Bite Size Book Club

In this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, Amanda and Kristin continue to move through Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. Today, on the BSBC, we finish up the book and discuss chapter 7: Strategies for Developing Your Own Voice. This episode is excellent. We finish out the book so strong. Lisa's last chapter is a fantastic list of ways that you can work on developing your voice. They are legitimate ongoing things that you can do in a day to day setting to work on your artistic voice. We go through the list (and chapter) and discuss each of these topics and how they relate to each of us, and the Awesome Ladies and Crafty Ass Female communities. This chapter alone is worth reading the entire book. I'm absolutely obsessed with this list.

In this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, Amanda and Kristin continue to move through Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. Today, on the BSBC, we discuss chapter six: Begin Anyhow - Moving Through Fear. This was a short but very important chapter of the book. Fear is a constant barrier to artistic expression. Contrary to what we think about other people's art. There is no magic point at which artist's arrive and 'poof' they're done with being afraid that their work isn't good enough anymore. That fear is almost always present in some form or another. In this chapter, Lisa gives us some vocabulary to talk about what it means to have fear as an artist, move through that fear, what are the pros of this fear and so much more. Honestly, so much packed into this little chapter (and a great interview to boot).

In this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, Amanda and Kristin continue to dissect Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. Today, on the BSBC, we discuss chapter Five: The Importance of Showing Up As we say at the beginning, the themes of this chapter are woven into so much of the Crafty Ass Female ethos. We talk about what else we can do to be present and active participants in the world around us, especially right now. Showing up is one of the most important ways that you're going to find your artistic voice. Even when showing up is hard as hell. Lisa (and the girls) talk about the importance of routines (Daily Pages much) and we get into a discussion about our favorite Ira Glass quote about taste and talent. Such a great episode.

In this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, Amanda and Kristin continue to dissect Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. Today, on the BSBC, we discuss chapter four: Navigating Influence We talk about the important points that Lisa hits on, like influence being everywhere and our creativity being impossible to not be influence by others. She talks aboutour favorite male creative content creator, Austin Kleon, and riffs on his 'nothing is orginal' thoughts and we continue that conversation.

In this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, Amanda and Kristin continue to dissect Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. Today, on the BSBC, we discuss chapter three: The Path. Lisa comes up with a really great framework for talking about your creative journey called 'The Path' and she breaks it down into five different phases: The Spark, The Ongoing Desire To Create, Risk-Taking, and Experimentation; Questioning; and Creative Flow.

In this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, Amanda and Kristin continue to dissect Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. Today, on the BSBC, we discuss the chapter two: Why Does Having a Voice Matter?

In this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, Amanda and Kristin continue discussing the new book for the third season of the Crafty Ass Female Bite Size Book Club: Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. Today, the girls discuss the first full chapter: What is an Artistic Voice?

In this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, Amanda and Kristin are discussing the new book for the third season of the Crafty Ass Female Bite Size Book Club: Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. The girls discuss the first introduction chapter and talk about Lisa's interview on the CAF show and how they're looking forward to a deep dive into this book! You can join us for an indepth discussion over at the Awesome Ladies Project and let us know what your thoughts on the book are as well!

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we finish reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are starting at page 156 and finishing through the end of the book. Show Notes: Being honest about who you are What about the really hard stuff? Putting yourself out there It doesn't have to be flawless to be complete Let's talk about failure How change feels Today is the day Now what

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are continuing Part Four, and reading pages 146-155. Show Notes: Don't Hoard Ideas The value of first drafts and idea dumps Finding motivation Clear space Create a ritual Tell yourself it's a trial run Set a timer The best tool is the one you'll use

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are starting Part Four, and reading pages 136-145. Show Notes: • You gotta do the work • Reject the inspiration cycle Your best work will be something that you do. Try This: Handling the highlight reel

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are finishing Part Three, and reading pages 118-135. Show Notes • Developing a timeline ○ Matching up with events ○ Choosing a timeframe • Documenting your progress is informative ○ Informative ○ Exciting ○ Gratitude • Flexibility, pivoting, and letting yourself adapt ○ Lower your standards ○ Bend don't break • Getting through transitional periods ○ There is no secret strategy • When it's uncomfortable ○ Sometimes you don't need to add more things • Dealing with doubt ○ There is no this thing ○ You don't have to do the thing • When is it okay to stop? ○ Is this too difficult? ○ Are you bored? ○ Do you want to do this? • There is no "made it" and what that means for continuing your work

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are continuing Part Three, and reading pages 108-117 Show Notes You get to be scared Fitting goals into daily work and life Breaking it down ○ The recipe method ○ The group by task method ○ The one step at a time method The value of check-ins

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are continuing Part Three, and reading pages 98-107. Show Notes • Turning Dreams into Concrete • Your Ideas and Your Voice are Valuable Take Them Seriously • Say Your Goals Out Loud Try This: Start an Accountability Group

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are starting Part Three, and reading pages 85-97. Show Notes • Where to start ○ Adding to your life ○ What do you want more of • What's a goal, anyway? ○ Something to work towards ○ Something outside the normal ○ Pluses: Easy to connect with and easy to document • What to do when you have too many ideas ○ Write them all down, give them each their own page. ○ Expand on each of those ideas for five minutes. ○ At the end, which one gave you the vibes? • What to do when you have no ideas ○ Look back ○ Figure out what you want to improve on ○ You can always change your mind • Try This: Five Year Plan

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are finishing up Part Two: Let's Make Room for Joy, and reading pages 76-83. Show Notes • Respecting the ebb and flow • we all pay attention to the extremes more, • But life mostly happens in the middle. • Making decisions during highs blows has consequences. • Taking temporary situations K trying to make them permanent. • Cant avoid. can prepare. • Showing up as you are is the most important part. • This is about you. Stop comparing. • Keep your eyes on your own paper. • Keeping up with the Joneses • You have enough time • You have exactly enough time for the things that matter to you • This can be a privileged perspective, but also a necessary way to look at the calendar creating a façade of busy instead of creating personal boundaries.

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are continuing Part Two: Let's Make Room for Joy, and reading pages 60-75. Today's Topics Building in white space You are in charge; not the computer Being real about your social media use Saying yes to the right things How to find your absolutely yes tasks

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are continuing Part Two: Let's Make Room for Joy, and reading pages 52-59. Show Notes Today's Discussion • Finding Pockets • Stop reinventing the wheel • Getting started Finding Pockets HOW to find time for the things you want to do. (internal demands-or the little bits of sand). This is how I want people to find time for Daily pages Stop reinventing the wheel Find things that work for you; stick with them. This leads to less decision fatigue, and more time for creativity in places that matter more to you. Getting started Getting started can be the worst. Here are several ways to try to make it work for you: Think about your priorities start w/ the easy stuff use your best energy on the hardest stuff Give yourself a deadline start somewhere Try This: sort your tasks honor your time zones set a timer

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are continuing Part Two: Let's Make Room for Joy, and reading pages 44-51. Show Notes Topics in this week's episode Big Picture scheduling Re-evaluating What's in your life Building Routine into your to-do list To try: opt-in Notecards Last Episode we talked about list keeping and prioritizing Today, we're first going to talk about Big Picture scheduling. -External Demands preset dates -Negotiated Demands - have to attend, but have some choice of when to schedule - Internal Demands things you want need to attend, but are flexible on the date/time This is difficult! Not everything will fit neatly into your schedule You need to see the time you don't have so that you can see the time you do have. Reevaluating what is in Your Life. choosing your actions opt-in exercise on pg 48 is great This is important. (re-evaluating) if you don't do this, other people determine what's important for your life; because we are always gelling filled up w/ randomities. Building Routine into your to-do list Almost everything should have a set time. Pay attention to the flow of your days and weeks. This helps match energy levels to activities Compartments for tasks can help you feel more focused & provide anchor points in your days/ weeks. You are building a routine so you can break the routine.

On this episode of the Bite Size Book Club, we continue reading Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe. Today we are starting up Part Two: Let's Make Room for Joy, and reading pages 32-43. Show Notes Pages 32-43 Why Plan? • to stay on track • to get ahead • maintain focus • when things go wrong its not the end of the world • to build space into and around our lives and work planning looks different for everyone why are you NOT getting things done? Lack of time Lack of communication Lack of focus Great series of questions on pg 36 + flowchart on 37. Why write things down? • A list creates space • A list helps you sort • A list saves time Why Prioritize? Helps to give you a sense of what is essential VS. non-essential on your list and let you spend your time accordingly. Determining your priorities Two different methods she presents + the 'three things concept'