Tracie Valentino is the graphic designer, blogger and all around good gal behind traciedesigns.

While she originally went to college for fine art, somewhere along the way she was introduced to an embarrassingly early version of Photoshop (it may or may not have been 3.0), and thus her love affair with graphic design began. She spent the first 10 years of her career working at various publishing companies and design agencies; and in 2005, after months of working all day and freelancing at night, a strong desire for more sleep prompted her to launch traciedesigns.

She lives in southwestern Connecticut with her husband and three daughters, and when she's not working she enjoys shoes, cupcakes and riding her bike (that whole cupcake thing isn't easy on the hips). You can be friends with Tracie on facebook, or--if you're not ready to make that kind of commitment--follow her on twitter, where she talks more about shoes, cupcakes, riding her bike, and, every once in a while, design.