Ain’t It Good to Let Go
All One Mind
Strengthened by Gratitude
YES!
Singular Blossom
Designing vs Designing for the Web
One of the constant battles for me as a visual designer has been the attempt to keep up with all of the coding necessary for creating working websites. If you factor in all of the reading, training, and struggling time it would quickly become apparent that I have been essentially paying clients for the privilege of getting them online. That is, until recently.
Not long ago, I discovered Artisteer. It is a drag and drop web design tool that serves me really well.
I don’t know exactly what the block was, but I spent 2 years studying WordPress theme development, and I still couldn’t get it. I’m an intelligent person. I certainly purchased and read enough books to at least get a BA in WordPress, however I would have flunked out. No go. Then I found Artisteer. Voila!
In less than 1/2 an hour, I had designed a WordPress theme with custom graphics I had created for a client. It would easily have taken me two weeks on my own, and I am not sure that it would have functioned. Suddenly, I AM FREE to do what I am truly good at, without the struggle!
Somehow, through the ethers I guess, word got out that I could custom design for WordPress, and I got a new bunch of clients.
Even more exciting, I discovered that I could change into a template for here on Blogger, or a regular html site template with all the good css built right in. (How many hours did I pull at my hair in not so silent struggles learning that?!) Now I use Dreamweaver for the meta tagging and little tweaks that Artisteer may not include, but I develop the Look and Feel in Artisteer.
I have up til now avoided the affiliate thing, but I am sold on Artisteer, and they have a great affiliate program, so I signed up. If you are an artist/designer first, and a techno-geek last, check it out. I think you will be pleased.
Nowadays, I am doing what I love: my art, illustration and visual design!
The Joy of Inspiration
So many times I have let the shoulds and have-tos take over my life, so that there has been no time left for the it-will-make-my-heart-soar-with-joys. Luckily, there is a huge part of me that recognizes that this lifelong habit is out of balance, so I consciously seek and become aware of individuals and circumstances that will remind me to once again follow my hearts bliss, such as Melissa Dinwiddie and her Thriving Artists project.
My last entry on here was last April. It was around that time I started working at our local raw food restaurant – The Green Boheme, which I dearly love. I wasn’t just working there for many hours each week, I continued my graphic design and art businesses as well. I never knew candles had that many ends! Even though it was the beginning of another joyous joyourney, my time became even more premium and I pretty much stopped all of my personal blogging (except, of course, The Daily Napkin, although even that slowed down for a couple weeks).
Today, I got an email from an inspirational acquaintance of mine, Barbara Lopez. I followed links in her newsletter, and ended up discovering her Daily Joy blog, as in DAILY for well over a year. She says in her introduction:
“In January 2010 I set a resolution that I’d find joy in every single day. In the small, and not so small things. But how do I know I’m doing that? By blogging it. It was such a fun and worthy project that I’ve decided to do it in 2011. Hooray for joy!”
Okay, I’m inspired. I rededicate myself to acknowledging my Joy in Life. I do some creative (preferably art) project every day, I allow Spirit’s inspiration to write the Daily Napkin just about everyday my husband goes to work, and I will share my joy here. YES! Life is good. Life is JOY FULL.
(NOTE: It is now December 24, and I have not kept up this intended project. Aw, well! I HAVE been experiencing great joy!)