Okay, so I didn't literally "mountain climb" when I lived in China. But, my husband and I did take some pretty ominous paths up to the tops of mountains, which wasn't something I would typically do... being that I'm afraid of heights and all. But, living in a foreign country caused me to do a lot of things that I maybe wouldn't have done if I hadn't lived there (i.e. teach to a class of 50+ students in a Chinese University, ...

Is your 'About Page' lame or lackluster? Does it need a little sprucing up? Friend, I've been there. For the longest time, my 'About Page' was written in a yucky third-person voice that lacked any sort of creativity. I couldn't figure out what in the world to do with the page, because I didn't want it to be impersonal and robotic. At the same time, I feared being way too rambly and carrying on about things that my readers wouldn't REALLY need ...

In 2010, my husband and I made our way back to the States after living and working in China for the past year. We had traveled all over China, made many great friends, walked on the Great Wall, and taught in a Chinese University. Yet, I longed for home. When we arrived back, I felt this need to figure out what to do with my life. A lot of my friends already had careers, and I still was unsure of ...

The lovely Alex Beadon suggested doing a 7 day blogging challenge, and of course I decided to take her up on that challenge. :) So, here's a little step back into the history of Amanda Creek Creative and how & why it all started: I started Amanda Creek Creative in 2012, about half way through my first year of design school. Having already finished my first Bachelor's degree (in Fine Art back in 2005) and having started my photography business ...

Recently I wanted to listen to something while working, so I navigated my way to CreativeLive to see if anything interesting was being broadcasted (which is a typical habit of mine). I stumbled upon Bonnie Christine's workshop Design Surface Patterns From Scratch and within 5 minutes purchased the course because this chick knew what she was talking about, and was teaching things that I hadn't learned in school. Considering that I just finished up my graphic design degree, I knew this ...

Recently I was tagged by April at Blacksburg Belle  to complete a questionnaire about what goes on behind the scenes here at Amanda Creek Creative. First of all, April is one of my business heroes, so I pretty much danced around the room when she tagged little ol' me. Secondly, I've been wanting to do a post that involved what happened in my day to day, but just hadn't worked it into my blog calendar yet (so thanks April for kicking ...

One of the things that has held me back in the past from moving forward in my business has been a lack of focus in my day to day. From too many ideas with not enough time, to feeling like I need to check my e-mail every twenty seconds; I have definitely become stuck on more than one occasion. I've put myself in this place of feeling guilty because I didn't get enough done, but what I realized is that ...

Next week is the big day where I reveal my very first surface pattern designs after taking Bonnie Christine's course on CreativeLive! I'm excited about sharing my designs with the world, as well as to be starting on this new journey of creating and crafting things from my own personal perspective. I just wanted to remind everyone to keep an eye out next Tuesday, September 30th on the blog for my first designs. Here's some color inspiration for you this ...