Clouds replaced blue skies this week, and my local meteorologist likes to give details about the different formations. I find them fascinating, except I always forget what he’s shared. So, even though I’m sure he’s covered what kinds of clouds these are, I just see them and think “fluffy”.

And, actually, looking at the photo a little bit closer, it looks like those are wispy clouds, but they aren’t; there’s no blue sky peeking through, those are shadows on the clouds themselves. Big, thick, rolling storm clouds bringing rain and lightning and thunder so loud, it makes you jump. But since I like the colors, and I’ve been showing super saturated palettes on Facebook this week, something a little lighter, a little airier felt like a nice break today.

On a work front, I’m still working on the color theory book, or more specifically, the cover. That’s taking me a little longer than I anticipated, but it’ll be worth it. When I do completely and totally finish it, and get a proof back, I’ll be opening up pre-orders to my mailing list, so if you’re already subscribed, the next email will be coming at you within the next couple weeks! And if you’re not subscribed yet, you can sign up right here.

How has your week gone?

So, so excited right now!

To give myself a little break from the Photoshop/InDesign-extravaganza, I thought today would be a good day to share my monthly Collecting Colours post. This month’s prompt is pink and green, so I’ve got a mix of art I’ve got on my art wall and the green I see in nature. Not as original as I had hoped to get with this month’s colors, but I’ve been so focused on my book that I haven’t left the house much all month. There’s always June, right?

How’s your week been going?

I totally agree with everything she said, and since I’ve given a couple tips already (see 5 Things I’ve learned about blogging so far, 5 More things I’ve learned about blogging, and 3 More things I’ve learned about blogging), I thought I’d take it from a different point of view. What would I do over as a blogger if I could? In no particular order, here’s my list.

I wouldn’t have picked the domain name I did.

When I started my jewelry shop, I also opened a blog at the same time. But as time went on, I found less and less to talk about from a jewelry perspective, so I decided to change focus and make it more personal. This required a move to a new blog, which was fine, but I drew a blank trying to pick a name for it. I went with a nickname, and called it a day. Then when I could buy a domain name for my Blogger blog, I did, and continued to use it when I moved here.

But now, I kind of regret the domain name.

It’s not that it has “blog” in it, it’s more that I’m concerned “girl” will become a little silly at some point. I’d move now, and I still waffle about it, but then it’s starting over (again) with a new domain; I don’t want to start over, I want to keep building. I’ve been here for two solid years now, with a back log of posts going back even further. Moving means dealing with a loss of readers, a loss of traffic, and figuring out what to do with the incoming links from outside sources – Pinterest, other bloggers, Pinterest. It’s a headache I’m not sure I want to deal with.

So, the lesson here is to pick a domain name very carefully.

I would have hired a logo/brand designer.

When I moved to WordPress, I would have loved to hire a web designer and order a custom theme with full branding options. But that was not in my (shoestring) budget, and despite lots of brainstorming, I couldn’t figure out a way to make it happen.

What I forgot to consider was hiring a logo designer.

Logos are generally cheaper than a fully branded website, and I could have used that with a premade template and still have a custom feel. It didn’t even cross my mind then, but I’m thinking of it now. Why hire someone when I could do (and have done) it myself? Because I’m so close to this project, almost too close. I’m not making any progress with me as the client, so I think it’s time to hire someone to get things done well.

The lesson here: unless you have a clear vision, you might need some help, and that’s okay – that’s what branding experts are for.

I would have narrowed down much, much sooner.

I’ve had a problem with committing to a single idea my whole life. There’s just so much out there that’s fascinating, and I want to do it all. Which is great for hobbies, but can come across as haphazard with blogging.

Would it surprise you to know that while I’ve always wanted to focus on color and color theory as the main content here, I was afraid to go for it until last fall? True story. I was scared that if I did that, I’d run out of things to say, fast. But the exact opposite has happened; the more I focus in, the more the ideas come.

Talk about fascinating.

So, the lesson is don’t be afraid to go for a niche.

I know a bunch of you have been blogging for a while, too – what would you do over if you could?

So, here goes.

The question I get from time to time is this: How can I do what you do?

The meaning behind it has ranged from simple curiosity to wanting to replicate everything I’ve ever done online. I never take the question personally because, honestly, I’ve wondered the same thing about people, too.

So, why I do feel funny-awkward answering that question? Because my journey has been crazy and meandering and somewhat different from what other people experience. Replicating what I’ve done is not for everyone. 

If that’s hard to hear, let me explain.

My story

When I started selling online, it wasn’t a part-time job, it wasn’t a hobby. I didn’t transition my jewelry shop from part-time to full-time, I started it full-time.

That’s my first big point. I didn’t grow Catie’s Blue organically, slowly building on small successes and milestones. I simply launched it; one day it didn’t exist as a business entity, and the next day, it did. While not totally unique, it was (and is) a different position from what other creatives go through, and I recognize that.

My second point is that at the time, I was 25, single, and had no one relying on me for income. The way I saw it, and still see it, I was in a position to take a big risk without affecting anyone but me. And if it didn’t work, I’d do something else, but at least I wouldn’t be responsible for dragging anyone down if I failed; it was just me that I had to take care of.

But that’s exactly why my answer is the one it is. Not everyone can do what I did because your life situations are different than mine was, and still is. Do you have a full-time office job? A spouse? Children? A house to pay for? Starting a full-time creative business from scratch is a bigger risk for those with full-time jobs, families, and homes to take care of than it was for me. I still took a risk, sure, but it was a calculated one. But what was a calculated risk for me can be potentially damaging for others who have people relying on their income.

That’s why I hesitate when people ask me the “how do I do what you do?” question. It’s not that I think you can’t handle it, aren’t up for it, can’t figure it out, or aren’t talented enough; no.

It’s just that I think it’s a little irresponsible of me to sell you on the idea that you could do things exactly the way I did when you have responsibilities that I didn’t.

Change the question

All that said, I think it’s totally possible for you to start or run a business if you work for it. 

The question, though, should change at this point. It should be less about me and what I did, and more about what you can feasibly do.

Because there’s another big difference to note: I had an abundance of free time when I started. Time to create, and time to handle the business side of things. Time to explore and learn, time to mess up and fix it, time to try a bunch of things to see what worked.

Did I mess up along the way? Sure. I didn’t know much about starting and growing a business, so I learned everything on the fly. Was there pressure to bring in sales? Absolutely. And maybe that pressure was more than it would have been had I had a steady income to rely on while I worked on my side business part-time.

But because I had time on my side, I could do all those things and deal with whatever came my way. That’s not the case for everyone, so change the question. What you should be asking is “how can I start or grow a business my way?”

Doing you

If you’re looking to start or grow a business, my best suggestion is to figure out what you can and can’t do time- and responsibility-wise. If your family can’t afford to live without your paycheck, you already have one thing figured out, and that’s not a bad thing. Knowing where your limits are is very, very good.

It also doesn’t mean you can’t create or sell, period; just that you can’t do it full-time (yet, if that’s your goal). Which means you have to be very savvy about the time you have and maximize it as best as possible.

If your days are full with work and family activities, then find other times to create and check in with business/shop issues – early mornings, late nights, weekends, lunch breaks. If you find yourself with big chunks of time and can work fast, maybe wholesaling is an option, depending on what you’re making.

Or if time is a definite issue, then you know that custom orders may not be something you can do (sometimes, it’s about saying no). If your time is limited, look into solutions that doesn’t require you to be around. Automatic deliveries of PDF tutorials or ebooks, for example, can be handled by sites like E-Junkie, Pulley App, and now Etsy. Sites like Society6 print and ship your art for you. Lulu and Blurb print and ship your physical book. Consignment can work, too, since you’re not the person handling the point of sale, though it can take some leg work on your part to research and establish relationships with shops.

There’s so many options now that you can really customize the way your business runs and operates. And that’s what I really endorse – forget the exact steps that I’ve taken and start brainstorming what you can do.

I  hope this helps clarify what I’ve done myself, and where I’m coming from. This post isn’t meant to discourage anyone – just the opposite! I think the world needs more art to feed the soul, and now is the best time to get started. Think of all the resources and things we can do now that just didn’t exist ten years ago. “Now” is a very exciting time for creative businesses.

As always, I’m here if you want to reach out with any other questions! Email me if you don’t want to leave a public comment.

P.S. You might be interested in this post I wrote a while back: Full-time work with part-time hours.

P.P.S. I’m powering through the last few sections of my color theory book this week, and will be opening up for preorders shortly. Mailing list subscribers will get first crack – you can sign up here.

I went back three years and pulled the colors for both fall and spring, and yep, it looks like Pantone has a general system they follow. There’s usually a green, a blue, a purple, and a brown picked for fall, and a purple, a blue, a green, and an orange picked for spring.

Looking at them this way, what do you think of each set? I’m surprised how much I’m loving the Fall 2011 colors, seeing it compared to the other falls, and the Spring 2012 compared to the other springs. I don’t remember liking them that much when they came out, but seeing them this way works for me. Honestly, though, I think Pantone really knocked it out of the park this year – the Spring and Fall 2013 Colors are so lovely to me, together and separately.

Then I wanted to see how the colors translated from spring to fall, so a little rearranging got me this:

2013 and 2012 seems to have pretty faithful transitions from spring to fall, 2012 especially. I actually really appreciate that; it’d be easy to transition into fall that way. I like seeing the same hue change value/saturation for a different season.

What surprised me was that the blues tended to be darker in the spring than the fall; I associate darker blues with fall, but that’s me. And I was also surprised that brown was picked for the spring in past years – again, that’s an autumnal color for me. What surprises you?

Colors pulled from the Pantone Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, and Spring 2011 reports. Click over for more info about those.

Every Thursday for the past month, I’ve woken up thinking it’s Friday. Same thing happened today, so after racking my brain all morning for a spontaneous idea for a post, I’ve only got the palette I made for tomorrow. I’m going to roll with it, though.

Happy un-Friday to you!

But because creatives work several months in advance, and some of you might already be working on (or planning) fall pieces and shows, let’s go ahead and talk about the fall colors.

Very simply put, I love them. Love them. Take a look:

Overall, they’ve got a cooler tone to them, but a few are still nice and saturated (my favorite kind of color). Compared to Fall 2012, I like these colors better. They’re more saturated and closer to colors I personally favor, where Fall 2012 seemed a little dull to me. I’m also loving pretty much every shade, versus last fall, when I didn’t immediately react to choices like Honey Gold or Rhapsody. What do you think about this year’s picks?

What I’m especially loving are the quasi-neutrals they included: Linden Green, Deep Lichen Green, Turbulence, and Carafe. I had a feeling those four colors will be so beautiful next to any and all of the other fall colors, so I starting playing with those first.

And I think I’m right – those neutrals/quasi-neutrals look fantastic with pretty much anything they’re paired with, which is great for color lovers like us since we can match up any other color to one of them and have it look good. Fall is usually when I start reaching for neutrals/quasi-neutrals more, so having more than one option is nice, too.

When I was playing with the swatches, I did have one surprise: I kept reaching for Vivacious a lot. I knew I’d be reaching for Samba and Koi, as those are deeper, richer versions of Poppy Red and Nectarine (which I’m a big fan of), and I love pretty much any blue, so Monaco Blue was a given. But Vivacious caught me off guard.

At first, I didn’t think I’d like it much, but the more I look at it, the more I think it’s beautiful. And it pairs really well with other colors, especially Deep Lichen Green, Turbulence, and Carafe. Those are my favorites to use with Vivacious because they really let it shine without taking anything away from it.

So while I obviously used Vivacious a lot, I also had fun pairing up the other colors, too (can you tell?). I can’t get enough of the blue-gray Turbulence, or the gray-greenish Deep Lichen Green. If I had to pick a favorite neutral, it’s a dark gray, so it’s fun to have two shades to play around with.

Your turn: what’s your favorite Fall 2013 color? Favorite pairing?

How do you personally start when you build a color scheme/palette? What’s your process?

A color usually jumps out at me, and very insistently demands my attention. If it’s coming from an inspiration source, like a photo, where there are other colors surrounding it, I may open up Photoshop and put together a palette with those colors; I do that for every color palette post I do here. I love making palettes because I’m already reacting to the colors in the photo, so chances are, I’m going to love the way they look separated out, too.

If it’s just the color screaming at me, I might play around with a color relationship. Complementary colors are fun to use, and I like tweaking it so one color is nice and bold while the other is softer, like the graphic above.

Or I might pair it up with another color I’m loving, like I did with Oh The Color’s branding. Those colors are pulled directly from Pantone’s Spring 2013 color report - the red is Poppy Red and the orange is Nectarine. I paired it with a quasi-neutral yellow (tan) because it needed another color to make it feel complete, but it needed something that wouldn’t compete, either. And it turned out I already had one quasi-neutral ready – I put Pantone’s Spring Colors together with a favorite quasi-neutral in this post, so I grabbed that and was on my way, color-wise. Funny enough, even though I wasn’t trying for it, OTC’s colors ended up being an analogous color scheme.

How do *I* start?

Try starting with your materials. When I was creating jewelry for my old shop, I’d use boro beads as my color source and match up rondelles to the colors I saw. Having an inspiration source is excellent for all skill levels because you have something to guide you or get you out of a creative rut.

If you’re feeling very nervous, or if your materials don’t necessarily give you color help, start by finding color palettes to work from or making your own. I’ve got a big Pinterest board full of color palettes to get you started.

As you start feeling more comfortable, try intentionally using the color relationships.

Are you going to do another Color Palette Blog Walk soon?

I know I said I’d do one in the new year, and five months in, I still haven’t delivered. I think it’s time to retire it and move on to a different kind of color challenge, if there’s interest. Maybe something a little more inclusive this time, as I know not everyone has access to a graphics program.

Should I get Elements or Photoshop or Lightroom?

Depends on what you’re looking to do. I talked about the differences between Elements and Photoshop here, so if you’re looking to buy one, definitely read up on that.

I will say that most people don’t really need Photoshop; they buy it because they think they do, but they really don’t. Elements is absolutely fine for most people’s projects, with the exception being someone who’s learning graphic design (if that’s you, grab Photoshop – there are student discounts for it).

Between the two, I personally like Elements a little better. I find it a little easier to work with, though that could be because I’ve used it extensively for the past five years, versus Photoshop, which I didn’t have for a long time and have only started using more in the last two years. So, maybe I’m a little biased about the ease of Elements!

As for Lightroom, I have it installed, but I honestly haven’t had a chance to sit down and learn it, so I can’t give an honest opinion about it. The way I understand it, it’s a digital darkroom, so it’s only used for photo editing. Elements and Photoshop can be used for photo editing as well as creating graphics. Since both Lightroom and Elements retail for around $100 USD, I’d probably say grab Elements if you think you might want to create graphics.

Do you have Creative Cloud? How do you like it?

I do have Adobe’s Creative Cloud, and I love it.

If you don’t know what that is, it’s a monthly subscription to Adobe’s programs. There are single-app (Adobe’s calling their programs apps now, though it’s not really an app like for your phone) subscriptions available in addition to a subscription for access to most of the programs Adobe makes. You can subscribe month-to-month, or commit to a year and have a lower monthly rate.

If you have a license to a CS3 version or later program, you get a discount for the complete plan for your first year (it’s $30 per month for 12 months); that’s what I did last year. Now that my first year is up, I’m paying $50 per month for the next 12 months. It’s a big chunk of money for someone who’s on a budget, but the trade off is that I have access to so many programs that I wouldn’t be able to afford any other way. Through my subscription, I’m able to use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Lightroom – that’s all I’ve got installed right now, but I can also use other programs like Dreamweaver, After Effects, and Premiere Pro, too (among others).

The ability to use so many programs for one flat price is absolutely worth it to me. I don’t have a CD of each program like I used to, but I won’t have to worry about shelling out hundreds of dollars upfront for each program. I also don’t have to worry about upgrading, either, since those are included in my subscription.

Now, will most people need a Creative Cloud subscription? Probably not. But if you’re curious about how to use some of these programs, you’ve now got a comparatively inexpensive option to give them a try, and a year to learn how they work.

Got more questions? I’ve got answers. Leave a comment or email me!

P.S. I know some people have been having problems downloading freebies. I have no idea why it’s acting up, but I am working on a solution. When I get it fixed, I’ll let you know!

Sometimes I’m scared I’m going to use up all the creativity I have. Sometimes the creative flow is less like a tidal wave or a steady river, and more like a trickle. Those few drops are so precious because of what they inspire, but sometimes, they come so infrequently that it feels like they might never come again.

But the wise Maya Angelou is right.

I’ve recently rediscovered something I always knew, but frequently forget – when I get scared or stressed, fear cuts off the creative flow. It’s hard to see past the worry when you’re in it, and it’s sometimes hard to trust that the creative well won’t dry up when all you feel is a few drops.

What’s driving me now is a clear vision of what I want to do – I want to write this color theory book. This has been one of the clearest, if not the clearest, vision I’ve ever had. Focus has not always been my strongest point when it comes to myself, so it’s hard not to fall back into my comfort zone because everything I’m doing is something new and different for me. But that vision is so irresistible, I have to at least try.

And a funny thing happened when I got clear about what I wanted – I suddenly had this overflow of creative inspiration. That clear vision sparked another, which sparked another, and suddenly, I’ve got a plan of action for the next few months. Funny how that works.

I’ve already started putting it into action, too. Besides trucking along with my book (I’m about halfway done by the way, which feels great), I used some of that creative flow and started a Facebook page for this blog. I’ve been sharing new palettes and colorful links over there, so if you’d like to stop by, I’d love to have you. I then used more creative flow to start the layout mini class I mentioned Friday, and am brainstorming the next class after that. And then, I’ve got several more projects brewing that need a little more time before it’s ready to be shared.

I’m still nervous, but I’m working to remember that I can’t use up the creativity that’s flowing. So, I thought I’d post a little reminder today for me and anyone else that might be feeling the same way.

What about you? What’s the clearest vision you’ve ever had for yourself, your work, your art?

Another graphic collage, but this time, I’m not actually on a plane, I just included one. I’m a woman of varied interests, clearly.

This is a mash up of two photos, both taken while sitting in the passenger seat in the car. It’s my new favorite thing to do, actually, and it’s fun to see what you come up with. Even if the photos aren’t super great, they work beautifully as a background.

I’m hard at work with the color theory book and plans for the next mini class (which will be on creating photo/graphic templates in Photoshop, if you’re curious). But what do you think about a class on iPhone editing for after that? Yay or nay? If nay, what would you like to learn?