So uh it's been a while again hasn't it? Woops! Nevermind though. Today I wanted to come back and just share some updates with you all regarding a few different things. And also because it's my birthday today I kinda felt I needed to get something done today that unleashed me creatively a bit. So onto the update... 

It's been just over two months since I last posted anything and even then it was a simply a book review with no details of what I was up too. And before that, the last things I shared was my blog entries on my time in Cornwall for my internship. 

Since then I've been keeping up with applying for jobs and so far had some luck with getting interviews but nothing concrete as of yet but still holding on! I've also been taking on some more freelance projects including one exciting thing but I'll get on to that later. And lastly I've also been doing #the100DayProject (my tag is #100daysofohhaylettering), albeit I have slipped massively behind now but I'm doing bits and pieces for it when I can. 

Recently I've also booked with Darren to go away to Berlin for a few days in September and when we come back we're going to see Mayday Parade again too! I've also been looking into going to this years GDFS since I loved it so much last year. (If you're going let me know!) So I've got myself booked up with a few exciting things in the next few months anyway. 

And lastly, the biggest thing I'm currently working on. If you follow me on twitter or keep up with the #cbloggers community (either on Twitter or Facebook) you'll know I'm in the midst of branding it. It is something I have wanted to get on and get done for years but it has honestly just been something that has always slipped to the bottom of my list. But in saying that, because just now I'm still looking for jobs I thought it would be great to do a really big branding project of some kind. And instead of reaching out to business or do something fictional, why not do it for something I know the in's and out's of already? It's still early stages of the project and I'll maybe go into more detail in another post, but atm I have put out the brand doc this week so if you want to have a read and look at the document you can see it here: #Cbloggers Community Identity doc. 

But I think that's it from me and this update for now! I have a few other things, including getting my prints on Etsy to do over the next few weeks so stay tuned for that and I'll try make sure I don't leave it another 2 months for a new post. 

*Also I want to give a shout out to both Kelly, Polly and Fern as there photo stylings for photos has inspired me to do a bit of digital collage!  I fancied trying something a bit different especially as I don't really have any photos to share from the past few months.

First up, Be Open! I think it's pretty obvious but when you attend an event, if you decide to stand on the sidelines you're not going to get much from it, apart from what you hear other people say and see what they do. So instead, embrace people and be open to the possibilities and opportunities that might arise from such an event and you'll be more likely to enjoy your time and the people that are there. 

For me, at GDFS this meant deciding to meet and talk to people that I didn't know- including some industry folk which I thought was pretty terrifying at the time. But in doing this, it opens up your world and connections more which down the line could be pretty important or crucial for jobs or client work. 

Next up is Speak up! Like I said before, when you go to these sorts of events, you need to make an effort. If you're having conversations with people, tell them your ideas and views as well. Don't leave all the talking to them- you need to add some input as well. I know for fellow introverts this can be super difficult but it is essential to do in order to get the most from the event you attend. However, there is ways to make a conversation flow better or to have more than just "small talk. 

I'd recommend listening to both Episodes 50 and 52 (Birthday edition) of Design Life as they have great tips (specifically Charli for an introverts side) on speaking to people at conferences and events. Including this one gem of input from Femke, in episode 52 (about 12minutes in) "is if I'm, like, not in the mood to talk to other people, and if I'm in a situation where I have too, a trick I do is ask them deep questions that will take them like a minute to answer, so I can just ask them a question and then i don't need to answer for a minute or two."

Carrying on from the last point, this one is Be You! If you ever go to an event and you put on a facade that is totally not who you are or what you believe in, then people will realise this and it will make encounters more awkward. In saying that though, even if you are anxious or uncomfortable, you can use this as a strength, I can guarantee you will not be the only person feeling like that. Also, the more 'you' that you are, then the better people will be able to connect with you and an opportunity may arise from that. 

Speaking from my GDFS expierence, I made it pretty clear that I was all about creative community both within my Live Project and with speaking to industry folk, and with my dedication to that and #CBloggers it really shows that I have a commitment and a passion for helping and being part of the industry. From doing that, people do become invested in you for whatever thing it is that is so important to you, which means that you are likely to be the person they come to when they need help with that thing. 

However, don't think you only need to do this during/after the event, you can also do it before! Personally, I was feeling super anxious to go to GDFS without knowing anyone so I decided to meet Laura from The Floral Elephant beforehand to get a coffee and a quick breakfast and I'm not even joking, it definitely takes off the pressure when you know you don't need to walk into a busy room on your own! 

I hope those tips have helped you out, especially if you have an event coming up soon and it's your first ever one! Let me know which of the tips you think is the best and also let me know what you think of the little graphics I made for this post too. It was based of the illustrations I did for my Live Project at GDFS and so I wanted to extend the styling into this as the two are connected quite nicely! 

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the whole blogging community thing and how people have been using it, how it aids people and things like that. This post actually originated from one of the #CrazyRebelliousArt topic which was focused about creating a link up, inspired by this I thought it would be interesting to speak about this topic and then share some of my favourites right now.