August
Creative Business Maven Issue #7
Creative Business Maven Issue #7
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Issue|Seventh<br />
2016<br />
Creative Business Maven<br />
TOP 5 WAYS<br />
BEING AN<br />
ENTREPRENEUR<br />
IS LIKE BEING A<br />
PARENT<br />
Sunny Fitzgerald<br />
Exclusive Interview<br />
VICTORIA DEL<br />
CASTILLO<br />
Indie Video<br />
Game Developer<br />
Exclusive Interview<br />
FROM DORSET WITH LOVE
Editor’s Note<br />
Cover design by<br />
spaceship<br />
Incase you haven’t noticed, or maybe you’re new,<br />
quite a few changes have occurred for Creative<br />
Business Maven this past month.<br />
In July, I created a website for Creative Business<br />
Maven to have all on her very own. We’ve been<br />
publishing monthly since February and I thought it<br />
was the perfect time to take this next, big step.<br />
Another fun thing we started doing is our new<br />
monthly subscription goodie box called, Maven<br />
Box. On a Sunday afternoon I was brainstorming<br />
with my husband and I came to the conclusion that<br />
I thought it would be pretty neat for people to sample<br />
handmade products from Etsy or other Small<br />
businesses. I also think that alot of times, what<br />
hold consumers back from purchasing handmade<br />
products is the cost of shipping and they’re not<br />
sure if they will like it or not.<br />
So, the Maven Box was born. I contacted some<br />
amazing sellers on Etsy and the shipments started<br />
coming in! We are shipping the first batch out this<br />
week, so make sure you get in on this, there are<br />
limited quantities for the launch!<br />
I also encourage sellers to advertise their business<br />
by contributing to the box itself. You may send<br />
us products, samples, coupons, business cards,<br />
etc. This is an excellent investment in advertising<br />
for you because we’ve already found your target<br />
audience for you! By contributing to the boxes you<br />
will also get a free spot to advertise in Creative<br />
Business Maven and 50% off your own box.<br />
Not only has Creative Business Maven gotten her<br />
own site, she’s also taken on an official Managing<br />
Editor, Koura Shipton.<br />
Koura has been a huge asset and blessing to me<br />
and the magazine. She has been taking care of the<br />
writers and their content so well, I seriously don’t<br />
know how I ever managed without her.<br />
The magazine also has a little bit of a different layout<br />
than you’re used to. You will notice that none<br />
of the writers articles and exclusive interviews are<br />
in the flip through magazine. Just an infographic.<br />
Why? Because, my main intention when building<br />
this site was to give all of the writers, past, present,<br />
and future the opportunity to share their brilliant<br />
work with everyone they possibly could via 8<br />
different social platforms. And there is a bunch of<br />
other nerdy, SEO reasons to this move as well, but<br />
let’s not get into that.<br />
As you flip through the magazine click on any<br />
image that auto highlights for you and you’ll be<br />
taken to the right place to find out more about that<br />
particular piece. And then make sure you come<br />
back to finish reading!<br />
You are still able to shop from the magazine, advertise<br />
your products, programs, and services, and<br />
apply to write. We have all kinds of opportunities<br />
for you to grow your business in a supportive community<br />
who only wants the best for you.<br />
I hope you enjoy all of the new changes as much as<br />
we are! Have a great <strong>August</strong>!<br />
Lindsay Maloney<br />
Editor-In Chief
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Let’s<br />
collab.<br />
Want to write for us?<br />
Do you have this urge<br />
to get your words out<br />
there?<br />
We love writings about<br />
beauty, health, business,<br />
fashion, and everything<br />
in between. Think you<br />
would make a good fit?<br />
Writing for the magazine will also allow<br />
you to feature your products, website,<br />
or whatever you wish to promote in the<br />
magazine for free.
Pg. 8 Pg. 9<br />
What’s your FROLIQ style?<br />
FROLIQ<br />
Curated experiences, joy-filled journeys<br />
What’s your FROLIQ style?<br />
Whether it’s safari and sun, culinary and culture, eco and active,<br />
or something else entirely, let us help you find a FROLIQ<br />
that’s right for you.<br />
FROLIQ is a boutique travel company that offers:<br />
* Customized trips (FROLIQs) for leisure travelers that want<br />
to get more out of their trips than just stamps in their passport.<br />
* A limited number of personally curated, Founder-led<br />
international FROLIQs per year.<br />
* Personalized service & unique experiences. The<br />
Founder of FROLIQ handpicks all activities,<br />
accommodations, restaurants, etc. based on her own<br />
experiences and the FROLIQers’ needs, interests, and budget.<br />
* A commitment to conscientious travel. We actively seek out<br />
partners and projects that are engaged, mindful, and respectful<br />
of the environment and communities where we FROLIQ. In<br />
addition, we distribute cultural and environmental tips to our<br />
FROLIQers prior to departure.
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What’s your FROLIQ style?
Pg. 16 Pg. 17<br />
The Highlands Foundry is owned and<br />
operated by a husband and wife design team, based out of<br />
Hudson Valley, NY.<br />
We design and create<br />
everything ourselves from<br />
cutting, sewing, hand<br />
blown glass and hand<br />
made wooden cutting<br />
boards.<br />
We use salvaged<br />
textiles to create our<br />
unique cloth bags and<br />
pillows.
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I have always had a love of collecting<br />
textiles from a young age growing up near<br />
Amish country in Pennsylvania.<br />
Vintage textiles, denim and salvaged items<br />
have always been a passion of mine and I love<br />
seeing how they can take on a new life and be<br />
incorporated into everyday products for the<br />
home or yourself.<br />
We hope people share our love and ap<br />
preciation for well made and designed products<br />
that have a heritage and soul to them.
Pg. 20 Pg. 21<br />
We found this amazing stripe ticking fabric in Amish<br />
country in Pennsylvania. The stripe is the most beautiful<br />
shade of blue that is a classic homespun look.<br />
We created pillows and various tote bags using this<br />
vintage fabric, even reinforcing one bag with authentic<br />
deerskin from the Hudson Valley.<br />
I have a deep love and appreciation for all things Indigo!<br />
Especially Batik prints from the Hmong region<br />
in Vietnam, like this one. This is a vintage hemp cloth<br />
with an indigo batik print, which I then piece together<br />
with denim for creating pillows and tote bags.<br />
(stripe grain sack bag image)<br />
I love to work with European vintage grain sack bags.<br />
This stripe came from a grain sack bag from Vienna,<br />
Austria. Each farmer had their own stripe on the bag<br />
so the mills would know which farm to return the<br />
bag to, after they finished processing the grain. I love<br />
the story and history behind every textile we use.
Pg. 24 Pg. 25<br />
DESERT DAISY JEWELRY<br />
Moonstone is the talisman for the inward journey,<br />
in its reflected light we can observe the<br />
hidden truths that reside in the depths of us.<br />
Wearing a custom made moonstone ring is a<br />
great reminder for us to follow our path guided<br />
by our heart. Check out this listing to create<br />
one just for you.<br />
Possibly the coolest way to<br />
add style to a messy bun or<br />
classic french twist, these<br />
handmade raw crystal hair<br />
sticks are the perfect summer<br />
accessory. Check out<br />
the custom made options to<br />
create your perfect hair stick<br />
today. Seen here on model<br />
Jehnna Tambe.<br />
Chokers are the hottest trend for summer right now, and this custom<br />
made necklace is a unique way to rock the look. Adjustable in length,<br />
customizable in color, you will wear this beauty every day. Seen here on<br />
the gorgeous Sarah Loven.
Pg. 26 Pg. 27<br />
Creative Business Maven<br />
Shop NOW!<br />
Don’t forget! Creative Business<br />
Maven is INTERACTIVE! When<br />
you see something you love and<br />
just have to have or want to learn<br />
more about a product-all you have<br />
to do is click on the image and you<br />
will be brought right where you<br />
need to be!
Pg. 28 Pg. 29<br />
Back to<br />
School<br />
In Style
Pg. 30 Pg. 31
Pg. 32 Pg. 33
Pg. 34 Pg. 35
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Pg. 40 Pg. 41<br />
THE LADIES CRAFTY<br />
The Ladies Crafty began as three ladies crafting small painted boxes, and grew into a full Esty shop featuring<br />
fun painted wooden items, vintage jewelry, picture frames, ornaments, and various other nick-nacks of the creative ilk.<br />
Our idea is to make art fun, and to create (mostly watercolors) that can stand alone as works of art, but serve<br />
functionality in your home!<br />
This sparkly accent piece is<br />
made out of more individually<br />
glued sequins than we can<br />
count! We love the copper to<br />
gold ombre and think it is a<br />
great way to catch some extra<br />
light above a mantle or in a<br />
bathroom or kitchen or on a<br />
bookshelf.<br />
For all of our ocean-loving friends, this box is perfect<br />
for holding notes, seashells, photos or jewelry! There<br />
is a full oceanscape running along the entire exterior<br />
of the box and with the mesh top it fits in perfectly<br />
with any decor style!<br />
This little ornament is a perfect piece<br />
to hold onto before Christmas season<br />
comes around. And at the same time,<br />
it could go perfectly on a desk, dresser<br />
or bookshelf now. Fill it with glitter<br />
or wishes or fairy dust - the tiny flowers<br />
growing in the soft moss will leave<br />
you wishing you could spend your day<br />
outside.<br />
We love everything about this box! From the bold colors<br />
to the sparkly glitter accent along the lid, there is nothing<br />
short of awesomeness here!<br />
Great little box to brighten up your desk and hold small<br />
items like paperclips and extra staples, or to hold jewelry<br />
or small keepsake items in a special way.<br />
We pretty much all send presents at<br />
various times during the year - be it for<br />
a birthday or holiday or anniversary,<br />
sometimes it is nice to add on a personal<br />
touch, like these wooden handpainted<br />
gift tags.
Pg. 46 Pg. 47<br />
DEANNA LEES<br />
I began making candles when I was 19 years old, and<br />
have only been in the business for about a year, but my<br />
candles are no normal candles. The bulk of my candles<br />
are made out of recycled wine, beer, and soda bottles.<br />
I love the idea of taking what is surely someone’s trash<br />
and turning it into someone else’s treasure. I believe that<br />
we can recycle a lot more than most think, and this is my<br />
way of showing it! I hand cut, sand, and pour each candle<br />
individually myself, making each one truly unique.<br />
I use only 100% soy wax in all of my candles, and wax<br />
melts, because I would never want any of my customers<br />
to breath in the toxins released by paraffin wax. I only<br />
recently began making soy wax melts, and I am on love<br />
with them, simply because I don’t own a fragrance oil<br />
that I don’t absolutely love! Last but not least I have one<br />
more product that I make which is also very early h-<br />
friendly and that is drinking glasses made from recycled<br />
hard cider bottles. I love the art on labels and I believe<br />
they should be repurposed rather than wasted. That is the<br />
main idea behind all of my work.<br />
These beautiful drinking glasses are made out<br />
of repurposed hard cider bottles! Upcycling is<br />
always a goal of mine and these beautiful glasses<br />
are a perfect way to be Eco-friendly! I cut and<br />
sand each bottle myself by hand. They depict a<br />
beautiful scene of a mermaid and diver kissing<br />
(artwork by Colleen Gnos) and would make a<br />
beautiful addition to your kitchen, and have your<br />
dinner guests falling in love! Two glasses for<br />
$15 and shipping is only $5- such a deal! (Order<br />
more than one set and shipping drops to $3!!)<br />
Featured in<br />
Maven Box<br />
This beautiful mermaid candle is<br />
100% soy wax, and comes in several<br />
colors like this turquoise one, and<br />
several delicious scents like “pineapple<br />
coconut” and “rain water” . Soy wax<br />
burns much longer and cleaner than<br />
paraffin wax so it will last. The artwork<br />
on the wine bottle label is a piece<br />
called Queen of Kelp by Colleen Gnos.<br />
It is an upcycled wine bottle candle,<br />
great for the environment! Grab one<br />
of these beauties for your home today!<br />
These wax melts are absolutely perfect if you want<br />
your house to smell strongly of the beautiful tropics.<br />
This is a perfect mixture of pineapple, coconut, island<br />
hibiscus, and may other smells that will bring you<br />
straight to Hawaii! My wax melts are made of 100%<br />
soy wax and will get your house smelling amazing in<br />
just minutes!!!
Pg. 48 Pg. 49<br />
GYPSY JUNK CLOTHING TRUNK<br />
This listing is for one tie dyed drawstring Free Spirit<br />
Tote Bag. This tote is made of beautiful rich colors,<br />
sturdy durable drawstring and enclosures, with our<br />
signature Free Spirit Graphic.<br />
Various colors of this tote are available by scrolling<br />
thru the picture gallery.<br />
Celebrate your soul sister with this super chic tahiti<br />
blue sister shirt that says “Soul Sister.” This shirt<br />
features a one of a kind design that is one of our best<br />
sellers! This shirt is made of a cotton blend that is so<br />
super soft and comfy you’ll never want to take it off.<br />
Celebrate baby this wild child boho baby outfit -<br />
bodysuit onesie. Perfect for those little babies just getting<br />
out of the womb...now they be your wild child!<br />
Perfect take home outfit or gift for boho baby. These<br />
cute little boho baby onesies are super soft from rabbit<br />
skins apparel.
Pg. 50 Pg. 51<br />
Intrepid Dance Project was born out of the need to<br />
provide a platform for diverse dancers of all types to<br />
perform, be celebrated and have a visual presence in<br />
the media. Part dance and part documentary, Intrepid<br />
Dance Project seeks to empower through beautiful<br />
movement and inspiring stories. Seeking dancers of<br />
all levels, abilities, shapes, sizes, genders, races etc for<br />
Los Angeles based performance.
What we should talk about? How I can help you create<br />
the results you want for your business.<br />
Your ideas are powerful, passionate and brilliant. But<br />
something feels off. Maybe you…<br />
have a powerful vision for your project but don’t<br />
know how to express it in words or effectively market<br />
it to your audience<br />
want to accurately promote yourself and your business,<br />
but you feel overwhelmed by the thought of<br />
writing web pages, blog posts, newsletters, and other<br />
materials<br />
have written and rewritten your copy so many times,<br />
but it still sounds boring. Awkward. Inauthentic. Full<br />
of industry jargon. Not like you.<br />
have finally finished creating the content that you<br />
need, but you have no idea how to maximize its efficacy<br />
to attract the audience you want<br />
are struggling to find confidence in yourself and what<br />
you’re communicating to your audience<br />
Sound familiar?<br />
Well, it IS possible to reflect your unique voice, excellent<br />
taste, and raw passion with style and confidence.<br />
Your online presence can and should represent the<br />
absolute best of what you have to offer!<br />
LAURA SGRO,<br />
Professional Copywriter, Blogger & Editor<br />
Helping passionate individuals and creative entrepreneurs<br />
create, enhance, and organize their vision with<br />
meaningful content that reflects style and confidence.<br />
Hi, I’m Laura!<br />
I’m a vivacious redhead who has been described as<br />
a creative storyteller, meticulous editor, emphatic<br />
speaker, and voracious reader. More specifically, I’m<br />
a professional copywriter, blogger, and editor with a<br />
passion for creation, composition, and collaboration.<br />
I’m also a huge brunch enthusiast, but we don’t have<br />
to talk about that.<br />
You deserve someone who can work WITH you to<br />
make your words stand out & have the impact you<br />
desire.<br />
That’s exactly what I do.<br />
If you’re looking for a passionate wordsmith and connoisseur<br />
of creative thought who can write the content<br />
you dream of but can’t quite put into words, we<br />
can work together to create your perfect message.<br />
Find me on Twitter at @vibrantmusings or email me<br />
at Lfsgro@gmail.com for more information!<br />
[Photo credit to Rachael Lee Photography.]<br />
instagram.com/rachaelleestroud
Pg. 54 Pg. 55<br />
Shop<br />
Creative Business Maven<br />
Want it? Click it. Buy it. Get it.<br />
The National Association for Poetry Therapy is an<br />
energetic, world-wide community of poets, writers,<br />
journalkeepers, helping professionals, health care<br />
professionals, educators, and lovers of words who<br />
recognize and appreciate the healing power of<br />
language.
Pg. 56 Pg. 57<br />
So, you have an Etsy shop. Or maybe Shopify. Or something else. You’re busting your butt every month<br />
trying to make that sale. You set goals. And whether you meet them or not, the next month is just a replay of<br />
stress and hustling. Getting burned out? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a steady income utilizing the products<br />
you already make?<br />
Cratejoy is a platform that lets you turn your one time buyers into recurring customers. Here’s how:<br />
Your customers become subscribers and rather than them going to buy products you sell from someone else,<br />
you are guaranteed to always have their business.<br />
In recent years, subscription commerce has truly taken off, with companies like Birchbox, Jessica Alba’s<br />
Honest company and many more seeing significant growth in revenue and customer base, retailers are starting<br />
to see the serious value in the subscription model - recurring, guaranteed revenue monthly.<br />
In the last few months, handmade products and crafts<br />
in particular have become the toast of the subscription<br />
space.<br />
People love the idea of receiving ‘surprise packages’ containing variations of their favorite handmade goods<br />
or craft goods, and those subscriptions are seeing rapid growth.<br />
Cratejoy lets anyone achieve this without any technical or design knowledge. Also offers a 14 day free trial<br />
as well as a top level support team to assist in the onboarding process.<br />
Interesting right? Sigh of relief? Thought so. Go click on the image and sign up!<br />
Recurring customers?<br />
Yes, please!
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Hey gorgeous!<br />
Be a part of<br />
something BIG.<br />
It’s time to take a step up and show everyone how<br />
amazing and beautiful your business really is.<br />
Don’t miss an issue of the<br />
Creative Business Maven<br />
Be in the next issue of<br />
Creative Business Maven.<br />
Subscribe right here.
Pg. 60<br />
 Make sure you leave some love for all of the fabulous mavens<br />
in this month’s issue.<br />
How can you do that?<br />
• Share this magazine with your friends, family, and followers<br />
• Go to each shop, connect, and buy<br />
• Follow the mavens on social media and let them know how you found them<br />
Stay with us forever and ever!<br />
• Sign up for free monthly subscriptions<br />
• Be a part of the next issue<br />
• Write for the magazine<br />
Creative Business Maven<br />
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