Life Update: Quitting Work & Starting A Business

Hello, bonjour, konichiwa! I hope all you guys are having a fabulously fun and happy week so far :) This past week has been a bit of a whirlwind for me, so I thought it'd be nice to update everyone and take a look at what I've been up to recently. Plus I just love a good chatty post, don't you?

Stickin' it to the man! Or not. You may or may not have seen from my Twitter lately, that I quit my job last week. Friday rolled around like any other day, I went into work, smiled and nodded, got on with my jobs and expected to be home by 6pm. This didn't seem to happen though, I was in fact home by 1pm. I can't tell you some awesome quitting story unfortunately, as much as I'd love to. I just got spoken to crappy once again by my boss, and basically called stupid (not the first time) and I'd pretty much had enough. When I was on my lunch break I realised just how unhappy I was, almost to the point of tears, and decided to walk out and not go back. That's pretty much it. I haven't regretted it once, I'm only really sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to two ladies I worked with who were absolutely lovely. I don't even have contact details for them which sucks, they made work bearable and were so lovely to me. I wish I could have thanked them.

Let's do this!
Since then? Well I've been a mixture of terrified and ecstatic. I have moments of panic like, 'oh my god I quit a job without anything else as a backup!' and then Gary will calm me down reassuring me he can take care of us and everything will be okay. The rest of the time I've been crazy productive, creative and planning. I've began doing design work again, and by some amazing, supportive twist of fate; you guys have been buying! I cannot express how much of a help this has been! As well as this, I've been finally putting a plan of action into place concerning my Etsy store. I've been researching suppliers for a whole range of products that I'll soon be releasing, including phone cases, stationary, jewellery and much more! SO EXCITED FOR THIS!! I can't wait to show you guys my designs. Be patient with me though, they'll be rolling out in the next few weeks.
It's looking more and more like this could be my job.. at least for a while. If it all fails and I don't do well, then yes I'll be back on the job hunt and doing anything to get paid. Right now though? I'm putting my heart and fucking soul into doing something I love. I'm getting up at 6am and going to sleep in the quiet hours of the night, so that I can spend every second creating, planning, working, blogging, and sharing it all with you guys :) I hope you'll join me along this little journey... and please, wish me luck!
On the less crazier side of things, this week has seen me spending more time with family, getting excited for a blogging event in Manchester this Sunday (yay! I will post about this afterwards!) and pretty much loving life. I feel so free and creative, like there's a little bit of lightening running through my veins. If I can keep hold of this feeling, I might just be able to pull this all off...
Anyway. That's enough rambling for now. How is your week going?

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Cute Mail

This week's mail had me squealing my little kawaii heart out, and for good reason too. Two sets of awesome packages came in the post, and I can't help but want to share the prettiness of it all with you guys.

Firstly, after teasing myself for a good week looking at all the beautiful products available from Cheekyboo; I caved and finally bought this adorable map notebook. I'm so glad I did. This little guy now takes pride of place on my desk, and is inspiring me to fill it with my hopes, dreams, ideas and plans! It's filled with beautifully textured paper too, none of that cheap thin crap you so often see. How could I not get this when it's only £1.95?! Bargain if the month I think, and I've now got my eye on a few other products of theirs. 

Secondly, I was lucky enough to win a Twitter competition from the lovely guys over at Prairie Charms; Woohoo! They said they were sending me a goody bag full of surprises, and I couldn't believe the lovely items they included.

Jewelled hair clips, pastel hair bobbles, beautiful glitter bow clips, a necklace, pretty straws, washi tape, big star and moon hair clips and more! Everything was SO CUTE. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I've already used my washi tapes to help decorate my scrapbook, and worn different hair accessories each day. The beautiful big bow hair clip has gotten me so many compliments, and I think it really suits my hair colour at the moment. I'm also thinking of clipping this to items of clothing to customise them, like on a blazer or bag; to add a little sparkle to various outfits.

I love receiving any mail that isn't boring bills, and these were such a treat in my letterbox this week. I loved sharing this with you guys, and I'm actually considering doing posts like this every now and again when especially cute things make their way into my mail. What do you think? Would you like to see that?
Please let me know if any of you would be interested in something like this?! I'd love to know!
Thanks guys :)

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Open For Business

It's gotten to the point where a fire has lit up inside me, and the fierce desires to follow my passions are scratching their way to the surface, unyielding. I've mentioned before how important blogging has become to me (here), and that's because it fuses so many of my passions into one outlet in a way that makes me happy. It's brought me some amazing opportunities so far, and I've found myself wishing I could push things further and really testing the waters to see what I can make of myself. 

And then I realised; why am I sitting around wishing for things to just happen to me? Are things just magically going to get better? Well, maybe... Some people are lucky like that. But, do I really want to leave it all in the hands of luck? Certainly not. The last time I took a big chance, I really didn't believe anything would come of it, but I was proven wrong. It's taught me I should just go for things anyway, you never quite know when magic will strike! But you do actually have to go for things, to strive, to try.

So here I am, I'm going to try. If I fall, which I may; well that's just fine.

I've decided to really push myself in various ways to to get a little bit closer to my dreams. I'm doing this creatively, professionally and bravely. 

Creatively; I've opened up an Etsy store. This is going to be where I put all my creations and crafty adventures for sale. I hope someone out there will like something I do, and believe in me enough to buy a little piece of me one day. I'll keep adding to this, so you should keep checking back! 

Professionally; I'm doing a variety of things. I'm now offering my design services, and this is something not just for fun or creativity, but to actually put my Art  and Design education to good use. If you fancy a new blog header or button, I'm your gal! I'm offering custom blog headers for only £16, and new blog buttons for just £4. You can see a header I designed recently for the lovely Aymie below, and a blog button for Dee.

I'm also doing custom illustrations, if anyone would ever want a portrait of themselves doing, or perhaps one for someone else as a gift. I'm really keen to push myself and my work to the best of my capabilities, and would love new challenges.

I'm also branching out into freelance Social Media Management. This is something that terrifies me, which bring me to how I believe I'm being brave. It's actually what I do full time for my job at the moment, but I want to venture out into freelance work for myself, as that would give me more freedom to work on my Art/Designs and professional brand. I'm skilled and knowledgeable in social management on a professional level, but learning how to do this for myself will be an experience, I'm sure. I already have a small business lined up as my first client, which I am doing on a temporary trial basis for free, just so I can start off my freelance portfolio with a bang. I'm excited to start this adventure and take a risk in going for my dreams to be honest! Wish me luck.

And as always, I'm going to be here. I'm going to be typing away on this blog and spilling my guts to you guys, in the hopes that someone out there will care what I have to say and support me. Every time someone reads my posts, leaves me a nice comment or just generally takes an interest in my life; it baffles me a little. In the best way possible of course! So thank you.

So here's the bit I ask for your support, you lovely people behind those screens. Send me your positive vibes, buy a piece of my artwork, hire me for a custom design for your blog, book an advertising spot with me, suggest ways in which I can improve, recommend someone to my services, keep up with my adventures, or simply wish good thoughts my way? I know, all of those a big asks of you. I appreciate that. But I have to ask, because going for your dreams means not holding back. It means being brave and not worrying about falling flat on your face. It means sending out positive thoughts into the universe, and just praying some come right back to you.

Or, it means getting lucky. But guys... I have terrible luck to be honest.

Let's stick with working hard and chasing those dreams like your life depends on it, eh?

I love you all xo

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