My Problems Are Solved!!!...OH WAIT....

Ahhh, buyer's remorse. It's such a familiar friend....I'm notorious for returning things after I buy them (nowhere near as bad as my mother, however, let the record show). But I'm getting ahead of myself....

See, the way we design is generally that Chad will draw something up in pencil and then we will scan it, put it through Illustrator LiveTrace and spend an hour fixing the lines. Lately we've been working on some BIG projects that the idea of doing this process to, was less than appealing. Enter the WACOM INKLING!!!!

This pen (in case you're not familiar) is supposed to record your lines as you draw them on a regular piece of paper... essentially creating vectors in one simple step! Genius! I had seen this little bit o' magic pen about a year ago on the WACOM website and wanted it then. However, I don't just throw money around for the business, so I held off. Chad, the ever spontaneous half, decided we were going to bite the bullet and purchase this little wonder about a month ago. It came in snazzy packaging, looking all sleek and glorious. Plugged it in and started drawing.

Lately we've been working on some superhero baby images for our Etsy Shop (check them out in a couple of weeks right back here) and we figured they would be the perfect first image to test out our timesaving little miracle worker. So he traced very carefully and we plugged that bad boy in....I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

First is the picture that he drew of baby Flash (I know, he's good).... 

                                                            Second is what the Inkling captured.

I know what you're thinking...WHAT THE?!?! Yeah, our feelings exactly.  Not only was pretty much every line so far off base, it also didn't create a single smooth line and there were about a million anchor points. I figured we would have to touch up some lines here and there...but come on. Live Trace does a better job than this! I understand that this tool is supposed to be a "starting point" for design work and record sketches..but the fact that it couldn't even record a single smooth line was just to much for me. I'm done with it....unless WACOM fixes it, I'm Live Tracing till the cows come home.

Essentially, SweetBirch Designs will sum up our WACOM Inkling experience with an expert graphic that we designed.

Sorry WACOM, so not impressed!

Anyone else tried this thing? Better results than us? Comment Below!

BIG NEWS!!!!

Some big, and I mean BIG things have happened in the last several months.

We found out we were pregnant with our first little Hitchcock in October right after Chad's 31st birthday! Our baby boy is due in June 2014. We are so excited and feel incredibly blessed to get this opportunity to raise a child together. June cannot come soon enough!

Blog world, meet our little (but probably not so little) baby boy!

Reveille Marschall Hitchcock

We've gotten quite a few questions about the name. The "Reveille" (which you may or may not know) is the wake up call (google it, you know it). To us it symbolizes a call to wake up and strap up...get ready for battle. Chad and I love this mentality and we want to raise our children to embody it. Reveille, or Reve / Rev, as we'll call him is a physical representation of just how far Chad and I have come in our lives. Both broken beyond recognition at one point and now doing more everyday than just surviving. This child is such a blessing because of what we've been through! Plus what a great football name!

Marschall is a family name. Chad adores his Grandma Pat who helped raise him. We both wanted to name our first child after her in some way. We decided to go with her maiden name, Marschall, as an excellent choice.

As if that isn't news enough ( I mean I'm growing a human for crying out loud!) We decided that 2014 would be the perfect time to move our growing family all the way across the country. On December 28th we packed up our Jeep and the three of us (plus our pups) headed east from California to North Carolina.  We chose this area for several reasons. Where we were living in Ventura, CA I wasn't close enough to any major cities to get that sort of business I was looking for. Charlotte, NC was consistently on a list of a great place for an artist to make a living. It also is on many lists (along with it's bedroom communities) of one of the best places in the US to raise a family. Great schools, friendly people, 4 solid seasons, trees galore, close to all the east coast has to offer...need I go on?

Trying to launch in a new place is terrifying. Trying to do it when you're 5 months pregnant is crazy and terrifying. But, nobody ever got anywhere by being timid and not taking chances. Huge leap of faith, but so far we are absolutely loving it. Just trying to get the business rolling now!

If you're in the Charlotte area we would love to meet up with any local designers! If you need any design work don't hesitate to ask!

More in the next post about our current projects! Stay tuned friends!