2 Shiny New Shoe ‘Cards by Clarice’

To view more or purchase some prints or pdf templates, please visit my Etsy store.

Pearl Alliance “Recovering Treasure from Darkness”

“A pearl is a treasure found in an oyster shell. Though the outside of the oyster shell is rough and dark, the inside is pure and precious. The women and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation are precious treasures hidden in darkness and they must be recovered. Pearl Alliance raises awareness and funds to prevent the progression of human trafficking.”

It started in grade 12 social studies class. The assignment was to create a logo representing women/children sexual abuse. Even back then I knew I wanted to do something in design. So I thought long and hard how to best represent this in an icon and somewhere along there I felt a deep passion toward this cause. It only fueled my passion when, that around that time I became a sister to two shiney new brothers (yes thats a BIG gap).

I came across Pearl Alliance last year on a conference I had gone to. It was there I got to hear the dynamically motivational Lisa Bevere, talk about Pearl Alliance, and I couldn’t help but feel strongly towards this particular org. An organization dedicated to spreading awareness about human trafficking and actually taking action. John and Lisa Bevere, authors and speakers, founded this outreach after Lisa spent time in Thailand witnessing firsthand the brutality of the human trafficking industry.

Pearl Alliance partners with onsite organizations that:

• Prevent human trafficking
• Rescue the enslaved
• Restore the victims

So, how can we help?

Well, we can help by spreading awareness, www.pearalliance.org is a great place to start.

or

Pearl Alliance - Nurture Cross

Buy a Nurture Cross ($5 from every purchase go toward this cause). And it’s a magnificent necklace, I must say!

To find out more on this, Click here.

Have a great friday! I know I am!

Whats the street name for it? — Rejection

Let’s start off with a topic that really hits the spot for most freelancers, when trying to get a gig. Rejection. How do you take it? Do you take it personally and shed a tear or scratch it and move on like it was nothing?

The article below is by Raj Dash.

Getting Through Freelance Rejection
Raj Dash

The new year is always a good time to reflect upon your business practices of the previous year. Did you perform as well as you’d hoped as a freelancer? Or did you get rejected more often than you were expecting?

When you’re turned down for a freelance gig, how does it make you feel? It stings, right? Even when you have a few years of experience. It’s tough enough being a lonely freelancer, tougher still being rejected for a gig you were hoping for – or worse, counting on.

But this is purely a default reaction you’ve allowed yourself to have. If you detach yourself personally from the outcome, then it allows you to move on and try for another gig. The fact is, most of the time, being rejected has nothing to do with you personally.

Some Questions to Ask Yourself

To make it easier to deal with rejection in the future, ask yourself some questions about recent rejections.

1. Was this really a slight against me? Don’t take it personally. There are many reasons a freelancer does not get the job, and it’s not always about you. When you realize this, then it’s easier to be detached.
2. Did I deliver? Maybe it was about you. Was this an existing client? It’s been said that existing clients are your best source of work. The effort of getting additional work from them is typically less than for finding a new client and an active project. Check back with clients after a project has completed, to be sure that they received what they were expecting.
3. Was I qualified? Maybe someone was more qualified. Clients are going to be more conservative during a recession. Improve your skills for the next opportunity.
4. Were my rates confusing or just wrong? Were my rates too high for the client? Too low? Believe it or not, the latter might lead some potential clients to believe that you’re not offering very much. Or maybe you are way outside the range of your market without clearly explaining what you offer to justify your rates.
5. Did I make clear what I could do for them? If you don’t tell them that you can do “X”, don’t assume they know.
6. Did I communicate properly to the client? Don’t assume that a busy client understood everything. Communications in the digital age get rushed. Long emails or chat sessions might not get absorbed. Ask direct questions that solicit a response, instead of just stating something. Repeat unanswered questions in followup communications.
7. Was there a personal crisis? Personal situations sometimes come up, and a rejection is sometimes due to that or simply an oversight. By checking back with them or staying in touch, you might gain other work.

Does detachment make you insensitive? Not at all. Consider for a moment the philosophy that many creative people subscribe to: a single, feasible, great idea is the result of having dozens or even hundreds of infeasible ideas.

So photographers take dozens of pictures to get one good one. Inventors try thousands of ways to produce a functioning prototype. As they achieve efficiency of style and work flow, later efforts become easier. Likewise, as a freelancer, you might have to apply for/ bid on several gigs before landing one. This gives you the opportunity to learn skills for applying and/or bidding, and to become efficient at it.

Got the hang of it? Ready to face rejection head on? Check out The Golden Pencil’s Rejection Letter Oympics, where blogger Jenny Cromie challenges readers to go out and get as many rejection letters as possible. The more opportunities you try out for, the better your chances of getting a “yes” at some point. Not trying might save you from rejection, but it limits your opportunities.

Have you been rejected for a project lately? What did you do to get through it?

Thanks Raj for sharing this. It is not very often issues like these are addressed or spoken of.

www.claricegomesdesigns.com

Thanks to Canaca and their extremely poor customer service, there is no easy way of getting my domain (www.claricegomes.com) renewed. So while I get that sorted out, I have my site up at www.claricegomesdesigns.com.

Once again if you are looking for a hassle free web hosting with a good company, avoid Canaca. To add to their shady lists of traits, they have extremely bad customer service (that you can get to talk to over the phone, only if you select their “sales” dept option over the phone). For domains they charge $10 USD for the first year only with them and after that every year you are paying $20 USD/year to renew!

A New Year…Another Opportunity for New Beginnings

Happy New Year to one and all! May everyone have a fantastic year ahead, physically, financially, spiritually and emotionally.

Every year around this time, I feel a surge of energy/positive vibes, motivating me to ‘get up and do something’. Feelings of doing something new, better and different race through me. It’s like a voice in my head is telling me ‘Now is the time, make quick movement’ . But I am sure we all go through this in the beginning of a new year.

I have to admit, 2008 have been an amazing year, which has only made me look forward to 2009! This year I plan on,

1. Spiritually spending more time in devotion
2. Releasing one free vector every month (make sure to visit www.claricegomesdesigns.com to get them.)
3. Keep working at better updating myself with the fast paced design world.
4. I want to start Power Clean (I am not going to put a number on this one, I’ll leave this open). Whats a Power Clean? (http://stronglifts.com/the-ultimate-beginners-guide-to-power-cleans/)
5. Meet more people.

So lets get started with 2009 shall we?

P.S. Merry Christmas to thsoe celebrating Christmas today!