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How to create gift packages to promote your launch (+ free launch planner!)

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How to create gift packages to promote your launch (+ free launch planner!)

I was just telling my friend Jamie the other day: you can take the girl out of the stationery, but you can’t take the stationery out of the girl :) This is my premise for using gift packages to promote launches or projects I’m working on – I LOVE giving gifts. I love curating the perfect collection of items that I think the recipient will love, especially when it’s centered around a specific theme or for an event – like a launch! Since I scrapped my physical product line earlier this year, I was itching to work something physical back into my business and sending these launch packets has been the perfect solution.

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The difference between design fads + trends

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The difference between design fads + trends

Fads and trends. This topic can be a little touchy, I think, especially when you start talking about the elements of branding + design. Let me start by saying this: your business’s brand — no matter how businessy (is that a word?) — is still personal. It’s a personal reflection of the work you’re passionate about. It’s how you describe what fires you up to potential clients and customers. The design of your brand is most definitely personal to you, and by default, I’m sure you’re a little protective of it. 

3 ways you can use your business to give back

3 ways you can use your business to give back

One of my favorite parts about being a creative entrepreneur is I get to decide where my money goes. I get to decide how much of the profits I take for myself, how much I invest back in my business for new equipment or opportunities, how much I put towards education and networking events, and my new favorite — how much I give back to communities and organizations around the world that make a real difference in the lives of those who need it. 

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Battling the mommy guilt as a work-at-home mompreneur

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Battling the mommy guilt as a work-at-home mompreneur

If you're a mom and a business owner, you've felt it. You've been up at the crack of dawn powering through emails and cups of coffee. You're trying to get as much done before that little voice starts chanting from the other room. But then you hear it. The kids are up. But you've got 3 more emails to reply to, so you sit on the floor of the playroom while they drop toys next to you and reach for the keyboard. They're like little adorable vultures, aren't they? If you ever stop and look around at a moment like that, there's another monster lurking in the room, and its name is Mommy Guilt. And it's the worst.

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The anatomy of an online course (+ a free design tutorial!)

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The anatomy of an online course (+ a free design tutorial!)

Online courses — they’re so hot right now. Interactive, self-paced online learning seems to be the way of the future, and how cool is that? You can learn anything from anywhere from just about anyone. Watch someone practicing the exact skill you want to master, and learn from their secrets. But if you’re an entrepreneur who’s considered diving into the world of online courses, beware it can get overwhelming. There are tons of new resources and services popping up daily, and all this content can make it tough to actually get started on creating that course idea you’ve had stuck in your head.

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How to keep your business afloat during a personal crisis

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How to keep your business afloat during a personal crisis

Business + personal crisis. This is a topic that has been on my mind since the day I decided to launch The Oat Bar. I knew I wanted to write about it, but every time I sat down to do it, the words just weren’t quite there. The more I put it off, the more I saw posts popping up inFacebook groups with other boss ladies – women asking for advice on how to keep running their business in the midst of a tragedy that was just dumped on their lap. Most of the time, the comments poured in and it was so encouraging to see strangers come together to give support and motivation to a struggling fellow business owner. They shared their stories of heartache and how they managed to keep their businesses afloat – strength in numbers :) After a few of these posts, and not a lot of writing flowing in my camp, I decided to turn the tables around and ask a few ladies to jump in on the topic.

Why getting out of my comfort zone was a game changer

Why getting out of my comfort zone was a game changer

The last 7 days have been a whirlwind for me. A few days after following my filled-to-the-edge Uhaul all the way from Missouri to Nashville, I had 3 amazing opportunities to meet some big names in the world of entrepreneurship + blogging. One was planned months ago. One was planned weeks ago. And the third was planned almost day-of. All 3 have changed my perspective on this industry and motivated me to dream big for Paper + Oats. 

My number one piece of advice for new or burnt out creatives

My number one piece of advice for new or burnt out creatives

I’m going to keep this short and sweet. I have one piece of advice for any aspiring creative entrepreneur or even a burnt-out pro. If you’ve been following along with Paper + Oats for very long, you’ve probably heard me say it, tweet it, post about it, and shout it from the rooftops. When I get stuck or feel burnt out, I use this simple philosophy to push through, and it has served me well in the last couple years of business. 

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A little peek behind my business branding

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A little peek behind my business branding

As a branding designer, it’s been a bit of a backwards journey as I’ve developed aesthetic and elements that make up the Paper + Oats brand. I never imagined it would grow into a multi-faceted business that provides products, services, resources, and even a blog. This week I’m celebrating my official two year business birthday, so I thought it would be a great time to give a behind-the-scenes look at how the Paper + Oats brand has developed into what it is today, and you can develop the different facets of your own brand to work cohesively.

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What divorce taught me about business

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What divorce taught me about business

In the same calendar year, I discovered the industry that would grow my business beyond what I could have imagined, and also experienced the greatest loss of my life with the ending of my marriage. It was a rocky season of change for me, but from it I was able to draw some specific parallels between these two events. I’ve learned more about myself in the last couple years than I have in my entire life, both personally and professionally. Today, I want to share with you 3 things that my divorce taught me about building and running a creative business.

Why I'm scrapping all my design services

Why I'm scrapping all my design services

Today is a big day for Paper + Oats! Today is the day I scrap all my previous design services and packages, and shift focus to a new, more specific niche. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw some sneak peeks of the new design services all last week, but today is the official “switch over,” with a couple new pages on my site. This decision came with lots of thought, research, advice from other entrepreneurs, and just a gut feeling that I needed to pivot. 

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Why you should build your brand outside of Etsy (+ free Etsy starter guide)

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Why you should build your brand outside of Etsy (+ free Etsy starter guide)

There’s no question Etsy is a powerful platform to sell handmade products to a hungry audience. Setting up a shop can be done in an afternoon, and you can hear the “cha-ching” go off on your phone by dinner time. Etsy is where Paper + Oats started in 2011, and I definitely wouldn’t be able to work full-time for myself if it weren’t for this platform. But with all the bad rap Etsy has been getting lately since they’ve revised some of their policies, many shop owners are looking to build their brands elsewhere. I had a light-bulb moment last year after nearly 3 years of being exclusively on Etsy. As my brand began to gain momentum, I realized that I was building my entire business on rented property. 

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How I balance single motherhood and business, part two

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How I balance single motherhood and business, part two

Ok folks, we’re back at it with part two of learning how to balance motherhood and business for creative entrepreneurs and work-at-home moms. Let’s cut the small talk (ain't nobody got time for that), and get right to the last 3 tips for mompreneurs.

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3 unique ways to use Squarespace cover pages

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3 unique ways to use Squarespace cover pages

As a Squarespace subscriber, you get to automatically take advantage of new features they add to the platform on a regular basis. One of their latest features that's getting more popular is their new cover pages. A Squarespace cover page is basically a landing page with minimal information and 1-2 calls to action. The backend setup in your Squarespace account is different than your regular page designs. It has it’s own set of styles for fonts, colors, and sizing. Instead of using blocks like regular Squarespace pages, it has limited options for adding different types of content to the page. But this allows your cover page to stay super simple and to-the-point, hence the name “cover.” They are highly visual and can be used for a variety of reasons. 

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How I balance single motherhood and business, part one

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How I balance single motherhood and business, part one

On my to do list today is write a blog post. I’m quickly finding that writing is becoming a creative outlet for me to get thoughts, feelings, and ideas out of my head. It’s like a therapy of sorts. For the last hour and a half, I’ve been struggling to get Poppy to sleep for her morning nap. I’m at the point where if she starts crying one more time, I’m just throwing in the towel on the morning nap and hoping for the best this afternoon. Any other mamas reached this point lately?! I find that I easily get frustrated by her fussiness and lack of sleeping because it means time away from my work. Next comes the guilt for feeling this way. And then the reminder, usually from a fellow mama’s Instagram post about a similar struggle, that my daughter should come first, and my business second.

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Welcome to The Oat Bar (my story + why I started this blog)

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Welcome to The Oat Bar (my story + why I started this blog)

As I write this, today is Monday, March 30. A couple hours ago, I stepped outside, barefoot, and threw the frisbee a few times with my dog. Inside, my 8-month-old daughter, Penelope, was screaming her tiny head off in her room and frankly, I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed air. I needed to breathe. She cried for half an hour attempting to take her usual afternoon nap. She cried the whole time I made dinner and she cried the whole time eating her dinner. I put her pajamas on against her will, cradled her in my arms, held that binky in for dear life, and rocked. And rocked. And rocked. And she finally drifted off to sleep. In moments like this, I am so clearly reminded that I am a single mother to this sweet pea, and I have been from day one. Literally.

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