Many thanks to James Victore for these Tuesday burning questions. Today’s I felt deserved to be shared:
Organize your life’s energies around your calling, and let the fruit find you.
Many thanks to James Victore for these Tuesday burning questions. Today’s I felt deserved to be shared:
Organize your life’s energies around your calling, and let the fruit find you.

While brainstorming about the articles I had to write for the iNote, it just came to me to ask Kristin deNeeve if she would be keen to participate and provide a few profile illustrations of a few of the creatives’ I am featuring in the iNote. I had to clarify it was an ask to volunteer, which I do cringe at – knowing how much time, effort and skill it takes to do the work.
I got lucky at Kristin’s generous spirit and she agreed. It started out with Justin Ahrens (she did a brilliant job of capturing his personality), Alisa Bosignore, Mark O’Brien, Julie Goldsberry and Katie Raymon. Yes I have more people in the publication but I wanted to be respectful of her time on this one. Though after the fact, I did ask her to do one of herself (in the middle above) so I could highlight her as well.
What I was pleased to hear, she told me that due to the time constraints and effort, this was her first foray into doing most of the work directly in Photoshop. She normally does all her work on paper/canvas and then scans it all in. So this was a chance for her to stretch her skills and I hope will expand her illustration offerings for other future clients.
An extra surprise I was thrilled was, getting my own profile illustration. This was due to my husband tracking Kristin down and hiring her to create a custom one for me for my 40th birthday surprise. Yes, I was surprised and humbled when she offered to do it complimentary. Needless to say, I owe her plenty.

Justin loved his illustration that he asked me what it would take to be able to use it, so because I didn’t pay anything for the work I passed him on to Kristin directly in respect that ultimately it was her work to share. From what I hear they came to a mutual agreement which Kristin once again showcased her generous spirit.
So I want to do my part and share what a skilled and creative talent we all have the chance to work with. You can check her out at kristindeneeve.com - maybe even drop her a line on twitter and give her a high five for me if you can.

So there was an announcement a couple weeks back. Super stoked to be working with both Red Dog Graphics and Neenah Paper to bring the Creatives’ Cupboard iNote to more than 500 creative professionals at next months Creative Freelancer Conference at HOWLive in San Francisco. I think there will likely be a full post dedicated to this whole experience, but today, I just wanted to share a little hindsight perspective.
Each and every little step you make brings you closer to your dream. Even if you don’t have it fully realized yet. Being honest with who you are and following your passions is the real authentic way to live.
I recently hit my 40th milestone. That day I felt I needed to be reflective and thought a solid blog post would come out of it – but instead of putting that kind of pressure on myself, I opted to tweet out some significant lessons and insights I have garnered over the years with #Top40at40. As of today I have made it up to No. 17. As each one comes to me I will post them, why just write a bunch, instead I choose to let them come from an honest place of AHA. I wonder… where would I be had I had these realizations 20 years earlier? Perhaps farther ahead or in a completely opposite direction since I have learned I am a little of a belligerent rebel at times – even I won’t stand for ME to tell ME what to do.
Outcomes of my personal project, the iNote have included so many wonderful blessings in friendship, mentorship, personal achievement and the most surprising is like I said above, seeing in hindsight how following that gut feeling that assures me what I am doing is the path to take, leads me to new and amazing experiences.
I have made an enormous amount of friends and creative colleagues whom are welcome and happy to be an ear and provide perspective when I need it. Not one of them has ever offered to do anything for me, and because of that I get to bask in the awareness that I can celebrate that my achievements are due to my efforts.
My dream of working in publication design is happening – the little steps it takes I enjoy, so I can ensure I am not rushing ahead and missing out on the smart strategies.
I had the amazing chance to meet Gary Kovacs, CEO of the Mozilla corporation, last night after his acceptance of the U of C Alumni Arch Achievement Award, where he shared his humble opinion of his success. He talked about how his job as the leader of the company has never been about telling his employees what to do, but instead to create the environment for them to simply do what they do best. And after, while ‘beveraging’ with the man, hearing his stories about how he made opportunities with sheer force of will and luck while choosing the right doors as they opened up.
This morning, I was then asked by HOW if I wanted to host a breakfast round table down at the conference this year. I mean really? To be asked to lead the discussion around a topic of my choice. Talk about flattering and exciting. I have an idea of what the topic will be…. gotta make it a good one, and if you find yourself at the conference, I really hope you look me up and share your story. Because it is because of the stories I hear, I find inspiration and affirmation of what an amazing profession I find I am so lucky to be working in.
Got an email today from Erin at the UPPERCASE magazine headquarters. As one of their PEEPs advertising in their magazine she asked to share about how much we value what the magazine provides. OK, now I have been an super fan of UPPERCASE since day one, so when they incorporated an actual scratch and sniff cherry goodness, how can you not applaud!
UPPERCASE began as a one woman show and because of the brilliance of this magazine, the word is getting out. In fact I was at the Alberta Magazine Publishers’ Association conference last month and the key note speaker kept talking about how awesome UPPERCASE is and how it endures and grows in such a challenging time for print publications.
Why do I participate as an UPPERCASE peep? As the best ‘classifieds; for creatives, I find it is a great way to connect with other creatives who share the same love of print and creativity. Do you think you are ever up for sharing your message? Drop them a note and sign up – a pretty sweet deal, $25 for 25 words.
Erin provided a lovely image like the first one above with the peeps spread – but I thought I would provide my own!
If you are in the market to give this brilliant publication a try – use discount code: contributor17 and get $10 OFF a subscription or renewal!
I know when I peruse through the pages I get inspired to follow my own creative dreams – so why can’t you?
Today is the day of my monthly creatives’ lunch and amongst a ridiculous to do list – I was inspired to make the most of my quiet moments. Here I am – thought I would share a sampling of what one can expect when they attend my lunch. A little ‘newsletter‘ outlining highlights and some insights. I cheated this month and copied one of my blog posts from back in January about living our passions. But all good things do deserve repeating in different avenues I say.
I think the biggest tip I have when it seems like you are drowning are:
Thanks for popping in!
So for those who have perused my site may have come across my interview and posts with Justin Ahrens, co-instigator of Rule29. My initial introduction to the man was through social media and was followed up by joining him and a collective HOWie group at the last HOW conference in Boston last June. I don’t impress easily… OK yeah, maybe I do… but regardless, all the hype about the man being a great guy were not overstated.
It has been a hectic year and I had taken advantage of my online interview to get Justin’s take on my overburdened commitments. I think he summarized for me to take advantage of lists – so only 6 months later I finally buy his book online and had it delivered today.
The title is “pleasing misconceptions’ basically because I expected the book to be heavy and large and intimidating if it was a book about fine tuning my creative career and life. Low and behold when I picked it out of the box I was stunned by how light the weight was. I loved the paper choice and the size? I think what really floored me overall was the design of the book. The size was manageable (7″ x 7″ and a 1/2″ spine) and the reading is simple to follow. Both have given me the impression that the insights I garner will be along the same lines which so far they are.
The book is portable, so much so I much so I took it with me today to the gym and while walking on the manual treadmill read up to chapter 7 quite easily. I really appreciate the cover front and back flaps – fabulous for bookmarking your spot.
As far as the content so far, Justin does a great job of opening up his experiences that reflect the message without to much ‘talk’. A well rounded perspective with either a succinct lesson or insight to share. So on that note – if you are looking for his insights… well buy the book and support this creative genius!