It feels SO good to be live! And just a few days past my 6th anniversary of going full time solo with Salted Ink back in 2013. If I am being honest, it’s taken me a lot longer then I would have liked to get this launched. But we’ve had 3 babies since I last redesigned my site in 2014 (gasp)… yep, 3 boys in 4 years. Finding balance in my role as a mom and business owner has been a learning curve and so often my own brand has taken a backseat to my client work and doing ALL the things moms do. But I am oh so grateful for this business and my clients that have allowed me to be at home with my all dude crew while still continuing to do what I love. This is truly my dream job.
So this is the new Salted Ink. My hope is that it looks familiar but refreshed. The portfolio is updated with some fun new projects and there are new semi-custom premade brands in The Brand Bar ready for purchase. I have also reopened booking for fall/winter projects and will start scheduling consultation calls this week. Thank you for all the love leading up to this announcement – I have felt every bit of it.
I’ve been gone for a few months but there is a cute reason behind my little sabbatical. We welcomed this guy into the world on November 22, 2016 and we couldn’t be more grateful to be blessed with another healthy baby boy. Buxton Grady Dart came a week early but he was ready since he came out just shy of 9lbs. These past 3 months have been a sleepless blur but we are finally getting on a vague schedule and enjoying the occasional solid night of sleep. I am excited to get back to designing in March with this little one and his big brother right beside me – or more like when they decide to nap at the same time or when Marshall is at school. Here is a little glimpse into our new crazy world as a new family of 4. Thank you Stephanie of Peepsake Photography for capturing these priceless photos of our family once again!
I am so humbled by all the interest and support I have received regarding this little labor of love. I have been thinking about this concept for quite some time now and I am excited (and nervous) to see how it will be received now that it’s been unveiled. While I absolutely love working together with my custom design clients to build their dream brands from the ground up, I also understand that the custom process might not be for everyone and for a variety of different reasons. During my time as the owner of Salted Ink, I have also met so many potential clients that either needed a brand yesterday, have a more modest budget and/or are totally intimidated by the uncertainty of the custom branding process. So I wanted to create a little marketplace where I could try to service those clients a bit better without sacrificing distinction, quality or style with their branding solution.
And at the same time, as a brand designer I constantly have ideas that might not be a fit for any of my custom clients at the time but would hit the nail on the head for some hardworking fellow entrepreneur out there in search of the perfect brand. So I thought, maybe…just maybe I can create some pretty awesome brands that are a complete turn key package (from business card designs to cohesive social media collateral) and they will find a forever home with some amazing business owner out there through the creation of The Brand Bar.
Unlike many of the pre-made logos out there, I really wanted to make The Brand Bar Brands only available for purchase by one person/business. So if you find a brand that speaks to you and fits your business, it’s truly yours. And we spend time custom fitting your new brand so it works for you. Most importantly you are purchasing a full brand, not just a logo. From your submarks to your coordinating business cards and social media collateral, we provide a complete and thoughtfully crafted brand package ready for you to use in 10 business days or less. Pretty cool right?
If you are picking up what we are putting down, you can head on over to the site and check out our inventory. If you don’t see anything that fits your vision, please keep checking back as we plan to keep the inventory coming!
It has been a wonderful (and exhausting) 2 months but I am wrapping up my maternity leave and getting ready to get back to it. For the rest of 2015, I will be accepting 5 to 7 new branding clients (depending on project depth) with projects starting as early as August 15th and I am so pumped to start designing again – even though I might still have a little spit up in my hair.
On August 3rd, I will have my client contact form back live on my website ready to accept inquiries and can’t wait to hear from you! My 2015 Media Kit is also currently available for review and download at this time so feel free to take a look at our offerings for the fall/winter and see if I am a good fit for your business branding needs.
Since it’s inevitable that I can’t take on every project (please know that I so wish I could), I will be spending some serious time going through the inquiries and contacting business owners that seem to be a great fit for the Salted Ink process. Therefore, it is so very helpful when potential clients spend time filling up the contact form with helpful and awesome info to give me an insight into their business right off the bat. I promise there is a reason for all of those questions!
And to those of you that have contacted me during my leave, please know I so appreciate your interest, thank you so much for your well wishes, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Man, it’s been a while but I promise I have a good reason…it’s this little guy pictured above. As most of you know that follow me on insta, we welcomed Marshall Everett Dart on May 27th. He came into this world with a set of lungs and some seriously strong little legs. Since then, this dude has been giving us a run for our money as first time parents. He is stubborn like his mom, has his dad’s nose and loves to go for walks and rides in the car. He isn’t too sure about his furry brown brothers yet but I think they are growing on each other. This kid is such a blessing and we are so lucky to be his parents…sleep deprived, albeit.
And because we like to keep things interesting around here, we also moved to Charlotte about a week after Marshall was born for Scott’s new Orthopaedic Residency spot at Carolinas Medical Center. For those of you thinking about moving cities with a newborn…yeah, I didn’t think there were any of you out there. BUT we survived and lived to tell about it. We are enjoying our new home and the new family we get to put in it. Scott is currently working crazy long hours as a new resident does and I am trying to learn how to take care of this little guy on my own. Once upon a time Scott and I spent our summers biking to the beach with beer in hand. Now we are navigating diaper blowouts and sleep is worth its weight in gold. My my have times changed but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Marshall is one cool kid.
While I absolutely love being a new mom, my work makes me whole. I can’t wait to get back to it and I feel so lucky I get to do both from my little home office. I’m looking forward to designing awesome brands here soon and plan on opening up my booking again sometime in August (official announcement will follow on social media and here on the blog). In the meantime, here are some photos of the new little guy. I will also be following up with some posts on the beautiful brands launched for some pretty amazing clients this past spring.
For those of you that have been following along our crazy little life journey, we finally have some official news to share. Scott and I recently found out that he snagged an amazing spot in the newest class of orthopaedic surgery residents at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. This is such an huge accomplishment and a direct result of his hard work and dedication over the past four years in medical school and I couldn’t be more proud.
Within 36 hours of getting the news, we went under contract on a perfect little house in the Plaza Midwood area and are set to close in 2 weeks if all goes well. We are so excited to finally plant some roots as a family in the queen city without all the traveling back and forth we have been doing through Scott’s time in school, especially with little Marshall on the way here in late May. We are also very grateful we get to stay in NC, close to our family and friends and thankful that I have a job that goes right along with me without skipping an beat. And man, it’s simply just so nice to finally know where we will be living for the next 5 years! I’ll be sharing some pictures of the new place and office when we get all set up in June.
So this is a little secret I have been holding close on the professional front for almost 22 weeks now. I always struggle with how much of my personal life my readers really want to see on my blog but I have learned over time that these posts are the insights into our lives that make us relatable and real, a bit more than just website designs and brand launches. I often find myself enjoying the little personal life snapshots my fellow designers and bloggers post the most. It’s so refreshing to hear them share their story, their struggles and their life experiences. So I made a new years resolution to do the same and be a little more open on my blog from time to time. To put real person behind this thing I call Salted Ink. I just hope I don’t bore you guys to death.
And with that resolution in mind, I’m coming out of the gate with some pretty big news on the personal front. Scott and I (and of course Finley and Bailey) are so very pumped to share that we have another dude joining this family at the end of May. We are so seriously grateful for this gift and the opportunity to start our family. This one, Marshall Everett Dart, will hopefully shed a little less and be raised to have better manners than his older, furry brothers. But of course, in this house we can’t make any promises. We are just lucky if he is potty trained by age 10.
Most of you know that Scott is also on the home stretch of med school, graduating from Virginia Tech Carilion in early May. But here is another fun fact – we have no clue where this baby will be born until the residency assignment ceremony on March 20th. We will then find out where Scott “matched” and will be rushing to get settle in before this little monster gets here and Scott starts his job in mid-June. This has been our impending doom ever since Scott left for school. We always knew we were going to be assigned a residency spot (with little control) that would determine where we spend the next several years so we are very anxious and ready – I think. There are several places we could end up, mostly on the east coast, but we are crossing our fingers and toes for one of our top picks for sure. Most of all, we are looking forward to finally settling into a place we can call home together for a while instead of the constant back and forth between cities and states. And I will also simultaneously start my official countdown to our move back to the beach when the residency is complete. Oh how I miss that place and those people.
So that’s a little peek into our crazy lives here at the Dart household. This year should be packed full of exciting, challenging and life changing events and I look forward to sharing a bit more with you guys as we carry out our little journey. That along with some lovely brand designs, of course. Here’s to an unforgettable 2015!
It’s been an awesome, busy and blessed year and I am so excited to end it with some much anticipated time off. Scott and I plan to spend the next two weeks enjoying time with family and friends and taking advantage of not having a schedule or being tied to our computers…it’s been a while since we have done that! Next year holds so many exciting things for us both professionally and personally and I look forward to sharing it all with you in 2015! Until then, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours. The office will be reopening on January 5th.
There is so much to be thankful for. Not just today, but everyday. I am so thankful for my family & friends, our health and the future. I am also beyond humbled by all of my wonderful clients and fans who allow me to do what I love everyday. I am truly blessed. Wishing you all a wonderful thanksgiving with your family and friends…I’ll be signing off for a few days to do just that. See you on Monday…with an extra 5 pounds of pumpkin pie on my waistline. Photo by the lovely Brent and Amanda of Millie Holloman Photography.
Angela and I are always flattered to have our work from Mint 102 featured on Style Me Pretty, but this time is just a little extra special to me. The Marshall/Dart wedding is featured on their Little Black Book Blog and Midatlantic Regional Blog blog today and we are so honored they found it worthy to share. Please check out the full blog post on SMP with all the details and more pictures of how our crazy, windy, awesome party in the OBX all came together. Also, feel free to visit our sister company, Mint102.com, to learn more about how Angela of Saffron Avenue and I joined creative forces to offer our custom wedding branding services. Lovely photos below taken by Brent and Amanda of the awesome Millie Holloman Photography.
