Scenes From Sydney: In Pursuit of Happiness
By Jaclyn Carlson As the weather warms up I’ve been noticing a trend around the blogosphere lately – spring cleaning. It’s everywhere. People are scrubbing, cleaning and de-cluttering their workspaces, homes and well let’s face it…their lives in general. Just this past weekend I spent the afternoon trying to organise and turn our mess of a spare room into something bearable. After hours of cleaning away clutter I felt amazing, as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and suddenly I could walk into that room and breath a bit easier. Hopefully I’m not the only one who gets a bit of rush from a seeing the final product after a cleaning frenzy??
So while Sydney has been buzzing lately with creative events, (I’m sure you’ve all seen the amazing pics of the 18th Biennale of Sydney) I figured this month I’d dedicate my column to the very on-trend topic of spring cleaning and discuss a book that I’ve been reading that is both timely and the center of many creative discussions – The Happiness Project.
This book isn’t new (in fact the author, Gretchen Rubin, has just released her second book and already it’s a bestseller) but I thought it’s the perfect spring time reading for those wanting to head into summer embracing a positive, happy outlook. In summary the book follows the author on a 12 month, DIY project on happiness. She praises the benefits of more sleep and de-cluttering as 2 key factors to happiness (I’m tackling both!) and I’ve found the reading to be both inspirational and just the push I need to get back on the creative track in time for summer. I’ve spoken to lots of women about this book over the past few weeks and much like Eat,PrayLove, they seem to fall into 2 categories – you either love it or hate.
So as you begin your own spring cleaning adventure (at home, work or on your to-do list) I'd love to know if you've read The Happiness Project and what your throughts were? Did you love it or hate it?
Tess' edit: There will be a another VERY Sydney-themed post on the blog later today (I bet you can guess what it is about). Stay tuned!
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Jaclyn Carlson is the author behind the Sydney-based blog, Little Paper Trees. When not documenting her expat adventures, she can be found working for one of Australia’s top design & homewares trade shows. Passionate and prone to wasting hours on Pinterest, she has years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR and aims to put Sydney’s creative women in the spotlight with her monthly column.
Scenes from Sydney
By Jaclyn Carlson It wasn't until recently, when I was finally able to put the finishing touches on my first quilt did I truly appreciate the passion and hard work that goes into working with your hands to create something. There is an enormous amount of work that goes into creating something from scratch but the hours and hours of work all disappear when you see the final product, complete. It's an amazing feeling and one I wanted to learn more about. This month I'm speaking to my friend, Monique Plunkett, founder of homewares and accessories brand - Elkhorn, to learn more about how she created a business from making beautiful handmade products. The timing couldn't be more perfect as Monique is leaving Sydney this week to begin a new creative adventure in Melbourne - hopefully the CWC community will give her a big welcome!
Have you always been a creative person?
I have always been up to something creative since I was young. I remember getting a real buzz when I started working on a new project and seeing the end result. They were never amazing pieces of art but I loved the process and working with my hands.
What is your background?
Like most creative people I have a back ground in Graphic Design. I initially studied Visual Arts majoring in photography when I first left school then went on to study Graphic Design. Working in advertising never quite felt right for me. I found the work very regimented and not much room to be creative. I soon moved on and perhaps got a little side tracked working in many retail positions while freelancing in graphic design. I then studied and worked in Horticulture for a few years... Yes a very mixed back ground. Somehow all these skills came together to create Elkhorn. I have always been interested in the arts and creative people, so I guess on a subconscious level I’ve picked up skills and inspiration from people I spent time with and admired along the way.
How did Elkhorn get its start?
I was living in Sydney and working part-time. I hadn't been well for a while so decided to take some time out. With extra time on my hands I picked up screen printing again and started making clothing and cushions for myself and friends. I had such a great response from my forever encouraging friends that it felt like the perfect time to start something for myself. So that's when Elkhorn began.
What is the best part about running a creative business?
Working for yourself and the freedom to plan your own day. Starting the day a little later, heading out for a run or walk along the beach, sets me off to the perfect start. It can mean I finish later in the day but that's the compromise I make with myself and I'm more productive for it. It's also really satisfying taking a design from concept to a finished product, then taking it to the markets and seeing the response the design has on people. Knowing you did it all yourself is a wonderful feeling!
What are the challenges?
Working by yourself (yes it goes both ways). Although I love the creative freedom, it can be hard doing it alone and being accountable for every aspect of the business. Facing things you don't like doing can be daunting, especially when you don't know how to do them it can be a challenge.
What advice would you give to others looking to start a handmade business?
Follow your heart and do what you love! I know it’s cliché, but it’s true. I’m not saying quit your day job straight away, but as long as you allow yourself the time to slow down and take time out to be creative, I think that’s a great place to start. You’ll get a feel for what you’re making and whether your happy to continue it as a hobby or think about selling your work for a living.
Scenes From Sydney: Your Creative Process
By Jaclyn Carlson This month I've been focusing a lot on creativity, more specifically the creative process and how a simple idea or thought can blossom into something bigger than we ever imagined. For years I thought that in order to express yourself creatively you had to be a painter or an artist, something or someone visual, which admittedly I'm not. I've always been stronger with words and ideas so to finally understand the creative process and how it can relate to someone like myself was a real breakthrough.
The process itself is hard to define and is of course, different for everyone. For me, my best ideas come to me when I'm on the move and have time to think. Suddenly an idea will burst into my head for a blog post or craft project and I'll have to quickly try and capture those thoughts before I'm distracted and they've disappeared. To see these ideas through to fulfillment is so satisfying and to truly experience an amazing look at the creative process I highly recommend listening to Elizabeth Gilbert's TED Talk.
Sydney itself is bursting with creative women who understand and have mastered the creative process far better than I. That is exactly why I wanted to introduce Julia Denes, a Sydney based Jeweller, Designer, Gemmologist, Diamond Grader, and trained artist. After years spent working for some of Australia's top jewellers, in 2010 Julia launched her own business - Julia Denes Jewellery, giving her the creative freedom she'd always desired. As someone with such a dedicated art background I was curious about Julia's creative process and what I might be able to learn from her...
"My creative process usually begins with an overseas trip to a country that my heart has decided on. So far I’ve created ranges inspired by travels through South East Asia, Costa Rica, and Paris. Whilst away I spend weeks travelling around taking lots of photos of everything and anything that inspires me, from carvings and architecture to people and prominent places. I have a note pad with me at all times so I don’t forget a thing. This is the sketching and ideas process. On my return, I go through all of my photos and I’ll refine my sketches and choose the top 12-15 pieces. I then decide on the best and most fitting material to make the pieces from. I make each piece by hand so the making process generally takes the longest. From time of ordering the gold, silver or materials to making each piece, to setting the stones and then lastly polishing, it might be 2 months till the range is complete, especially if there is a design that needs to be revised a few times before it’s ready. I’m also a complete perfectionist which probably doesn’t help!"
Looking at her jewellery it is easy to see the love and passion she puts into her work however what really struck me was where her process started - travel, life experiences, moments. These are things that all of us can use to gain inspiration, to embrace our creativity and discover our own creative process.
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Jaclyn Carlson is the author behind the Sydney-based blog, Little Paper Trees. When not documenting her expat adventures, she can be found working for one of Australia’s top design & homewares trade shows. Passionate and prone to wasting hours on Pinterest, she has years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR and aims to put Sydney’s creative women in the spotlight with her monthly column
Scenes From Sydney: Vivid Festival
By Jaclyn Carlson Each year I look forward to the Vivid Festival in Sydney. For a few short weeks the city glows with light and each night hundreds of visitors and families flock to Circular Quay and the surrounding areas to be mesmerised by light - in all forms. This year there were light installations in the water, billowing sails projected onto the Opera House and the MCA transformed into a kaleidoscope of moving pictures - it was amazing and a huge congratulations must go to the organisers for the work that was put into this year's event.
Beyond the light installations was another part of the festival called the Vivid Ideas Exchange, a creative collaboration with artists, businesses and more that resulted in a stellar line-up of events and workshops held in Sydney over the past few weeks. Last weekend I was lucky enough to attend one of those events called Etsy Success Sydney. The event was a day long conference where the CEO of Etsy, Chad Dickerson talked about courage and other creative types and bloggers held sessions on everything from styling to DIY PR. For anyone with a creative spirit it was 8 hrs of bliss. I walked away floating despite my embarassing run in with the CEO that I wrote about on my blog earlier this week. I believe they will be posting all the event videos on the Vivid site so I highly recommend grabbing a cup of tea and listening to Chad's presentation. Sometimes you just need to learn from someone else's experience,someone who has accomplished great and wonderful things. His advice was simple but strong - Take the leap. Courage comes from doing - you just have to start.
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Jaclyn Carlson is the author behind the Sydney-based blog, Little Paper Trees. When not documenting her expat adventures, she can be found working for one of Australia’s top design & homewares trade shows. Passionate and prone to wasting hours on Pinterest, she has years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR and aims to put Sydney’s creative women in the spotlight with her monthly column.
Scenes From Sydney: Etsy Love
By Jaclyn Carlson
I am a huge fan of Etsy. I love to shop on Etsy, buy gifts, decorate my home, treat myself and secretly hope to someday have my own little Etsy store. It's an inspiring website and anyone who has seen photos of their US headquarters will see that it looks like a pretty inspiring place to work as well.
What's even better is that Etsy has recruited some local talent to head up their Australian operations and I was lucky enough to chat with Angela D'Alton about her new position.
1.) What is your background and explain what you were doing prior to Etsy? Prior to becoming the Australian Community Manager for Etsy I was the founder and director of Leeloo.com.au, an online store and blog dedicated to supporting and nurturing the talents of emerging designers and artists from Australia. I did that from 2007 until the beginning of this year. Before that I worked in various roles, including an extensive career in Information Technology, a fair bit of retail, a lot of administration and I was even a Massage Therapist/Reflexologist at one stage! My heart was always living in the world of creativity though, and I found it difficult to 'fit' in those worlds.
2.) How have you dealt with a change in careers and/or new direction? Very well! It was a conclusion drawn by myself and my husband that I was really not cut out for corporate life. I love working hard, however I needed to be able to commit myself to a job in which I believe in what I do every day, you know, a good reason to get out of bed. I've always been a believer in supporting artists and grass-roots communities, especially within our own country. Given the background that I had in customer service, and I.T., combined with my huge love of fashion and design, starting my own online store was a natural choice, a marriage of sorts between my technical corporate background, and my creative artistic passions.
3.) What advice would you give to other women thinking of change but might be hesitant? Start small, and make little changes every day that lead you towards your dream. It takes time, hard work and a lot of learning and listening. Don't start by taking huge risks. Maybe find a middle ground part-time job for a little while as you find your feet in your own business, but don't let the dream go. While it might seem scary, doing something you love is far more fulfilling than you can imagine. Staying positive can be difficult during times of knockbacks and the low energy days, but trust that you will bounce back and eventually find your routine, and the discipline that you need. The world doesn't owe you anything, you need to go after what you want. Most importantly, no-one will believe in what you're doing unless you believe in it.
4.) What's up next for you in your new role with Etsy? what advice can you pass along to Australian women thinking of joining Etsy? My new role at Etsy involves the support of the growing number of Australian people who have their own Etsy shops, whether they are designers, artists, vintage enthusiasts or supplies providers to the creative community. I'm planning events to inform and inspire, as well as being a point of contact for feedback to our head office in Brooklyn, providing the Australian perspective. If you are keen to join Etsy, I definitely recommend it. There's no community as kind as this one! Etsy provides sellers with a great deal of support, guidance and education. New tools are constantly being developed to ensure great experiences for all of our members. It's an affordable, easy and fun way to reach a large, global audience. Etsy gets over 40 billion unique visitors each month. There are also heaps of great resources available in the Seller Handbook section of Etsy's blog. Also, with the support of myself and my Melbourne-based counterpart Kirsteene Phelan, there will be lots of local happenings coming up. We're looking forward to a fun and exciting 2012! Visit etsy.com/sell to get started. Still want more? Make sure to check out Etsy Success Sydney as part of the Vivid Festival. I'll be back next month to report on the festival.
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Jaclyn Carlson is the author behind the Sydney-based blog, Little Paper Trees. When not documenting her expat adventures, she can be found working for one of Australia’s top design & homewares trade shows. Passionate and prone to wasting hours on Pinterest, she has years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR and aims to put Sydney’s creative women in the spotlight with her monthly column.
Scenes From Sydney: April Action
By Jaclyn Carlson The month of April always seems to fly by and before you know it, May has arrived and you find yourself wondering how quickly the year is going by. April in particular is always full of action, the days are shorter and your social calendar seems to fill up with launches, gallery openings, dinners and other winter gatherings. It's time to embrace April and all her creative options so get out there, get active and don't miss these three Sydney highlights...
MCA Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art has finally re-opened with an impressive launch collection of new exhibits and has brought back late night Thursdays, for the after work crowd wanting their visual fix.
7 Kinds of Happiness: Conversations on Design and Emotion Part of DesignEx, this three day program involves a series of 7 seminars run by speakers such as Alice Rawsthorne and Stefan Sagmeister all exploring the question, 'can designers create happiness?' What's even more interesting is that the seminars themselves will be held inside a structure made entirely of doonas.
AGDA Presents: Substance Is The New Style The NSW branch of the AGDA presents a night exploring strategic design thinking and examining how design thinking has been employed across the globe to deliver innovative solutions that change industry standards and redefine market positions.
Events about art, happiness and style? Sounds like an action packed and pretty awesome end to April...
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Jaclyn Carlson is the author behind the Sydney-based blog, Little Paper Trees. When not documenting her expat adventures, she can be found working for one of Australia’s top design & homewares trade shows. Passionate and prone to wasting hours on Pinterest, she has years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR and aims to put Sydney’s creative women in the spotlight with her monthly column.
Scenes From Sydney: Embracing Change
By Jaclyn Carlson The changing of the seasons, the slow and often sullen shift from summer to autumn has caused me to explore and embrace the idea of change and transformation in our lives. As women, very few of us get to change our careers, shift directions and follow new paths. For many it’s the responsibility of family, for others the burden of finance but often it’s fear that holds us back and allows self doubt to creep in and spread like wildfire until our desire for change and dreams of a new path become just that…an old and distant, dream.
Without wanting this post to sound like something out of Sylvia Plath novel, my purpose for embracing change this month was to highlight a few bold women who have made mid-career and/or life changes and haven’t looked back since. They've embraced the fear, chased down impossible obstacles and have carved out new careers and hobbies one step at a time. Hearing their stories is not only a source of admiration but inspiration and something we could all learn from. Whether it be big or small, life changing or not, we all need a bit of change to push us forward…
Emma Scamell , Emma Scamell Photography Sydney-sider, Emma Scamell has turned a love for photography into a blossoming Sydney-based business. Drawing on her skills as a marketer and using a business savvy approach, she is the perfect example of what happens when you allow yourself to follow your heart. Below she shares with the CWC what change means to her and the moment she decided to move on a new path…
When did the idea of change first become clear to you? A few years ago, I read a quote in an article by Ralph Simon which really resonated and stuck with me. "Work hard and be nice to people. Do what you love, then it’s not work”. The work hard and being nice is essentially my ethos, but I made me think, is it actually possible to turn what you love into a career?
When did you decide to take the leap of faith and follow your dream? I’ve been working in marketing for around 8 years and had been wondering if the dream of working for yourself could actually become a reality. I have always loved taking photos and began expressing that dream to others. As soon as I started verbalising it, things started happening completely organically. I started getting asked to do shoots through friends, and then friends of friends, and I started to take the concept of going full time more seriously. After a long lunch with a friend who has just launched their own business, I realised that it could be more than a pipe dream and there was no reason why I couldn't do the same. From that lunchtime onwards, I’ve made sure that every day, I have done something to take myself closer to my goal – be it shooting, studying, reading, researching or connecting with people.
What’s next? I've just taken some determined steps towards my goal by becoming a member of the AIPP and working on some meaty client projects in my free time. I'm also taking a strategic approach to the business with a brand and marketing plan. Yes, I absolutely have the fear of "what if no-one likes my work?", but I also know that the same fear drives me to continually improve. Above all, I know that if I didn't at least try to make this happen, I would always wonder 'what if'...
Leanne Ambrogio, Sweet Style Blogging for Leanne Ambrogio began in April 2009 as a way to document the building of her house with the creation of Mrs A In The Cove. What began as a whim, suddenly began to change direction in 2010 when she discovered the world of dessert tables and styling - something she had always been passionate about – thus began a brand new path never before imagined. Since creating her first dessert table for her daughters fourth birthday in 2010 things have not stopped. In June 2011 her new styling business took another turn when she again changed her career path to launch an online store stocking all the beautiful items that are required for creating a stylish party. The store, Sweet Style, has gone from strength to strength and the product range keeps growing. The styling side of her business also continues to grow as well with a number of requests for contributions to some lovely online magazines. Leanne is an inspiration to me personally as she continually strives to taken on new challenges and pave out her own path. She leads a busy life with family as her main priority but is one of the best examples I’ve come across of taking what starts as a small hobby and turning it into a passionate, life changing career path.
For the rest of us still dreaming of or looking for change, Megan Morton might just have the answer. She has recently launched, The School, a Sydney-based hub for discovering new talents, and unearthing hidden charms. As Megan herself sums up, “ we want to hold a candle to everyone's inner creative and tap into the magic that happens when you work with both your hands and your heart.”
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Jaclyn Carlson is the author behind the Sydney-based blog, Little Paper Trees. When not documenting her expat adventures, she can be found working for one of Australia’s top design & homewares trade shows. Passionate and prone to wasting hours on Pinterest, she has years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR and aims to put Sydney’s creative women in the spotlight with her monthly column