Get Christmas gifts all wrapped up!

Christmas is getting closer and many of us are planning presents and gifts already!

I was approached by Nicola from It’s a wrap Cornwall to create some Christmas chocolate wrappers to be used exclusively by them; so on a day we had a freak heat wave at the end of September, there I was, sat inside drawing snowflakes and snowmen! - I have added a couple of my designs below which Nicola has since used and adapted to chocolate bar wrappers where you can add a personalised message!

 

What a fabulous idea! I am going to get some of these for Grandparents and teachers for Christmas – I may even get my daughter to design her own wrappers as well!

For further details on these great gift ideas, please have a look at www.itsawrapcornwall.co.uk and here is a sneaky peak at the Christmas gift product sheet I designed for them too!

Merry Christmas gift shopping to you all! xxxx

On Saturday 1^st October 2011, I did my very first colourwheel creative stand at an event.

The event I chose for such a momentous occasion was the Business and Baby show run by the Mumsclub team in Solihull!

It was a very early start and a long day but my colourwheel team (which consisted on myself, my mum and my daughter(!)) really enjoyed ourselves! I had lots of enquiries about work on the stand and really enjoyed talking to all the enthusiastic mums visiting!

There were so many stands and services for all those attending who were considering starting their own business or wanting to look into franchise opportunities… there was even an area known as Mumpreneuralley which was a line of stands of Mums who have taken the initiative and started their own businesses selling items form toys to tights!

The children were entertained by some fabulous businesses providing arts and craft activities, soft play and even face painting!

The mumsclub team had worked hard to arrange a series of speakers on the day talking about various aspects of business such as marketing, social media etc… It really was very well put together.

If you didn’t manage to make it this year – look out for future ones as I think anybody wanting to have flexible work around a family, or even to start your business when the children are at school age could benefit hugely from such an event.

This is colourwheel creatives interview - online with What's Good To Do:

Colourwheel Creative, Manchester

Today we have Michelle from Colourwheel Creative.  Michelle, can you tell us a little bit about your business please?

 I will, my name is Michelle and Colourwheel Creative is a graphic design business which I run from home.  I have had over 17 years, which sounds quite a lot, of design experience in different industries so advertising, packaging and marketing, and I decided about May last year to do it on my own.  So I design corporate identities, branding, promotional material, anything you need really to promote your own business. 

That sounds really useful for people and do you do anything to help people get started, like start-up packages?

Yeah, with all the different roles that I have actually had I can also help them with an idea of where they can market themselves so not only do I do a start up package where they will need the basics such as business cards, letterheads, and maybe even flyers, we do a special promotional package for that.  I can also give advice on regional places that they can advertise, or national places that they can advertise for quite a low amount of money and sometimes often free.  You have got different forums that people might not even know exist and they are just ways of looking at your business and promoting your business in a different way, that you might not have even thought of yourself. 

That sounds like  great  added value to the businesses

 Definitely, I mean hopefully if we can start something off and have a good relationship at the very beginning it can be built into a nice relationship between the designer and the brand, and because I have created your brand from scratch I will know how it should be promoted and where it can drive from there.  It is all about building a good relationship and if I can help somebody on their way, all the better for them really. 

Sure, well as you know, I know first hand the value of what you do because of the lovely brand that you have created for myself and my business.  We have now actually got national companies on board with our scheme so I can highly commend Michelle.

 Thank you so much.

So, anyway, I know that like myself you do have a small child, do you find hard to find that balance in your working/home life?

 By running my own business it has become a lot easier to be honest.  I did actually work for a company and even though I only worked 3 days a week, juggling having a child and commitments that I wanted to give to her, such as going to sports day and school parties, and even keeping on top of the notes that come through in her satchel, when are fancy dress days, and that kind of thing, I was loosing track of everything and I was finding it quite a difficult juggling act.  Running my own business has allowed me to have a lot more involvement in the school, so I take her to school every morning which is great because I get the interaction with the mums which I never had before, and you know there is always the evenings, so if I don’t manage to fit it in during the day.

Yes, very similar to me.  Now obviously you have a website for the type of business that you do have so can you let us know your website please?

My website address is www.colourwheelcreative.co.uk.

Thank you.  It wouldn’t be right to let you go without asking what you like do to relax and things you do to rewind. 

 I am a bit of a film addict to be honest and although I hate to admit it I do watch Eastenders.  It is quite a depressing programme but I do seem to be addicted to it.  I think a nice glass of wine, a takeaway and watching some TV would be a good way to relax and rewind.  I love spending time with my little girl, that is the best thing about everything and I can spend time doing craft things with her and just going out to the park with her, that’s how I love to spend my time when I’m not designing.

 Thank you so much for talking to us today.  It has been great. 

 Thank you very much for your time.

A little inspiration..

I saw this on a social networking site and LOVED it.... I think we all have days or moments in our lives when we need a little inspiration, a little motivation or maybe just a firework up our bottoms!!!

Well, it made me giggle anyway!

A community project focus...

I usually use my blog to talk about things that are happening in the world of colourwheel or insights into my clients businesses. On this occasion I want to make an exception to my own rules and let you see the work of a very talented lady who has given up her own time for a school/ community competition which took place in the Three Counties Showground in Malvern a few weeks ago..

Jo Williams from Muddy Puddle Crafts says: “All local schools were given a bench and the theme 'Biodiversity'. I have painted it with a group of 14 children chosen from all year groups aged 4-11. The school is small, only 75 ish pupils, set in rural Herefordshire with farming all around us. Our bench represents the theme by being a slice of a Rapeseed field which is a bio fuel crop. The underside and legs shows a group of worms working in the underground compost system. The seat shows insects and small mammals enjoying the habitat of the margin (edge of the field) which the farmer has left. The back shows the rapeseed in full bloom against a bright spring sky which is a sight all pupils see on their journey to school.

In terms of community work I have done many creative things at my kids school but none elsewhere. I've co-ordinated things from Christmas crafts to murals for the toilet walls!”

I thought this project was fantastic and it’s so nice to see small businesses doing something for their local communities. I hope you all agree that Jo is very talented and will all check out her business Muddy Puddle Crafts to see what other work she is involved in: www.muddypuddlecrafts.com

Find Muddy Puddle Crafts on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Muddy-Puddle-Crafts/115187628517227

HAPPY first BIRTHDAY to us!!!

Gosh where does the time go? I can’t believe that colourwheel creative was just being born a year ago today! A lot has happened in a year, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my clients for your valued support over the last 12 months!

So how did we get here? Well, I’m not going to give you the birds and the bees talk, firstly I am sure you already know it, and secondly I blush easily!

On 14^th May 2010 after returning from a hen party in Belfast (where we got stranded by volcanic ash (a whole other story), I was told my role was no longer required at the 3 day a week job I had. At first my world fell apart, but after the initial shock and lots of chats to anyone who would listen, I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to start my own business… after a few weeks of planning and research (and a trip to Euro Disney) I ventured onto the self employed ladder – and have never looked back!

A LOVE working for myself! I can take my little girl to school in the morning and watch her go to dance lessons, and I never miss a school event. It can be a little isolating some days – that’s my excuse for using all the social networks, but I have met some fabulous business people and made a couple of really good friends on the way too.

I couldn’t have done it though with out the support of my clients and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for helping my make working for myself a success. I have added below a list of offers to celebrate our birthday which are only valid this week only. If you would like to take advantage of any of them, please email me on info@colourwheelcreative mentioning our ‘FIRST BIRTHDAY’ in your email:

A5 FLYERS: Design, print and delivery of 5000 D/S onto 170gsm gloss: £150

SUN SHADES: set of 2: £30

PULL UP BANNER inc CARRY CASE: £95

STATIONERY PACK: business cards, comp slips, letterheads (500 off each) design, artwork, print and delivery: £200

Once again, thank you for all your support, and for helping make colourwheel creative possible!

x

a new logo....

For a designer not to be completely happy with her logo is like daily torture - it sort of sits in the corner, always whispering to you - bugging you and eating away at you!
So I thought I'd start 2011, a new year with the logo I should have started with last year!!!

I LOVE my new logo... to me it's bright, it's modern, it still has the circle graphic but it's so much more adaptable... and so here starts the roll out.. new business cards, flyers, and even a fabric bag to take to meetings with my files in.. that's right; there's no stopping me now!!

http://colourwheelcreative.co.uk

Best baby shower shows us how to throw a party!

Our first guest blog: Jo from Best Baby Shower explains why she decided to set up her own business and tells us more about what her company does:

I’m Jo and I set up my baby shower party supplies & gifts online business back in 2008 whilst on maternity leave with my eldest daughter Lana.  

 

At that time I was looking for a way to juggle working and being full time carer for my little girl and decided to go for an online business that I could run from home.  I realised that baby showers were still relatively unknown in the UK at that time but were getting more popular but there were few places to buy the specific partyware so my business www.bestbabyshower.co.uk was born!  

Since then the business has grown and I’ve tried to give some added value to my customers – not just through increasing the party supplies and giftware available so that they can get everything all in one place and save them a lot of time, but also by helping them with ideas on how to actually plan, theme and run their baby showers.  In order to do this I created a unique baby shower guide full of information including the history of baby showers & the etiquette, theme & decoration ideas, budget & organising planners, food & game ideas and so forth. I wanted my customers to feel confident that they could organise a baby shower for a friend or family member with ease but I also wanted it to look good so that they would want to keep it and refer back to it or even pass it on to friends. 


I hired Michelle from colourwheelcreative to design the baby shower guide for me using my content and my beautiful guide was born!  The guide is totally free and you can get one by signing up to my newsletter.  Newsletter subscribers also get a 10% discount off their first order with us just to give some more value in this current depressing economic climate!  My newsletter subscribers numbers have gone through the roof since I added the baby shower guide which just goes to show that giving a bit of extra value goes a long way with customers!

  

If you’ve got a baby shower to organise (or even if you are pregnant & would like to give a friend a hint to throw you one!) visit www.bestbabyshower.co.uk

You can also find Jo on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bestbabyshoweruk?ref=ts

Business goals and targets

When TJ asked me to write a piece for her blog Support4women, re goals and targets, I’d just posted on Facebook about an amazingly productive day I had just had:

‘colourwheel creative woo hoo!!! Just call me Anneka Rice ( without the dodgy jumpsuit and helicopter!) I have completed all the work scheduled in for today with 45 mins to spare before the school run!! STOP THE CLOCK!!! – 2 web ads, 1 newsletter ad, 1 flyer amend, 1 logo amend and a flyer design from scratch! come on!!!!’
I’m Michelle and I run colourwheel creative – a graphic design business from home. I have a daughter who is almost 5 and so working from home seemed a good option – I can be a mummy AND I can be me – a graphic designer – a status to which I had studied many years to get to and with 15 years experience in the design industry… didn’t really want to give up!

My days are like most working mums I suppose; running around like a crazy woman in the morning trying to get food down my child, make her look respectable and delliver to school on time! I then have until 3.15 until the school run. So in between 9.15 and 3.15 I need to get as much done as possible…. And to be honest, most days I achieve it… but how?

Her are my tips on hitting your daily business goals and targets:
Imagine your allotted time as a wall planner (like a study plan). Ascertain how long each job will take and when you can realistically start and finish it – and pencil it in. Always allow a little more time than you think it will take in case of enquiries coming in, the phone ringing etc…
The key word here is ‘realistic’… there are only so many hours in the day – you do not have the ability like Superman to turn back or slow down time, so BE REALISTIC. If you commit to too many projects or appointments, you will only put yourself under more pressure and sometimes let your client down – the last thing you want to do.
If your planner is looking busy – cut yourself a bit of slack… something along the lines of “I aim to get your project to you by end of play Weds – if not, Thursday morning”. This way if you get the job there on Thursday morning, you have still hit your deadline – if it’s Weds afternoon you have hit your deadline AND you look good in the eyes of your client.

And be honest with your client… don’t promise the moon on a stick if you can’t deliver it! If you can’t fit a job in that day or that week then explain when you can start it and when you plan to deliver it.

When your projects are in the planner the most important thing now is to STAY FOCUSSED…. there are so many distractions out there.. (and I’m as much as a culprit to this one as everybody else!). If you have a urgent project to complete … turn off your social networking pages, allot yourself a lunch hour – and stick to it… watching Loose Women won’t pay your bills or make your clients happy.

Realise what is urgent and what isn’t. If you need to count out flyers to send out to a exhibition company for an event which is a few months away, then don’t do it during the day when you have lots of work in.. these types of jobs can be done in the evening when the children are asleep, you’re watching the TV with the other half and having a glass of wine.

Finally, note when you are most productive. I seem to get the most done in the morning, I’m more focussed and more alert. With this in mind I look at the jobs ahead of me for that day and get lots of the smaller ones out of the way first. This gives me a sense of achievement that I am getting through my jobs, my ‘to-do’ list is shorter and it then leaves me time in the afternoon focus on a larger project.

The above seems to work for my graphic design business and me, and I hope some of my tips can help you have a more productive and manageable week! Good luck!

Michelle Wright
Colourwheel creative – graphic design for your business and family
www.colourwheelcreative.co.uk
fb: www.facebook.com/colourwheel

My very own start up story.....

Created June 2010..

To set up my own card & graphic design business was always something on my ‘to do list’, but so were many other things. I was constantly looking at the cost of personalised invitations and cards, and thinking “I can do that” – and for a lot less than the sites I had researched; and as a qualified graphic designer I was producing leaflets and flyers on day-to-day-basis for business, and knew the industry inside out… why wasn’t I doing this for myself?

Suddenly I turned a corner in my life, when my daughter was at school and I probably needed her more than she needed me, and was left with time on my hands… In a whirlwind of about 2 months I had enquired to Citizens Advice about the best way of setting up a business and they put me in touch with Salford Hundred venture. After an introductory session, a one-to-one and the Aspire course, colourwheel creative – my very own graphic design business venture was born!

Aspire not only gave me the information on all areas of business that I needed, but gave me the support and confidence to believe that actually, yes, I can do this! I came joint second in the Aspire competition which gave me the finance to create a website which is a key tool to my business; along with the printing of some support literature.

I am sure colourwheel creative would have been born ‘one day’ but it would have taken me a lot longer to get there. With the support of Salford Hundred Venture, and the money from Aspire, colourwheel creative has been launched…and although that’s been ticked off my to do list, about thirty more things have been added to it!!

Michelle Wright

colourwheel creative

info@colourwheelcreative.co.uk

www.colourwheelcreative.co.uk

A new year, a new blog!

Welcome to the first of colourwheel creative's blogs!! Hope you all enjoyed the holidays and are raring to go in 2011!

To create a blog was one of the many things on my 'to-do list' for 2011 - and here I am, first day back working and I can tick this one off my list!

So, what will you find on my blog? I plan to include lots of stories about the projects I am working on and the businesses and individuals I am working with.. (sort of a perk for placing work with colourwheel)!
I hope to also include the odd news snippets in the design and marketing worlds too....

So, watch this space - here's to the first of many blogs for colourwheel creative!! x