Fan Friday #65 // Free Lance Love

Well it's Friday & you know what that means? 2 weeks until my last day at work..which means I need to start packing.  I've packed up a few boxes but really, packing is something I absolutely can not stand.  I don't like it.  So to cheer me up I've not been packing......we'll see how this works.

Zach loves his job up there so I guess I need to pack & actually leave...I mean I sorta love the guy, gotta be with him right? It's going to be so weird leaving my life here to go start a new one in a new town.  But, if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you.  So I am excited for this new adventure.  

This Fan Friday I really want to share with you some great freelance & business advice I've found this week.  I am so excited to be working in blog design though it's really just a pay-the-bills sort of thing right now.  I'd love for my pottery to take off but I've got to rethink some things when it comes to that & I'll leave that for another post.  I am excited that I have the ability to practice my skills but I'm getting mixed reviews from some articles I've read.  I try to go by the quote "every artist was at once an amateur" but then I read some articles about getting into free lance design or some articles where designers are frustrated at 'beginners' and I get a little bit sad.  I just want to learn! I don't claim to know everything but I think I know a fair amount. I read one article that made it seem that I should just stop right now because I didn't have the 12+ years this person had.  Research & learning is what I am all about here...if I can't do something, I learn how.  If I still can't do it...I keep trying.  It's just been fun for me & I don't want to stop learning. Anyway, here's the great inspiration & helpful/honest articles I've read this week:

source

Sarah shares a great post on working with a designer.  I loved reading this because it's what I'd like everyone to know so that the relationship built is strong & the finish product comes out exactly as you like. She also shared about things to remember when starting up in free lance.

Reading through those articles lead me to this one about free lance:

This article of a series about Free Lance Matters posted on Jeremy & Kathleen really got me thinking about starting up in general.  Now I am lost in their posts as well.  Really inspiring & totally helpful.  I can't get enough.

Which Kind of Creative Are You? on Braid

From there I headed over to Braid, a blog/creative company with load of awesome inspiration & tips.  I found these branding exercises & really need to sit down to think about all the things.  I first found a sort of 'exercise' while reading Kaelah's PR & Marketing for Bloggers ebook.  She talks about a branding tree in there & I have my attempt at it in a notebook somewhere.  That book is what really  kicked this off for me.

Link Love:

Non-Free Lance related articles for your pleasure

++ Nelle from Nelle Creations revamped this thrifted blazer dress.  I can only imagine what it looked like before.  Yikes!++

++Kristen is getting ready to launch the Nookstore which you can like on facebook.  I just totally love that name!++

++This DIY recipe book by Kara on A Beautiful Mess.  I recently had to make some tabs for the how to be me binder for the front desk at work.  It is so fun to use office supplies & make tabs.  I have a business binder that I need to get organized....but we'll save that for later!++

Well, there you have it....all the things (maybe not all, but a lot) that I am loving this week.  I am totally getting inspired when it comes to starting up for real & thinking seriously about where I want to go.  It always seems like there's more to do around every step, but I guess that's what it's all about.

I hope you have a great Friday & a cool weekend!

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