Ashley Brooke Designs: flirty and fun!

The oh-so-sweet Kirby contacted me to come up with a custom design for her to use as personal stationery! I had a great time creating something so fun and flirty! Thank you Kirby! xoxo

Responding to Rudeness

Sometimes when someone is rude to you, it can happen so quickly, you don't even know how to respond.  Other times you may choose to walk away in order to avoid a confrontation.  Whatever you do, there are some helpful things to think about as you contemplate your response.

Don't take it personally.  Sometimes the rude behavior is due to that person being a bad mood or having a rough day.  Give them the benefit of the doubt and consider what they could be going through to trigger that behavior.

Size up your troubles.  Is it best to just let it go?  Sometimes addressing a conflict can be a waste of your time and energy.

Take responsibility for your own actions.  Examine whether or not you did something to provoke such behavior.

Mental exercise.  Count to ten or focus on yourself or something else before you erupt in anger.

Ashley Brooke Designs: Inspiration Fabric = Pretty Paper!

How sweet is this little design? The mom-to-be contacted me in dire need of some custom thank you notes. She wanted them to match her baby's bedding that she and her husband had just picked out! I was thrilled to be asked to create something so special!

Battling Rudeness

No matter how gracious your own behavior, you are bound to encounter other people who behave rudely.  And sometimes no matter our best intentions, we can unknowingly commit rude behavior as well.  So this week we are taking a look a rudeness and how to handle it with grace.

For starters, lets look a few different ways rudeness presents itself:

Aggressive Rudeness:  Intentional, no holding back, rudeness. This is someone yelling at you after you bump into them or someone slowly down as they drive because they feel you cut them off or are tailgating.

Casual Rudeness: These are the behaviors that are often unconscious or unintentional but annoying none the less.  Chatting loudly on your cell phone or rushing to a new line being opened after being a very end of a long one.  

Rudeness in Disguise: This is the rudeness I always categorize as a "dig" or a backhanded compliment.  Here's an example: " I love that sweater, it makes you look so much thinner than you usually do."

Bottom of the Barrel of Behavior: These are things one should NEVER do.  Blowing your nose at the table, burping loudly, cursing in public.

Ashley Brooke Designs: Graduation Thank You's

Graduation is just around the corner, believe it or not, and the orders are roll'n in for graduation announcements, and thank yous! This is one of my favorites! Super sweet Kelsey e-mailed me a few weeks back and attached her A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E Senior photo where she was wearing this exact outfit and I couldn't stop myself I had to draw it!! Anyways, I'm loving the way it came out and can't wait to hear what her friends and family thought about this desgin as well! CONGRATULATIONS Kelsey! All of us here at Ashley Brooke Designs are super excited for you!

Email Additions

A lot of email programs and providers have extra email add-ons.  Signatures and attachments can get tricky, here's the scoop!

Signatures: 

Many programs have a way to include an automatic signature that includes your name, company, address, email, phone number...any amount of additional contact info you might like to include.  This is a good idea in case someone wants to get in touch with you in another way.  If you can't set one up to post automatically, think about manually adding this to emails.

Attachments:

If you send an email with an attachment, be sure its an attachment they can open.  You would hate to send over important information that can't be opened.  Likewise, if you receive an attachment, only open it if you know the sender.  Sometimes viruses can be stored in attachments.

Ashley Brooke Designs: Make Mine a Mojito!

Like Pretty in pink Megan, I didn't get a chance to do an entire post dedicated to the oh-so-witty Mojito Maven! I got the privelage of working with her on her new illustration for her bio page a few weeks ago and I just L-O-V-E the finished look!

I just love all of the disregarded paper and manuscripts! Oh and we can not forget the adorable Oliver Pancake hiding in the corner!!