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How to Get a Vector/.SVG Logo from Your Graphic Designer for Your Website Design 🌐✨
Hey there, web design clients! 👋 Are you ready to make your website shine with a crisp, clear logo? 🌟 One of the best ways to ensure your logo looks fantastic on any screen size is to use a vector format, specifically an .SVG file. Here’s a simple guide to help you...
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My Plan
Here’s the answer to the biggest question I get all the time: “I’m starting a new online business or project or want to feature my portfolio online and I’ve been looking at the platforms or CMSs as you nerds call them and I’m thinking that Wix is the best option out there for my budget and I’d really like to design it all myself. So, my question is…should I use Wix for my new online business or for my new project or portfolio?”
No.
Please drop me a line below! I work within budgets and the best part is that you’ll only have to get your website done once!
The Knight of Wands
AIIEEE! I’m so excited to introduce y’all to Stenia Trusilo 💃, Copper Cabbage’s HR Generalist and Social Media Composer 🎼! That’s right – she called herself a COMPOSER. Heckin’ dope! 😎 She’s yet another friend of the studio and it’s been such a joy working with her! 🤩
Stenia’s tasks include:
- HR 👥
- Payroll 💵
- Invoicing 💰
- Ad creation 📺
- Copy writing 🖌
- Policy writing 📝
- Creative input 💡
- Online cold calling ☎️
- Social Media Content Creation 📱
- Researching gear for the studio 🎚
- Reminding me to write these blog posts ⏱
- Photoshopping Bernie into pictures of the studio 🧤
And more coming down the pipe!
Stenia and I met in our first semester of our psychology program at The King’s University 👑. We were partnered up to work on a project together right away. Little did I know that we would be working on many more projects together down the line. I love bringing good friends like Stenia onto the team at the studio because I know that they’ll pour their whole ♥️ into it! Heck, Stenia even just learned Photoshop 🖼 to help out with more projects going on over here. I’m honored to work someone as empathic and gracious as she is! Stenia selected the Knight of Wands card. ♞ She’s our go-getter, always keeping me on track with great gusto! And she WORKS OUT, lemme tell ya! 💪
Because I couldn’t have said it better myself, these are her words to you:
Stenia enjoys long walks to the bakery, chatting about pop culture, and impressing you at the gym. In between, she managed to get her BA in psych (where she and Paige became good buds) and is close to completing her HR program.Stenia knows how to tend to the garden (studio) to make sure the talented cabbages have the environment to flourish.
Love ya! Great to have you on the team! ♥️
Lorem WHATsum?
This hot tip for default website copy 🧑💻 is coming in fast! And brief! We all know that I would be able to fill up this whole blog post with some slick emojis ✨ and funky banter 🙉 , oooooooooor I could just use some default copy – or Lorem ipsum ✍️ to fill it up and none would be the wiser! Sorry, that was my best attempt at a segue into the world of Lorem ipsum. If you’ve seen the phrase Lorem ipsum floating around on the internet, then you already know what you’re getting into! But if you haven’t, I’ll quickly fill you in! Get it? Yeah, that one was also a stretch! 🤸
What (and why) is Lorem ipsum? 🤷
It’s a phrase taken from the beginning of some default website copy (ie., text) that was generated eons ago 🧓. Web designers have used it to be able to flesh out their designs in the absence of actual copy that would end up on a site. 🖥
So I just generate my own Lorem ipsum when I need to fill in my design project with copy? 🎛
For sure! You could take any parts of the good ol’ Lorem to see what it looks like on your page. It’s just meant to be a placeholder when you or the client have nothing to put in place in that spot yet!
But what if I think it looks too ~inaccessible~, y’know? 🙎
And THAT’S what I’m thrilled to show you folx today!! We’ve got options!! 💁
Really?? 💩
Yes! 🤡 These are my favorite Lorem ipsum placeholder alternatives:
Jeffsum for all you ✨Goldblum✨ fans!
90’s Ipsum for pure nostalgic designs! 🎱🎮
And, of course, my personal fave…
Space Ipsum created by the openNASA team at NASA 🪐🌟☄️🌍🌕 ! Obvs the COOLEST!!
Go git yer placeholder Lorem ipsum for your next project now! Or you can always scroll down a little farther and contact me 👋 if you need help getting your web project on the go!
These were all found through this amazing project right here! Thanks idsgn! ♥️
The One-Man-Band
I’m thrilled 🙌 to present one of my best friends to you and the first friend of Copper Cabbage Studios! Also – fun fact! The studio started because he was like, “hey, we should record some music on our own, ya know?” and I was like, “yup!” So, I bought a bunch of equipment 🎙 and then we became legit. So here he is – Ryan Berends!
👀 at that face! ☺️ He’s an Edmonton-based music 🎼 instructor, composer, and multi-instrumentalist with an endless list of hobbies 👾 and creative projects! And yes, I’m stealing this straight from his bio.
First things first; Teaching 👨🏫 is Ryan’s passion. He’s always excited to share his love of music and help others on their musical journey. He teaches private lessons for a variety of instruments (Violin, Guitar, Drums, Ukulele, saxophone, and Didgeridoo to name a few) 🎸🎹🎻🪕🎷🥁 at a local music studio and from my home in Edmonton. Yeah, Ryan’s the master of all – the one-man-band! Sign up with him for lessons, cuz he teaches every instrument that I do not! We make a pretty good team. ☺️
You can also find Ryan composing music as a member of the local band Hold for Home ⚓️ and hanging out around Copper Cabbage Studios 🥬 working as a session musician and helping out in the recording studio. I love how both Ryan and I will eternally put this statement in our bios because we’re so extremely proud of it: The band’s single ‘Gorgeous’ won the Ballyhoo’s Editor’s Choice Award for best Music Recording in 2012. 🏆 That’s right!!
Outside of music, Ryan pursues many different disciplines to satisfy his creativity (which is apparently never satisfied) and channel them into the creative entity @noble_bear_artistry. 👑🐻
I find it super cool that he says that if he had to choose a main focus here amongst all other shenanigans, it would be blacksmithing. ⚒
Noble Bear Artistry will soon not only showcase his own pursuits but also those of his brother Ian Berends @n0blebear (who is also a total gem 💎 and will have his own feature on this blog) as they develop their skills into what will hopefully soon become a small business. And I’m so excited about their startup, cuz I love startups!! 😀
One of my favorite things about Ryan is that he’s always excited by a new challenge! 💪 He legit teaches himself everything he knows and works really hard at it! As he says, 2020 forced most of the world online, and so he’s recently accepted a new one; as a new employee of Copper Cabbage Studio’s web design department. 🤓 And we’re happy to have him working away at any challenge we send his way.
So, Ryan has been here the longest, but he’s also one of the newest hires…again.
Love you, Ryan! ♥️
Worship Lessons!
When I’m teaching my worship voice 🎤 lessons, there are a few messages I repeat 🔁 over and over. Some of that can’t be avoided. Music theory 🎼 has to be shared, encouragement has to be bestowed, and repertoire needs to be contextualized historically. Sometimes, ONLY SOMETIMES, do I wish that I could just show my students pre-recorded videos 📹 of me spewing all of that info over and over.
Of course, there are other times, when I’m sharing age-old messages that are always Good and True in every context 👍; messages that I love to hear over and over again 🔂. Because I too, need to hear them over and over again. Teaching worship voice lessons is vastly different from teaching just regular voice lessons 🗣 and I have the privilege of offering both here at the studio! I’m very grateful for the worship leading experiences that I have had so far at Ellerslie, both leading the congregation in worship and also leading the youth worship band, reborn. ✝️
So, perhaps you need to hear these messages today. Perhaps something brought you here specifically! Just food 🍽 for thought! Here are the messages I love to share on repeat in my worship vocal lessons:
We were made for worship 💪
If we aren’t worshiping Jesus, we’re worshiping something else. And yet, only Jesus is worthy. It’s so tempting to even worship worship itself. Get caught up in Jesus, not the feeling of worship.
📖 Exodus 20:2-6 (NIV)
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Worship is Good for you 👌
Drawing near to God is Good for us. God planned it that way. It feels so Good to be worshiping in the Spirit because we are able to dwell in the infinitely Good presence of God.
📖 Psalm 65:4 (NIV)
4 Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
We need to minister to ourselves first to be able to minister to anyone else 🙌
This is my favorite one. I encourage my students to commit to believing that they are Loved enough to love! This is the hardest thing to do! EVER! This is when the tears flow in lessons. Every. Single. Time. We all think that we’re literal trash deep down. But Jesus doesn’t! Listen to Jesus’ voice when you’re worshiping, not just your own.
📖 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Be blessed! 🙏 Oh, you are so loved! ♥️
Friends and Fam Friday: The Clown
I’m so proud of the creative geniuses 🤓 who I get to work alongside every day. Whether they’re the people who work internally in Copper Cabbage or they’re my clients, students, and supporters, I’m honored to be a part of a larger network of friends and family 👪. So excuse me while I show them off to you! 😋
While they’re all busy typing up their bios and selecting the best pics 📸 of themselves for this new blog segment, I’ll introduce myself! I’m Paige 👋, although I go by a few different names depending on where you find me! In the music 🎶 scene, I’m known as Paige in my solo worship project and also in my band Hold for Home ⚓️. My audio recording clients and vocal students at CCS all know me as Paige as well. Some of my students enjoy studying pop 🧑🎤, while others dive into worship leading training with me! ✝️
If you catch me at the Grindstone 🐰 developing their website or assisting with the live and recorded audio 🎧, everyone calls me Terry there! I tinker around with tech in the background, but I’m also an improviser 🎭 in the Friday Night Club House series on (you guessed it) Friday nights!
When I’m clowning 🤡 around (seriously!), I go by Galaxia “Flex” Spanx! Galaxia is a spunky space superhero 🚀🦸 who loves to show off their wild dance moves!
I’m the master of side hustles, which is evident in my variety of wacky credentials and experiences. I’m a licensed Zumba instructor 💃, a voice actor 🗣, a model, and an ex-party princess 👑! I’m full of surprises!
I’m excited to show off the Copper Cabbage Studios friends and family to ya every Friday! Stick around! 😇
Get Inspired (for your next web project)!
Back in my day 🧓, when I was looking to start my next web design project, I used to pick up these lovely assemblages of web design inspirations 📚. But these days, we just get to STAY ON THE WEB TO GET INSPIRATION FOR THE WEB?!?! 🤯 Whoddathunk?? 😋
Here are my Top 5 🖐 Favorite places on the web to get some heckin’ dope inspiration 💡:
1. dribbble 🏀
Hands down, the ultimate inspo. center for me!! Now, with that said, so many of these designs are way too super-duper cutting edge and so the designs are often not practical for a mom-and-pop bakery in the suburbs, but they are certainly a great tool to get the brain 🧠 churning out some ideas. It’s great to get inspired from these and then find a happy medium between “Is this another WIX website?? 🙄” and “why is the animation effect on my cursor causing my eyes to roll to the back of my skull?? 😵”.
2. awwwards 🏆
These designs are winners for a reason. As opposed to dribbble which normally just shows design ‘shots’ that may not actually be live sites, the awwwards features sites that are actually real and live and therefore, often have cool animations 🎞 to check out!
3. Bēhance ⎯
Let’s be real, I still have no idea how to pronounce Bēhance… But just like dribbble, there are loads of design projects to look at and some nice filters for searching, like searching by color 🌈!
4. WOW – WEB 🟡
For all of my brutalism fans, this is my go-to. I thrive off of inspo. like this even if I’m not making an actual brutalist theme. The thing with inspo. is that it really only has to get the brain 🧠 juices 🧃flowing. Whatever gets you inspired and in the moment is going to be what helps you with your next project. Inspo. doesn’t have to be something that you would copy line for line, shape 🟢 for shape 🔺. Let it be your springboard !
5. Minimal.Gallery 🔲
And, of course, for all of my minimalism fans, voila! Nuff said! 😉
True creative flow happens when we are inspired 💡. Yes, sometimes glancing at a design and “stealing” one little component will help us get the job done in a pinch, but ideally ☝️, we become experts at visualizing design by noting what we do and do like in examples, by noting what works and what’s atrocious, and by layering our sources of inspo. to create our own personal design flair! Happy designing!
If you’re still in a pickle 🥒 for a design or are looking for someone else to do it for you, give me a shout below!
As a bonus, I thought that this mini collection of ugly 90s webpages from Adam Hammond was pretty hilarious!! 😆
6 Staple Color Types for your Branding
I’m not writing the 📕 on branding and I’m not pretending to replace a Brand Identity Expert, but I’ve been around long enough in the web world to observe what works and what doesn’t for color palettes 🎨 as a part of branding identity. It’s not even that complicated; it’s totally possible to do all of this by your lonesome! With that said, there is a whole lot of value in getting a branding expert 🤓 on your team to help create that foundation you’ll be bouncing off of later. ⛹️
However, perhaps you are the only one on your team or perhaps you’re willing to come back to the drawing board several times if it means you get to do it all on the cheap. 🆓 Plus, it is handy to even just start getting an idea of what you might be expected to produce when an expert does arrive on the scene.
In any case, you’re here looking for the color types that will help you to create that rock 🤘 solid brand that looks good for print, promos, socials, and of course (my favorite) the web. 👼♥️👼 Let’s go on a journey together and explore 👀 these types out in their natural habitat! (ie. with some examples)!
1. The “Black” ⚫️
Your rock, your ultimate foundation. Your text will likely be in this color (unless you have an inverted theme with the next color type being the no. 1 for you.) This color should be in high contrast with the no. 2 to allow for maximum accessibility!
In Hold for Home’s palette, the smokey “black” color pairs well with the oceanic and natural feel of the rest of the palette.
2. The “White” ⚪️
This will be whatever is behind your foundation. The no. 2 needs to be in high contrast with the no. 1 for reasons above. These two are necessary to keep all of your assets “on brand” and they certainly help to get the right feel across, but the branding is not quite defined by these two.
In Toad Spool Press’ palette, the “white” (that is not true white) pairs very well with the funky, natural palette.
3. The “Grey” 👨🦳👩🦳
Think of this as the in-between for your no.1 and your no. 2. It’s helpful to have another color that works as an alternative background color for focus sections on your website. This color is so subtle, even I forgot about it when I first wrote this article and had to slip it in afterwards! Include this color in your palette if you don’t want your web designer guessing what that other color should be!
In Bio-Stream Diagnostics’ palette, the grey color is crucial in adding slick professionalism.
4. The “Accent” 🥊
This would be the color you would cough up if someone asked you to present ONLY ONE COLOR to represent your brand. The rest would simply be implied!
If I had to describe Gigi Jobb in one word, I would say “retro”. The third cherry red accent color perfectly captures that rich and whimsical history.
5. The “Accent’s Best Friend” 👯♀️
This color compliments that main color so frickin’ well! Whether it’s the same hue with a different saturation, the next color on the color wheel, or a contrasting (opposite) color on the wheel, the no. 4 and the no. 5 are obvious best buddies and add that sugar and spice to your brand.
In my personal palette, the fourth royal blue pairs so wonderfully with the accent. Ah! It makes my heart sing! This example just so happens to have a second what-the-heck type of color to really emphasize the uniqueness and boldness of this brand, which we’ll hear more about next!
6. The “What-the-heck-is-this-color-doing-here?” 🤡
This color is the shocker. The hidden jalapeno inside the chocolate 🍨 sundae. If that was a thing… This color reminds viewers that, just like people, brands are complicated and have multiple sides. This color is the cherry 🍒 on top that gives us that little bit of surprise that we seek after we know that we have found security in the foundation. Use this sparingly, otherwise it may be mistaken for the accent!
Last, but not least, our palette doesn’t feature a true copper-like color at all, rather this lovely brown takes the cake!
And most importantly, as soon as you know the “rules”, feel free to break them! Toss the salad 🥗 by:
- adding a 7th or 8th color! Oooo! Bold! Preferably another color along the same vein as the no. 5 (best friend) or no. 3 (grey).
- removing one of the more excessive color tropes like the no. 5 or the no. 6, you risk-taker, you!
- or picking your top 6 favorite colors and forgetting that this blog post ever existed! No prob, Bob! You do you! It’s your brand! 😉
Have fun ruling the world web!! 🦾
BTW, I use coolors.co (not sponsored) to make my palettes for myself and for my clients! Super handy tool!!
Personal Domain Name WHAAA?? 3 Hot Takes!
I’m obsessed with domain names. That’s anything before the .com in your URL (address) bar 🌐 up there at the top (trying my best to take out any jargon…but let me know if you want to talk nerdy 🤓). Any time I come up with a cute little phrase or a funky business name 🕴, I always buy the name for it. Paying like 9 💵 right on the spot costs me way less than losing that little hope of a full idea for that name later on.
Some cool domain names that I have but there’s nothing on there yet (so don’t bother navigating there right now)? Sure. Check these out:
- artgymyeg.com 🎨🏋️📍
- quipchap.com 💄👄
- estrogenandtonic.com 🩸🥃
- howdidmommakethat.com 💁♀️🥘
- otannenbalm.com 🎄
- paigeonstage.ca 🎭
- worshipvocalcoach.com ✝️🎤
Some are punny! 🙊 Some are just fantastic business ideas! 😁
So with all that said, here are the hot takes you could vibe to after you get your 🅿🅳🅽 (personal domain name):
Hot Take 1: Dress to Impress
So, your super spunky friend just advised you to get your own 🅿🅳🅽 so you can flaunt that new email address. You bet! Stop using [your name]_[your favorite sport][some random numbers that you’ve been using in emails since you were 12]@gmail.com 🤮 and get [your first name]@[your last name].com! Or hello@[full name].com! Yes, alex_badminton14@gmail.com, I’m @ing you!!!
Hot Take 2: Impress to Dress
Your last potential employer didn’t hire you because your social media was too easy to find on a Google search…and you got some S T U F F on there. You need to spruce up what pops up online by being in control of your own image. 💩 Git that job!! Post that resume online! 💼 Reserve your 🅿🅳🅽!
Hot Take 3: …Just do it!
You deserve it. It’s fun! It’s pro! It’s flexible. Go forth! 🙌
Talk to me about getting a 🅿🅳🅽! I love helping! 😁
Singing while Sick? 9 Things to do to Save your Voice
Oh darn! ☹️ You’re 🤒 again? Sorry to hear that! Get well soon. We’ll cancel today and reschedule when you’re all better. ♥️
Tag yourself. I’m the #️⃣ instructor who just texted that to their sick student before cancelling a voice lesson. Did you tag yourself as the #️⃣ sick student. Cool. No judgement. But you may want to read on if you’re frustrated by getting sick often or having to 🗣 through a sickness. We all have to do it sometime and I actually think that by singing through a sickness, we can boost our physical and mental health 🧠🦾. But I’m not spoutin’ fax, I’m just speculating here. 😛 These people are spouting the actual fax. But you can open that in a new tab and read that later 🤓. You’re here for MY list…
So here it is, plain and simple (some of these are obvious, but let’s get you all caught up on the same Paige [not a spelling mistake, I assure you]). 📝
The 9 Things to Do when You’re Singing with a Sickness
1. Drink Loads of Water Tea ☕️
Water is tea. Tea is water. No fooling here. Water is chill, yeah, but tea has so many other benefits. Besides from a nice cup of tea being hot and relaxing to hold, some teas are great antioxidants. Matcha tea is my fave. 🍵 BUT, don’t add sugar! Add 🍯 and some 🍋 to spice it up! 🌶
2. Sleep 😴
Use this handy dandy formula to figure out how much extra sleep you’re going to need when sick with ‘n’ being the new number of hours of sleep to get! 😝
n = [the normal number of hours of sleep that you get] * 1.25
If you normally sleep for 8 hours, then my sick algorithm for sleep wants you to sleep for 10 hours. You can do this!
3. Stretch 🙆♀️ and massage 💆♀️
Sickness is a great excuse to reconnect with your body. We’re all too often just brains of human beings. Be a body again 🧘♀️!
4. Blow 🤧, don’t sniffle
Perhaps this seems silly, but for real, this one is underrated. It is so tempting to sniffle all those lovely nose juices right back up into our sinuses, but that can leave us even more congested and (at least for me) it causes more post-nasal drip because I didn’t get it all out in the first place. Post-nasal drip is usually the actually silent-but-deadly killer of the voice and not even coughing! That tidbit I actually got from my ENT! Now, I’m spittin’ straight 📠!
5. Steam/Warm Showers 🚿
Literally my fave tip! Smoke the monster out!! 😈
6. Eat Salty 🧂 and Spicy 🥵 Things
An excuse to eat the whole bag of chips 🥔! Salt has a cleansing and purifying effect. Plus, chips kind of scratch the throat on the way down, not gunna lie. And spices help to clear the sinuses and boost metabolism 🍽.
7. Warmups 👆 and Cooldown 👇
Lots of breathing stuff, lots of sirens, lots of buzzing, lots of humming. Call me if you need help! 🤙
8. Avoiding Sugar 🍬
It mucks up the folds and is the last thing that you need right now. Since you probably can’t even taste that well, go find some 🥕 to munch on!
9. Vocal Rest 🚫
If all else fails, just take a breather. To make it actually effective, you’d need to be on vocal rest for more than just a day, but honestly, even just a few hours of stillness helps!
If you are sick right now, know that I’m thinking of you and rooting for you 🙏! Of course, these tips are great for general wellness and can boost your singing abilities in any weather! Sing on, champ! 👩🎤
Contact me for lessons below if you’re interested in learning more about how to take care of your voice! I’d love to work with you!
Stack Overflow
Another duh. I’m honestly just putting the duh ones here to have a backlog and so that you know that I haven’t missed it. Stack Overflow is absolutely vital to every since new developer’s career life. Listen and learn from everyone there. It is the largest community for help on topics. I have never actually had to ask a question because someone has already asked it and answered it here.
I’ll post my favorite questions and answers here for you… when I get the time.
DISCLAIMER: These are my hand-picked favorite tools and resources from years of scouring the web. The sources have not paid me to appear on this page and I do not receive a commission or other compensation from any of the links. Please do your own due diligence before paying for any services. I am not responsible for the services provided or the results of their services.
SOCAN
More music stuff! This is a bit of a duh. Canadian? Songwriter? Sign up for free right now. Don’t even wait on this. If you are creating music, make sure you are protecting it. You get paid extra when you gig! Bless! Check out their awards, resources, and insurance also if you need that.
DISCLAIMER: These are my hand-picked favorite tools and resources from years of scouring the web. The sources have not paid me to appear on this page and I do not receive a commission or other compensation from any of the links. Please do your own due diligence before paying for any services. I am not responsible for the services provided or the results of their services.
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Upcoming Lessons
Book Lessons
Here’s the answer to the biggest question I get all the time: “I’m starting a new online business or project or want to feature my portfolio online and I’ve been looking at the platforms or CMSs as you nerds call them and I’m thinking that Wix is the best option out there for my budget and I’d really like to design it all myself. So, my question is…should I use Wix for my new online business or for my new project or portfolio?”
The Knight of Wands
Lorem WHATsum?
The One-Man-Band
Worship Lessons!
Friends and Fam Friday: The Clown
Get Inspired (for your next web project)!
6 Staple Color Types for your Branding
Personal Domain Name WHAAA?? 3 Hot Takes!
Singing while Sick? 9 Things to do to Save your Voice
Stack Overflow
SOCAN
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