Five Dot Design: June 2009

My mornings/early afternoons usually consist of a little work and a quick walk outside with a good friend from college that I just so happen to work with now. We do a few laps around the building to get out of the office and chat- which offers a great break to the monotony of the day. This morning our chat consisted of the recent cease in production of one of our scrapbooking magazines here in the office... a publication in which she art directed. We agreed that it's slightly bittersweet.

I was telling her how I could never really get into scrapbooking and that sometimes people just can't believe that with me being a designer, I can't put together a scrapbook layout to save my life. (in my opinion at least... it's quite a pathetic sight to see how frustrated i get.) I can't see the layout in my mind and become very overwhelmed and unsure of what I'm doing... even though there is no wrong or right.

I was also venting my frustrations of not being able to see any layouts lately that didn't involve a wedding invitation. I've hit a bit of a creative wall when it comes to marketing and direct mail design work, but do you want something that incorporates an earthy feel without going too granola and has a punch of color in a quantity of 100? I'm your girl. I could concept about 4 or 5 different layouts in 20 minutes. It's all I see anymore- weddings. I secretly love it.

This is when my friend told me it's probably because that's what I should be doing with my life. Now, keep in mind that this light bulb turned on about 3 or 4 months ago for me , but it was set to dim and I haven't really tried to turn it up. With her saying it out loud (and having some encouraging words about the next step I want to take with my designs), my bulb's getting brighter... and my enthusiasm for working toward progression is slowly building. I'm finding more and more materials I want to work with in order to pull my designs out of the run-of-the-mill feeling. I'm working under the naive notion (don't you love oblivion sometimes?) that I'll find an audience for what I'm offering... even if it's not right here within the 275 loop. I figure the less I worry about WHO I'm marketing to, the more creativity will come out of me. I'll find those brides, don't you worry.

Time is my nemesis right now, however... which it seems to always be for those that have a hard time leading a simple life. I just finished reading this post by Michelle of Cicada Studio. When I first found her, her life was very similar to mine... working full time, working semi-full time on her own business and trying to keep somewhat of a life in order in between- husband, kid (plural in her case), family, friends and home. I think I'm keeping a good balance, but that could also be me thinking naively (again, sweet oblivion). But I do know that right now I'm not making the time to push my business past this comfort zone it's fallen into and at the same time, I'm not sure I have the time to devote to doing so right now. Summer always makes being productive a challenge... and even moreso that my Little Miss is off and running (literally). Thank God for grandparents and their insistence on spending as much time as they can with that little girl otherwise I don't know what we would do.

With that said, though. Summer allows me to get out and get inspiration. You can only soak up so much from reading blogs and watching some occasional television. I'm pulling together snippets of inspiration, color palettes and materials... so in some ways I'm being pretty productive on the backend of things- which is encouraging.

This next month is going to be a whirlwind of trips, plans and people... Come August, I'll welcome s less-scheduled calendar and a little more down time (and I say all of that with hesitation because I know there's a strong possibility down time might not happen.) Next week I'm off to Virgina, come back for the NKOTB concert, the 4th of July weekend, followed by a wedding weekend, followed by a vacation and then the aforementioned down time... hopefully. I'll try to post a little more regularly- the camera is coming with me everywhere I go pretty much, so there should be some fun documentation along the way (even if it's for the sole purpose of reminding what it was I did the day before.)

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Weight loss update: Yesterday my 30 Day Shred video arrived in my mailbox. This DVD scares the bajesus out of me. Tia is my unofficial mentor on this... and her candid account of how she's getting along after this video is what frightens me. But I've got 10 lbs sticking to me like glue and it needs to go away... fast. I'm perfectly happy with the progress I've made so far- it's definitely more than I honestly expected out of myself... it's this last hurdle I need to get over to really feel like I've done all I could do. So, with that said, Jillian Michaels, please have mercy on my soul.