BryonySeries Bags from Jasmine and Rebekah

Good morning!

Pulling an all-nighter and beyond in the ER on Monday night left me with no energy after work to yesterday to change up the recipe at Sue's Diner. Hopefully I will get to it tonight. 

In the meantime, please check out our slightly modified, but totally Victorian, nineteenth century Independence Cake right here: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner.

The BryonySeries website has a slightly different look since  Timothy reverted it parts of it to an earlier version. The latest version was glitching, and between work, work travel, and working on his master's degree with Daniel, Timothy won't have much extra time until after February. 

In the meantime, look at beautiful BryonySeries bags from Jasmine and Rebekah. After me asking Rebekah for a tote bag or two (she has lots) whenever I leave for an event, Rebekah found a blank one that is perfect for me, and Jasmine personalized it.

Thanks to their kindness and talent, I will look a little more professional and put-together when I go here and there with books and supplies.

This is certainly just one more reason to be thankful this morning.

Happy Wednesday!

Cinnamon Candies, Coffee, and Love

We are a family of little gifts.

That doesn't mean we're cheap (although, maybe we are), but we do like brightening each other's day with, well, stuff.

Like this mouse pad Rebekah ordered for me that (so far) isn't stained with coffee. 

And while Timothy and Daniel were keeping me well-caffeinated over this past working weekend, Rebekah also brought me coffee and a package of these:

These were to replace the BIG bag of Cinnamon Fire Jolly Ranchers that Daniel bought me a few months back.

But since I've been working at home, "others" (who shall remain unnamed) have whittled down the bag's contents, which should have been a lifetime supply.

I like to think that MY role is being present for this large group of adult kids when they need my wisdom and support.

So with that in mind, I am now calling my oldest son. I missed the call thirty minutes ago because my phone was still on silent.

So I had Rebekah call him back to see if it was urgent. 

I'm not sure what he said, but Rebekah told him, "She's working."

And then she told me, "He needs to talk to you. And he said you can't be working because you're all over Facebook."

Splutter!

See? Day brightener. ;)

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Logo, Makeover, and First Appearances

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Logo, Makeover, and First Appearances

Wow! Bryony is getting busy.

First, the official Bryony logo and tagline is complete, thanks to Bryony's illustrator, Kathleen Rose Van Pelt (http://www.imaginarylinesstudio.com/) and CAL Graphisc, Inc (http://www.calgraphicsinc.com/).

To view, click onto Bryony's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryony/115857775121196?ref=sgm

My publicist, Dulcinea Hawksworth, has scheduled a makeover for this Friday afternoon and is coming with TWO cameras in tow--I don't own one :(--so she can take lots of pictures of the "new me" to post on the Bryony sites.

Now, this a little daunting for me because I don't wear makeup (I have chronic hives), but Dulcinea insists it's part of my packaging (see http://bryonyseries.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-am-commodity.html), and that the make-up is very hypo-allergenic.

I trust Dulcinea's judgment and, besides, it's should be a nice bonding time with my two daughters. Rebekah, seventeen, can heckle me in person, and my web administrator, Sarah Stegall, who lives out of state, can heckle me long-distance, via camera phones.

I have a dressmaker!!!

Last week she came to my house and measured me for my first, three Victorian outfits: two walking suits (spring and fall), and a ball gown. Yesterday, we purchased our first patterns and several yards of shimmering burgundy/black fabric, on sale.

Her future plans--sooner than later--is to kidnap me for a day (sans her children--two small boys who "helped" us yesterday look for patterns) and flee to a much larger, out-of-town fabric store.

Last, but certainly not least, Bryony has two upcoming events. Because any profits of the Bryony cookbook will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties (http://www.bbbs.org/), Bryony is supporting the 2011 Bowl for Kids' Sake in two ways, by helping to fund event costs and through pledge-sponsored bowling on March 25.

If you live in the area and want to become a sponsor, form a team, join an existing team, or pledge a bowler, visit http://bfks.kintera.org/ for details. It takes $1000 to match one child with a positive adult mentor, so any help is welcomed, appreciated, and put to good use.

Bryony will also participate in an April 10 event at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet (http://www.uucj.com/). I don't have details, but will share them when I do. Although WriteLife LLC does not yet have a release date for Bryony, the entire Bryony team is eager to start spreading the word.

To view sketches and biographies of the Bryony team, visit our website at http://www.bryonyseries.com/ or click here: http://www.bryonyseries.com/About_Us_FFC4.html.

I wonder if the spring walking suit is appropriate for April 10. I certainly hope so!!!

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Branding Logos and Taglines, Grrr....

Monday, December 27, 2010

Branding Logos and Taglines, Grrr....

Coming up with ideas for a logo was easy, thanks to the previous creative efforts of Bryony's illustrator Kathleen Rose Van Pelt (http://www.imaginarylinesstudio.com/) and Christine A. Lindenberg, president and founder of CAL Graphics, Inc. (http://www.calgraphicsinc.com/).

An effective, snappy tagline, however, is eluding us.

Just when the majority of us like a particular verse, someone else comes along and slams it, either for the phrasing, the cadence, a solitary word, of all of the above. Sarah Stegall, Bryony's web administrator, has had fun creating really awful taglines and randomly posting them on Bryony's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryony/115857775121196?ref=sgm).

Yesterday afteroon, Sarah had a brainstorm of an idea. As I wavered between skepticism and cluelessness about certain concepts, Sarah very carefully explained how the process could work to me until I had sufficient understanding to be able run Sarah's idea past my publicist.

I don't want to say any further unless we go with it, at which point I'll fill in the blanks (once I grasp them enough to explain them). I never realized creating an image for a book was so complicated. I wonder how long it took McDonald's to do it.