Monday Spotlight On: Amanda Brandenberg of Ninth Street Notions

We're going to be doing things a little differently this lovely Monday morning.  Instead of interviewing a crafter about her shop, I'm asking our test subject, Amanda, about her blog instead.  (Though she also has an Etsy shop, which you'll find the link to at the end). I truly believe writing is just as much of an art as anything I've mentioned on my blog.  A resident of Oregon, she lives with her husband and a little dog too!

Tell us three things about yourself. 

I have a BA in English from Eastern Oregon University. My favorite color is orange. And I’m afraid of squirrels. (It’s true – I was once attacked by one.)

 

What’s your medium and how did you get into it? 

I craft and sew, but my main passion is blogging.

 

What’s your favorite post you’ve made? 

It would probably have to be "Why I Gave Up On Sewing". This post was personal and important to me because I was just getting back into sewing again. I received a lot of comments from people with similar struggles.

 

From where do you take inspiration? 

I like to look around at what is going on in my life – my projects and activities. But I also like to see what other people are dealing with and write from there, too.

 

Name one blog you wish you’d created and why? 

A travel blog because I really love to travel and experience new cultures. Unfortunately my budget does not cover everything I’d like to write about.

 

What are you doing when you’re not blogging or crafting? 

I do a lot of volunteer teaching with young ones in my community.

 

If you had to give up your medium and pursue another, what would it be and why? 

Perhaps be a preschool teacher. I love kids at that age – they’re so full of wonder and excitement, and I’d love to capture that every day.

 

Tell us about a time you were writing something that came out better than expected and how it happened. This goes all the way back to college days, before I was into blogging. I wrote an autobiographical piece that was anchored in the concept of time. It took me a couple of drafts. I then took it and submitted it to The Nature of Words writing contest in the non-fiction category and actually won! I try to keep that same autobiographical touch even though I mostly write about crafts, sewing, and cooking.

 

Who is one person living or dead, famous or not, who you wish read your blog and why? 

Jane Austen. Her writing was so ahead of its time in terms of gender roles and equality. I wonder what she would have to say about a woman living in one of the most free periods of time trying to learn all of these fantastic old-fashioned skills.

© Karen Cox 2010

 

What’s your favorite part of the process? 

Pressing “Post.” I love the feeling of having finished a piece of writing and sending it out there into the great unknown to be (hopefully!) discovered by someone else.

 

One random thing you think people should know.

 I usually blog in my jammy-jams. It’s so relaxing to be in your pajamas and working.

 

Your blog address/facebook/Twitter/blog/website. Etc.

Blog: http://ninthstreetnotions.blogspot.com 

Facebook:www.facebook.com/ninthstreetnotions 

Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/ninthstreetnotions

 

If you could go anywhere on Earth at any point in time, where and when would you go and why? Nineteenth-century England. As you may have noticed, I have a bit of obsession with Victorian England’s writers, skills, and lifestyle. I think I might even like wearing corsets if it meant I got to wear really cool dresses, too. It would be so interesting to be in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, along with the cultural and philosophical questions that were coming up at the time.

The Brand Steward

As I've mentioned many times, I am married to a motion graphics/graphic designer who works for a Big Bank. His job at the big bank is to be a 'brand steward.'  That basically means he is a graphic designer whose job is to make their logos/graphics/slogans etc. all super wonderful and extra appealing and nice looking and extra awesome.  But today isn't about what he does for a living, it's about being married to a graphic designer.

I am planning to start advertising more for my shop and blog and have been reaching out to other blogs to see if they would be willing to feature me, as well as looking into advertising on Project Wonderful.  The first thing I realized I would need was a button ad, one of those little 125 px  by 125 px ads you always see in rows down the sides of all your favorite art and craft blogs. I knew the picture I wanted to use and that i very simply wanted it to say "Cursive Arts" at the top, and, of course, that I wanted my lovely husband to design because he is amazing at what he does and while I could have easily cut it down to that size by myself and typed the wording I needed across the top, he could make it look good.


Somehow, I always manage to forget having my husband design something for me is never that simple.  For one, he treats it like I am a client, not just his wife, who isn't going to give him any money for his time. Therefore, he takes it very seriously which usually means what could have been a five-minute job that looks decent becomes a hour-long job that looks fantastic.

But there's the downside. For one thing, my husband and I do not always have overlapping design tastes.  He likes that rounded version of courier, while I like that thinner one.  He is looking at grey-greens while  I'm pleading him to go back to that orange he had up for a moment.  "It''s too bright!" he argues.  "That clashes!" he points out.   And that's just the beginning.  He is also a perfectionist, so while I would have been happy with just text at the top, suddenly it becomes two different fonts, a fade, and this and that, which is awesome, but suddenly everything has gotten much more complicated than I intended and it's past midnight and I'm sleepy and wishing he would be done.  (On a side note, if any one ever needs a motion graphics/graphic designer, now you know my husband will work until you are absolutely satisfied, and as I said before, he is good.  And yes, that needed italics).

And the final thing: he's a brand steward.  Suddenly, designing this little logo that will barely be an inch by and inch on the average computer screen, isn't just about designing a logo.  It is now about making a brand for me.  Now he's asking me what my brand represents, how I would describe it, what it is meant to symbolize. This is both the up and down of being married to a talented graphic designer. Yes, I'm going to get an awesome logo, but it's become entirely more complicated, we're not agreeing on half the design elements, and he even called me a 'problem client' at one point (which, in his defense, is undoubtedly true).

It's nearly one in the morning on a weeknight, and we're talking about what my brand signature should be.  And nn the end, all that designing came down to this little square.





So right now, it's "Cursive Arts: Put a pen to it." Not bad, not bad at all, for it being past bedtime and spur of the moment. However, while I love the design, I think the signature could be better. I would not mind something more all encompassing since, while the majority of what I make is notecards, I would prefer people not add any of their own ink to my other works. If one of you lovely readers can come up with a phrase to describe my work that I like better, I'll send you any notecard four-pack of your choice from my shop. Deadline is next Tuesday, and feel free to spread this about, because the more brains the better, right?

Bloggity Blogs

So I'm featured in two blogs this week. One is the blog of Karina of Crafts By Karina, who I will be interviewing next week.  You can read the blog post here:

http://karinaschallenge.blogspot.com/2011/02/spotlight-thursdaycursive-art.html

The other is the blog is the Printsy team, of which I am a member.  Printsy is a wonderful Etsy team for printmakers only that I thoroughly enjoy being a part of.  They interview a different member on a weekly basis and this past week it was me.  If you'd like to read that post, go here:

http://printsy.blogspot.com/2011/02/interview-with-jessica-guptill.html

Thanks for putting up with my self-promotion! Have a lovely day.