Tag Archives: business

Sheconnex…

Posted on by
Reply

Have you heard of Sheconnex? If you haven’t and you live in the Cornwall area you should look into it. Sheconnex was founded by Karine Parthenais.

Karine Parthenais Founder of Sheconnex

It’s a great organization that brings women together through various types of activities. At first, like many I thought this was just another business association. It’s nice to have a place where I don’t have to talk business all the time and where I can bring along my friends that aren’t business owners. They have activities aimed for moms, business women and other activities where women of all walks of life are welcome. It’s also a low commitment environment you can sign up for the events that interest you and that fit into your busy schedule which is great.

I first met Karine at the end of August she was looking for someone new and local to Cornwall to work on the graphic design for their various events. When I met her I instantly knew that she would do very well in this type of work. She is a warm welcoming person with an amazing personality very approachable and completely invested in this project. I wish her the best of luck with it and encourage you all to look into their events. Go take a look around their site here and like them on facebook here.

As of right now I have created the following for them. Each of their projects are fun and I look forward to all the projects that have yet to come.

First off they created the feminar you can find more info about it here.

The next project was creating a logo and poster for their super hero party, organized to to raise money for la maison baldwin. Unfortunately due to lack of participation it was cancelled let’s all make sure that doesn’t happen again.

And here was the poster.
Lastly and most importantly I just designed a poster for the opening of their studio and the logo for the studio itself!!! Which means they will now have a space in which to host their events; essentially a pied a terre. The other interesting part of this space is that they will be sharing it through space rental.

Here is the logo.

And the poster…
I hope to run into you at the grand opening I will be there for a bit (I have to sneak over during my lunch since I work a 12 hour shift that day). Once again Cornwall is a great place to be and there is plenty going on please check out their site and get involved.

Nancy

Happy to be where I am today…

Posted on by
4

Today as I write this ( September 27) I have now been living back in Cornwall for 2 years to the day. It seems like just yesterday I was in the peak of marathon training and fundraising when suddenly I was given 2 weeks to uproot and move back to Cornwall. Luckily my parents own a rental property and I was able to move into a vacant apartment right away (more on that soon). Thank goodness, cause finding an apartment was an extra stress I didn’t need.

In the past 2 years so much has changed. I completed my fundraising challenge of 6800$. I traveled to Greece and completed my very first marathon. I became single and lived on my very own for the first time ever other then a brief stint in 2007. I became an officer in the Cadet Instructor Cadre. I completed my invisalign treatment (more on that later too) and best of all I became an aunt as well as a girlfriend once again to a wonderful man.

Now I’m in my thirties living in Cornwall working part time and working on this business and living it up. Funny I always thought that I would live in the big city seeing that that is where the work is in my field. I knew that someday I would start my own business but I never thought I would do it so soon and that I would return to Cornwall to do it.

Looking back now as much as there was to do in Toronto I couldn’t afford to do much in the 2 years I lived there. I never went shopping couldn’t afford it. Rarely went out couldn’t afford it. Never traveled anywhere but home. Not only couldn’t I afford things money wise but my time was so limited with the daily commute that I couldn’t partake in the activities that I love so much. Since moving home I have been able to join my old bowling league, join the design team and become an officer with 325 air cadets plus I get to spend quality time with my girlfriends crafting and some good old family time too.

There are so many advantages to living in this beautiful city and today I’m happy to say that moving home was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Do you ever look back on past decision and have regret? I don’t usually carry regret in my life; turns out everything that I have done has led me to where i am today and they are experiences that have made me richer.

In the spirit of not regretting I agreed to join some girlfriends on a new york city adventure next month. When I received the invitation I was hesitant and over analyzing everything ie: time, money and of course staying away from the business for a long weekend yet again. In the end I decided it was a great deal and the business would profit from me taking some time away and getting new inspiration from the big apple.

Check out this video. It’s been around for a while but I love it and figured I’d like to share it with all of you.
Nancy

Lorena

Posted on by
Reply

Earlier this summer I was asked to create a business card for my friend and fellow design team member Lorena.

She is one talented lady that blogs, creates and teaches and she wanted a card to make networking easier. Take a look around on her blog I don’t know how she keeps  up being a working mom, teaching classes and blogging regularly but she’s real good at it all. Here is what we came up with. It turned out great and the QR code is something I hadn’t yet used on a card yet.

Do you have a blog? Do you have a business card for your blog?

Nancy

I heart BLOGS!

Posted on by
5

My friends tend to point that I am always referring back to the blog posts I read. I am addicted to blogs…I don’t really read books or magazines anymore since I try to follow blogs and they just make my heart happy. Plus I get tons of inspiration from them.

I do however have a problem I have a hard time keeping up. I use Google reader it’s great. It allows me to categorize my blogs in folders and I can star my favorite items so I could easily find them when I go back. Also I can do a search in my reader account and find something I read very easily whether it’s a new post or old one. Love it! My Google reader account always has a high count of unread blog posts but I’m comfortable with 300 unread posts. If you go over 1000 it says over 1000 to read and well I don’t like that I like to know how much reading I need to catch up on. This week I am at 546 unread post!!! How is that you might ask? Well I follow a lot of blogs 73 at the moment to be exact. I sort through them by reading my favorites first. I thought I would share my favorites with you. Starting with Melmel‘s of course!

Interior Design:
Bower Power – I was introduced to this one by my sister and I love Katie my sister and I often speak of her as if she was our friend she is so real and pleasant to read.
Teal & Lime – This one was just added to my reader list and I find myself jumping to it first to see what new DYI projects Jackie is working on.
It’s Great to be Home – I love following Liz…she and her husband have been busy flipping houses and the results are impressive…Love her style and feel like we could be friends if we really knew each other. (hope that doesn’t sound to creepy)
Ikea Hackers – Love love love this blog some post have some very interesting ideas for using your ikea furniture in new ways. It’s also quick I look at the images and if there is something I would like to hack I stay for a while and read the tutorial.

Photograpy:
Jasmine Star - Of course you all know I have a huge career crush on Jasmine! So I read her as soon as a new post is up.
Mikeala Ruth Photography – Through Jasmine I discovered Mikeala I enjoy seeing her work and getting to know a bit about her life. She is also very talented.

Lifestyle / Fashion:
Kendi Everyday – Kendi has awesome style and she post pictures of her outfits everyday it’s a quick refreshing read. I found her while reading Jeremy and Kathleen
Making it Lovely – Nicole has such a distinct style and I love reading her design ideas and watching her family grow. It’s kind of hard to believe it when I see posts about her kids cause she didn’t have any when I started following her.
A Cup of Jo - Joanna’s blog is always filled with gorgeous photos and links.
Organic Pixels – Lindsay and I went to school together and her blog is filled with gorgeous pics and recipes. She doesn’t always post regularly but her posts always make me smile.

Graphic Design
Jeremy and Kathleen – It’s a great resource for me being that I am slowly building my design studio to hopefully do like Kathleen someday and jump in full time.
How About Orange – Really enjoy this one it’s also a new one on my list.

Scrapbooking
Auntie Em’s Scrapbooking – I read this one and now I am also part of the design team so from time to time you will find me over there talking about my latest projects.
Dear Lizzy – Is a designer for American Crafts she lives such a beautiful life one little girls would only dream of. Always creating new things she is so inspiring.
Ali Edwards – I like to think that Ali is a bit like me she is a memory keeper but her work is a combination of computer design, awesome photography and scrapbooking. It’s also fun to watch her family grow.

How do you manage your blog reading? Do you have an ipad or ereader? Right now all I have is a laptop and I dream of the day I finally cave and buy myself an ipad so I can bring my blogs with me on the go or cozy in bed. (And I’m dying to have flipboard) I find it just too hard to read them on my iphone and the laptop is not all that convenient.

Do you have any blogs you would recommend? One day soon I will give you the full list of blogs I follow but it fluctuates sometimes I get bored or annoyed when people write too much.

Nancy
Your blog crazed friend

Safety net

Posted on by
11

Did you know I have a safety net? My safety net is a job. A job that others would consider a great job. You know, with great pay, great benefits and my mom would argue a pension too.

But when I am at work I feel claustrophobic, anxious and sad. When I think about work I feel the same. Luckily I only have to work 25 hours a week but those hours feel like they never end.

The plan is to eventually leave that safety net and leap but it’s so scary. I have been planning to do this for years and I don’t know if I will ever have the guts to do it.

The good news is business is going well. I have loads of projects lined up and I have made more this year than I did all of last year that’s good right?

I wonder what it will take for me to leap. Maybe I need a push. Sometimes it feels like people around me don’t understand why I would want to do something so crazy. Is it really crazy?

I’m sure you have noticed my business is growing into many different things. Wedding invitation designer, photographer, graphic designer, photo editor, web designer and even some event design it has been such an interesting ride and I love the variety and growth. There is so much I still want to learn and do.

I’m going to keep working hard and being too busy for a while and hopefully someday I will be free falling and who knows maybe I’ll fly.

It all feels like I did in the picture below in Chicago’s Willis Tower so scary but yet I felt so alive and happy that I pushed through the fear and stood on the glass floor.

Have any of you taken the leap? Or is something holding you back too?
I’ll post more on our trip to Chicago later.

Nancy