About Jordan Ferney

ABOUT

Oh Happy Day is a lifestyle and design blog written by event planner Jordan Ferney. It is updated daily featuring DIY party projects, party planning ideas, interior design, weddings, letterpress and invitations, design, photography, an occasional kid product and anything “pretty”. The site averages 2-4 posts a day that offer affordable design inspiration and realistic entertaining advice as well as being known for its playful and fun original party ideas. As of January 2012 Oh Happy Day receives over 1.5 million page views a month. Oh Happy Day was started in May 2006.

Jordan has several years of experience in event planning. She worked as an event planner for former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and with renowned event planner Stanlee Gatti. Jordan has worked (or currently works) for Anthology Magazine, Apartment Therapy, Cookie Magazine.com, Babble.com, Project Wedding, and iVillage. Oh Happy Day is based in San Francisco, California.

PRESS

Jordan’s work has been featured in print: The San Francisco Chronicle, Sunset Magazine, Martha Stewart Living Magazine, Real Simple Magazine, Budget Living, The Knot Magazine, and Anthology Magazine. And online features include: Elle, Decor.com, Craftzine.com, Glamour.com, Apartment Therapy, CookieMagazine.com Design Mom, Design*Sponge, Oh Joy, Decor8, Babble, NotCot. +++

CREDITS

This website was designed by the fantastic Erin Jang at Indigo Bunting. It was brilliantly programmed by Mark Allen at Studio Moustache. Both of them are geniuses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I buy the large round balloons?

I get this question a lot! Any Party City has them. Just ask for the 36″ round balloons. They don’t last a long time like normal balloons so make sure you get the helium gel and blow it up right before you need it.

Where can I get temporary wall paper?

In my last apartment we wallpapered the entryway and hallway with temporary wallpaper. I discuss this here.

How do you balance work/life?

I don’t! I am awful at balancing everything. I’ve talked to a lot of moms and I still haven’t met someone who has it completely figured out. Our schedule varies depending on mine and my husbands projects and freelance jobs but usually we have a babysitter for 3-4 hours a day. My husband has a flexible work schedule so we’re able to depend on each other when we have due dates or project deadlines. As a family we try to be aware of everybody’s needs and make sure everyone is healthy and happy. I love being a mom and I find having a career really fulfilling.

I am interested in being an Event Planner. Can you give me advice?

Sure! I started working an internship at San Francisco City Hall in the Events Department during college. After college I moved to San Francisco and was able to get a job with a connection I made during my internship. I’m a big believer in getting amazing internships, it leads to so many doors being opened. I wrote a post on advice to myself in college right here.

I’m visiting San Francisco. Can you suggest places to see, eat, and stay?

Yes! San Francisco is the best. My San Francisco guide is almost done. Look for it June 2012!

I’m visiting Paris. Can you suggest places to see, eat, and stay?

Yes! I’m still getting to know the city myself. I just moved here in February 2011. But here is a guide of suggestions from a friend Kristen Brewe and read about my Paris discoveries right here.

I’m trying to grow my blog. Can you give me some advice?

Sure! Some general tips. 1. Blog everyday or if less be consistent. 2. Don’t worry/think about monetizing for a year or two until you have great traffic. Instead be passionate about creating really great content that people want to read. 3. Get involved in Social Media: twitter, facebook etc 4. Always link to sources and photos where you found things and don’t steal content. 5. Be really nice and generous to other blogs and readers. 6. Get a decent SLR camera and 50mm lens. 7. Learn the basics of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. 8. Learn the basics in coding. 9. Create ORIGINAL content (don’t just repost other people’s ideas–come up with things people have never seen.) 10. If you are ever feeling insecure or sad about your blog just put your head down and work. I only feel like that when I haven’t been working hard on my own projects.

What Camera do you have?

We have a Canon 5D Mark II. And we use primarily three lenses. The 50mm f1.4, the 24-70mm and the 16-35mm. We probably don’t need a camera that nice but we both use it for work so somehow it got justified. I can’t take credit for any of the good photos though, my husband took a lot of photography classes in art school. I prefer making the content in the photo pretty rather than dealing with f-stops.

Your son Roman was born with a cleft lip, any advice?

I’ve been meaning to write a post on this. We found out at an ultrasound that my youngest son Roman would be born with a cleft lip and palate. Adjusting to that news was the hardest thing I’ve gone through. It was stressful financially and of course worrying if he would be ok. Luckily things have worked out for him. He had two surgeries in 2010 and has been healing great so far. He will need future surgeries as he grows but gets a nice break for a few years. If you are pregnant with a baby with a cleft lip I promise everything will be just fine. I did posts on this topic here.

How do you guys make money?

I get this question a lot! I make some money from advertising on Oh Happy Day but most of my income comes from writing for other websites and projects that I promote on my blog like letterpress. It took a long time to get to a place where we were working for ourselves. We drove a 2001 Honda Civic for years and years (we don’t currently have a car.) And we lived in a one bedroom apartment where our kids slept in a closet. We work really hard and then we try to take smart risks that feel a little scary in order to grow.

How were you able to move to France?

Moving to France all depends on the kind of visa you need. If you stay longer than three months then you need a visa. Visas that allow you to work in France are much more difficult to get. Since we have jobs that allow us to work from anywhere we applied for a Long Stay Tourist Visa. It was fairly easy to get. We just had to prove that we had jobs that could sustain us and do the paperwork.

Can I repost your photos on my blog?

Yes! I’m so happy and flattered when people want to share or feature my work. Feel free to use a few photos with a credit and link back to the blog post. I ask that if it involves DIY instructions please don’t repost the instructions or people have no reason to visit the original post!

Can you put me on your blog roll?

I am always looking for new blogs to put on my blog roll. Please submit the url to me at hello@ohhappyday.com with BLOG SUBMISSION in the subject line if your blog meets the following criteria:

1. You’ve been blogging regularly for more than three months
2. You produce original content and/or link to where you found things

Can I do a giveaway on your blog?

I’ve never done a giveaway on my blog!

Can you do a guest post or interview on my blog?

Sometimes! It depends on what my schedule is like. If its something that will take me less than 20 minutes you’re more likely to get a “yes” out of me. If I say “no” its just because I need to be cuddling with my little guys.

Do you do letterpress?

Yes! I run a small letterpress company out of San Francisco. While I’m in France my studio manager Alexis Birkmeyer is running the press but I’m still doing most of the design work. We specialize in letterpress with hand details like watercolor, and hand painted edges. Email me with details for a quote.

Can I advertise on your blog?

If you think your company is the right fit with Oh Happy Day send us an email for rates and press kit.

Can I send you a free product to try out?

Thank you! I don’t accept free products. I do sponsored posts but they are part of an advertising plan and are clearly marked as such.

Are you Mormon?

Yup.

Happy Weekend

Happy weekend. I have a full weekend of teaching four letterpress classes in San Francisco. I’m excited. Thanks for all your Italy advice. I think we have our plan narrowed down to two weeks in the mountains at Colletta di CastelBianco. I bookmarked this post Erica did last year and it looks secluded and beautiful. Then two weeks on the coast in Vernazza. Victoria at sfgirlbybay recommended this adorable apartment which would’ve been perfect but we found out it doesn’t have internet. We won’t be on a real vacation since we’ll still be working full time in the evenings so internet is a deal breaker. Does anyone know of an apartment rental in Vernazzo in Cinque Terre that has internet?

photos by Erica Berman at Haven in Paris

photos from this apartment in Vernazza Cinque Terre

I also write for Babble.com. Here are my posts this week.

And you thought picnics couldn’t get any cuter.
I want this wooden puzzle. Er, for the kids, not me.
Best idea ever, saw these in person yesterday and they are rad.
Make any pair of shoes superhero shoes with these.
I’m so stoked for the Royal Wedding. FOR REALS. These are the raddest souvenirs.

Happy Weekend

Any fun plans for the weekend? We are mostly getting things in order. Doing taxes (I know we procrastinated but it is a billion times harder to do taxes when you are a freelancer.) I’m also packing my bags for a solo trip to San Francisco next week. We planned a trip so I could bring back the paintings for The Commission Project and to teach my letterpress classes. I’m excited to see my friends and eat all that good San Francisco food!

We are also trying to line up some trips this summer. In August we want to rent out a house in Italy for a month. Does anyone know of a place off the beaten path? We want it to be not very touristy, extremely charming and near the beach (also not crazy expensive.) I’ve never been to Italy so not sure where to start since Google usually gives you the most popular (ie: touristy places.) Any suggestions?

I also write for Babble.com. Here are my links this week.

Did you hear? My favorite person is pregnant.
Crazy huge Kate Spade sale. That perfectly aligns with my trip to the states. It’s FATE!
Bought these new dishes last month and they are so great.
Considering these super cute (and cheap) crib sheets for the nursery.
We bought a new stroller, (with stripes!)
We’re buying this book of maps to use as prints for the boys’ room. Very affordable art!

Letterpress Cards for Design Mom and Maggie

Here are some cards I made last January before Alt. My sister Design Mom always does so many nice things for me and I always tell her I want to print her cards but she is always crazy busy and doesn’t have time to design them. So I just designed some simple ones with her logo and surprised her with them. They are printed two color on thick cotton paper.

For my friend Maggie at Mighty Girl, she wanted simple cards that had her first name printed with a blind deboss with a heavy impression. Then we hand painted the edges of the cards a nice blue.

If you would like us to design and letterpress print something for you please read more here and contact us for a quote.