Welcome to AQUA, a creative journal from Small Pond Graphics.
I hope you enjoy the inaugural issue including thank you note and Smarty Pants tag FREE DOWNLOADS and more.

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{ september 2013 }

Thank It Forward

Celebrating 3 years of creative collaboration!

Hello Friends!
Welcome to the very first issue of AQUA, my new creative journal! I've been thinking for a while about developing this monthly ezine, and I envision it as a way of staying in touch with friends and colleagues. I'd also like to give a little piece of creativity back to those who have supported Small Pond Graphics, so I'm committing to include a couple of free artwork downloads with each issue!

In July, Small Pond Graphics celebrated its 3rd birthday! Over the last three years, I've had the privilege of serving a collection of clients seeking boutique creative services. I've been drawing and posting and writing and designing and thinking and tweeting -- and even getting back to my "maker" roots with an etsy shop. And, I've had fun doing it all.

I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with so many of you to bring our great ideas to fruition. Since gratitude is a feast best shared, I spent much of the summer creating a special collection of hand-crafted "thank you" gifts for as many of you as I could afford :) The gifts were a set of hand-printed journals and thank you notes to help you THANK IT FORWARD -- over 500 print runs block-printed by hand for 36 packages! A labor of love.

Because I wasn't able to fund enough gifts for EVERYone who has made these three years such a joy, I created a little digital version of some of the thank-you cards that you can download here as my exclusive "thank you" for your continued support. They are easy to print, cut and fold and will fit in any A2 notecard-sized envelope. I printed the ones above on mustard-yellow card stock because that made me smile!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD the PDF file.

Be sure to scroll through the creative updates below, because I've included ANOTHER fun little freebie you can use to THANK IT FORWARD! As you find yourself grateful, I hope these gifts will help you take note of it and pass along your thankful heart to others.

STARKVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Re-branding Project
#StarkvilleSpark

STARKVILLE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
2013 New South Weekends Marketing Campaign

PARENTS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL OF STARKVILLE
"Pledge to Our Children"
Campaign

"We are what our environment makes us. If our environment produces health, beauty, joy and comfort, it will reflect immediately in our lives."

~ Rudolph Schindler, 1936

Smarty Pants

And Other Name Calling

It's been about a month since school started in Starkville, and my kids are having a great year so far in Starkville School District. Progress reports came out on Friday with great reviews, but the luster of getting up early each day has definitely worn off! It's made me want to give a little extra encouragement to my gang and say, "You can do it!" Kids and grown ups alike shine when they get an extra vote of confidence. I decided to put together some printable tags to help me do a little name calling... Smarty Pants, Sunshine, Rock Star, etc. I'm planning to slip these fun tags into the backpacks and notebooks at our house to surprise my kiddos at school -- little reminders that they've got this slaying dragons (read spelling) thing!

As promised, feel free to DOWNLOAD THE PDF, cut and print for the smarty pants in your life -- under AND over 8-year-olds allowed!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD the PDF file.

Hey you! My name is Haley Montgomery. I'm a graphic designer, writer, and maker living in Starkville, MS. For as long as I can remember, I've enjoyed making things and telling stories through words, pictures, and bits of this and that. Today, that's pretty much what I do at Small Pond Graphics. I'm blessed to have the opportunity to create and do what I love every day. Thanks for giving my work a little of your attention and for sharing this creative adventure.

All art is a gift forward. Please support designers, creators and makers everywhere by respecting copyright ownership of creative property.

All photos and artwork are © Haley Montgomery for Small Pond Graphics. Artwork downloads are free for personal use. Artwork may not be used for commercial purposes without permission, and artwork may not be resold. SHARING: Sharing of images on Pinterest is welcomed, provided your post includes a credit to smallpondgraphics.com. If you would like to share links to this issue of AQUA or to the Small Pond Graphics blog on your own site, I might kiss you! For inclusion on your website, feel free to use one or two images along with a LINK to the post or email. As a courtesy, please do not distribute downloadable artwork from your site or link directly to the PDF -- instead, please link to the blog post or email containing the artwork. Thanks!