March 2, 2012

tooling around: taking your tools to go

Last week I went on my first official business trip. Actually, it was a week of firsts: first trip to Philly, first time meeting several of my indiepreneur idols, first time traveling with a laptop…

Wait. What?

It is true. Last year my husband bought us a shiny, new replacement for our decade-old, slow-as-molasses electronic paperweight. Unfortunately (from a business standpoint), most of my trips are to see my folks in a land without internet so I always figured “why bother?” But I just knew I could put a laptop to good use during my trip to the Art of Earning LIVE.

I was wrong.

Turns out, you actually need to practice using a travel office before you get the hang of it.

There was so much to do and see, I often forgot to log in. I simply wasn’t used to having access to my business during travel. Did I mention I also lack a smartphone?

Some of the other attendees, however, are on the ball when it comes to taking their passion on the road with them.

L’Erin Alta-Devki started SisterFire to help women craft bright, beautiful, powerful, fun, and fulfilling lives. She also rocks a fashion sense like no other. How does a muse of lifestyle, expression, and self keep her business world centered when wanderlust strikes? Three things keep L’Erin connected to SisterFire and its subscribers: a notepad, her iPhone, her MacBook Pro. I was lucky to spend an entire afternoon wandering Philly with this fierce fashionista, and, while I often caught her snapping photos with her phone, she was by no means tied to it.

L'Erin really connected with the people in Philly. I snagged this photo from her twitter stream.

Engaged with the city? Yes. Engaged with some amazing summer rolls? Yes. Engaged with people? Most definitely. But not her phone. According to L’Erin, the right apps can let you be connected and free at the same time. She specifically mentioned Time Trade for scheduling and meeting with her sister femmes-on-fire.

Carla Smyrl reigns over Crown Bindery, a home office supply shop based in Austin. I love that she describes herself as matchmaker of pattern, color, and texture. Since she produces physical products, Carla can’t exactly bring her “work” on the road with her. But she certainly doesn’t leave it at home, either! During a break between teaching sessions she let me peek at the notebook that goes everywhere with her. Page after page was filled with product descriptions, mission statements, business plans, and any number of other thoughts.

From Elise Muller via Pinterest

In other words, Carla uses her time in transit to tweak all the “extras” involved in running Crown Bindery.

She also keeps her camera, a simple “point and shoot,” handy so she can capture inspiring color combinations and patterns. As an afterthought to those “essentials,” Carla mentioned toting a laptop or her smartphone in her traveling office.

Dave Ursillo is an alternative leadership writer and speaker harnessing the power of written and spoken word to positively change the world. I swear this guy goes everywhere! In the past week he’s shown up in Philadelphia, New York City, and back to his Rhode Island home to plan a trip to Austin! Where Dave goes so goes his iPhone 4 (aka his personal secretary). It tells him where to go and when, and keeps him tuned in to his fellow leaders on the ‘net. Dave also mentioned a laptop and a notebook among his favorite traveling companions, but he stressed the importance of pens.

“I have to have several pens for writing things down. When I need to get something down, I’ll write on anything even if I  have to write on my arm!”

From ici-paris via Pinterest. Click on the image for details..

I don’t know about you, but I definitely caught a theme here:

Mobile devices are good, pen and paper are essential.

That part, I have down. And, with a little more practice, I think I can put my own laptop to better use.

Are you a newb or a total expert when it comes to using your mobile office?

Filed Under: Buy You, For You, Tooling Around Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment
February 17, 2012

tooling around: cut it out!

From masks to magazine ad collages, I’m papering all over Scoutie Girl.  Today is no exception because I am talking with scrapbooker extraordinaire Vicki Oster. At Vicki’s shop, Paper Pieces by Vicki, you can find all sorts of pre-assembled albums for keeping or gifting your favorite memories. This lady uses all sorts of materials in making her books, but I forced asked her to focus on just one or two.

Vicki Oster: HMMM…this is hard to decide because I have several!  I guess my Cricut Expression and Crop-a-Dile are the ones I use the most and find most valuable.

Janice Bear: Okay, I already feel like you are speaking a foreign language.

VO: The Cricut is a digital die cut machine that I use to make letters, die cuts for my books and when I plan crafts for kids in a language group (I substitute teach for kids with special needs). It’s really a lot of fun and so diverse in uses.

 

Vicki made a butterfly for this scrapbook page using My Quiet Book cartridge for her Cricut

Additional information about this cartridge here. See more of Vicki’s work in her shop.

The Crop-A-Dile is indispensable for punching holes in chipboard and cardstock and for setting brads.

Die cuts are shapes,letters,tags,boxes, etc. that I layer, outline, distress or customize for my album pages and covers. They are especially nice because you can make your own embellishments with color coordinated papers, chipboard, cardstock.

JB: How did you find out about these crazy cutting, punching doodads?

VO: I found out about the Cricut through infommercials on tv, and then did research online and with other people who scrap. The Crop-a-Dile was something that I saw demoed at Archiver’s, a scrapbooking store, and knew some other people who owned.

JB: What other tools had you tried?

VO: Before the Cricut, I used the die cut machines at stores and had a sizzix die cutter.  However, these were pretty limiting and didn’t allow much for custom die cutting and they were time intensive.  With the Cricut you dial/type in what you want and can usually walk away from it to do other things while it cuts, plus it outlines your die cuts. I also bought die cuts at scrapbook stores which ended up being pretty pricey.

Before the Crop-a- dile I used regular hole punches but they did not work with thicker materials.

 

Vicki’s Crop-a-dile let her punch the holes in this album’s thick, chipboard pages

Check out the cute accordion album here. You can find out more about Crop-a-dile products at We R Memory Keepers.

JB: Do you have just one of each tool or do you have multiples on hand?

VO: I have one of each. The Cricut is very expensive and you have to purchase cartridges to use with it so it is a major expenditure for scrappers. I only need one Crop-a-dile as I do most of my work in my studio.

JB: What should someone look for when buying this tool?

VO: When buying the Cricut, look for sales or try eBay, and make sure that you will use it enough to justify the expense. Also, I only buy the cartridges through eBay auctions because they can cost sooooo much. I NEVER buy them from craft stores or Cricut online because their prices are ridiculous!

When buying the Crop-a- Dile check out the newer, huge (golden orange) version vs. the small, pink original, and try to decide which meets your needs. If possible, use a Jo-Ann’s or Michael’s coupon for 40% off as they are sort of pricey, too.

- – -

I agree, Vicki, coupons are always a good idea! I can see any number of scrapbookers and multi-media artists getting a lot of mileage out of these babies. Am I right?

Does anyone else use a Cricut, Crop-a-dile, or something else they like even better?  Tell us about it!

Filed Under: Buy You, For You, Tooling Around Tagged With: , , , , , , , 5 Comments
December 1, 2011

Acute How-To: Mod and Flower Paper Ornaments

I don’t know about you, but my house is starting to look pretty Christmasy right about now. I always put up my tree and various holiday decorations over Thanksgiving weekend. This year I spent some time creating super simple and festive paper ornaments. I love the handmade touch they give to the rest of my holiday decor.

What you will need:

-cardstock paper – any color you like
-stapler + staples
-scissors
-floral wire {this can be found at the craft store near the artificial flowers}
-string

Steps for the “mod” paper ornaments:

*Cut four strips of cardstock about one inch wide.  Take two of the strips and cut them slightly shorter.

*Stack the two short strips in the middle with a long one on each side and staple the top.  Next, bring the two ends of the longer strips to meet the end of the shorter strips.  Secure with a staple.

*Punch a hole in one end and and string a piece of ribbon or twine through the end.

*A double or triple layer mod paper ornament will be done in the exact same way.  All you will have to add is another set of cardstock strips.  In the end you will have “short, medium, and long” and you will layer them so that the two shortest are in the middle and then the medium and so on.

*Punch a hole in the double or triple layer ornaments and hang them from the ceiling or your tree!

Steps for the paper flowers:

*Cut a piece of cardstock into two equal sized squares.  Fold each one accordion style and trim the ends so that they are somewhat rounded.

*Do the same folding and trimming with the second square.  Join the two strips with a piece of floral wire.  Twist the wire so that it is secure.

*Bring the edges of the folded pieces together and secure with a staple.

If you want to hang these from your tree, pinch a small hole into one “petal” and loop a piece of string through it.  I chose to hang my flowers on the wall by placing removable sticky mounting squares on the backs and sticking them to the wall.

I love the way that the flowers look against the wall – it is so festive and pretty…I think I will make several more!

Filed Under: Acute How-To, tutorials Tagged With: , , , , , 7 Comments
July 20, 2011

Low Level Planning – Use a Calendar tool

Example of a paper-based low level plan

Example of a paper-based low level plan

In my last post one of the best practices I listed was to plan with some sort of calendar tool (this can be paper).

This is helpful because at this detailed level of planning it really helps to be able to see your activities and tasks plotted out against not only the day, but ideally the hour. Use whatever tool you prefer that allows you to do this.

Here is an example of how I set up my low level plan using Entourage (the mac version of Outlook). I convert all my activities into calendar events and color code them according to different projects or work areas (ex. product development, marketing, business administration, personal, health.)

Using this system I can drag and drop activities around. Some mornings I don’t feel like tackling product development tasks, so I move and swap tasks around according to my mood, with peace of mind that the item is still on my plan and won’t get forgotten.

Lastly, when I block out an activity against time, I don’t have to worry that it’s going to get lost. Each week when I review and create a new plan, I either move ahead what I didn’t get done the previous week or decide it’s not worth doing. Switching the color of the item to white let’s me immediately see what was accomplished and what still needs to be tackled.

The example above is from my friend, the artist Stephanie Levy, who used a clever combination of a calendar and post-its based on an approach from Jennifer Lee. True, this version doesn’t track time against the hour, but I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to do what works for you. Paper and post-its add just about all the same advantages as a digital calendar tool; you can break your activities down into discrete actions on each post-it, move each one around if your schedule or mood changes, as well as as have a visual reminder of what you need to do every day.

Another idea is to add a ‘done’ column on your paper plan where you can move post-its of items you have completed. Of course, you can throw these away too, but I like the idea of having a record somewhere. You can also make a paper-based calendar for the week with the hours of the day running down the side, and align your post-its to the hours. Whatever works.

In fact, today I think paper is a superior way to go, as my Entourage has ironically decided to die! Just when I was about to extol the benefits of using a digital calendar! God does have a sense of humor. But just as technology can throw cold water on our plans, paper can just as easily get lost. So either way, the lesson applies: make sure you have a means of preventing your plan from getting lost!

Filed Under: Steal This Process Tagged With: , , , , , 10 Comments
November 23, 2010

notes on a handmade holiday: hello magpie

Want holiday gift giving ideas that are a little out of the box? Let’s hear ‘em from the artists themselves!

Evelyn Reeve is the blogger behind Oh My Word! and she was a blogger-in-residence here at Scoutie Girl. She’s the proprietor of Hello Magpie, a little shop specializing in delightful vintage housewares and handmade textiles & paper goods.

Here are Evelyn’s notes on a handmade holiday:

Ever since I was a kid, my family encouraged and supported creativity. “Handmade is always the best.” Every person in my family has told me this at least once in my life. To this day, I still hang ornaments my sister and I made on my Christmas tree. The oldest one is a margarine tub top, with all the glitter and prettiness missing. Honestly, it’s ugly! But I made it in kindergarten and I’ll keep hanging up, albeit at the back of the tree.

When it comes to giving gifts, taking the time to give thoughtfully and honestly always wins in my book.

Nothing is better than receiving something truly unique, just for you. Not as an afterthought at a big box store, but a carefully-chosen gift to tell that person what you mean to them…that you cared enough to give it some thought and invest some time. To me, that’s the value in gift giving. When you consider the unique, whether it be a vintage find, or a handmade treasure made by you or crafted by someone else, there’s so much more to be valued because it took time for someone to invent it, create it, dust it off, give it new life. Watching someone open a gift like that, seeing their face light up? That’s what I value most about handmade holidays.

Filed Under: holiday, paper goods, vintage Tagged With: , , , 4 Comments