Below are several images I captured during week 9 of my Project365 on Flickr.

1. 58/365 Lichen 2. 59/365 Fresh Snow 3. 62/365 Happy Hour Flower 4. 63/365 Day 2

]]> http://www.jumpingjackdesigns.com/blog/2010/03/project365-week-9/feed/ 0 http://www.jumpingjackdesigns.com/blog/2010/03/project365-week-9/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JumpingJackDesigns/~3/u90auFlcyE4/ http://www.jumpingjackdesigns.com/blog/2010/03/writing-a-business-plan-part-2/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:23:27 +0000 Angie http://www.jumpingjackdesigns.com/blog/?p=1880

Perspective: Moving forward while seeing what's behind me. A novel concept.

If you missed the first chapter of this post, Writing a Business Plan: Part 1 How on Earth Did I Get Here?, you can read it here. This week I will talk more about writing my business plan and my hopes and dreams for the future.

Part 2: How on Earth Do I Get There?

OK, enough reminiscing, it’s time to get down to business. I’ll be honest, many details of a business plan are easier to avoid, ignore, skip or set aside for a later date (possibly never). Thankfully, I forced myself to address the details. Three years late is better than maybe tomorrow, right?

I began with the easy stuff. Who I am, what I do, my products and services… but wait, it turns out those details are not as easy and obvious as I’d expected. Last week I mentioned I took on a lot of work in 2008 and 2009 that helped me build the world’s most schizophrenic portfolio. Recognizing this lapse in judgement, I began creating an uber-detailed outline for a cohesive and structured stationery line. It will reflect who I am as an artist, be easy to build upon and marketable to a larger demographic. In addition to addressing products and services, I’ve sized up my competition, analyzed the stationery industry, researched my target market, examined my operating costs and created a marketing plan.

Phew. Just thinking about it makes me want a nap.

I’ve honestly evaluated what I’ve done wrong (a lot) and what I’ve done right (more than I thought). I’ve learned what is truly important for the future. The last step I addressed was “Business Growth”. This is the part where I analyze my dreams for the future. What’s realistic. What’s not. And, the all important, how on earth do I get there? I won’t bore you with details, but I hope to grow steadily in the next two years. I plan to begin wholesaling my boxed note cards and holiday greetings, continue creating customized event stationery, streamline my paper color and size options, promote my website and grow my blog readership.

Somedays I wish I’d tackled this three years ago, but I wasn’t ready. I needed to get stuck in the mud to appreciate the value of a business plan, approach the task with some perspective and not expect to accomplish unrealistic goals. Yes, I’d love to have a tiny storefront with cozy chairs, coffee, tasty treats and a small print shop in the back (where the magic would happen). Passers by could purchase my stationery and local art, clients would stop in for design consultations, and my family would run the show. Someday. Or maybe not. For now I will continue to build my biz with my personal flair and the love and support of each of you.

If you are interested in Bakery’s business e-course you can find more information here.

I’ve been creating the paper elements for my sister Melanie’s upcoming wedding. She’s a bookworm, so I decided she needed library themed shower invitations. When I began Googling library theme ideas I discovered the most amazing wedding invitations. Diana, of Our.City.Lights, and her husband, a librarian, designed this fun and oh-so-fabulous library themed invitation suite for their own wedding.

As a stationer, I pride myself on my originality, but I knew I would never be able to top Diana’s clever design. Thankfully I wasn’t creating it for a client. This gave me the freedom to use Diana’s idea for my own DIY project, not as a design I would claim as my own or sell. I did my own take on the presentation, but the actual invitation is extremely close to hers.

I wanted Mel’s shower guests to share a piece of the themselves with her as she begins her happily ever after with her true love, Adam. On the invitation I asked each guest to return the book, a Moleskine Journal, to the shower with a personal note, recipe, drawing or photo for the bride to be. Inside the journal I created a library pocket for the invitation. Each book and invitation was wrapped with the green Divine Twine we used for Melanie & Adam’s wedding invitation and a personalized gift tag adorning the a purple graphic from the invitation.

Now we just wait to read the wisdom and memories everyone shares with Melanie.

Hello March! I’m so happy you’re here. February was a month packed with mundane tasks (taxes) and loads of behind the scenes groundwork to get Jumping Jack Designs moving forward. My husband would refer to this process as The Preflight, mandatory for a safe flight. My business has reached a critical point where it either needs to take off or stall. Because I’m a girl who wants to go places, stalling is not an option.

Below is a quick review of my February goals and each task’s current status:

{Goals for February 2010}

• Send out first press release :: Rough draft is written.
• Write a business plan :: I have a solid first draft completed.
• Continue Blogging Class :: In our last week. Have been putting my new knowledge to work.
• Complete nine stationery lines from existing artwork :: Done. Need to photograph and post.
• Meet with one boutique owner :: Contact made. Have an appointment later this week.
• Do my taxes :: Done (home + biz). Doing a little dance.

As I dove into February I knew I had taken on too much, but I’m glad I did because it became a month of awakening. That’s a nice way of saying I got a clue and pulled my head out of the sand. I learned (maybe this should have been obvious) there is a lot of prep that goes into a successful marketing campaign. Writing, photography, research, relationship building, honest self evaluation, just to name a few. I now know I have some serious issues with branding. I need to make a memorable impression and that’s not happening. That being said, here are my March Goals:

{Goals for March 2010}

• Photograph new elements in stationery line and post to Website/Etsy
• Redo business cards and thank you insert for orders
• Create a conspicuous “visit our shop” illustration for my blog sidebar
• Read Made to Stick for Crafting an MBA Book Club
• Create a line sheet and catalog for wholesale (Realistically this will happen in April)
• Prepare for my new Reno-based weekly blog feature (to premiere April 7)
• Take March 29 – April 4 off to relax and enjoy my sister’s wedding.
• Psyche self up for PR blitz in April (I think I’ll be ready this time!)

I’m looking forward to completing my preflight checklist. Even more, I am looking forward to spending the last week of the month with my sister as we celebrate her marriage in Mesa, Arizona. Family, sunshine, swimming, spring training, a big bunny and true love. Sounds like a perfect week.

The Meetup happens on the first of every month. It’s hosted by the fabulous Liz of Athena Dreams.

I had the best luck with my shutter speed set to 1/320 then manually adjusting my aperture for variations in lighting. I also played with my exposure compensation. I read (or was told?) increasing it would prevent the snow from appearing gray. In the photos below, the first image was shot with an exposure compensation of +1. No post production was needed. In the second photo, the exposure compensation was left at zero and I had to adjust the levels to eliminate the gray.

If you have any tips for photographing falling snow, I’d love to hear your secrets!

52/365 Home: There's hot cocoa in there

Playdoh Snoh

This week I had a custom design request for a soon-to-be seven year old boy who loves to cook. This was a request near and dear to my heart because Jack, my soon-to-be seven year old, also loves to cook. The birthday boy is planning to celebrate by baking and decorating cookies with friends. I drew the whisk using my Wacom tablet. I was pleased with the bold look and wanted to balance it with a strong, chunky font. Great for a little boy. Great for a fun design. I used a recipe card format with Luna, a favorite handwriting font, to add a bit of whimsy.

If you are interested in ordering this design, it is available in your choice of nine colors in my Etsy Shop. It will be available on my website next week.

As many of you know, I am taking a business e-course from Bakery called The BAKERY’s Half-Dozen. It covers a copious amount of material. For me, the most important piece has been writing a business plan. I believe giving my business some much needed direction is going to be my key to success.  I’m going to break this post into two parts. This week’s post will give you a little history of my biz. Next week I will talk more about writing my business plan and my hopes and dreams for the future.

Part 1: How on Earth Did I Get Here?

I never really thought about it. It all happened in such an organic fashion. I’ve had a creative side all my life. As a child I won loads of art contests (always the ones my childhood friend Jared, a now prominent NYC web designer, didn’t participate in). I loved art, spending hours drawing on my bedroom floor while blaring Cyndi Lauper and The Violent Femmes through my giant silver stereo. As I grew up and gained responsibilities, I let go of my artistic side and focused on my compassionate/scientific side. I became an oncology RN.

I dove into the nursing profession and gave it all I had. I loved what I did and was proud to make a difference every day. Years passed, I married and started a cute little family. As my family grew, I reached a point where I was having a hard time leaving the stress and heartbreak of cancer nursing “at the office”. Compounded by the fact that my own family was inundated with cancer, I needed a creative outlet.

I began creating paper goods. It all started with an embarrassingly bad wedding announcement after Pete and I eloped. Remember the late 90’s photo card + vellum overlay + ribbon rage? Well that was my very first card. I look back at it and I’m horrified by how dated it is. I followed that with birth announcements for my kids and invitations for friends. I enjoyed working with my hands and seeing my vision become a reality. I was never a scrapbooker, instead I found great joy in learning Adobe Illustrator. I began incorporating the hand drawn illustrations created by myself, my mom and my sister into my digital files. Slowly I began to develop my own style.

Shortly after we welcomed Kate into our family, I changed gears. Together with my husband, I decided it was time to give the stationery biz a go. It started out slowly working for friends of friends who had seen my cards on family refrigerators and mantles. Most of my work was done during the holiday season, creating photo greetings for the winter holidays. When strangers started calling, I had a glimpse of hope that this could be something I could actually pull off. My momentum kept gathering, but I never stopped to plan where I was going. It never occurred to me that I had the power to direct that momentum. I had fleeting thoughts of business plans, but the non business minded, touchy feel-y nurse in me chose to look the other way.

With my existing client relationships growing stronger and my discovery of Etsy, 2008 was a booming year. I thought I was set. Instead, I let myself get pulled in 100 different directions. I didn’t know how to say no. I took any business that came my way, even if it was not something that fit my design style or goals. While I earned income from these jobs, I know they were ultimately a detriment to my progress and growth as a business. The time I spent on orders and designs that were outside my comfort zone was significant. After the fact, when I did a breakdown of time versus income, I was shocked to learn I was working for pennies on those orders because the time and energy required where over the top. Plus all the time spent “off my path’ was time I should have spent designing a cohesive stationery line. I look back and all I can say is, “Duh.” Thankfully that Duh moment has been a lightbulb moment for me. I realized I am responsible for my happiness, success and the path of my business. And it is high time I get to it!

Next week I will return with Part 2 of Writing a Business Plan: How Do I Get There? Can’t wait!

Have you ever wondered how product photos are shot with perfectly white backgrounds? I have, and as far as I can tell, good editing is the only way to achieve a pristine white backdrop. For day 48 of 365, I decided I would give it a whirl. I used this tutorial from Nicole Balch of Making It Lovely. I didn’t use a light tent (I was too lazy), instead I used white poster board, natural light and a deflected flash. Nicole’s image is a lovely tea cup. Mine is what I had within reach. Toys and Teeth. What does that say about me?

The design was a group effort by my mom, my sister and myself. Melanie (my sis) drew the silhouette (which looks exactly like them), my mom came up with the text and the chapter concept, and I created the pattern, layout and production. Together I think we created a prefect invitation suite for the happy couple as they begin their happily ever after.

If you are interested in custom wedding design, please contact me for all the juicy details.

A big thank you to everyone who participated in my survey about Classroom Valentines. The information I gathered was very helpful. I was shocked (and impressed) to learn that 50% of you make your own Valentine’s for your children’s classroom parties.

I enjoyed all the wonderful suggestions and insights you shared. My personal favorite was a suggestion for a future Valentine design featuring a platypus. Genius and definitely on my list for upcoming designs. Other insights included: gender neutral designs, folding card + seal, and quantities of 24. There was a strong response for downloadable Valentines. I have never offered printable designs, but I will certainly consider it for next year.

Many of you entered the drawing to win a set of Butterfly Thank You Notes.  Our winner was Candy (how appropriate is that). Her name was randomly selected via our highly technical hat pull system. The survey is now closed, but if you have further suggestions for future Valentines I would love to hear your thoughts!

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