Rebranding - step one: colour palette

While my little shop is slowly growing I've been playing around with some ideas for a stronger, more personal brand. First up is the colour palette.

The plan is to gradually rebrand Rocajo Studio and make it much more personal after some serious soulsearching. I want colours that mean something to me (like the yellow, since they remind me of the Livestrong bracelet I wear).

When I look at my Pinterest Colour Inspiration board I seem to be drawn to more 'vintage-style' colours and this particular photo from Design Seed (such a lovely blog for colour combinations!) has been my greatest inspiration. I took it as a starting point and kept the yellow, pink and blue and added grey, a colour that is already present in my current branding colours.

Making decisions is not always easy when you like many different things and styles.  But I'm happy to say that the colour palette choosing is now out of the way.  Moving on to fonts now... Ack, this one might be even harder.

Want to help a girl out? I'd love to hear your font suggestions!

Handmade Marathon

There are people out there who truly value the art of handmade. Alison Butler of The Petit Cadeau is one of those people. To celebrate the art & love for all things handmade she is placing 26 handmade businesses in the spotlight on her blog during the month of October.

Why 26? Well, Alison will be running her first marathon on November 4, 2012 in New York and instead of running for charity she chose to raise awareness around supporting handmade businesses and therefore one shop will represent one actual marathon mile.



Since October 1 some truly lovely shops have been making their appearance on The Petit Cadeau blog. If you have been thinking about starting on your Christmas shopping, then you should have a look at what all these wonderful handmade businesses have to offer. You will find jewelry, art, home & nursery decor & more! You can even download a free wish list to write down all your favorite items!

When you buy handmade you get something that has been made with love + care AND you support the dream of the person behind the shop. Now doesn't that just make your heart happy?

So go ahead and join me for the Handmade Marathon. Who knows, you might even discover your next favorite shop!

In the spotlight today

Oh boy, this is really making my heart go pitter patter. It's actually me who's in the spotlight today!

I'm being interviewed by the lovely Laura Clempson of Cupcakes for Clara and you can read all about it here. If you want to find out a little bit more about me then please do hop on over to her wonderful blog.

While you are there you may want to check out a few more Illustrator Interviews or have a look at her darling shop.

Tomorrow it's time for another Flashcard Friday post, picking up where I left off before going on holiday with the letter G!
x Tania

A million things to do (Evernote)

Even though I don't literally have a million things to do, it does certainly feel that way sometimes. To keep me from forgetting all those things that need to get done in daily life but also to store ideas of things I want to do in the future I write endless to do lists. Oh yes, Post-it notes and I are BFF.

I have been getting better at keeping my to do lists more or less in one place since I discovered Evernote. I find it especially useful for storing everything and anything that has to do with my business: ideas for new designs, blog post ideas, business related posts from other blogs, you name it.

It's like a big board full of post-its, but one where you can't lose any. You just have to be smart and consistent with your tagging. (and there's always the search function if you do get lost). And did I mention it's free to download?

Of course I still use Post-it notes from time to time. After all, we are best friends forever.

Alice in Wonderland birthday invitation: a sneak peek

My daughter is already counting the days till her 9th birthday. She's very excited about the Alice in Wonderland theme and has come up with several cute ideas for her party.  We used the Tim Burton movie as inspiration so Alice looks more like the movie character than the Disney version. Except for the bow in her hair, that one was a special request by my daughter. And since it's her birthday, how could I not add a beautiful blue bow to her hair?

I'm planning to make an entire printable birtday party set in this theme. The cupcake toppers have been designed, the invitation is ready and next on my list is a "Happy Birthday" banner.  I hope to have everything in the shop by mid February latest.

Social media overload

Source: google.com via Anthony on Pinterest

I joined Twitter last week and have also been trying to post on my facebook fan page, keep up with this blog and pin a few images on Pinterest for future inspiration. I would call, it in the least, a little overwhelming. Gee, building a social network is hard work.
Not only did I have to figure out how to post something on Twitter, I also have a hard time not to keep checking it constantly.  I guess I still have to get used to it. It was, after all, my own choice to dive in head first and try all of them at the same time. (Hah, that'll teach me!).

But, in return, I did meet a few nice people already with interesting blogs and cute shops. It's great to meet people who are also setting up (or have already successfully set up) their business. A lot of them are moms too which means they are also balancing motherhood, a marriage and a business. I hope to learn lots and lots from them!

Valentine's Day

The first set of Valentine cupcake toppers has meanwhile been listed in the shop:

Love is in the air!

Goals for 2012

My biggest goal for 2012 is to lay the foundation for Rocajo Studio. This not only means that I have to design several items to fill up the shop, but also that I have to get active in social media.  It's probably not a good idea to start them all at once but so far I've put in a request to join Pinterest and registered Rocajo Studio for a Facebook fan page (which is still, well, uhm,... empty). That just leaves Twitter.

I'm new to Twitter and Pinterest (I know, I know...where have I been these last few years) and feel a bit hesitant towards using them, especially Twitter. I hope they will prove me wrong.

A new Biz for the New Year

This exciting competition on Oh My! Handmade Goodness during the month of December made me want to check my computer practically everyday.  The entries started to trickle in slowly at first but then towards the end of December the amount of entries seemed to double overnight! Inspiring stories of women all around the world, dreaming of building and expanding their businesses.

The winners were just announced and I can only imagine the joy they must be feeling right now. I wonder how they felt waking up to see their pictures on display. I look forward to seeing how winning this competition will change the lives and businesses of these women.

But for those who didn't win or couldn't enter this year there was even more exciting news: at the end of this year there will be another competition! So I think I have already one goal for 2012: enter this amazing give-away in December. Ah, a girl can dream, can't she?

Of course I already have many other goals that I have set myself. Rocajo Studio will be my own 'New Biz for the New Year' competion. This little shop of mine is now only a seed that has been planted. I will nourish it and try to grow it so I can hopefully see it blossom into something beautiful during the year.

Here's to 2012. May it be everything we dream it to be.