought with the idea for quite a while trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I have always wanted to be a Mom and thought I would love staying home with my kids but I started feeling like I needed something more. Don't get me wrong, I love being home with my boys, I miss them all day at school but I needed to do something for me. I figured that if I was going to leave my boys it better be for a good reason. I have a silhouette machine and make wooden vinyl signs in my spare time and love it and that is what lead me to graphic design! I want a job that I LOVE. That excites me, is continually changing, evolving, one that I can do anywhere in the world (even my couch if need be). Making these sings has been such a joy for me, and everyone kept telling me I should do this for a living... so I am!