Movin' On Up!

Goodbye, faithful Blogger Blog and disconnected portfolio site.

Hello daniellehartland.com. I feel like I'm all together in one place...now I can take a deep, digital breath.

You can get the blog feed right here.

Please update your bookmarks and all that jazz. I don't want to lose any of you guys! And, also, you might want to check this chick out. She made it happen for me big time.

Hartland Happenings

It's been a while. I was trying to hold out a post until the new blog is up, but I just have a hankerin' to get this stuff out:

• My best friend is having twins...twin girls!
• Chloe is pretty awesome.
• Candace is having a sleepover with us this weekend.
• I'm working on a lot of wedding invitations and gearing up to take some awesome pics.
• Church is as crazy-awesome as ever. I'm in love with what I do and I adore the people I get to work with on a daily basis. "Lucky" doesn't even begin to describe it.
• My husband is editing my parent's baptism and salvation story. Crazy.
• We're going to a beautiful cabin for my birthday: with the Kerrs FTW!
• May = Minneapolis. Boom.
• The Campbells are coming to Erie in July and they're staying with us! Yesssssssss!!
• Myrtle Beach. August-Labor Day. Ten days. Us. Amazing.
• I bought a tote from etsy as my birthday self-gift. It's beautiful (not as cool as Amy's):

Bye.

God and Priscila

There is a wonderful woman who attends Grace named Priscila. I really got to know her when she agreed to do some temporary volunteer office work for the church. She's a beautiful woman who is fun, funny and intelligent. More importantly, though, she LOVES God and she is SERIOUSLY sensitive to the Holy Spirit. 

A few weeks back, she started joking with me on a Sunday morning because she had a dream about me: I was dancing in a ball gown. Any of you who know me know that would be a pretty hilarious dream! This past weekend, she came back and told me that she had ANOTHER dream. We both stood in the lobby with tears streaming down our faces as she told me things like, "God loves you" and "just let it go." She had to walk away and told me she'd write me a letter. I was trying to help families check-in but couldn't stop thinking about Priscila. As they day went on, I was flooded with thoughts about my life, it's direction and what the heck happened between the two of us.

I told a few people, but no one really thought anything of it. 

Today, Priscila showed up at the office with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, an awesome vase and...the letter. I read the letter and could not believe what it said...I still can't. I've never had anyone give me any sort of word from God before (or maybe I was just to dim to notice). It's an indescribable feeling...which is how I know it's the right word for me.

I'm not going to type the letter out because it's pretty personal, but here are the verses she had for me:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. – Jude 1:24-25 

I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. – Isaiah 45:3

He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. - Psalm 91:4

All of that to say: develop the art of listening to God. He still speaks and moves our hearts. If He's telling you something about yourself or someone you know, be obedient and share it. It will probably change someone's life.

Thank you, Priscila. You showed me the power a true woman of God has when she is surrendered to his Spirit and obedient to his will.

The Center for Church Communication

I was recently asked by Cynthia Ware from the Center for Church Communications to be a part of a small group of creative individuals across the country to spread the CFCC wealth. I am honored to be part of a team that is setting out to lift up and network communications professionals in the local church.

The CFCC is behind many great projects (the most popular being the Church Marketing Sucks blog). They are a great community of folks dedicated to being a resource to those in church communications. I currently help moderate their peer review on flickr, which is an awesome tool for designers (or people who aren't designers but need to be for their church) to get feedback.

The group, so far, is made up of some amazingly creative and passionate individuals. I truly do not belong in the same category as these guys (No, seriously...follow their links. You'll agree. It's ok.):

• Vin Thomas (Portland, OR) 
• Danielle Hartland (Erie, PA) 
• Vince Marotte (Austin, TX) 
• Rich Kirkpatrick (SoCal) 
• Craig Littlejohn (NorCal) 
• Cameron Ware (Dallas, TX) 
• Tim Schraeder (Chicago, IL) 
• Brian Wurzell (Phoenix, AZ) 

I am excited to be a part of this network, and I hope to use this role to help communications professionals in the Northeast. And as those of us who live up here know, the Northeast needs all the help it can get. ;-)

If you’re in church communications and I don’t know you, please leave a comment or email me! I would love to connect and see how I can help support and promote what you’re doing.

(Also, thanks, Vin. I totally copied you.)

Linchpin by Seth Godin

I am only half-way through this book, but I feel compelled to say two things about it right now:

1. If you are an artist/creative type, or if you lead those folks, this is a must read (and soon).
2. As I've been reading this book, I can't help but think, "I've been waiting for this all my life."

I'm not over-selling it. Buy it. Read it. Change.

Here, I'll even give you a link (from which I gain nothing). And, I'll post a full review over the weekend. I'm pretty sure I'll finish my first read through tonight.

Jessy's Wedding Invitations

This project was forever ago! I had the awesome privilege to design Jessy's invitations and other wedding stationery. She's an amazing woman. I love her and her family. Her personal style made this project tons of fun.

Here are a few shots of the whole invitation set together:

Here is the invite card:

Directions:

R.S.V.P. card:

Program (front and back):

Menu card:

Kristin and Some Twins

Here's some work I did recently that I never posted.

First, logo and business card design for Kristin Lynch. I designed and she got them printed online...Vista Print, I think. Definitely look her up if you need Web Development or other technology solutions. She's pretty awesome. Here are the cards:

Front:

And back:

Second, this is a baby announcement I designed for my friend Kelly's sister. Kelly took the pic and it's amazing...i love it. Luckily, her sister Kim is funky and cool, so I was able to try out a more modern design. It turned out great, I think:

The Lusky Family: Brian, Rachel and Chloe

Had a really fun maternity photo shoot with these guys today! I am officially excited to meet Chloe Grace...I can't believe how quick this is all happening!

I'm just putting a few up here as a "sneak peek" for Rachel. More will be on flickr soon!

I call this, "We are the hippest parents ever invented."

Subtitle: "The Luskys: Bringing the Sass since 2000."

And I like the sunlight/flare in the middle. I usually don't, but it works here:

And this is when I started crying uncontrollably.

I took about 10 pics without seeing what I was doing. Good result, at least:

I love how this is framed. It's just perfect, to me:

Models:

"Hello? Is this Jack Bauer? Yeah, we're available for active duty ASAP."

Too bad I LOVE this photo:

Aaaaaand I love this:

I think this is the best "heart on belly" shot in the universe:

In other news, I felt Chloe's butt while she was kicking Rachel. AAAAAAH! Amazing.

3 Words for 2010

Inspired by Terry Storch and Chris Brogan.

This really applies to a lot of things in the spiritual, physical and mental realms. It's not just about "eating right" and "exercising,"it's about being as healthy as possible in as many areas that I can. It's going to be about all of the little choices I make on a daily basis. This includes things like: getting caught up on regular doctor's visits, completing a daily reading plan from YouVersion, and being honest about my feelings with people.
Why? Because I want to be faster, better and stronger.

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I have a feeling that a lot is going to change for me in 2010. The trick will be surrendering to what it actually is, instead of lamenting what it isn't. It really means being open to God, the people around me, and new experiences/ideas.
Why? Because I don't want to become unteachable, inflexible or closed.

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I want to continue a goal I had in 2009, which was to be a student of...well...as much as possible. To focus that down a bit, I'd like to be in a constant state of learning about Communications. I also want to be a student of people around me so I can be someone worth studying someday.
Why? Because I don't have all the answers and I want to model a spirit of learning to those around me.

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