A Common Creative: Veronika from By the Shore

We are very excited to have a fellow blogger come join us today! Veronika runs a fashion and lifestyle blog, By the Shore, from her home near Vancouver here on the west coast. Kristen was actually the one to introduce me to her blog, but we've both been reading and following along for a few years now. Veronika is seriously inspiring. She has an impeccable, timeless style. And she is fearless when it comes to trying new ideas and putting forth new business ventures. Not only does she run a full time blog, she also owns an online jewelry and accessory shop, creates blog templates for her Etsy shop and shoots photos for clients! This is one busy lady, but we are so thankful that she was able to take some time out of her day to chat. So without further ado, here's Veronika!

How did you get into blogging?
Honestly?! On a total whim. I stumbled on a few bloggers. Kendi Everyday, Selective Potential, Orchid Grey and Jen Loves Kev and I was totally hooked as well as inspired. So naturally, I decided to jump on the band wagon and I'm so happy I did. I feel so fortunate to have worked with amazing brands, travel for conferences, appear in magazines, and to have met so many of the bloggers I admire. This community is without a doubt my absolute favourite!

What is the best part about running your own business?

Knowing I have full creative control and the freedom to change something if I'm not happy. Definitely awesome and incredibly liberating!!

Where do you find inspiration for your posts?

Either from my favourite bloggers, my own brainstorming sessions... or I love to draw on a few of my favourite magazines. The last one is probably my favourite - such a wealth of ideas! Honestly, try it! You'll be amazed to see what you come up with!

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your blogging journey so far?

Be yourself, blog about what you love and don't sweat the small stuff. Blogging isn't about being perfect, it's about being real and building a community with like minded people!

Can you name your greatest success?

In blogging, I had the opportunity to do a collaboration with Selective Potential and Modcloth it was such a huge honour and something I look back on fondly! I also feel pretty darn thankful I can make a living doing what I love. Granted, there is struggle in having your own business, but I'm darn proud of being able to make it work. Also, my husband is without a doubt my biggest cheerleader!!

What is your favourite thing about the blogging community?

The creativity... getting to see personal style, gorgeous photography... oh my goodness, gets me totally revved up! Oh and definitely the friendships. I have been soooo lucky to find true, kindred spirits through this community. Such a blessing!!

What does a day in your life look like?

Each day is a little different. But generally, I'm up at 6am and working shortly there after. I typically work until about 7pm. I start my day with blogging, creating content for sponsors & clients, emailing plus updating my social media portals. Then I'll work on design work for clients, edit photos for clients or pop out for a quick meeting. I work from a home office or my favourite coffee shop. Always nice to add a little variety to my day!

How do you keep your creative mind going? What do you do to rejuvenate?

When I need to rejuvenate...I take a day off and shut it all down. No social media and no computer. I typically head into nature, walk, take photos, stop off for yummy food and then meet friends for drinks in the evening. Also, there's nothing like quiet time with my husband... he knows the way to my soul! 

What advice do you have for new businesses starting out?

Write out a business plan. I know it sounds a little boring, but it's a must! It's so important to know where you're going and the steps you'll need to take to get there. Also, meeting with a business coach is a fabulous way to tweak your plan and make sure you're starting off on the strongest foot possible!

Ok, that's a wrap. Thank you so much for reading my interview everyone!! Hope you enjoyed it and I'd absolutely love to meet you... be sure to pop by my blog, By The Shore and say hello! xo

A Common Creative: Roxanne from Tonic

Creatives are everywhere. We love meeting them! Roxanne is someone I (Kristen) have been seeing around for years, shopping in her stores, but only recently gotten to know. Roxanne is a wonderfully talented lady who owns a fashion boutique with two locations in Saskatoon called Tonic, as well as the online store Farminista. Jenni and I both love Tonic, and the true prairie spirit it brings to fashion. I was happy to bring some of the beautifully curated prairie fashion back to Jenni when we visited Vancouver in August. We loved the pieces Roxanne picked, see our post on the Farminista blog for details on the fashion end of things!

We love hearing how other common creatives get their inspiration, and we were happy to have Roxanne tell us a little bit about her world! 

What brought you to the fashion world of Tonic and Farminista?

I've always been interested in being an entrepreneur. My grandpa had a general store back in the good old days, so I grew up playing store and reading small business magazines. I always had extra racks and displays around, so when I found a small space on broadway, I sold vintage furniture and accessores as well as bags I made. That was called the stuff store. I outgrew my first location and ended up moving behind Lydia's on Broadway and adding vintage clothing and locally made items. I slowly added new clothing until we outgrew that space and ended up moving to a huge space downtown and called it Tonic! So now we have 2 locations ( the 2nd being back on broadway).

What is the best part about running your own shop?

I like the creative process. I like to see something I love in a store in Europe (or any other place) and finding that style to bring back home. Now with farminista, our online store, it's a little reversed at times. We have local styles or designs that we send to our regular customers who have moved away and can't shop regularly at tonic like they used to.

Where do you find inspiration for fashion trends?

Every where!! I always notice something different and that's what we order for Tonic and Farminista. We do like to get a lot of our brands from Europe. We think they are just a little bit ahead of us in the risk taking fashion- so it's always unique and special!

What is the biggest lesson you've learned in running your shop, thus far?  

It's a ton of work. Fashion is always changing and so are we. We change all of our stock every season as well as the layout and decor of the shops- new paint and wallpaper to match the trends. 

Can you name your greatest success?

Staying open and having a family. It's a shock to have a baby and even more shocking to keep running a demanding business- nevermind not getting maternity leave! I feel very blessed to have staff who went above and beyond their job requirements to run the store so I could have 4 babies!

What is a day in the life of your job?

Well, I like to start at the Broadway location to see what they need restocked ( and to have a latte with the manager who happens to be my sister). That location is small, so we restock almost everyday. Then, I go downtown and go through the stock. We have to be careful not to take out items we just loaded online. Our downtown Tonic is our warehouse for our online store, so we keep those items online downtown. After we load up boxes for broadway, we go over new items to put online. We also go over social media, like Instagram and Facebook, to show our customers whats new. Then, I go over what's sold out and order more items if we need. In between all of that, we help girls find outfits or assist with the never ending search for the perfect dress!

What advice do you have to new businesses starting out?

It's a lot of work! 

How do you keep your creative mind going? What do you do to rejuvenate?

My family and friends. It's good to just be silly and do fun things for a few days. Then I find I'm full of new ideas!

Thanks Roxanne for letting us prairie sisters indulge in some prairie fashion on the west coast! And thanks so much for a glimpse into the Tonic and Farminista lifestyle. We love what you do! If you are in need of the perfect dress, or beautiful clothes for everyday, check out Farminista online! See our blog post there for outfit details. And now, just because, here are some silly shots. Because we can never stay serious for too long.

A Common Creative: Joelle Gebhardt

Meet Joelle. Or maybe you've already met her... her name is becoming more well known in both the art world and across the world! I'm pretty lucky to know her as both a very respected artist/illustrator and dear friend. Originally living and working in Vancouver, we met through the church that we were both attending at the time. The first time we met, I was immediately drawn in by her passion for creating and intrigued by her style. Not only is she incredibly kind, intelligent, and funny, she has one of the most unique art forms, combining drawing with embroidery. Embroidery has always been a love of mine, so obviously I have fallen in love with her work! 

One of my favourite projects of hers is the "Greetings from Mr. Buttonman" series. Originally a calendar project, this series includes humorous embroidered illustrations of Mr. Buttonman in various situations that completely embody Joelle's sense of humour. The project now includes postcards and books which can be found at various locations in Canada and Germany. 

Joelle and her husband have since moved to Berlin and I've been following her current projects online, which include a lot of embroidery, art markets and shows. I so wish that I could be there to attend these fun looking markets, but alas, I will only have to pretend to take part! 

While I would love to do a full interview with Joelle and pick at her brain for her thoughts on the creative process, I know that she's quite busy preparing for an upcoming show! So, I just sent her one question to answer this time round:

What is your favourite thing about creating for a living?

I will answer this question with a story because I love stories. When I was in elementary school I had a teacher who told my mom that I was putting too much energy into projects that didn't really matter for my marks. Specifically, I would spend hours working on "cover pages" in my school notebook. We were required to make these cover pages to separate subjects in our books and it was worth only a fraction of our overall grade. My teacher was worried that I was over-exerting myself with these small assignments. I think in some ways he was right, that I needed to learn to choose where to spend my energy and put my efforts. But where he misunderstood me was that the reason I spent hours illustrating covers for my journals was that I loved drawing and being creative. This was my way of brightening what were sometimes very dull topics. And I think this is why I love creating; life is just better when we're creative with it. As hard as the creative journey is, and there are many days when I feel like giving up on being a "professional" artist, it is also incredibly satisfying.

If you would like to follow Joelle's work, you'll find her in multiple places online, including:

Website

Blog

Etsy

Facebook

Joelle is also involved in her own creative collective with some fellow artists in Vancouver. I had the privilege of being able to attend one of their shows last year! It was such an interesting concept for an art show and I loved seeing the work that came from their collaboration. If you'd like to learn more about this collective, visit their website at Open Book Art Collective. 

Thanks for sharing your wonderful words and beautiful work, Joelle!

-Jenni