Chelsea Brady

In just 50 short days I’m turning the BIG 30.
The past year has been abundant and full to the brim.

I’ve experienced the wonders of China, turned 29 on the beaches of Thailand and spent the day with Elephants. I’ve eaten the most delicious street food in Malaysia, made life long friends in Bali, and fell in love with the cities and villages of England (as well as my hunky English beau).

Before stepping on the plane to China in February, I had never been outside of the US and a few months later I had flown a complete circle around the earth.

For years, I’ve said that what I wanted most in life was to travel, now that dream has become a reality and I’ve realized that achieving BIG goals is fantastic, but sometimes it’s the small feats in life that bring the most enjoyment.

UPDATE!! I didn’t make it through as many of these as I had hoped, but in accordance with #28 I’m not taking it too seriously, these are all great things I’m happy to experience in my 30′s as well!  

Here’s how I’ll be celebrating the last days of my 20′s…

1. Redesign and launch my website

2. Spend the weekend in Paris
I had a ticket, but decided it was a little too much stress to go… I’ll go in the Spring when it’s warm!

3. Create a watercolor painting
I made a great “mmm… bread” painting for Alex’s dad. There can never be enough bread in the Linsley home!

4. Design a font

5. Write letters to my grandparents

6. Take a blues dancing class

7. Go on a romantic dinner date with Alex

8. Set up a photo shoot with my favorite photographer

9. Create videos for my home page and services page

10. Create a playlist on designers.mx

11. Finish my Right Brain Business Plan

12. Clean out my closet AKA suitcase

13. Try one of those fancy nail art tricks
Stripes!!

14. Clean out the inbox on my computer and email

15. Book my design schedule out 5 months ahead

16. Buy an iPad mini

17. Write an ebook on freelancing while traveling with Alex

18. Design 3 creativity coaching worksheets

19. Create 5 stock web designs to sell in my shop

20. Design 3 posters to sell in my shop

21. Create 5 printable items for blog posts

22. Design 5 custom repeating patterns

23. Make a collection of my favorite color schemes

24. Bind a book

25. Meditate 5 days in a row

26. Book a stylist session with Claire Redmer

27. Crochet a granny square

28. Take things less seriously
A work in progress, but it’s happening!

29. Plan the most amazing Pin Up Birthday Party a girl (and her best friend) could dream of
It truly was the most amazing Pin Up Birthday Party!!

30. Fly back to the US and reunite with my amazing friends in Boulder

… and one to grow on …

31. Create a cookbook of my favorite English recipes

Time to get started! I’ll be letting you know how it goes

xo 

This excites me. I’ll be making more like this soon.

You may have heard me talk about the Right-Brain Business Plan before (I’m a licensed workshop facilitator!) and how much this creative approach has helped me in my business.

If you’ve been curious about how this creative approach can help you launch or grow your business, I wanted to let you know about a FREE 3-day course led by The Right-Brain Business Plan author and creator herself, Jennifer Lee. It’s happening January 18-20 online at creativeLIVE and you can participate live for no cost! I’ll be in the chat room along with thousands of other creative entrepreneurs from around the world and I’d love to see you there: http://cr8.lv/JLEC1

With only 2 weeks until the 2012 Presidential Elections, it’s time to finish up your research on the issues, start filling out those mail-in ballots, and prepare to get you and all of your community members to the polls on Nov. 6th. I’ve had fun the past couple of days designing some Get Out & Vote Facebook Icons and Covers for you and your buddies in hopes of inspiring everyone to do their part in creating the future we want for the world.

Download your favorites here by right clicking and choosing Save Image As. Or download them all by clicking here!
Be sure to pass them along to your friends. Every vote counts!

In the past couple of months PowerUp Productions (the kick-ass branding team I work with) has dreamed up and put into action a sexy new brand. From design, to word-smithing and wordpressing we’ve got a brand new brand… well, of course,  we held on to all the awesomeness that’s kept us kickin’ for over 4 years.

We created our brand to convey our rockstar talents and get-it-done practicality, while infusing it with all the love, light-heartedness, and passion that we bring to our clients projects every day.

Check ‘er out. 

Triangle Trio Brass Bangles CSfootprints $30.00	Mountain Triangles / Giclée… JamieMilk $20.00	nail triangle rings superwicked $19.00
Ceramic serving tray, Lime t… CeramicaBotani… $75.00	Triangulation Earrings – dou… corrieberrypie $18.50	Jotter, Pocket Notebook, Min… witandwhistle $5.75
Red Triangle Cut Out Full Sk… salvagelife $75.00	Digital Paper Pack: Love Tri… BeautyDivineDe… $5.00	Golden Triangle Cross Stitch… GammaFolk $45.00
Leather passport case – Geom… tovicorrie $55.00	20 EARTHY ASSORTMENT Triangl… LindenAvenueDe… $2.50	Set of two hand painted geom… vickygonart $30.00
Triangles JBBrowntown $35.00	Lines and Triangle Pastel Co… hellosleepywha… $8.00	Geometric Triangle Art-Magic… mishablaise $32.00
5 Assorted Mini Paper Origam… ShutUpAndFold $3.50

Triangles are high up there on my “favorite design elements” list; along with octagons, diagonal lines, and mandalas.  I created this Etsy Treasury to feed a bit of my obsession.

So you’ve taken the leap and started your very own small business, and now you’re left with the huge task of finding a designer to create an identity for your company.  Going into the branding process unprepared can result in frustration and expensive redesigns. Fear no more, I’ve come up with 5 important tips for you to think about as you’re dreaming of and commissioning your new logo.

1. Hire a professional designer with a strong portfolio.

We all know that money is tight, especially during the start-up period of a business, but remember that a logo is the face and identity of your company. Nothing will turn potential clients and customers away faster than an amateur looking logo. This doesn’t mean that you need to spend thousands of dollars creating your company’s identity. There are plenty of affordable options, including a simple text based logo.

2. Design your logo for multiple mediums.

A logo is the main component of a company’s identity and the basis for all design work that follows it. It’s extremely important that logos are created with versatility in mind. Your logo should be readable and attractive in both print and on the web. Logos need to work in color and in black and white, as well as on many backgrounds without losing impact.

3. Size Matters.

Logos need to look the same no matter how big they are. Your logo should be crisp and clear on everything from business cards and pens to event banners and company trucks.

Also, consider that your logo will not only be used in rectangular spaces but square spaces like web ads and social media icons and a good designer will create a logo that is adaptable to these spaces.

4. Consider your icon and tagline.

The best logos incorporate not only the name of your company but an icon and often a tagline as well. These three elements should work seamlessly together and apart. Ask your designer to consider these elements when creating your logo.

5. Make sure to get files from your designer.

Ask your designer for pertinent design files including, .ai, .eps, .jpg, .png. and .psd. depending on which software your logo was created in. Designers should also give you a list of all fonts and Pantone colors used. If you work with another designer in the future, they will need these items to do their job.

Remembering these 5 simple tips will not only help you avoid catastrophe and expensive redesigns, they will help you communicate with and hold your designer accountable during the branding process.