life is cray cray

Yeah, cray cray. But i’m still alive! If you’re wondering where I’ve been, here’s a quick life update!

I’m crazy busy but for all good reasons.

We found an amazing house that we hope to move into at the end of May! And when I say we, I mean Chris. I’m leaving for New York with the ladies in my family in two weeks which leaves my poor guy to make the move alone. Thankfully we have some pretty great friends who are going to help him out.

My days are currently filled with packing up our house, meetings with clients ( like the image above ) and working on design projects that must be completed before I leave.

I will be sharing finished design projects, amazing clients, adventures in New York and our new home very soon! Until then, I’ll be in my design cave. ;)

Thanks for being awesome!

jacksonville / one spark

Last weekend there was an amazing event in Jacksonville called One Spark – you may remember me explaining the details a few weeks ago. If I wasn’t so crazy busy I would’ve been down there everyday but I was able to get down there a couple different times. It was so encouraging and inspiring to see so many creative people together sharing their ideas in my city.

I got out of the office a little early on Friday to meet up with a couple of my favorite blogger ladies, Brittni and Caroline!

You can check out the results of the vote at beonespark.com!

Annnd you should go ahead and make plans to come next year. ;)

design process: inspiration moodboards

Hey friends! I’m busy with design projects, emailing and client meetings today but I wanted to give you a look at one of my current projects – I just love it!

I’ve spent a lot of time refining my process recently and one of the things that needed a small change was the inspiration moodboard portion. As creatives, it’s easy to become overwhelmed when jumping on Pinterest for inspiration. If you’re like me, it’s hard to edit down a specific look because I just love so much! So, I decided to make searching for images part of the Branding Workbook that I send to my clients to get their project started. In the Workbook, there are specific categories that they need to find images for. A few categories being typography, color and texture. I ask them to go out with their camera or flip through a magazine to find these images. This way, they are looking for something specific as they search for visual representations of their brand and not becoming completely overwhelmed by all of the options.

This client decided to stick to magazine clippings to collect images. After she gave them to me and we discussed them along with her completed Branding Workbook, I was able to narrow them down to the images you see on her inspiration moodboard.

I just love the rich, bold color and typography she chose. We’ll be revealing more of her updated brand very soon! :)

Side note: I still love creating moodboards via Pinterest and I don’t think that is a bad way to go about finding inspiration. This is just what works best for my clients at this point!

I’d love to know what works best for you! Where to you go to collect visual inspiration?

creatives to follow / emily blincoe

Every once in a while I stumble upon a creative that really inspires me. When that happens, I absolutely must share them with you!

Today I discovered a new instagram feed that I just couldn’t stop scrolling through.

Emily Blincoe has kept a few post series going through her feed, my favorite being #thisampersandthat

I love the idea of putting boundaries on yourself that you have to be creative within. It can be a great exercise when you’re feeling uninspired! Like I’ve said before, a lot of bad work has to be made before you get to the good stuff. If you put a few restrictions on a project, you’re stretched and forced to try new things which usually leads to something really great that you would have never done before.

Follow Emily: @thuglifeforevs

On a semi-related note, have you guys seen Bri’s latest giveaway on Designlovefest? She’s giving away a dream office and I ( like everyone else entering ) NEED TO WIN! Haha! But seriously, what a perfect way to start making our new house a home!? ( which we’re still looking for, btw. ) Since the contest is taking place on instagram by posting pictures of your workspace, I’ve decided to keep it interesting by hiding something related to DLF in each post entry. Check out the first post in my little series right here!

new from the studio: oh, i design

How’s everyone doing out there? I feel slightly disconnected from the internet world since I’ve cut back on blogging – but it has been a good thing, for sure.

This weekend we got our house ready to be put back up for rent and started looking at houses! ( EEEEEEE!! ) I’m not sure I was ready for the emotional side of finding a house, whew! But, I’m super excited to see what God has planned for our future.

Now that you’re all caught up on my crazy little life, it’s time for a big reveal from the design studio! Last week, Jessica Packard revealed her newly renovated blog, Oh, I Design! It was such a blessing to work with this sweet girl and have the opportunity to get to know her.

Here’s a short interview with Jessica, the interior design guru behind Oh, I Design:

Tell us a bit about Oh, I Design! What can new readers expect?
Oh, I Design is my little piece of the internet focused around all things interiors along with posts about San Diego, other creatives, events + just inspiration. It originated when my now fiance and I made a big move from Oklahoma to San Diego, I found it was the perfect place to keep up with my friends and family from home. It has transitioned into more than I ever thought and I have met so many fantastic people through it.

Has your blog had a big effect on your career in interior design?
Absolutely! I am a big believer in “it’s all about who you know” and again, I have met a lot of great people through my blog/social media that have connected me to new clients and job opportunities. It (eh…she? my blog is a she…I feel bad calling her “it”) helped me find most of the closest friends I have in San Diego and I couldn’t be more thankful for that alone. But, “she” has also given me more knowledge about interior design through a lot of research and exploration for various posts.

How important was having a strong visual identity to you?
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the strongest), I would have to say 11. Ha! Yes, I would say the content is the most important but how will people remember YOUR blog/website? What makes it special? What makes it…you? Before I had the opportunity of working with Jordan, I attempted to create most of the design elements on my old blog (poor old blog) and it was just….blah. Nothing reflected my personality and I eventually found I lacked the motivation to create more unique posts because of it. Jordan helped me gain the confidence and motivation I needed!

Thank you Jordan for having me on your blog and creating such a rad blog for me!! I am a big fan of yours!

Can you see why I love her!? Haha :)

With this design, we wanted to make it super clear who Jessica is and what she does as soon as readers come to her blog. ( here’s the inspiration moodboard we started with! ) We used hand drawn elements ( the furniture renderings are her own sketches! ) and graph paper texture to give readers the feeling that they’re getting a peek into Jessica’s sketch book.

Head on over to Jessica’s new snazzy blog and say hello!

Does your brand need a little spring cleaning as well?

I’m currently taking new design clients for the coming weeks, so shoot me an email if you’d like more information about working with me on your project!

creative resources / apps

Before I get into sharing a few apps I’m enjoying lately I just have to say, you guys are seriously amazing.

I’m so encouraged by all of your sweet comments on Tuesday’s post. It really means so much to me to have your support in my decision to cut back in posting frequency. I’m amazed how much more I’ve been able to accomplish during the day and then STOP WORKING at a reasonable time! So, thanks for being awesome.

On to a few apps that have also made my life a little bit more organized recently!

In order of newness on my iPhone: ( because I’m weird + need a reason to order them? Ha! )

Pocket

This app isn’t exactly new but for some reason it took me a while to give it a try. When I finally did, I fell in love!

I always come across web pages that I don’t have time to fully check out at the moment, but don’t want to forget. Instead of keeping 800 tabs open on my browser or dragging a ton of links onto my desktop and slowing down my computer, I can just click a little button on the top of my browser and the page is saved to my Pocket account. Then, when I have time, I just open the Pocket app on my phone, iPad or computer and all of my saved pages are there.

Download the app here + the Chrome extension here!

Mailbox

There is a lot of hype about this new app, and for a good reason! It has really improved the way I do email – not to mention it’s beautiful UI, perfect for design snobs. ;) It makes it easy for Gmail users to keep their email under control. AND there’s extra incentive to get the inbox to zero: getting to see what awesome image they’ve discovered and shared with us. ( Seriously, it really makes me want to get through my emails every day just a bit more. Ha! )

There is a waiting list for the app but it is well worth the wait. ( Also, my husband just signed up recently and I swear it’s going much faster for him! )

Download the app here!

Sunrise

Aaaaaand now for the newest app on my iphone. I was pumped when Taylor told me about this new calendar app! I’ve started using Google calendars more recently for scheduling work and life events so this came into my life at the perfect time. ( Trying a digital version of my time management system in case I don’t have as much office space when we move. ) It also syncs Facebook and LinkedIn events. Also, I dig the design.

Download the app here!

You know the drill.

It’s your turn! What apps have you downloaded and loved recently?

it’s time to take a step back

Dear friends, today’s post is going to get real.

As you know, last week I took a break from blogging while I was sick. In between the ridiculous amounts of sleeping as I tried to kick the nastiness, I did a lot of thinking and reading – the main topic seemed to be time management. This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately and last week I was finally honest with myself about how I spend my time.

I’d say over 50% of my “work” time is spent blogging. While most of my design clients find me through the blog, I don’t make any money from the blog itself. Something needs to change. I’ve decided to slow down my posting schedule, at least for now. Here are a few reasons I’ve made this decision:

I’m done with the fluff. If we’re being honest, I think we’re all done with it. We want high quality, original content. Everything else could be considered a waste of time. Because I value your time as well as mine, I’m only going to spend time preparing posts that are worth your time to read.
My business has been put on the back burner for too long. I constantly feel the need to update contracts, polish my process and create products for the shop and these are the “to do’s” that get pushed back day after day. I want to offer the best service possible so I’m going to have to devote more time to making that happen.
I need to make time to let life happen. Let’s be real… if all I do is blog, my posts are going to be incredibly boring because I’ll have nothing to talk about! Speaking of that… want to know a secret? We’re moving soon! Just to a different area of Jacksonville but we’re hoping to buy a house so it is super exciting.

So, in order to create time for finding a house, moving, taking on more design jobs, bettering my business and making big changes in my business ( more on that later ), I am only going to commit to posting twice a week instead of everyday for a while. Of course, if inspiration strikes, I’ll post more than that!

Thanks for being awesome!

I’d love to hear your thoughts. How often do you post? Why do we put pressure on ourselves to post everyday, anyway?

the year

It’s Monday and I’m actually super excited to jump back into work after being sick! ( I’m not totally better yet, but I’m getting there! Yay! )

My creativity was completely drained last week but I have a good feeling about the next few days. Today I’ve carved out some time to sit down with Sarah and Taylor to brainstorm plans for 2013 and really talk through our business goals. We’ve said 2013 is the year for a while now. Not quite sure what it’s the year of yet… maybe change?
What plans/goals do you have for your life/business for the rest of 2013?

Photography by Sarahdipity Photos for Create Like Crazy

please + thank you

CLC readers, thank you for reading and supporting CREATE LIKE CRAZY! I always want to give credit where it is due. If you see anything with the wrong information, please let me know and I'll be happy to update!

All content is created with love specifically for CREATE LIKE CRAZY. If you'd like to share something you found here, please credit properly and link back to the original post.

Thanks for being awesome!

For design inquiries + hellos, email me: jordan@createlikecrazy.com

CREATE LIKE CRAZY

empowering the creative in you

☰ Navigation