Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Progress Report: What Creative Projects Are You Working On?


I haven't slowed down all summer (as predicted in my Summer Business Goals post.) I'm busier than ever, yet my home remains relatively organized amid: working full-time, blogging, writing and marketing freelance, working on an art line, maintaining my antique store booth, thrifting, reselling, and then some!

I'm working on helpful creative business posts that will help you do it all; for now I wanted to share a quick creative biz progress report!


Creative Nights: Our Creativity Nights at 5 Points Coffee and Spice rage on. Last week we hosted two of them! Getting out of the house to draw and collaborate with my art buddies Nicole, Ed, and Birdie and others has helped me keep going with my art line. I love bouncing ideas off these guys and our silly chats about cartoons and video games, too!



Making Merch: As I alluded in a couple of Antique Store Wisdom posts, I made a big batch of grab bags to increase my booth sales. I'll write more details on it and  follow-up to let you know how they worked out soon!


Eating Right! After a final week of popcorn-dinners before rushing out the door for a meeting or errand, I finally made a healthy menu and went grocery shopping. I cooked a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days in a row this week! (A milestone!)

[Webcam snapshots taken while waiting on a Skype meeting. Sketchbook ready for Creativity Night afterward. Busy, busy!]

I'm going to keep hitting it, tackling the monstrous to-do lists, reaching my goals, and getting ahead. I'll be back with specific helpful creative business tips, but until then, check out the posts from my Creative Business Month for help and inspiration.

[By the way, the first photo is of my brand new laptop. A friend gave it to me for free, it was just lying around at his work! Thrift Score of the year! Now I can be even more of a workaholic productive on-the-go. Always ask around before you buy something, a friend my have a spare that saves you hundreds!]

What Creative Projects are You Working On? How Do You Balance it all?
Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

15 comments:

  1. Hey Vanessa, don't worry, you're not the only one having a very busy summer.

    Here I'm working full time -9 to 5 job- and part time at my blog about mid century modern design; basically I work 12-13 hours a day: I need a holiday...

    My main projects at the moment are the series of biographies about mid century architects/designers that I've already started and a post -that I hope will be a milestone for my blog- about the interaction between architecture and artificial lightning in the mid century homes.

    Ok, are not 'creative' projects but researching and combining all the information I find in a compelling way, requires a bit of creativity as well ;)

    I Love your blog, really! Keep going on!

    Ciao.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Marco, thank you for your kind feedback! Looks like we're in the same boat working full time and asking for more like crazy people!

    I love your blog too- excellent, informative content and conversational tone. You keep hitting those goals, too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Van, you're not only an inspiration ~ you're a Super Hero Rock Star! I don't know how you do it all and still manage to stay organized and eat healthy! Thanks for sharing your projects, ideas, and wisdom with us ~ I can't wait to see what you do next!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'll share some specific tips on tackling to-do lists soon! Remember, I've only been eating healthy for 3 days straight ;)

    It's easy because there's no time to eat anything but the healthy food I prepared ahead of time!

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow. you are a busy, busy girl! as a mom, i'm glad to see you're eating right :-) and i LOVE those little stainless steel containers - where did you get those?
    you mentioned a while ago too that you were thinking of converting playing cards into business cards. i love the idea of that but am having a hard time picturing it. can this be one of your art posts?
    i stay balanced by making lists and prioritizing - what's interesting, though, is that the creative things i love to do often end up at the bottom of my list. but i meet monthly with a writing partner and it makes a huge difference - keeps me accountable and writing becuase i have a deadline and someone i have to show something to!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Angelika! The stainless steel containers are actually an Indian lunch box called a tiffin. The multiple tiers make them perfect for packing a nutritious lunch.(Search Amazon.com for tiffin)

    And I'll have to follow-up with a post on "Creative Ways to make tags and packaging" post. :)

    Also: I've been loving my drawing nights because they force me to get work done. I love partners/groups that force me to be accountable and finish tasks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. currently right now i am working on my new jewelry collection and worked a bit on my blog design. i feel like my head is going to explode, i have so many things going on! eek!

    xo,
    cb

    ReplyDelete
  8. Miss Lou: The passion for what I do is my fuel!

    cb: I'm right there with you: at the house briefly before a stop at the antique store, then a meeting at 7pm, gotta squeeze some writing in the middle, eek! Back to work with me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've started creating a list of things to do for the week. I've been fairly well by doing this. As far as my currently DIY projects I've pulled out my paints to create some of these http://www.twitpic.com/5wuj0r

    ReplyDelete
  10. I wanna add something about the food regime...
    Even though I grew up eating properly and ealthy -Italian moms knows how to teach you ;)- it's really difficult sometimes to stay on track with my busy schedule: I also go to the gym three times a week.

    The main point is that you just have to start!
    One trick I have is to prepare something healthy in the weekends -like vegetables, an homelet, a chicken salad etc- that I can save in the fridge for few days.
    In this way I don't have to cook but I eat properly ;)

    Buy a lot of veggies on saturday or saturday: you have to cook them asap and you'll be obliged to eat them once they are in the fridge looking at you :D

    Let me know if you need some easy recipe!

    Ciao.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Marco: That's -exactly- what I do. Looks like that's the only way to eat right when you're busy. E-mail me some recipes, I'll surely try and share 'em: info@thriftcore.com.

    ReplyDelete
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