new website + a giveaway!

( This will be wordy and sappy for a bit, so if you’re just here for the giveaway then skip to the bottom! )

Every so often a creative will reflect and rebrand and redirect their focus. It’s interesting and fun and often needed, but always takes longer than you’d expect and can be more more emotionally-involved than you’d prefer, simply because anytime you and others heavily critique your work you begin to question the meaning of work and purpose and life and struggle to find that “voice”  we’re supposedly so chummy with and eventually find plenty of reasons to talk ourselves out of what we initially hoped to do. (Orrr maybe that’s just me?)

I don’t want to get too melodramatic, (being a day into 26 has made me so wise and nostalgic) but I do want to mention why this day feels so significant. Work started on the rebrand of a simple website (simple as in 127 pages of color-coded galleries arranged by editing style and emotion) last spring, and I feel like the process for designing has been the same for life in the year since:

A brickload of honest critiques, coming to terms of what I’m ok without, and a quiet contentment with the goodness that remains.

After months of burnout I went half-time with photography this year and got another job to make up the difference. I didn’t talk about it much but I just hit a pretty apathetic low of life. A few weeks ago I left for England hoping that some time away would help me find direction,  since I was this close to quitting altogether. It was a weird place to be mentally since there was nothing else I wanted either, and then there’s the how-much-are-we-really-supposed-to-love-our-jobs argument that I have no clear answer for.

I prayed for peace and direction but didn’t quite have the faith to believe that God would answer…but He did beyond everything ever.

I had some of the best days ever during those weeks away, and as an answer to prayer I can say that I have that next step I was hoping for. It’s all still a work in progress and I don’t know how some new developments will play out, (hopefully a lot more work in Europe though!) but through peace and joy and a piece of caramel cheesecake – I’m fully back to photography and so happy to be here : )

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Soooooooo the website!

The design was a collaboration of my darling friend Jennifer and myself, with snippets of beautiful life thanks to the best clients in the world.

It’s wonderful to have a friend who is a graphic designer, and it’s even better to still be friends after a project like this haha. Jen is one of the most encouraging and influential friends I’ve ever had, and I can’t imagine life without her generosity, her sarcasm, and every beautiful thing that comes out of her kitchen.

For the website I wanted the feel of a guided tour through an art gallery in a Victorian home, (you can see my inspiration here on Pinterest) and she did exactly that! Over the months we changed and simplified the look a dozen times, and I can’t thank her enough for patiently making adjustments and coming up with so many fresh and genius ideas.

Here are bits of my favorite parts, but please go look for yourself! It’s meant to be something of an experience, so take your time wandering through.

 WWW.REBEKAHJMURRAY.COM

 

THE FUN PART

So what’s a happy day without some presents?

To celebrate both the launch today and my birthday yesterday, I’m giving away a few pretty things to one lucky person.

• One of my favorite home-decorating books, to inspire your spaces
• Hair chalk, for the temporarily adventurous
•  100 darling hand-lettered post cards, which can also double as wall art!

TO ENTER:

Like my business page on Facebook, like this post, and leave a comment with your email address.

Super easy!

I’ll pick a winner by random Thursday night, and mail it out right away. Best of luck!

With much, much love,
Rebekah