How They Do It: Amber

How They Do It is an ongoing series in which I interview creatives, bloggers, students and freelancers about their productivity and time management strategies for creating awesomeness. Today, we'll hear some thoughts from Amber, blogger, coffee-lover and productivity master.

1. How would you describe the work that you do (whether it's an actual job or around the house or hobbies)?

I’m a full time student by day, and part time blogger and creative by night! I spend most of my days running from classes, to meetings and then to my part time job as an office assistant. When I’m not doing that, I’m brainstorming and creating over at Ember & March.

2. Would you (briefly) describe a typical work day for you? 

All of my days vary a bit, but here’s the general flow of things:

6:30am : Wake up, and convince myself to get out of a warm and cozy bed! Make coffee, and breakfast before spending a few minutes answering emails and getting ready for class. I sometimes use the morning to study.
9:30am - 12:30pm: Class
12:30pm-4:00pm: Work/homework… also, a second cup of coffee usually happens.
4:00pm-6:00pm: Meetings (or on down days, grabbing coffee and catching up with friends...or Netflix.)
6:00pm-bedtime: Read blogs, edit upcoming posts, do some writing for my upcoming ecourse and a few other projects!
11:00pm: Shower and (hopefully) bedtime

3. What's your workspace like? 

My desk is pretty simple, and usually very tidy under the sea of post its. I love working in my room during the morning and afternoons because it’s filled with natural light which keeps me productive!

4. When you are working, what is your biggest struggle as far as staying motivated and focused?

Eliminating distractions --especially social media. I’m always tempted to “check in” to what’s happening, which leads to me getting off task. Keeping my phone off my desk when I’m working has been a big help.

5. When you feel drained, what inspires you or pushes you to keep doing what you do?

I’m really big on setting goals, and seeing the bigger picture. Knowing that I’m working towards a much bigger goal than the small tasks at hand is a huge motivation to me.

6. Do you have any favorite resources for organizing your work and time?

I love Evernote to keep track of notes and projects. I use the web app and the Mac app to keep everything together. I’m also a huge fan of Google Drive for storing and sharing work when I’m on the go. To stay on tasks daily, I’m pretty old fashioned --a standard weekly planner helps get me by without getting lost in everything going on.

7. How do you refuel your soul after a long day?

At the end of the day, I can be left feeling pretty drained (especially when most days I leave my house by 8am and don’t get back until 7 or 8pm). Two things really help me to refuel: making a delicious dinner for myself, and spending some time alone in my room for at least an hour. The introvert in me loves the alone time, and no matter how tired I am after a long day, taking the time to cook myself a meal does wonders for the soul.

Lastly, just for fun, would you list a few songs that you listen to while you work (or while you're not working!)?

My playlist changes based on what work I’m doing! I’m a huge fan of Sara Bareilles radio when I need a tranquil setting, and Beyonce radio when I’m into something more upbeat. I also love old 90s r&b (think Toni Braxton and Boys II Men).

Big thank you to Amber for sharing today! She inspires me to be a better blogger and live a more inspired and minimalist lifestyle. Now, if you wouldn't mind, would you take my super short survey! Thank you bunches!

How You Can Support Bloggers

(Unsplash)

This post has been on my mind a lot lately. It seems more and more than readers (many of whom are bloggers) are becoming "lurkers", meaning that these people come to blogs, read the posts, and then leave. Unfortunately, I'm well acquainted with this group, because I struggle with being a lurker. But even more unfortunately, over the last few years, I've noticed that this trend is weakening the strong communities that used to exist between bloggers and readers. 

I don't expect everyone who reads a blog post to suddenly become best friends with the blogger. Obviously. If you find a post on Pinterest + find exactly what you need + don't plan to return to the blog, I don't expect you to reach out to the blogger. But to all of you...who read the same blogs every week? This post is for you.

All bloggers love a little love. I'm not writing this post as a needy call for comments and emails from y'all. I just want to do what I can to boost the mutual friendships around these parts. So here's what you can do, to keep bloggers spirits alive, to thank them for their hard work and to make new friends:

+ Comment. Seriously, this is the easiest thing ever + I don't know about other bloggers, but comments mean so much to me. Comments on my posts means that my writing made someone react, made them feel something. That is so important to me. If a blogger's post is helpful, inspiring, interesting or just funny, let them know. But bloggers, you have to do your part too. Install a comment platform that's easy. I use Disqus. Respond to comments (within reason) so that readers feel heard.

+ When another blogger releases a new service, like consultations, sponsorships or some sort of store, congratulate them. Encourage them. It takes a lot of courage to release new ventures like that + I know a lot of bloggers feel disillusioned when they are met with complaints about being "too salesy". Even if you don't buy the service, try to refrain from complaining. 

+ Help promote bloggers that help or inspire you. If a post is helpful or has particularly gorgeous images, pin them. If you know of someone else who would needs to read a post, share it with them.

+ Look for ways to participate. If a blogger hosts a survey, please fill it out. I'm sure it'll only take a few moments + the blogger is probably asking for your opinion because she (or he!) wants you to like their blog even more. That's super nice of them, isn't it? If they host a link up (and you're a blogger in a related topic), join it! 

+ Keep a blogroll on your blog (assuming you're a blogger). I like to keep my navbar very clean, but my blogroll is very important for me to share. If you like reading my blog, you'll probably find a few that you like on my blogroll. This helps the reader + other bloggers + everyone is happier! 

+ Semi-related--if you're looking for new blogs to read, go to all your current faves and click on their sponsors. Chances are, your favorite blogger is sponsored by similar blogs + I bet you'll find some you like! Plus, sponsors who get new readers = repeat sponsors = funding for your favorite blogger. 

On that note, thank you all for reading. I love that you're here + I wish I could get to know all of you. If any of this post struck a chord with you, I'd love if you'd share/comment :)

5 Design Resources for Bloggers

Hey dollfaces. As you know, I'm on vacation(ish) in the NC mountains and am a little too busy for this blog right now. But don't worry, I've got Kate here to give you some tips on designing your blog. She's giving away all my secrets! :) 


Hey friends! I'm Kate from over at Diaries of an Essex Girl where I talk about travel, health, love and all kinds of random nonsense. I am excited to be sharing something with you all today on Allie's blog, isn't she just a pretty cool lady? I'm pretty sure we can all admit to thinking dinosaurs are pretty rocking - amiright?

Blog designing is something I've actually been into for years but as times have changed, so have blogs and although now it is less time consuming - it requires a lot more tools that just Photoshop and somewhere to code. In fact, you don't need either of those things anymore if you don't want to or know how to use them. I've compiled a list for you of the 5 top resources you need to start using now to make your blog designing that little bit more seamless and the best part is - they are all free!

1. Design Seeds

Design Seeds is an awesome website for designers because it has thousands of colour palettes to choose from. Each palette has six colours that compliment each other beautifully and are inspired by different themes or images. Some of my favourite categories are Flora, Autumn and Nature. No matter your blog niche, writing style or personal colour preferences - you will find the perfect palette on Design Seeds!

2. Browserling

Have you ever coded an awesome layout and then had someone tell you it looks crappy in XYZ browser? No? Well it sucks. Browserling allows for cross-browser testing so all you have to do is type your URL in and it shows you how it looks in all available browsers. This way, you can spot an error BEFORE you share the blog design with the Interwebs and have someone tell you your design sucks for them. Winning.

3. Image Maps

If you already know how to Image Map, that's awesome. If you don't, let me tell you how and welcome you to the world of prettier designs! All you need to do is upload your image, create a shape around the part you want to link, enter the link and then move on to the next shape. Done. This can create lots of different links on one image without them overlapping - great for pretty navigational bars and social media icons.

4. Design Your Way

When browsing Google one day, I stumbled across an incredible page - Big fat collection of free resources for designers. I mean, the name alone sells it right? This page is full of textures, patterns, brushes, themes, fonts, social media icons, vectors, EVERYTHING you could possibly want. All for free to download right this very second. Happy browsing!

5. Pic Monkey

Maybe I'm a little late to the party with this one, as I believe Pic Monkey is pretty popular with bloggers. However, I really think it's an important one to share because it shows that you do not need Photoshop to create pretty images for your blog. I've seen some amazing tutorials online for Pic Monkey on how to make navigational bars (with Image Maps!), advertising buttons, bio images and page headers. On their blog, Pic Monkey shared the Top Ten Tutorials for using their service to pretty much design your whole blog. Can't ask for more than that can you?
Here's hoping I've shared at least one tool with you today you didn't know about - unless you are a total blog designing superstar and in that case, lets hear about your favourite design tools!

What tools do you use to design your blog? Sharing is caring!