Blogging and Salut Greetings Etsy Shop

Ok guys, you probably noticed that things have been changing around on the blog recently and that I'm not posting as much. You probably guessed it — I'm taking a short break. But I will be back! I do love blogging and learning the ins and outs of it. But I'm turning my focus more towards my Etsy shop now.

You might've checked it out in the past and noticed that it's been empty. I've making cards rather frequently, but I haven't been putting them up. That changed starting today!

Even though I won't be blogging for a little while, you can still find me on Instagram or Twitter. And while we're talking about my Etsy shop, you can check it out here and like the Facebook page.

I'd love to hear your input about what kinds of cards should go up on the shop. Need more thank you notes? Just to say hello notes? Birthday cards? Anniversary cards? Let me know!

So Fearless Goals July 2015 Update

So, I didn't actual take this exact picture with my DSLR, but I swear I've been using it!

It's the middle of July, meaning we're already half way through the summer! This year is going by so fast. I mentioned recently that I was changing up how I'm doing these #sofearlessgoals and now it's time for an update.

Personal: Plan a vacation. Photograph more. Get back into my planner more. - Still working on planning that vacation, but I have been using my camera and utilizing my planner more. I went down the shore over the weekend and took some awesome pictures of the sunrise and sunset. As for my planner, I'm working on using more of a bullet journal system for my to-do list, which then gets put into my actual planner. That probably sounds confusing, but it's working for me!

Financial: Keep better track of my finances. - Been doing great with this! If I'm out at several stores, I keep track of what I spend in my phone and later on put it into my excel document. I'm still not good about the receipts, but well... small steps, right?

Work: Going over planner system for the Etsy shop and finally get that thing opened! Work on my handlettering. Share a post or article I like on Twitter at least once a day. - Guys! I did some product shots recently and I'm getting ready to put some cards up on Etsy. I've been working on some handlettering and signed up for a mini-course. I did get behind on reading the blogs I follow though, so I haven't been sharing that many on Twitter. I know I can schedule them, but I like putting them up myself. Do you schedule the blog posts that you want to share on Twitter?

Health: Walk 2 miles atleast 3 times a week. Drink a glass of lemon water first thing in the morning. - Nope, not keeping up with walking three miles. I was drinking a lot of lemon water, but started to cut back.

How's July going for you? Let me know in comments below or share your goals post! Don't forget to download the printable to keep track of your goals and if you end up sharing it on Twitter on Instagram, make sure to tag it with #sofearlessgoals or @melissahebbe. Thanks for stopping by!

Designer Inspiration: Rich Blues and Handlettering

I went to a party over the weekend and they had the most beautiful outside wicker couches and chairs with bright blue cushions! It's a couple days after that party and I'm still thinking about them. I don't even own my own house with my own backyard and I'm still thinking about them. So I thought, "Hey, why not make a moodboard out of this!"

Top Left: Watercolor Patterns | Top Right: Brush Lettering
Bottom Left: Tide Business Cards | Bottom Right: Foiled Business Cards (1+2)

Don't forget to follow the Pinterest board for all the designer inspiration posts! What's inspiring you lately? Leave a comment below or share your blog post with me.

So Fearless Goals July 2015

Guys we are half way through the year! Wait since it's July, is it actually more than half way through the year? I hope you all had a fantastic June! Summer has always been my favorite season — I love the heat and the humidity. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it doesn't bother me.

So I mentioned in my June wrap up that I was changing up how I shared my goals and updated you on where I left off with my previous goals. Let's get into this month's goals!

Personal: Plan a vacation. Photograph more. Get back into my planner more. - It's summer and if it were up to me, everyone would get a vacation. Not sure when or where, but it's going to happen! And I have one awesome DSLR that I want to use way more than I do, so I'm thinking of some hiking/walks up through the mountains or just capturing my daily life more. Doesn't everybody need more pictures of their pets?! I also have been bailing on my planner a little bit and I want to get better about that as well as sync up my paper planner with my digital planner.

Financial: Keep better track of my finances. - I created an excel document to help document my expenses and income, but when I'm out and about, going to several stores in one day, I misplace reiceipts, forget that I bought something at a store. I want to make it a point to write down in my phone when I've bought something so I can reference it when I get home and find a system for keeping my receipts.

Work: Going over planner system for the Etsy shop and finally get that thing opened! Work on my handlettering. Share a post or article I like on Twitter at least once a day. - I sound like a broken record, but this is going to be the month guys, I just know it! I posted a behind the scenes of Salut Greetings last week and have a Pinterest board showing my cards that features some that I've made for my family and friends. As for the handlettering, I'm going to set a side sometime every week to work on it and try out new materials. I have some watercolors and I think I still have some ink and bamboo brushes from an art class I took a while ago. I joined in on #NectarChat this past Wednesday and mentioned that I want to start sharing links that I like — not just the ones I share in my monthly wrap up.

Health: Walk 2 miles atleast 3 times a week. Drink a glass of lemon water first thing in the morning. - I know I've been talking about adding some cardio into my workout routine and I've slowly but surely have been. Now I just want to make it a more consistent thing. And as for the lemon water, I can't even tell you how many articles/blogposts/etc. have talked about the benefits of drinking of warm glass of lemon water in the morning. I love lemon water, but I'm a huge morning coffee person too and I'm not planning on giving that up anytime soon.

Think I'll have enough going on for the month of July? What are your July goals? Don't forget to download the printable to keep track of your goals and if you end up sharing it on Twitter on Instagram, make sure to tag it with #sofearlessgoals or @melissahebbe. Thanks for stopping by!

June Wrap Up

Another month is over! Can you believe we're halfway through 2015?!

**You may have noticed that I haven't been doing #sofearlessgoals weekly anymore. I decided to change that up, so in the beginning of each, I'll share my goals with you awesome people, update you in the middle of the month and finally during the monthly wrap up. You can check out my last #sofearlessgoals post here if you're curious as to what my goals were before reading the update.**

#sofearlessgoals Update

Personal: Keep reading! - I've been pretty good about this! I joined in Kory's The Summer Reads book club and ready Leave Your Mark by Aliza Licht and I also joined the NovelTea Book Club, which is starting The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins in July.

Financal: Keep up with my finance tracker. - I was pretty good with this for the most part. I do have to keep better track though.

Work: Make 8 new cards this week. Research product shots. - I'm not sure if I kept up with this goal, but I know I made a lot!

Health: Work in cardio. - You probably won't find my running miles anytime soon, but I'm enjoying taking walks. I'm trying to get up earlier to walk in the morning instead of at night.

What's Going On

This is my first full month out of school. I'm still looking for a full time job, but while I'm doing that I'm taking on freelance work as well, so if you're looking for a graphic designer, check out my portfolio and contact me with your project. I know job searching can make people really anxious, but I really enjoy the process. I look at this as a learning experience and I'm a full believer in that things will happen when they are supposed to. I've made a lot of cards this month! It was full of birthdays and graduations, so that called for tons of card making! A few days into June, we found a scary looking mole on my dog, Riley. It turned out to be nothing, but it still had to get removed. Apparently, some dogs are prone to moles regardless of whether or not they stay out of the sun. We're so thankful for the vet that took care of Riley — she's already back to her old self.

Instagram

Top Left: I've been working on some hand lettering and shared this free printable with you guys. Top Right: A behind the scenes of my Etsy shop. Bottom Left: Riley did not like the cone after her surgery. I recommend getting a donut like this one. Bottom Right: This is probably my favorite wallpaper that I've made. You can download it here.

Links

You can see all the links I favorited over on my June2015 Favorites Bloglovin' list. Also, make sure to follow So Absolutely Fearless over on Bloglovin' too. That way you'll never miss a post! But here are some posts from the month of June that I think are really great!

Megan from Makewells was back again on Alisa Burke's blog talking about lettering with an ampersand. If you haven't caught her previous posts about lettering (I shared a post from her in May's Wrap Up too), I definitely suggest you checking them out! And while you're there, make sure to check out Alisa's sketchbook posts because they're just as fantastic! I love both Megan and Alisa's work.

I don't even need a side table, but I still want to make this copper pipe table shown on A Beautiful Mess.

I loved Kory's cool and fitness moodboard can't wait to see the final project! I'm loving moodboards lately and how different designers put their own moodboards together.

I love sharing with you guys what's been going on over the past month, but I want to know what you guys have been up to too! So make sure to comment below with what you have been up to this past month or if you blog about it, leave a link.

Behind The Scenes: Salut Greetings June 2015

I probably mentioned in one of my earlier #sofearlessgoals posts that I was working on reopening my Etsy shop. I spent most of the month creating cards to sell in my shop. Between my graduation, my sister's graduation, Father's Day and a bunch of birthdays coming up, I was rather busy making cards to celebrate all of those occasions. I love being able to share these special moments with my family and friends.

You get to see all of the final products on Etsy, but I thought you'd like to see a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes. Sometimes one ink just isn't working for me, so I mix up two. Sometimes I need to use scrap paper and washi tape to help line things up. And sometimes I take way too long roaming the craft store (haha!).

 

Don't miss out on anymore behind the scenes! Make sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram for the most recent updates of what's going on in the shop.

I've been mostly making thank you cards, birthday cards and congratulations cards. What other kind of cards do think should be sold on my Etsy shop? Let me know because as much as I'm making these for me (hey, I like what I do), I'm also making them for you to give to your family and friends. Also, don't forget to check out the shop and share it! Cards will be up soon.

Lost In The Right Direction... Free Wallpaper #3

Hey guys! Got another desktop/iPhone wallpaper for you. I seriously love making these.

iPhone / 1280x800 / 1440x900 / 1650x1050 / 2560x1440

I found the quote scrolling through Pinterest and used the letterpress effect technique from We Lived Happily Ever After, which also happened to be one of the posts I mentioned in my May Wrap Up.

Hope you all like the wallpaper!

If you have a quote in mind you'd like me to use for next month's free wallpaper download, leave it in the comments below!

Keep Your Head Up (Hand Lettering and Printable)

I've been getting into hand lettering recently and you know what they say: practice makes perfect. I started by figuring out a phrase or quote that I wanted to write and then sketched it out a couple times in my sketchbook using a regular pencil. When I liked the way I drew the letters, I took a photo with my iPhone and digitized it in Photoshop and Illustrator.

Here's what I came up with!

You can download it as a letter-sized printable as a PDF or JPEG if you want a copy for yourself.

Eventually, I'd like to get into using calligraphy pens and my watercolors. If you're interested in trying hand lettering for yourself, I found a bunch of inspiration and tutorials through Pinterest. You can also check out my fonts/typography/lettering Pinterest board here.

So Fearless Goals 06.08.2015

Last week was great! I worked a bunch on different projects throughout the week and by the time the weekend came around, I was ready to relax and have fun. On Friday, I went to a concert with my sisters. I spent Saturday with my extended family. I haven't seen some of them in a really long time. Then on Sunday, I spent the day with my boyfriend.

So, here's how I did on my goals for last week.

Personal: Read! Go through my pictures from graduation - I finally finished Wild and now I can't wait to see the movie! Instead of starting #GIRLBOSS, I picked up Commencement though.

Financial: Keep up with my finance tracker. - So, so. It's a little harder to keep track of everything on those days when I have to run errands and pick up a bunch of things from different places, but I'm determined to stick with it.

Work: Make 10 new cards this week. Finalize my blog calendar. - I made 8 instead of 10, but that's because I changed my mind on how I'm producing and selling cards. And I think I went over my blog calendar. I actually forget if I did this or not!

Health: More yoga. More YouTube workout. - Isn't yoga a given at this point? I didn't do the YouTube workout. Wish I did though. It works wonders!

My goals for this week.

Personal: Keep reading! - I've always liked reading, but didn't really have the time during college. I usually end my days by putting a Pandora station and reading. Right now I'm in the middle of Commencement.

Financal: Keep up with my finance tracker. - Enough said.

Work: Make 8 new cards this week. Research product shots. - I can't wait share the cards I've been working on with you guys! I also want to figure out different ways of photographing the final product.

Health: Work in cardio. - This needs to happen for real! I'm not a runner, but I'll walk for a while.

What are your goals for the week? Share down below. If you'd like the printable I'm using, you can download it here. If you share it on Instagram or Twitter, tag me @melissahebbe or use #sofearlessgoals so I can check out your goals for the week. Thanks for stopping by!

Designer Inspiration: Rose Gold

I've been obsessed with rose gold for a while, not just the actual metallic finish, but similar colors as well. I included it in my personal branding and even went as far as to spray some display pieces for my senior show with some rose gold spray paint. So it made sense to
create a moodboard completely based on rose gold elements.

Top Left: Invitations | Top Right: Vase
Bottom Left: Bike | Bottom Middle: Hello Cards | Bottom Right: Polka Dots Digital Paper

I also decided to make a Pinterest board for all the pictures I include in these posts. Check out the board here!

What's inspiring you lately? Leave a comment below or share your blog post with me.

So Fearless Goals 06.01.2015

Guys! It's June! Which means we're halfway through the year already. Woah. Last week was crazy busy and crazy productive. I like weeks like that.

Let's talk about last week's goals.

Personal: Clean out my closet. - About halfway done. I rearranged my closet for the most part. I decided that I'm going take the doors off my closet and replace them with curtains instead. I've always been into decorating rooms and things like that, so I'm really excited for this project.

Work: Get together cards already made. Apply to jobs. - Done and done! I got together the cards I've had made for a while and photographed some. And I applied to a couple more jobs last week. Fingers crossed!

Health: Hiking. YouTube workout. - Done as well! My boyfriend and I went hiking over the weekend and I did Rachel Talbott's workout on YouTube a couple times too. She wasn't kidding! That makes you sore!

This week's goals. Something tells me this is going to a productive week as well. Yay!

Personal: Read! Go through my pictures from graduation - I can't even tell you how long I've been trying to read Wild. (Are you on Goodreads by the way? I am!) I'm planning on finishing it this week and starting #GIRLBOSS. I've heard so many good things about it. And I have pictures from graduation that I want to download to my computer.

Financial: Keep up with my finance tracker. - I made my own tracker using Excel. I wanted something kind of like a regular ledger, but would contain more information such as the hours I worked, what I spent money on, etc.

Work: Make 10 new cards this week. Finalize my blog calendar. - I'm trying to get a bunch of cards made before re-opening the shop again. I also want to finalize my blog calendar and get it all set up.

Health: More yoga. More YouTube workout. - I signed up for a unlimited monthly membership at the yoga studio I've been going to. Seriously love that place. And I want to keep up with the workout on Rachel Talbott's channel.

What are your goals for the week. Share down below. If you'd like the printable I'm using, you can download it here. If you share it on Instagram or Twitter, tag me @melissahebbe or use #sofearlessgoals so I can check out your goals for the week. Thanks for stopping by!

May Wrap Up

So long May, hello June! And summer! I really like these monthly wrap ups. I hope you do too!

What's Going On

May has been the most exhilarating month ever! First off, I graduated college. I can't believe it! Some people are afraid of leaving college/school. I don't blame them since that's what they've known most their lives, but I love it! I'm still looking for a job (I'm taking on freelance work by the way, so if you're interested, contact me here), but I'm enjoying the time between finishing school and finding my first job. For instance, my best friend texted me on my last day of finals asking if I wanted to buy last minute tickets for to a Brad Paisley concert. I said heck yeah, of course! I started yoga back up too. You probably know that already if you follow me on Twitter because I tend to mention it a lot there. I also started working on more cards for the Etsy shop and have put in some thought of where I want this blog to go. So overall, this month has been intense and I'm absolutely loving it!

Instagram

Top Left: My new yoga mat! Top Right: Spent Memorial Day Weekend down the shore.
Bottom Left: Hello warm weather! I've been spending a lot of time outside lately.
Bottom Right: I graduated college!!!! And decorated my cap — inspired by Frozen.

Links

 A Beautiful Mess was on par this month with their crafts. I want to print out all my pictures in black and white now so I can use this hand-coloring technique. And how cool would it be to make your own stamps!

Free People shared the meaning of home and it truly hit home.

I love reading Alisa Burke's blog especially when she shares pictures of sketchbook. I'm astounded by her talent. Earlier this month, Megan from Makewells posted how to include hand lettering into your sketchbook on Alisa's blog and wow were her journal pictures beautiful!

Can't wait to try this letterpress effect technique on Photoshop that We Lived Happily Ever After posted!

Olivia wrote Your Future Self Wants You To Slow Down and I couldn't agree more.

This is a recipe that I need to try very soon! Stacia and Kate shared a delicious chicken recipe on Stacia's blog, Paper Swallow Events.



Hope you all had a fantastic month of May! Yay for the summer! What have you all been up to this past month?

Happiness... Free Wallpaper Download #2

 
iPhone / 1280x800 / 1440x900 / 1650x1050 / 2560x1440

 
New wallpaper is up! Find the size that you need and if there's a size that I don't have, leave a comment below and I can put one up for you guys. I loved making this one. I got to use the font I created, which I talked about a couple weeks ago. I'm hoping to incorporate that font more into my own work.

If you have a quote in mind you'd like me to use for next month's free wallpaper download, leave it in the comments below!

So Fearless Goals 05.25.2015

Hope you guys are enjoying your three day weekend! Take a break and relax. You guys deserve it. About last week's Wednesday post... I missed it. I was hoping to get the post together, but it was just impossible with working and graduation. Did you see my cap on Instagram?! I'm in love with it! I love seeing how other's decorate their cap. Their personality really shines through.

The beginning of the week was hectic, but I did manage to get some things done by the end of the week. Here are last week's goals.

Personal: Get my clothes to the cleaners/tailors. Decorate my cap!!!! - Yes and yes!
Financial: Work on a financial tracker printout. -Not a hundred percent. I wrote some things down in my sketchbook of how I want to organize. Now I just got to get in done. I was thinking of making some kind of printable, but I may wind up using Excel to really organizae my finances.
Work: Blogging planner. Future of Etsy shop. - Worked on it! I figured out my posts for June. I'm starting to realize what direction I want this blog to go. I also thought more about my Etsy shop, which I will be working on and getting up and running again soon. I found Craftsposure's Idea to Biz Course really helpful. Definitely check it out!
Health: Work in more cardio. - I spent part of the weekend at my boyfriend's shore house and while we didn't go for some crazy intense hike, we did take a couple walks to the bay and back.

Now for this week's goals. By the way, it's almost June. What?!?!

Personal: Clean out my closet. - It's a mess! A couple week's ago I got rid of a lot of clothes, but I have a standard closet and it can easily look cluttered. I just need to reorganize it.

Work: Get together cards already made. Apply to jobs. - I have a bunch of cards made that I need to photograph and list on Etsy. I'd at least like to photograph cards this week. And I'm applying to more jobs this week. If you're looking to hire a graphic designer, check out my portfolio and contact me if you'd like to work together!

Health: Hiking. YouTube workout. - I'm hoping to get a hike in with my boyfriend this weekend, weather permitting. Earlier this week, I caught Rachel Talbott's video 5 Easy Workouts + Post Workout Smoothie and got super motivated to try out the workout!

That's it for this week! You might've noticed last week that I changed the #sofearlessgoals printable last week. What do you think? I replaced the printable so you can download the new one here if you'd like to join in. Make sure to leave a link below so I can check out your goals and tag me on Twitter and Instagram @melissahebbe or use #sofearlessgoals if you share your goals there.

Happy last week of May everybody!

So Fearless Goals 05.18.2015

I don't know about you, but I love the start of a new week. It's like a little mini New Year's Day for me. A whole new week can change everything. Does anyone else feel that way or just me? Anyway, last week was awesome! I finished up finals and was officially cleared to graduate. I decided that there are two kinds of college graduates: those who scared beyond belief and those who are excited beyond belief. I'm the second one. While I'll miss seeing my friends everyday, I'm looking forward to getting a job, becoming more independent and having time to do things that I wasn't able to while going to school. I guess I'm a half glass full kind of person.

Alright, enough of my rambling. Let's talk about last week's goals.

• Personal: Work on my garden. - I think I changed my mind on this one. I went to a greenhouse over the weekend, but they didn't really have what I was looking for. Don't get me wrong, they had amazing plants. I was looking for specific one though, so I think I'm going to pass on growing my own garden this year.
• Financial: Keep looking up better ways to keep track of my finances - I didn't quite look things up, but I thought about how I want to track my income and expenses. I think I found a way.
• Work: Apply to at least 2 jobs. - Done! Fingers crossed everybody!
• Health: Keep up with yoga. Go hiking once. - Of course I went to yoga. I didn't go hiking though.

Here are my goals for the week!

Personal: Get my clothes to the cleaners/tailors. Decorate my cap!!!! - I have a stack of clothes that either need to be professionally cleaned or need new buttons. I've been meaning to get this taken care of for a really long time. I'm walking this week and I'm planning on decorating my cap. Make sure to check out my Instagram for pictures of that!

Financial: Work on a financial tracker printout. - I came up with an idea last week on how I want to keep track of my finances. I want something that will show my income and my expenses and think I finally came up with a way to do so.

Work: Blogging planner. Future of Etsy shop. - I've been wanting to put together a blogging planner. I blogged about how I keep track of my blog posts in my planner, but I want to put together something that will track my stats, notes for blog posts, etc. If you have any suggestions on what to include in my blog planner, let me know! And I've been seriously slacking on my Etsy shop. The only cards on there are from Valentine's Day and I've made a bunch since then. With school now over for me, I'm looking forward to focusing on my Etsy shop more.

Health: Work in more cardio. - Yoga is so much fun. It can be more of a workout that you realize depending on the class you take. Some are not as intense as others, but I am still a big fan of yoga and recommend to anyone who is willing to try it! Still, I need to work in some new cardio. I've never been a runner (seriously, like never), but I was considering trying out the CouchTo5K app. Any thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by. If you join in with my goals printable and share it on Twitter or Instagram, make sure to use #sofearlessgoals or leave a link to your blog post down below so I can read it. Hope you guys have a fantastic week!

5 Graduation Gifts For Graphic Designers (Or Really Anyone Who's Interested In Art & Design)

 

 

Yesterday, I finished my last final of my undergraduate career and exactly one week from today, I will officially graduate. I'm sure many design students are using graduation as a good excuse to conjure up some design equipment that they'll need to keep working on their projects. Up until now, we've had the privilege of using the school's computers, cameras, tablets, etc.

So, I've complied a list of equipment you might be interested in getting with your graduation money.

1. Adobe Creative Cloud: For the past two or three years, I've been using Adobe Creative Suite 5 and don't get me wrong, it works perfectly! But there are some great updates with the Cloud. For instance, I created my portfolio using InDesign and then published it as a folio, which I can view in Adobe Content Viewer on my tablet. I could no longer create folios using CS5; the buttons wouldn't work in Content Viewer. From what I've read, you need a more recent version of Adobe Creative Suite (the Cloud) in order to get your folios to work properly.

2. Drawing Tablet: I have the Intuos Pen & Touch tablet and I love it! It's great for photo editing and for adding handwritten elements.

3. DSLR: Maybe this is more for if you're a photography major, but in all honesty, designers and bloggers would benefit from this. I used a DSLR to take product shots for my final portfolio and it made a world of difference. (Sidenote: If you're not interested in buying one, ask to borrow a friend's!)

4. A website: Yes, you read right. A website is important. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money, but it will cost some: you'll need a domain name and web hosting, but it's up to you whether or not you create your site, use a free template or purchase a template. If you're not interested in an actual website of your own, I highly recommend signing up for Behance and others have recommended using Wix, Squarespace or Weebly. If you're curious, I purchased a template and use Wordpress.

5. MacBook Pro: And lastly this might be something you need to save for, but as a designer, having your own laptop is essential. I'm partial to MacBook Pro, but it's totally up to you! You may run into to jobs or internships where you'd be required to bring in your own laptop or maybe you have some freelance work on the side? It'll come in handy. If there's anything from this list I'd recommend above all, it would be this. It's worth the investment.

Are there any items you'd add to this list? Leave a comment below and tell me what equipment or tools you found useful as a designer, photographer, artist, blogger, etc. I love hearing about what others find useful!

**Just a little disclaimer, I realize it may not be feasible to purchase every single thing I mentioned on this list. You should only purchase what you think you'll benefit from in the end. Also, look around for deals! Usually towards the beginning of a new school year, Apple has some deals for MacBooks and maybe venture out during Black Friday this year, especially for items such as a DSLR.**

So Fearless Goals 05.11.2015 (My Portfolio Site Launched!)

I hope everyone had a very happy Mother's Day! I was lucky enough to spend a good portion of it with my mom and my Grandma, who in my opinion are some of the coolest people ever. After a busy week of finals, I was happy to spend a nice Sunday with my family.

Let's talk about last week's goals.
• Personal: Get a new sketchbook - Done! I received a 55% off coupon from A.C. Moore and walked ran to the store.
• Financial: Look up better ways to keep track of my finances - Not really. When I realized I didn't achieve this goal Sunday afternoon, I looked up some articles through Pinterest, but nothing really made think "woah, that's the system I need to use!" If you have any ideas or suggestions, I'm all for it!
• Work: Get going on my website - Done! I launched it Saturday night! You can now officially visit melissahebbe.com. Be sure to stop by and let me know what you think. For now, I put up 3 final projects. One new branding project will be put up on the site later in the summer once that organization launches the new branding.
• Health: Start yoga back up again - Done! I went to two classes last week and have two or three classes scheduled for this week. I'm loving yoga and the new studio I joined. I even bought a new yoga mat.

Now for this week's goals:
• Personal: Work on my garden. - My sister and I wanted to grow a garden this year. So far her and my mom have a lot of flowers, vegetables and fruit going on, so I need to catch up! Are you growing a garden this summer? Share your tips! I'm sadly not that good at keeping plants alive.
• Financial: Keep looking up better ways to keep track of my finances - Enough said.
• Work: Apply to at least 2 jobs. - I'm so excited to start applying! I'm seriously one of those people who love working. Nothing wrong with that.
• Health: Keep up with yoga. Go hiking once. - Yupp you heard it here, more yoga. Surprised? I didn't think so. I'd love to get back into hiking now that the weather is warming up.

And here's a little behind the scenes of making this blog post... That's my dog Riley. I know the picture is a little blurry, but I thought it was too cute to not to share.

Komorebi: Typeface

Guys! I created my own typeface! And it was awesome!

For my Advanced Typography class, our final project was to create our own typeface. We started off sketching letters. And more letters. And more letters. And when you thought you were done, even more letters. Then, we brought those sketches into Illustrator where we used the pen tool trace over each letter sketch. Those letters were brought into FontLab Studio. In that program, we worked on kerning and finally exported the final typeface. I'm thinking of uploading mine to dafont or another typeface website. Any particular site you recommed?

For now though, here is the type sheet of my final typeface: Komorebi. You can check out more of the process on my Behance account.

So Fearless Goals 05.04.2015

Last week I announced how I was going to keep up with sharing my own goals now that the Weekly Wishes series is over. I'm a huge goal orientated person, so I still wanted to keep up with sharing my goals and I still want to hear what your goals are. If you'd like, you can download my free printable which can help you keep track of your goals if you're the kind of person that needs to write things down for them to actual happen (like me!). If you end up using it, be sure to leave a link to your blog below or use #sofearlessgoals on Instagram or Twitter.

• Enjoy my last week of classes: Totally! Well, as much as anyone can enjoy class (you know what I mean). My friend and I spent some time outside working on our 3D type project #morethanaverage. You might've seen me post a picture on Instagram. And I'm starting to wrap up my final projects.
• Walking: Nope, that didn't happen.

Here are my fearless goals for the week:
• Personal: Get a new sketchbook - I usually get a new sketchbook every semester, but I'm no longer going to be a student anymore! *gasp* So I'd like to get a new sketchbook. You might've caught my job search post last week. I mentioned that even though you are no longer a typical student, that doesn't mean you stop learning and I'm totally holding myself to it. Even though, I'm not going to be going class anymore, I'm still planning on working on other things. For instance, I'd like to work on calligraphy more... hence the new sketchbook.
• Financial: Look up better ways to keep track of my finances - I got lazy with this last month, but I don't want to continue being lazy with it. This month I want to look up better ways on how to budget my money and keep track of expenses and then implement that new system maybe mid-May or next month.
• Work: Get going on my website - I bought my domain, signed up for a host, but now I just got to get going on working on the actual site. I have a Behance account and while I love it, I need/want my own site as well. I'll be making mine through Wordpress.
• Health: Start yoga back up again -There's a new yoga studio opening nearby and I just signed up with them the other. I have three classes planned so far and can't wait to start yoga back up again this week.

What are your goals for the week?

April Wrap Up

April flew by and to be honest, I'm surprised. Considering it was my last full month of school before graduating, I really thought going through April was going to take forever! I'm so ready for May and graduation.

What's Going On 

The weather finally started warming up in April, so I spent a little bit more time outside. Other than that, I've been working on final projects for school. Also, this past weekend I finished my first Wordpress website for a client ever! I love using blogger for my blog, but I enjoyed working with Wordpress for this project and am looking forward to using it more in the future.

Instagram

A picture of nearby trees on one of the most prettiest days this April.

Links

This particular link is one of my favorite's ever. I went to high school with Caitlin and I am so incredibly proud of her for writing this article. She hit the nail on the head when she wrote, "Health comes in all shapes and sizes." I urge to you all to read Caitlin's article.

Earth Day was earlier this month and Free People posted tons of articles, but this one really caught my eye. I'd love to make the multipurpose lemon cleaner: The Green Way to Spring Clean.

I look forward to Elsie's Scrapbook Sunday posts every week. 10 Random Facts About Me was my favorite. It's about that time again for me print out a a bunch of photos and catch up on my scrapbooking and I'm thinking of incorporating something like this.

I probably mentioned Kory at least once in every monthly wrap up, but that's because her posts are so good and she gives really good advice pertaining to graphic design! She wrote a guest post for XOSarah.com about freelance business skills they don't teach you in college. Anyone who freelances should totally read this!

Admit it. You've been dreaming of starting up a new hobby haven't you? Whether it's rock climbing or scrapbook, just start already! A Pair & A Spare gives you some tips on how to finally start your passion project.

Speaking of passion projects, Alisa wrote about her friends' new project: opening their own gallery. I'm so excited to read more about Staci and Sara's adventure.

What have you been up to this past month?

8 Pieces of Advice For You Job Seekers Out There

Get ready for the job search posts of all job search posts. This is a compilation of advice that I've complied from other sources as well as some of my own input. And you'll probably notice that a good amount of advice comes from The Muse and The Prepary, but they seriously know their stuff. Look into them more than just the posts I mention here.

This is a last minute tip I just found, but I'm seriously going to put this one to use soon to keep up with possible employers: The Free, Career-Boosting Google Feature You Should Be Using by Aja Frost published on The Muse.

If you're not quite sure on how to go about sending a thank you after an interview or when to follow up, read this by Jamie Petkanics: The 3-2-1 Rule of Following Up After Interviews published on The Prepary.

I think these networking tips could work for anybody at any time during their career (5 Smart Networking Strategies for Career Changers by Lily Zhang published on The Muse). I really like Tip #5: Going to Industry Events. Just recently, I went to an art career day at school. Though my field is graphic design, I decided to join in a printmaker's talk and really liked it. I'm even thinking of taking a class!

These resume dos and don'ts are some of the best advice I've heard (or read): 42 Resume Dos and Don'ts Every Job Seeker Should Know by Aja Frost published on The Muse. One piece of advice I liked: don't hide any gaps. Embrace them. I took a semester off between graduating from community college and starting a four-year college and I let people know that it was the best thing I've ever done. For that semester, I interned two days a week in the city and worked the other three.

If there you are going to read one link on this post, it's this one. It's an actual to-do list of what you should do prior to a job interview: An Interview Prep Checklist on Wunderlist by Jaime Petkanics.

And some of my own input:
1. Get a LinkedIn account. And keep it updated. And post things relevant to your field on it. Now that my senior year is wrapping up, more and more people are getting LinkedIn accounts or are using them more frequently. It's a great way to connect with your peers and other professionals. Trust me, you'll thank yourself later.
2. Lists are your friend. Keep lists of jobs you found, where you found them, who to contact, when you applied, when you followed up. Made an Excel spreadsheet. It's something we've gone over in class and something I've seen on Pinterest. Lists will be your saving grace.
3. Just because you're graduating doesn't mean you stop learning. Maybe it's the field I'm in? But just because I'm no longer going to be attending an actual class doesn't mean I'm going to stop learning. Future employers want to see that you're excited about your career and are willing to learn more about it.

What job search tips do you have? Share below, whether it's from a personal experience or another blog post you found online, let us know!

The Last Weekly Wishes... Get Ready For So Fearless Goals

Melyssa announced last week that this week would be the last weekly wishes. Instead, she's going to be talking about her goals monthly and will be launching a new project called The Blog Hive, which I am so excited to hear more about. With this series ending, I thought I'd take the opportunity to recreate my weekly wishes.

But first let's talk about last week's wishes.
• Make some time for myself: This might be hard to judge, but I think I did pretty well with this goal this week. I'm finishing up my final projects for school, but found some time to just relax.
• Go through my closet: Done! I woke up on Saturday morning, grabbed a trash bag and got rid of all the clothes I no longer wear. And guess what! I went through my drawers too! I'm planning on donating them soon.

As I mentioned, I'm going to recreate my weekly wishes posts into So Fearless Goals (named towards the name of the blog). I don't know about you, but after I post my goals on Monday, I sometimes forget about them for the rest of the week. Unless I write them down on in planner. I mentioned my planner rather frequently on this blog I think and it's not an exaggeration. I'm lost without my planner.

What I had been doing was if I wanted to achieve a particular goal on a certain day, I'd write it down on that day, but it seemed more like a chore, which I do admit that some of them are. I wanted to be excited about my goals and have them motivate me. So, I made this printable for myself. I use a paperclip to put this in my planner, but you could easily tape it in or if you like to journal, include this in there. How cool would it be if a couple weeks from now, you looked back and saw all the goals you made for yourself and how much you've done!

I decided I want to break down my goals into categories. I may not use each category every week, but these are the ones I'll use more often.

And here are my fearless goals for this week!
• Enjoy my last week of classes: Yeah, I know. Enjoy class? But I take art classes, not regular lecture classes and I love seeing all my friends in class. It makes it ten times more fun. This will be last week of classes before finals start and then I'll be done with my undergrad degree.
• Walking: Go for a walk at least twice this week if the weather's nice. I don't know what happened last week, but one day it was sunny and 70 and for the rest of the week it was all in the 50s and 60s. Kinda cold for Jersey in late April.

So those are my goals for the week and my new printable. I'd love it if you would join in with me! I'm including the So Fearless Goals printable here as a PDF (it's free!). There are four to a sheet of letter-size paper with each printable measuring 4x3 inches.

If you decide to join in, feel free to leave a link to your blog post below or share it on Twitter or Instagram with #sofearlessgoals or tag me! It's @melissahebbe for both!

Free Wallpaper Download #1

iPhone / 1280x800 / 1440x900 / 1650x1050 / 2560x1440

So I thought it'd be fun to create a wallpaper that you could use on your computer or phone. I chose a quote that I liked and worked some Photoshop magic using my Wacom tablet. I'm thinking about making this a monthly thing. It was so much fun to make! Later on, I'd like to eventually incorporate my own handwriting into the quote, rather than using a font.

If you have a quote in mind you'd like me to use for next month's free wallpaper download, leave it in the comments below!

Weekly Wishes 04.20.2015

Happy Birthday Mom!

Last week! Wow, I was right. It was going to be busy. I figured it would be with school ending in a few weeks and everybody's trying to finish up their last project. I did get some time of this weekend and went to Atlantic City with my boyfriend for formal. We got to dress up and it was so much fun! But now it's time to buckle down and get ready for finals. Eeeppp!

Last week's wishes:
• Plan some more blog posts: Done! Totally looking forward to next month's blog posts. With graduation season approaching, some posts will relate to that.
• Set aside some time to work on my website: Not done. It will be though. Eventually. I've been working on a client's website mostly, so that's been my focus lately.

This week's wishes:
• Make some time for myself: I won't deny it and a lot of people have said this to me: I'm a workaholic. People look at it in a negative way, but I don't. I like to work, but that doesn't mean that I don't like making time for myself. So even though I'll be freaking out about my final projects, I want to take some time this week to just do something for me: hang out with my dog, go for a walk, scroll through Pinterest.
• Go through my closet: I'm going into a minimalist phase right now and I just want to get rid of everything and anything I don't use anymore. And I really want to go through my closet and get together a ton of clothes to donate.

What are your goals for the week?

Weekly Wishes is a linkup post created by The Nectar Collective.

How I Plan Out My Blog Posts

I've been really into planning out my blog posts to help me stay organize and stay consistent with blogging, so I thought I'd share an update on how I keep up with my blogging calendar. Some people use plug-ins and maybe down the road I will too, but for now I use my regular paper planner. You may have seen my post a few weeks ago about how I organize my planner. I figured since I carry that thing around with me just about everywhere, it would make the most sense to include my blogging calendar in there.

I use the monthly spread in my calendar. (By the way, how cute is my minion mug!!) To plan out posts, I use a sticky note and write down the blog topic or title and then I place it on the day I'm going to post it (for me it's either a Monday or Wednesday). After I publish the post, I remove the sticky note and write the topic/title on the actual day it was posted and highlight it in blue.

Sometimes, I think of a blog post idea, but I don't have a particular day set for when I'm going to post it. In the back of my planner, I have a notes page that I made just for blog post ideas. Instead of writing on the page itself, I write the topic or title on the same kind of sticky note and stick it on that page. That way when I'm planning for future posts, I have some ideas in mind already and I can place those sticky notes on the day I'm going to post.

This is the system that works for me right now. I recently found this post by Chloe Social and loved how she planned out her blogging and social media schedule. I'm definitely going to incorporate some of her tips into my own blogging planner in the future.

How do you plan out your blog posts? Comment below and be sure to leave a link to your blog so I can check it out!

Weekly Wishes 04.13.2015

It's only Monday and I can tell this is going to be a crazy busy week. Who's with me?

Last week's weekly wishes:
• Get my portfolio book: Change in plans. I'm no longer creating a print portfolio. Instead, I'm working on iPad/tablet publication of my portfolio. It's a really interesting way of approaching a portfolio and I can't wait to share the process with you all!
• Start working on my job search: Done! Found a few jobs I'm interested in, but I'm still open and available to freelance. (Sidenote: Made some great progress on my friend's branding!) Feel free to contact me if you're looking for a graphic designer.

This week's weekly wishes:
• Plan some more blogposts: We're about halfway through April, so I need to start planning for May.
• Set aside some time to work on my website: I mentioned by Behance account several times, but last week I decided to take the plunge and create a portfolio site through Wordpress. If you have any advice for Wordpress users, leave a comment below! I'd love to gain some new insight to the program.

What are your goals for the week?

Weekly Wishes is a linkup post created by The Nectar Collective.

Weekly Wishes 04.06.2015

 
Hope everyone had a wonderful Passover and Easter!

Last week's weekly wishes:
• Continue with the walking program: Ha. No. It just didn't happen. Maybe once school winds down some more, I'll be able to make time for working out.
• Update my Behance account: Semi done! I put up a few new projects and updates, but I still have more to put up.

This week's weekly wishes:
• Get my portfolio book: We're working on our printed portfolios in class now and I finally settled on what kind of book I want. What do you guys think about me writing a post about putting together portfolios? There's a couple ways to do it: print, website and an iPad/tablet publication is what I'm going to do. Even if you just look a print alone, there are so many ways to approach it!
• Start working on my job search: I'm definitely interested in some kind of full time work when I graduate, but I also want to freelance. I'm actually starting to work on some branding for a friend – I'll share more about that project later!

What are your goals for the week?

Weekly Wishes is a linkup post created by The Nectar Collective.

Graphic Design and Animation Senior Show

There's a pretty good chance this will be the last time (or one of the last times) that I bring up my Senior Show. Cause it's done! It's done! The show itself will be up for a little while longer though. I must say it was a long process, but totally worth it.

We started off branding ourselves as graphic designers. (Shameless plug: If you're looking for a graphic designer to work with, you can check out my portfolio here and contact me here.)

My logo up on the wall!

We then worked on our Senior Projects. Mine was recreating these three book covers. I'm in the middle of reading Wild and can't wait to see the movie once I'm done with the book.

Left: series of bookcovers (Wild, Tiny Beautiful Things, Torch)
Right: digital college book created through Blurb.com and stamp brochure

Throughout the past few months, we've been working on new projects and reworking our old ones and ultimately this is what it came to... my wall. I must've rearranged my wall several times. It was to the point where my professor basically said, "Melissa, you're rearranging your wall again."

My family and friends came to the opening of my show and I don't think it could've gone any better! So a million and one thanks to you guys for listening to me go on and on about the show and a million and one thanks to everyone who has supported me and continues to support me throughout my career. You guys rock!

March Wrap Up

Good-bye March. Hello April! And warm weather. Last month, I came up with the idea of including a monthly wrap up and I'm super excited to share this month's wrap up.

What's Going On 

March was insanely busy because of getting everything together for my Senior Show, but it went so well! We also had our last big snowstorm of the season (hopefully) and the weather's been slowly, but surely getting warmer each day. Oh and I applied for graduation! Yay!

Instagram

I shared a lot of my graphic design work I've been working on. Towards the end of the month, I joined in on the Instagram challenge #TNCLovesSpring. Are there any Instagram challenges you're participating in?

Top Left: Transfer Prints / Top Right: My Business Card and Publicity Card
Bottom Left: Snow Day! / Bottom Right: Working On My Font

Links 

– Earlier in the month, Organized Charm was doing a giveaway and I won a Samsill Duo Binder! I can't wait to put this thing to use. I'm planning on using it for job searching. I really liked Kirsten's post about different ways to use this binder: 5 Ways to Use the Duo 2-in-One Binder

– Alisa Burke (an insanely awesome artist) blogged about creating your own art journal: Make A $5.00 Art Journal

– Found Phyllis + Rosie Jewelry through Free People and now I'm compltely in love with everything they have.

– And I really liked Elsie's simple approach to scrapbooking.

I hope you guys had an awesome February and will have an even better March! What have you all been up to this past month?

Weekly Wishes 03.30.2015

I can't believe how fast March went! But that's alright because I am so ready for spring and graduation!! This week was hectic with setting up my Senior Show, but I had so much fun and I'm so proud of all the graphic designer and animators I work with. Plus, my best friend was able to come and I'm so happy she did. (Sidenote: She might be reading this, so hi!!)

Since last week was super busy, I'm hoping this week will be a little more relaxed.
Last week's weekly wishes:
• Finalize everything for the senior show: Done! I'll write a blog post about it later.
• Start a walking program: Yes and no. I only walked once this week and I was supposed to walk three times. Something's better than nothing thought, right?!

This week's weekly wishes:
• Continue with the walking program: Because I'm not going to let one bad week deter me.
• Update my Behance account: I posted some new pieces the other week, but I still have more to put up. For now, you can see what's in my portfolio here!

What are your goals for the week?

Also, I've been joining in on Melyssa from The Nectar Collective's Instagram challenge. If you'd like to join in, check out this post for the prompts and for participation tips.

Weekly Wishes is a linkup post created by The Nectar Collective.

Etsy Shop Update

Hi everybody! Remember my goal last week about updating my Etsy branding? It's officially up and running. You might have seen it on the shop already or in my portfolio if you checked that out within the past week or so, but I wanted to mention it on the blog as well. I'm super excited with how it came out.

The lettering is still the same, but I used brushes in Photoshop to create this effect. I wanted to keep the banner on the Etsy site relatively simple, but didn't want just the logo to be on it. So I added more of the brand's color and used stamps that I use on the cards to write out "handmade greeting cards."

I haven't put new cards up yet, but wanted to share some of the cards I've been working on.

Do you have an Etsy shop? I'd love to check it out! Leave your link in the comments.

Weekly Wishes 03.23.3015

I had the busiest, but best week ever. Last week was my spring break, which meant no classes for me! I actually feel I am more productive out of class, so I did end up getting a lot done for school. But I did take some time away from school stuff... it is called Spring Break after all.

Now for last week's goals:
• Go to a yoga class: Done! I actually made it to two classes this week.
• Scrapbook: Yes! I'm creating my own, I guess you could call, smashbook out of an old journal. I had a bunch of pictures from holidays and the #shakeitupdaily Instagram challenge that I joined in on in February that I wanted to scrapbook with. So much fun!
• Plan out future blogposts: Done! I didn't look much into a digital organizer like CoSchedule or anything, but I planned out a bunch of posts and created my own system for blog ideas in my own paper planner (I'm huge into paper planners!).
• Update Etsy branding: Done! You can see the new Etsy banner on the shop's main page. I'll be putting up a post about how I re-branded my shop.

This week's goals:
• Finalize everything for the senior show: Enough said. If you follow me on Instagram or checked out my portfolio, you've probably seen sneak peeks of my work. Now, it's going to be hanging up for my Senior Show. You guys, I graduate in roughly 50 days!!!
• Start a walking program: I am not a runner. Never have been and probably never will be. Props to you if you are a runner! How do you do it?! But I do like walking and since the weather is getting nicer, it's about time I get outside and go walking. I found a walking workout routine that I'd like to stick with for the next six weeks.

What are your goals for the week?


Weekly Wishes is a linkup post created by The Nectar Collective.