3 Links

My favorite Links from the past week:

1.  Style Your Letters Boldly: Hand-Addressed Envelopes (a FREE Skillshare course)



One of the Envelopes by Erik Marinovich, the Teacher



2. This free printable advent art journal by Anika Lacerte of The Handcrafted Story





photo by Anika Lacerte

3. anything about the Jian Ghomeshi scandal!

My First Really Real Repeating Pattern!

Guess what I just learned!? How to make a repeating pattern (using this youtube video). You can learn anything on youtube.

 It's a good thing I got some spring cleaning done yesterday, 'cause I might just spend the entire day on my computer now.

Logo Woes

If you've been coming here on the regular, you know that I've been working on a brand identity course though skillshare. I've been totally absorbed in it. Driving in the car, I can't stop thinking about colors and typeface and whether or not my logo really reflects what I want Molipop to be when she grows up. Last week, my logo looked like this:

Now I'm leaning towards a set of logos that's a little simpler, to reflect a 'handmade' aesthetic. 

The problem is, I like them both, which isn't a bad problem to have, really. I suspect I'll go with the newest logo set, because I think it will be more versatile, and it will age better. And I think it better communicates what I want my brand to be. I don't know, what do you think? The key words that I'm using to guide me are 'comfortable,' 'approachable,' 'sweet,' 'happy,' and 'handmade. 

My endgame is to develop a coherent brand identity for Molipop. Apparently a good logo is like, the cornerstone of a brand Identity, so I really want to nail it. I want it to be something kind of permanent. I've changed my logo and my banners and cards about a million times, and maybe it's time to settle down.

Learning Some Business Stuff for Free/Cheap

So, this year I'm kicking it into high gear with Molipop, and trying to transition into full-time craftery. Which, as it turns out, involves doing a lot of non-crafty business stuff. I'm bound and determined to learn some business savvy without going back to school though.  It would probably be easier for me to go to school, because a lot of the focus and self-discipline are provided through teachers and outlines and assignments and deadlines. But, I'm just going to go for the hard way this time, and see how it all comes out.

Luckily the internet is jam-packed with free and inexpensive ways to learn business skills. Unluckily, the internet is jam-packed with free and inexpensive ways to learn business skills, and it's hard to weed through it sometimes.

One of the resources that I've latched onto is Skillshare. Skillshare is a "community marketplace" for online classes. For very little cash money, you can take a class that teaches something useful like, say, Crafting a Brand Identity with Courtney Elisio of Seamless Creative. I'm only a little ways into the class, but so far the videos and assignments have been really helpful. I've constructed a creative brief, put together a mood board, and started picking out a color pallette for Molipop. I'm still a total amateur, but I'm starting to feel like I've got a little more professional direction. Yay for professional direction!

Oh, and Happy Valentines Day!

All Sorts (of Top Notch from Last Week)

I'm not saying my weeks are consistently full of awesome and life is perfect all the time. But I'm pretty darn privileged, and it turns out that every week brings something worth writing home about. For instance, last week the fall colors really started to come out with full force. And I did not take any pictures of them. Ha! But I did take a picture of this really wonderful fall beverage. 

I recently took this recipe for pumpkin spice latte syrup from A Beautiful Mess out for a spin and it turned out pretty much awesome. The other day I was craving a london fog and a pumpkin spice latte at the same time, so I decided to make a combo london spiced latte. I was too lazy to warm the milk in a saucepan and whip up foam, so I just nuked nuked the milk, dunked a bag of David's "cream of early grey" tea and splashed in some pumpkin syrup. Yummmmm. I'm an inventor now. 

Another really great thing is that I'm taking a Skillshare course online. Specifically, I'm taking the "Design your own Logo" course, and I've been sketching non-stop. I like learning new stuff, but I'm not going back to school until I can win back a measure of my financial independence. At about $20 a class, Skillshare is pretty much my new best friend (other than my best friend, of course). And Skillshare has a lot of stuff that is relevant to small online business owners

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