Bragging Rights

I just want to take a few moments and brag about my husband since he would never do it himself.
Not only has Ben kicked the habit of milk jug chugging, but he is also an excellent father, and a kick a$$ graphic designer.
Some of you may remember that we have a son, Lucas. Well, when Lucas was born Ben designed a birth announcement. This was no ordinary birth announcement - the kind you get from Shutterfly, or your local Piggly Wiggly or Smiths photo department. This was a birth announcement that required weeks of brainstorming, hours of sketching, and then days at the computer designing the brilliance that was to announce the birth of our son. There were endless hours driven to craft stores where poor Ben would search the stamping section for the perfect ink. Then there were nights spent hand stamping the design onto the coolest fuzzy paper.
Well, my friends, it was worth every minute. Here is the final result: Ben entered it in the Local ADDY Competition (Advertising Federation awards) and received a Gold ADDY. Then it went on to regionals where it received another Gold. From regionals it went on to Nationals. And yes, it received a Gold at nationals, which is a really really big deal. I think there were only 60 Golds awarded out of like 60,000 entrants. Now we have three nice trophies in our office for just one project. The story doesn't end there. Ben submitted it to Communication Arts magazine and it made it in to the design annual, which is another big deal. It was one of Ben's goals to be published in CA, so he could cross that off the list.
We are so grateful that Lucas was born so Ben could win these awards... and so he could bless our lives.

Now if you haven't had enough, here is one more thing. Ben designed a grocery bag for a store called Central Market here in Texas. It's like a Whole Foods and they are one of the big clients at Ben's work. Take a peek at this bag. The first time I did, I almost cried.

This bag is making a fuss all over the country, not just in Texas. Apparently there is one bag traveling around the world having it's picture taken - like the gnome in the movie "Amelie".
There was a blog about it. I'll try to find the address. Here is the newest story about the bag. It's an email sent to Central Market from a shopper:

"this is probably going to be the weirdest email you've ever gotten. i bought groceries at central market in southlake and got paper instead of plastic. the side of the bag said it wanted to be a kite. i couldn't throw it away. I called my sister and told her, she lives in Pa, . she was impressed. she requested several bags and sent them to her friend , she lives in NY, whose son recently died. He loved to fly kites. she is taking her grandson and making kites with the bags. since then other people around her have requested the bags. one is framed in her pool room. she said some of them should want to be hand puppets or something. really, i know i'm nuts and so is my family, but these are being collected. we can't be the only crazy people out here. i have had to go back to central market just for the bags! just wanted to let you know and thank you for the bright crazy spot in our day."

Maybe this year Ben will get more awards for the bag. We'll find out in a few weeks at the ADDYs.

The moral of the story is that Ben is awesome. I love his lack of a verbal filter at times and I love how he chases Lucas around the house clapping after dinner. If you love Ben and his designs just as much as me, remember: you too can have an award winning baby announcement... for a small fee. :-)