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Why I decided to Launch an Etsy Store

 

The reason is simply because I felt that I want to let other people enjoy my calligraphy work. Therefore I felt let me just give it a try with my work and see how it will go. Also with pricing I felt the pricing of the work matched the quality. In all honesty I wanted to let others enjoy my work as much as I did making it.

The first concept of posters is selling a 8.5 x 11 on french duro-tone butcher extra white 80# paper. The price of the posters are $15 dollars with 5 dollar shipping worldwide to anywhere.

And one more thing is as a freebie I give away a free wallpaper for your cellphone. I am still adding more posters daily so go check out my Etsy shop and pick up some work for yourself.

Keeping Inspiration Alive

This is something that I was asked on instagram the other day. At first I was thinking how do I really keep inspiration alive to do the things I do. Inspiration for me comes for everywhere. The reason I am able to stay inspired is because I look at many different things.

For example if I am sitting thinking hmm I would like to watch a vice documentary. Then if I say I want to watch some documentaries on calligraphy or graphic design. One main thing is to not be afraid to fail. Because the first time I did calligraphy I was horrible and the same with graphic design.

Another thing I do to keep inspiration is looking everyday at graphic design blogs and actively searching on instagram. Doing the simple things to be able to stay inspired as simple as possible. Also not forgetting to on instagram not stopping at the first couple results. But by scrolling really far into the results.

There is really not simple way to put staying inspired. Really it all depends upon the person and how much they love what they are doing. Because if you love(enjoy) what you are doing then you will be able to stay motivated and inspired. I really enjoy the creative aspects of design and calligraphy. Simply there is so many things to continually and the show of progress over time.

A great thing to always keep in the back of your head about staying inspired is how much time am I willing to dedicate to master this craft and do I really enjoy this or am I just doing it for the hell of it. I mean you may not want to achieve much in your chosen profession but eventually you’ll get bored and move to the next thing. Do what gets you up in the morning and what you truly know in the back of your heart you’ve always wanted to do.

I am not saying to quit your Job or whatever your currently doing. The main thing is to go about it a a smart way. Therefore you will allow yourself to continually be inspired to make your hobby/passion your source of income.

Over-deliver

By over-deliver this is something that you should put into practice. Because when you treat clients as gold they will respect that. Then it will put them into the mind-frame to take you seriously. If you get a client that does not appreciate you and what you are capable of then they don’t deserve to get treated like gold.

When you over-deliver to a client its a sense of accomplishment. Also if you are meeting deadlines ahead and really dedicating yourself to this profession it will pay off. Before your client may have gotten a designer whom took forever to do things and who knows what else. So you want to do your best to stand out among the competition.

Then the next thing with over-delivering is to sketch more. This should be a thing your doing anyways. If you are going straight to the computer before anything stop doing that. But of course doing research is important and etc. Sketching a lot shows the client that you are willing to not settle for the first idea.

Things to remember

Go the extra mile with your clients

Treat your clients like gold

don’t settle for the first idea

Meet deadlines

 

Your Passion can pay your bills if

Leopard

You believe that it is possible. Then you may think that its not possible. Because if you start anything you need to first have belief in yourself. Then after you make the decision that you are going to give it your all get started.

At times while you are working a day job to pay bills and then pursuing what you want to do you will just feel like giving up. A good thing to remember that is if it was easy then everybody would do it. There are some people who will get up at 4:30 – 5am before anyone else in their house is up. Then you have the other people who will just do what is required to get by.

You have to develop a mindset that you are willing to do whatever it takes. Because every single day there is new information  available for everything you can imagine. Then at times you may lose your drive to keep going after you’ve failed. Well if you are failing then you are making progress. Because through failure your learning what does not work. Think of the shape game that children play, overtime you learn that the square peg does not fit in the round hole as easy if you had the round peg does.

So while you are pursuing your passion do not get blinded thinking its always going to be fun and games. Because its not going to be fun. There are many times you will feel like just getting a job to just live and not deal with the emotion and heartbreak and rejection. Continue to work on yourself to develop a stronger mindset  to deal with rejection.

Then shortly overtime you will start to notice your passion will began to pay your bills.

Believe that you can do it

 

As humans no matter what profession we tend to lack belief and many other things. When I first had the idea of launching an Etsy store I got scared. By me having the feelings of oh my goodness what if I do not sell anything. Then I said to myself at least I tried. Because I would rather try then just sit and wonder. In other words saying what if I tried?

This should be the mentality that you have in life. Not just going to work and doing the best job you can to maintain your position. When your on break thinking about what you could be doing or what you really want to be doing instead of this job that just pays the bills make a plan.

But before even thinking of making a plan you have to believe. Because at times you’ll feel like giving up and when you feel pain you have to embrace it. The reason is that pain does not last forever. Pain is just a part of the process. Also you cannot be ignorant and not educate yourself. If you are not reading and learning daily this is the time to start. You may be reading this on your phone, email account or wherever you may be you start today.

Start learning today about the profession you want to go into. Then after you start learning remember the harder you work the luckier you will get. A very simple way to put it is you get out of it what you put in it. If you are working hard then you will get results that you could only dream of before.

The official launch date for my Etsy store is March 25th so make sure to stay tuned for that.

How to get started Learning calligraphy Pt 2

So you’ve determined what type of calligraphy you want to do and how much you want to spend. Also you’ve done the research that is required for learning calligraphy.

The materials that I started learning calligraphy with was a calligraphy kit. At first I was a little distraught as in this is it. Well I will admit after I realized this kit gives you the basics. Inside you have gouache, 3 fountain pen inks, fountain pen, and a brush and a practice pad and heavy duty paper for drawing calligraphy on. For example there’s cards,wine bottle tags and etc.

Then after I finished the first calligraphy set I then ventured to a higher quality fountain pen. The pen that I bought was the pilot 78g. The nib is a bit sharp and not as wide as others.  Which means you can use it for regular writing as well. I continued to practice and learn with this pen.

Then my next purchase was a cheap calligraphy marker made by a Speedball. The thing about calligraphy markers is that the crispness of the nib wears down afterwhile. I had also purchased another calligraphy kit for very cheap. The real reason I purchased it was because of the book with different fonts. One font that I really wanted to learn was Gothic.

Do not be discouraged by want to be a great calligrapher starting out. The reason is because you will not be. Remember it takes time.