A few weeks ago I shared the Top 100 Design Blogs To Follow In 2013 as compiled by Joe Cole. I decided I wanted to make a list of MY favorite design blogs so I’m sharing my top 10 over on Blog Catalog, go check em out and let me know what your favorite design blogs are!
As I have mentioned in the past, I love fonts that have layering options and I’m back today with a new one for you! Trend is a font made of layers with both a sans and a slab serif option and lots of different styles including inline, shadows and dingbats! Loving this font, hope y’all do too!
If you haven’t already heard the news, Google Reader is shutting down on July 1st. Once I saw this, I immediately started looking around for a replacement. The good news is, there are lots of alternatives out there, including Pulse, Flipboard, Feedly, NewsBlur, Bloglovin and many more! I decided to go with Feedly. Right now Feedly syncs with Google Reader, but they have already planned a smooth transition for when Google Reader shuts down.
In my post about getting your name out there, I mention giving your readers options for following your blog, so I want to make it easy for y’all and give you those options right here!
Bloglovin RSS Feed Facebook E-News Google+ Twitter Email
If you currently follow this blog with Google Reader, I hope you continue to follow using one of these other options! xoxo Ciera
Hey guys, Lauren is here today with her monthly dose of freelance advice! If you have any specific freelancing question, send us an email and we will answer in a future post!
Have you been dangling on the fence about whether to leave your full-time design job to go freelance? Perhaps you find yourself staring out your window at work (or more likely your tiny, claustrophobic cubicle) and daydreaming of one day being your own boss. Or maybe you calculated what you are bringing home hourly at your current job and feel gypped. Leaving your full-time job (and regular paycheck) is a big decision; you are right to consider it carefully.
I’m going to break the decision down for you into three simple categories: experience, finances and personality.
Don’t underestimate the value of prior experience. In my opinion, you need to log some tough hours in the real world before starting your own business. Use your time wisely while you are working for someone else. Learn from your mistakes (cause you will make ‘em!) Take notes from your superiors. Enjoy the collaborative design process while you have the luxury of working in an environment with other creatives. Don’t jump ship before you have learned the ropes of the biz.
You may think that freelance will be more lucrative. And it can be. But most likely it won’t start out that way. It will take hard work to build up your clientele and earn a steady income. Before turning in your resignation, I implore you to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE. It is a good idea to have approximately 6 months worth of living expenses saved before making the official leap.
Personally, going freelance was less of a strategic career move and more of a quality-of-life decision. I had a goal of being able to quit my full-time job so that I could stay home to raise my kids. My freelance business has afforded me the ability to do just that. That being said, my husband and I started preparing financially a few years in advance. We were very purposeful in committing to a mortgage payment that we could pay with ONE income, not two. We watched our spending habits – we did not let ourselves become accustomed to living on two full incomes. Because of this preparation, it didn’t seem quite as difficult to give up that regular paycheck.
Not everyone is cut out to run their own business. Just because you are a strong designer does not mean that you will be an effective freelancer. Successful business owners share key personality traits; they tend to be organized, self-motivated, driven, goal-oriented, confident, passionate, budget-minded and self-reliant. Keep in mind that you will spend less time designing and more time running the business. This includes networking, pursuing new work, selling your services, meetings with clients, phone calls, invoicing, accounting, etc.
This advice is not meant to scare you or discourage you from pursuing a freelance career. If anything I want to adequately prepare you! Going freelance was one of the best decisions I ever made. I can’t tell you how great it is to finally call my own shots, make my own schedule and choose to take on projects that I am passionate about. I especially appreciate the relationships I have built with my clients.
If you are currently considering going freelance, do you have any specific questions? Or, if you are already working on a freelance basis, do you have any additional tips to share? Love to hear from you!
The Art // I came across Francesca Capellini’s Ilove’u project on Pinterest (bless you, Pinterest) today and I had to share. I’ve always been a fan of mixed media art, and this is just so sweet. I love the black and white photos mixed with the graphic patterns and playful illustrations.
The Inspired // This painted bowl from Nicole Porter is also a mix—paint and hardwood. I love the color combination and the graphic stripes.
What could be better than having a list of email addresses for people who love your blog or readers that could be potential customers – a list of people who actually want to hear from you? Not much, right?
That’s why you should be gathering emails from people who visit your website.
Building your email list is important for your business because the more people who are truly interested in your services that you can reach with just one email, the more site visits, downloads and money you can potentially make.
Collecting email addresses and sending out an email newsletter has some wonderful benefits. For instance, each time you send an email to your list that contains links to your website, you’re boosting the potential for more site visits. If something in your newsletter looks interesting to the reader, they’ll click over to your site and there’s a good chance they’ll click through to other posts or pages, which boosts the chances that they’ll buy from you.
Email lists and newsletters also help your business because if you’re consistently showing up in someone’s inbox (in a good way, not a spammy way), you’ll stay top of mind to them. Then when they need a service or product you provide, they’ll instantly remember your helpful or fun emails.
Growing your list organically can take time but there are so many ways to gather email address from your readers. The most important thing to remember is to make is as easy as possible for them to sign up.
A few common places to add an email sign up form is in the sidebar or footer on every page of your site or directly underneath your header. These places work because they’re out of the way enough to not be irritating, but they’re prominent enough that people will notice them.
The best way to get people to sign up for your list is to offer an incentive, or opt-in offer, for sharing their email. Things like mini ebooks, discounts on services or access to an exclusive list work really well because the person signing up is getting something in return. Plus, people love free stuff!
Giveaways are also a great way to capture email addresses. Hosting a simple contest on your blog where all the reader has to do is enter their email address is a great way to grow your list quickly. Or if you’re hosting a live event, you can capture email addresses from attendees by having them sign up to win a prize.
Want some ideas on creating an opt in offer that people want? Here are three simple tactics:
Do you collect emails for your website? Do you have a fun opt in offer? Share in the comments section!
I’m getting a little anxious for a trip of some sort but have nothing in the works. For March’s wallpaper I’m using a photo from my Maine road trip to hold me over until I can plan an actual trip!
Hey y’all! I’m so excited to be joining the Spread the Love campaign today. This week, Clear and Simple Stamps is encouraging creative craft & DIY bloggers to give a virtual high-five to the other creative bloggers whose work we admire and to share a project inspired by our blog “crushes”.
Today I’m sharing a DIY project inspired by my blog crush, Designlovefest. Although there are many blogs I love, today I chose Designlovefest because Bri is an inspiring blogger, an amazing graphic designer and also teaches blogging and video workshops. She has such a clear picture of her own brand and it is inspiring to see her continuing to take her businesses to the next level. I became even more in love after I discovered Bri’s Vine account, she is seriously the cutest thing! Bri always has absolutely beautiful cocktail recipes and DIY projects on her blog so I thought that a fun geometric coaster would be a great DIY tribute to her!
I used 4″ felt squares for the base and then covered them with hexagons in a contrasting color cut from this die (you can easily cut these by hand). I used 14 hexagon shapes per coaster and started by laying down three hexagons evenly spaced in a row. This helped to determine the space I needed to leave in between the hexagons once I moved to the next row. Once I had my spacing set, I started gluing the hexagons down with felt glue. Now that all of your hexagons are glued down, evenly covering the base square, wait for your glue to dry, then cut around the square trimming off any hexagons that are hanging over the edge. Now you have a pretty geometric coaster!
One reason I love this project is because you can adapt it to work with any color scheme!
I decided to add flags cut out of kraft like a rockstar cardstock to make my straws a little more festive!
To incorporate more color into my table, I cut two large 8″ hexagons from a full sheet of felt to act as large coasters under the pitcher and saved some of the small hexagons to use as confetti!
I hope you’ll join us and Spread the Love. To learn more about the campaign head over to the Clear and Simple Stamps blog!
I’m not gonna lie, I am pretty glad February is over! It was a little much with the Superbowl and Mardi Gras going on in New Orleans. I’m looking forward to March being a little more structured!
- My Alt Summit Recap
- The Cutest Hand Drawn Serif Font Family
- My Map Cork Board Came To Life at Alt
- My Alt Summit Business Cards
- Top 100 Design Blogs To Follow
- Chocolate Flecked Orange Scented Madeleines Recipe
- How to create a style guide for your blog
- Travel Map Pin Board on iVillage
- Red Hot Valentine on Whimsey Box and Jess in Belgium
- Alt Business Cards on Whitney English, The Proper Pinwheel, Pinegate Road, Thriftary and SillyGrrl
- Adding App to Facebook on Angelorian Tradition
Thanks to everyone who shares my content, I really appreciate it!
When Ciera and I first started talking about The Font Feast, one of the examples I pitched to her was a recipe for Madeleines inspired by the lovely, delicate font Matilde. And I’ve been meaning to make that pairing happen ever since! For anyone not in the know, Madeleines are light, delicate little cookies that are really more like tiny cakes. They are ever-so slightly sweet, deliciously buttery, and always baked in a scalloped, shell-shaped pan. They are so good on their own, and extra special dunked in tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or ice-cold milk. These Madeleines have just a hint of citrus flavor from a sprinkling of orange zest, and tiny freckles of milk and dark chocolate to make them even more delicious!
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon orange zest
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup sugar
12 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
3 oz chocolate, finely chopped (I used equal parts milk and semisweet chocolate)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. If your madeleine pans* are at all dark, preheat the oven to 325°F instead. Spray the pans thoroughly with a nonstick cooking spray that contains flour, and set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and orange zest in a medium bowl, and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs on high speed until lightly and frothy, about 1 minute. Briefly beat in the vanilla. While mixing on medium, gradually add the sugar, then turn the mixer up to high speed and beat until the mixture has tripled in volume, 3-5 minutes. Using a spatula, gently fold in the flour mixture, then the butter, then the chopped chocolate. Scoop a Tablespoon of batter into each shell-shaped well, and place the madeleine pans in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of one cookie comes out clean. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Makes 3 dozen cookies.
*If you don’t have a madeleine pan, but you’re just dying to try these tasty little cookie-cakes, you can use a mini muffin pan. The resulting cakelets technically won’t be Madeleines, but they’ll taste exactly the same.
