These past few months, I have had the privilege of working with Jon and Christie Hendersen, owners of Old Mill Feed & Garden in Dallas, Oregon. They contacted me back in October, looking to update their existing website. They wanted to incorporate a couple things into their new site: a fresh look that had a modern-vintage feel, organization and consistency on all pages, and modern, functional technology. They also wanted to be able to update their website easily with minimal help from me. I immediately thought that WordPress would be the best option for them.

After I designed and produced the site, I hired my friend, and former classmate, Lem Canady to do the complex WordPress development on the site. He has done a fantastic job getting it made and setup, all while in school (kudos!). Throughout the process I made sure to choose features that would be easy for Old Mill to understand and update. All in all, I’m very happy with the results, and so are they!

I really love Old Mill’s slogan, “Everything Old is New Again,” and took it to heart when designing this site. They understand and embrace the trend that old items can be refreshed for a modern-vintage feel. You can see this from the type choices to the page layouts. I’m confident it will serve them well in the years to come.

The home page has a slideshow, information on the current coupon, and list of upcoming events.

Old Mill now has a clear and informative list of their major upcoming events, photo galleries to showcase them, and a calendar to see what’s ahead.

Old Mill specializes in Livestock, Pets and Garden feed and supplies. Each of these categories has its own pages on the site, for both products and resources.

The other areas of the site include an “About” page, and a “Contact” page. Both inform the viewer, and serve their purpose well.

I’ve had so much fun getting to know Jon and Christie throughout this process. They have been wonderful clients! I can really tell that they put a lot of care into their business, and I’m happy to say that I was a part of it. Check out the site, and let me know what you think!

Free Giveaway! I’m offering a free customized version for the first ten people to request it! You will receive a high quality version of the design with the locations and color of your choice. Contact me by commenting on this blog or emailing holly@hollyamlin.com.

Be sure to include the following when you send your request:

• 3 Locations (City, State)
• Color Choice
• 3 Labels for the Locations
• Your Name and Email

Here’s a little about how I made it:

Last week I was looking for something to make for my husband for Valentine’s Day, and stumbled across this on Pinterest. Its a tutorial from the blog mimimoz on how to create a “Love Map”. I enjoy cutting, gluing and sanding picture frames as much as the next graphic designer, but I wanted to put a modern twist on this idea.

"Love Map" from mimimoz

I call mine the “Graphic Designers Version” of the shabby-chic tutorial (which can be seen above).

I chose to use the place we met, got engaged, and got married. I wanted to give the design an elegant, modern feel, so I simplified it until it reflected those qualities. After illustrating the heart shape, I took screen shots of our important places from Google Maps to put inside. I added some type below the hearts (the lovely Lavanderia, available free from Lost Type Co-Op), and printed my creation on my highest quality photo paper.

This design can easily be customized for any size or style. If you’d like one of your own, let me know! It makes a perfect gift for Valentine’s Day!

With This Ring Wedding and Event Planning is owned by Katie Zuniga, a wedding and event planner. She is a part of the Studio 430 team, and contacted me to create a website for her business. She felt like she needed to expand from using a blog to using a full-fledged website. A website is a great way to drive traffic your way, and to showcase your work! Katie and her husband Joshua came up with the design that they wanted for the site, and asked me to bring it to life.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Katie throughout the 2 month process of getting the site online! She’s very organized, and I can tell that she loves her work. Be sure to look for her at the upcoming Oregon Wedding Showcase in Salem, Oregon.

Below you will see a sampling from the website, enjoy!

The Home page introduces the viewer to the whimsical, beautiful style that With This Ring is known for.The pages of the About section, like the one above, give clear information to the viewer.Included is a page highlighting Studio 430, located in downtown Salem, Oregon.Above is a list of the services that With This Ring provides, is clearly laid out for clients to refer to.One of my favorite pages, above, highlights the weddings that With This Ring has done in the past.Click on a thumbnail, and you see a beautiful layout of pictures from each wedding.Above is a reference for any potential client, a list of Katie’s preferred vendors.
Finally, a contact page is utilized to give potential customers an easy way to reach With This Ring.

Recently, I have been trying to harmonize my branding identity across the various forms of social media that I use. As a part of this venture, I revitalized my business card design. They were delivered today, and I had to share the results! The back of the cards have the same sparkly sand picture that you see on both my facebook and twitter accounts.

I hope you enjoy the fresh new look just as much as I do.

I met up with the Bassett-Smith family the day after Christmas to take pictures of them while their family that was in town. Also, their son, my good friend, Trevor, was home from the Peace Corps for the holidays. There were a lot of special moments to capture, to say the least! The shoot took place at their home, which was perfect low-stress option for the little kids.

It was a treat to spend time with this happy family, and I’m glad that they chose me to capture their special moments this Christmas. Below you’ll see a couple pictures from the shoot, and if you would like to see them all check out my flickr set : Bassett-Smith Family Shoot.

My friend Courtney asked me to draw up a tattoo sketch for her a little while ago, and she wanted it to say “Faith Hope Love”. I showed her a few typefaces, and she liked this one the best. I customized the font, and drew up this layout for her. She loved it!

Below are some pictures of the design. I’ll be sure to update this when she actually gets inked!

After Courtney got her tattoo! It looks great!

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take pictures of the Torres family. They were quite the happy bunch, despite the freezing temperatures that day. We used Willamette Mission Park as the setting for the shoot, as it was holding onto its fall color and feel better than some of the other local parks. The Torres’ are avid sports fans (especially football), and wanted to bring that into the shoot. They each wore a jersey from one of their favorite teams, and we had a lot of fun using “football poses”.

They timed their shoot perfectly, and got their pictures back right in time for their Christmas cards. I had a lot of fun with this happy family! If you’re interested in your own family shoot, be sure to contact me by phone 503.580.0296 or email holly@hollyamlin.com. Enjoy! 

Every Fall I go to E.Z. Orchards to check out their HarvestFest. This time, I went with my mom. We grabbed some hot cider, then headed out into the corn maze (hoping not to get lost). It was a beautiful day, much warmer than we expected for this time of year. We had a lot of fun walking around the maze and the pumpkin field. We made sure to stop and look at the animals in the petting zoo, and got a kick out of the pigs. They would fight over food, and make all these smacking noises while they were eating (all gums, haha). We headed over to the market to buy some apple cider to take home, and admired all the fall products on display before we left.

Below you can see some of the pictures that I took while we were there. If you get a chance, check out E.Z Orchards, it was a lot of fun!

Just wrapped up editing pictures from an engagement session I did last week. Kristin and David were such a great couple to work with! We met up at Illahe Vineyards in Dallas, Oregon, on a wonderful sunny day. Below you’ll see a sample of the final images. If you want to see the rest, check out my facebook album: Engagement Pictures: Kristin & David.

If you’re interested in a portrait session of your own, be sure to let me know! Contact me either by phone 503.580.0296 or email holly@hollyamlin.com.

My Fiance, Greg, and I have decided to work on a photo project together. We want to decorate our place a little more, and decided to hone in on our living room walls. We’re getting married soon, and have been given a few wedding gifts so far that really add some nice decor to our space. We wanted to add something with a personal touch to make our space feel a little more like ours.

We bought several picture frames at thrift stores, of various sizes, and we’re going to arrange them on one of our walls. We decided to tell a story with the pictures we use. Displaying our favorite things from one of our favorite towns would be the most sentimental to both of us. Newport, Oregon has a lot of significance to us as a couple (our first date in 2007, and the place Greg proposed a little over a year ago to name a couple things).

Below is a sampling of the pictures that we took. There are larger versions on my flickr if you’re interested. I hope that you enjoy seeing a little glimpse of what is special to us!