Growing...... Growing......

For two weeks I have been planning to  post pictures and write a blog about my birthday. I already told most of the birthday story--I turned 50. The boys fixed me breakfast in bed! I got some gifts. It was a quiet day. I bought a cake. I put fifty candles on it and took over 100 pictures. Below is my favorite picture.  Yep, that is really me in the background blowing out the candles. I used a mirror and hand held the camera while I tried to blow the candles all out.

Every year around my birthday I write in my journal about the year that is over and about my goals for the new year. I wrote a lot and even broke it all down into categories and set dates, etc.... I'm not going to paste that here. Instead, I'll share what I just wrote for my Web Design class. It ends with my trying to decide what to name the website/webpages I will design for  my final project. I'd love to hear your suggestions and get some input, you can reach me at gardner@unm.edu. 
Thanks, *~Tina

Mid-semester Report Assignment  

 Growing Your Small Business With Tina Gardner

This semester my favorite class is a Web Design class. I am really enjoying the class. I’ve done some HTML in the past, not a lot, but enough to feel comfortable with it. In class, my memory is being refreshed and I’m learning some HTML that is new. I’d like to say this is an easy class and that I am doing well in it, but as of right now, my grades are lower than I’d like them to be (around a B-.) I don’t feel there is any one thing I am struggling with. I just need to be more focused and not miss any more classes. I need the class or lab time to work out the codes. The professor, Todd Winge, is knowledgeable and is very willing to help me with the HTML both in and out of class and that has helped me a lot. I am looking forward to using the knowledge I now have, during the second half of the semester to create my own website and link it to my web pages and blogs. I want to be able to do web design and create web pages, not only for myself, but for future employers or clients.

I have many school and business related goals right now that are closely related. I’ve been setting my photography business up legally this semester, blogging more, doing brand design and building my portfolio. I call my business Indigo Studios. I feel that for now, I can combine my photography with my fiber arts, quilting and crafts, thus I used the word Studios. My business will encompass my photography (Indigo Studios), The Quilt Whisperer, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Bras and El Jay Rey and Mom Productions. I already have blogs and Facebook pages for three of those and an Etsy site.

I will use the main page of my web site as the Go-To place for potential clients or employers to go to to see what I can do for them. On that page they will find links to my bio, and blogs and other social media connected to Indigo Studios, The Quilt Whisperer, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Bras, El Jay Rey and Mom Productions. In creating this website or webpages I will also be making a leap into the ever changing world of social media and small business consulting. I hope to feel confident enough in my knowledge to include a blog about business related things like small business incubating, grant writing and social media. I plan to call myself a small business and social media consultant. I haven’t decided if this business will be part of Indigo Studios or if I will give it another name. I think that for the web design class  I will simplify the name by using only my last name, Gardner. Or Gardner Something. Perhaps a play on the last name Gardner and Growing businesses?

Part of my web design goal for each business or blog is to create a unique looking logo and branding that gives them each their own feel. I have a basic look for each blog already, but want to give each one finishing touches that look sharp, eye catching and professional. I want to show potential clients that I am diverse. As for the main website, I am not sure exactly what I want it to look like. This page will be the website for a business offering information and consultation to people wanting to either start a small business or set up various social media sites for an existing business. It may be the first example of my work that someone will see. It needs to be very professional, simple and informative. I am considering a neutral, linen looking background, because my other sites have their own colors—indigo blue for Indigo Studios, pink for the Sisterhood, a muted variety of 30’s looking prints for the Quilt Whisperer, orange and greens for El Jay Rey and Mom Productions. However, if I use a play on the name Gardner and growing businesses for naming the main page, I may consider colors and items matching that theme. I’m excited to get to work on my project and can’t wait to see the final outcome.

What I know with any certainty is that I have a lot of work ahead of me before the web site, web pages and other links are up and running and ready to show the world.