Current Read: Creative Girl

I love the Northfield Public Library. I find good books without even searching their catalog. Since I am sans full time employment at the moment, I was browsing the job hunting and business section. Picked up a fabulous book to help rewrite my office job resume and my fingers tripped over this book: Creative Girl, by Katherine Sise.

Katherine Sise may ring a bell, she is a successful Jewelry Designer whose collections have been featured in Lucky Magazine and Elle amongst others. She has designed for GAP and Keds and currently has a collection available at Target (Tar-jay boutique ;) ). You may also recognize her from her early career with a show on the Home Shopping Network.

I'm only 20 or so pages in but have a few pearls of wisdom, true gems to share with you. I am really looking forward to digging into this book. Since it was in the business and job hunting section, the content is very practical and very realistic with the objective of lucrative employment and income. I like this perspective.

"Creativity breeds creativity and your success is like a snowball; almost always, achievement in one creative field feeds into another...Each creative talent is a continually evolving business and it's exciting to push your artistic limits and find unlikely avenues that stem from your original pursuit. When you're strategic about your achievements, you'll cohesively build a career." (page 17)

"Often, when one aspect of your career is lagging, the other is flying high. This keeps you feeling productive and successful...The ability to shift gears and expand will serve you, so experiment and push yourself further than you thought you could go." (page 18)

"Be mindful, aware, and open to the fact that you are exactly where you're meant to be in this moment." (page 21)

I feel these notions can be applied to any job hunt, be it creative, office or whatnot. They make a lot of sense to me and with this sense I embark on the rest of my read.

Available on Amazon.com.

NOTE: Cover image Copyright 2010, Kristine A. Lombardi, artist.
Quotes from: Creative Girl: the Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity Into a Real Career, by Katherine Sise.

Current Read: The Handmade Marketplace

I just opened a new library card at my hometown library in Northfield, MN (my old one had expired several years ago since I hadn't been living here). I love the library. My favorite sections are DVD's and the new release book section. Even when I was in high school I enjoyed perusing the new release book section. As I am sure you can imagine, with my new card in hand, I charged right over to that section to see what they have.

One thing I have always enjoyed about the Northfield Public Library, is the abundance of arts and crafts books. Living in the woods, we made regular use of those books to keep ourselves entertained as kids. That said, of course there were a few gems in this genre on the new release shelves.

I got my paws on: The Handmade Marketplace; How to sell your crafts locally, globally and online, By Kari Chapin. It was published this year and is filled with valuable information for independent artists and crafters. Heck, I bet any business owner looking to learn how to better market online would benefit from this book.

With $3.49 to my name at the moment, I am looking for any information I can to grow my handmade fashion business. This is one of my favorite topics to read about online and I try to find out what I can in my free time. The $3.49, numerous rejections from office job applications and frighteningly lethargic sales on my Etsy.com store this holiday season are what provoked me to give this book a careful and thorough read. It is oh so timely I stumbled across it at the library.

This book is current and a wealth of information for anyone looking to improve their small business marketing efforts. I'm reading it armed with pen and paper and have nearly filled a small notepad with ideas...lots and lots of ideas and tasks I wish to execute sooner rather than later.

One of my favorite bonus aspects of this book: it fits in my purse!

Available on Amazon.com.