INTERVIEW for Out Of The Blue: Transformation Stories with Steve Clancy

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

Recently I was honored with the opportunity to be interviewed by a very good friend of mine, Steve Clancy for his inspirational and valuable “Out Of The Blue” project. I met Steve and learned about his mission through my online network of entrepreneurs who are committed to setting the world on fire and making the world a better place. As soon as I learned what Steve was all about and the magic he was putting out there in the world, I wanted to be a part of it. After developing an amazing friendship and collaborating on many items together, we finally got our interview nailed down, recorded and out into the world! I am delighted to share it with you today. Steve is an innovator, world-changer, story-teller, coach and consultant from Sydney, Australia. His Out Of The Blue project is his contribution to share insights into new ways of thinking, and to help others set their own vision and make it real. I am so very proud of you, Steve!

Here is Steve's description for his Out Of The Blue: Transformation Stories podcast:

“Out Of The Blue | Transformation Stories is a podcast for people who have been through a personal life challenge such as depression, anxiety, burn-out or some other emotional event, and are now searching for ways to not only survive but to take the steps to become fully alive and go on to thrive in a life that has meaning and purpose. Stories shared here are from other individuals who have been through these ‘blue’ periods and changed direction to find their own success and personal fulfillment. The aim being to help find your own way to a fully expressed life but using the examples of other people's stories as evidence of the possibility.”

Click the image to be taken to the Out Of The Blue podcast series.

Steve has an awesome show notes page where he gives me a humbling introduction that I will share with you here. There are also details on the page where I share some of my favorite books and other resources that have helped me on my journey...

“Cathy Broadwell lives an active and purpose driven life expressed through a number of creative channels in her professional life, personal pursuits and interests.

She has a renewed sense of meaning and fulfillment after coming through a number of tragic and challenging events in her life, recovering from a period of depression until the point she chose to start living a better way and to remember the good in the world around her.

Transforming out of the blue, she now helps other people with her writing and blogging as well being highly active in a number of communities.

This episode we talk about her journey, the events that brought on depression and the steps she took to recover through it, then how she progressed to the fully expressed life she now leads.”

Click the image to be taken to the “Show Notes“ page for my episode / interview with Steve.

Steve! Thank you so much for the opportunity to be a voice to help your community any way that I can. I never would have been able to venture off on my own and start my creative agency without overcoming my bouts with depression and deep sadness. Giant Leaps Creative would not exist without overcoming those challenges. My hope is that more and more people will find your work and overcome their own challenges to help make their own lives and thus the world a better place for all of us! Cheers! Keep up the great work!

Folks, if you are so inclined, I invite you to subscribe to Steve's podcast and rate and review it in iTunes if you like what you hear. :-)

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Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch, branding, T-shirt or invitation design? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

TWO-TIME WINNER OF THE 2015 DAVEY AWARDS!

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

I am honored and humbled to have been selected by The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts to receive two awards from the 2015 Davey Awards! As stated on their website, the Davey Awards are “the largest and most prestigious awards competition exclusively for the ‘Davids’ of creativity... David defeated the giant Goliath with a big idea and a little rock – the sort of thing small agencies do each year. The annual International Davey Awards honors the achievements of the ‘Creative Davids’ who derive their strength from big ideas, rather than stratospheric budgets. The Davey Awards is the first major awards competition specifically for smaller agencies, where you compete with your peers to win the recognition you deserve. The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA) members include executives from organizations such as Condé Nast, Disney, GE, Keller Crescent, Microsoft, Monster.com, MTV, Push., Publicis, Sesame Workshops, The Marketing Store, Worktank and Yahoo! and many more.”

I am incredibly excited to share with you that this very website – which first launched in October of 2014 – won the Silver Award for self-promotional website design. What an honor! This website was my very first foray into using the website building online application: Squarespace. I was pleased with the end results, the easy-to-use interface of the application, and the fact that their technology works incredibly well across all mobile devices. They also have excellent customer service. Whenever I had a question, they were quick with a thorough and effective answer. I have used Squarespace for other website designs since as well. I am happy to provide you with a free estimate for your next professional website design.

The second award that I was humbled to receive is The Silver Award for custom-designed wedding invitations that I created for a heartwarming holiday event in December of 2014. The invitation consisted of an outer envelope with hand-done calligraphy by Phyllis Marton, three inserts (map, hotels and RSVP card and envelope) held together with a gorgeous ribbon, the invitation itself with gold backing, all sealed with a beautiful gold sticker. The inserts were carefully hand-cut for accuracy, and the ribbons lovingly tied by the amazing wedding planner, Jensina Olson. The main paper materials that I used to create the invitation were from an incredible company called Envelopments of which I am an authorized designer and dealer. As an added bonus for my clients, I can offer a 10% discount on their products for any event that you may want a special, eye-catching announcement – such as birthdays, baby announcements, holiday cards, special events, retirement parties or indeed, weddings and bridal showers. 

The ensemble of wedding materials included the invitation itself, the programs for the ceremony, menu cards displayed at the reception in beautiful frames, and earlier was the Save The Date Postcard. The inserts, program and menu cards were all hand-cut for accuracy and consistency. Click the image to read the original blog post about this project. 

Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch, branding, T-shirt or invitation design? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Power Of One: Preventing Suicide in America Documentary Preview

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

I was honored recently with the opportunity to further help my great friend and client, Alivia Tagliaferri with promoting her upcoming documentary “Power of One: Preventing Suicide in America.” We once again worked side by side to make her dreams of creating a positive change for those suffering from mental illness and/or depression – this time by creating marketing materials for her movie preview that was held on Wednesday, September 9th in her hometown of Williamsport at the Community Arts Center. 

There was a fantastic turnout of attendees all eager to hear Alivia's message and learn more about the stories of families struggling with the effects of suicide, so that we could all learn how to make a difference in preventing such tragedies. Alivia stresses in her message that it’s OK to talk about mental health! Dealing with suicide means creating a dialogue to connect communities around the nation dealing with the problem. Alivia Tagliaferri urged people to “keep the conversation going.” She says, “I feel blessed to do what I’m doing.”

I will share with you some of the valuable information that we featured on the “story stations” that we displayed in the reception area to help create a meaningful dialogue:

MYTH
Suicide can’t be prevented. If someone is set on taking their own life, there is nothing that can be done to stop them.

FACT
Suicide is preventable. The vast majority of people contemplating suicide don’t really want to die. They are seeking an end to intense mental and/or physical pain. Most have a mental illness. Interventions can save lives. 
    ~ American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Alivia and I created “Story Stations” that were displayed in the reception area that helped set the stage for her talk by sharing the facts surrounding suicide rates in America, those at risk, as well as how we can make a difference and where to turn for help. She also donated copies of her book Beyond The Wall to attendees. 

DID YOU KNOW?
•    Over 40,000 Americans died by suicide in 2012. 
•    An estimated 26% of Americans ages 18 and older – or about 1 in 4 adults – live with a diagnosable mental health disorder. 
•    Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among teenagers and young adults. 
•    67% of college students tell a friend they are feeling suicidal before telling anyone else. 
•    Suicide killed more service members in the U.S. Army than enemy combatants in 2012. The number of military spouses and children dying by suicide is currently unknown and untracked.
•    22 veterans die by suicide every day. 
•    Middle-aged men and women between the ages of 45 and 59 have the highest suicide rate in the U.S. 
•    Men who are 75 years or older have the 2nd highest rate of suicide. 
•    In 2013, the most recent year for which data is available, 494,169 people visited a hospital for injuries due to self-harm behavior.

90% of people who take their own life have
at least one and often more than one treatable mental illness, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and/or alcohol and substance abuse. 

With better recognition and treatment, many suicides can be prevented.

Alivia Tagliaferri is featured here on stage as she presented her PowerPoint presentation. Giant Leaps Creative worked on the designs of the title page that you see featured here as well as the interior design and layout. Alivia gave her presentation like a pro followed by an engaging Q&A.

SUICIDE PREVENTION ORGANIZATIONS
National Suicide Prevention LifeLine – 1-800-273-TALK
Suicide Prevention Resource Center – www.sprc.org
National Foundation for Suicide Prevention – www.afsp.org
National Alliance on Mental Illness – www.nami.org

If you would like to contribute to help Alivia raise funds to complete her documentary, Power Of One: Preventing Suicide in America, please click here or click either of the photos in this post. 

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Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch, branding, T-shirt or invitation design? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Honoring One of my (now fallen) Heroes, Scott Dinsmore

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

Here at Giant Leaps Creative we are mourning the loss of a truly bright star in the world – a dear friend and one of my treasured clients – Scott Dinsmore of Live Your Legend (LYL). To quote a colleague of mine as I could not say it any better (and I am having difficulty finding words right now to honor this incredible man), “he created a community of people who wanted to live a life congruent to their best, truest, most purposeful and generous selves. And yet, he was humble, gracious, and kind all the way through. You have to understand, the LYL community is unlike any other out there, save for its offspring community, RYPL. It was the world where people who were polite rebels of the mainstream roads for both professional and personal pursuits could find and support each others' purposeful passions.” 

Scott’s Ted Talk is one of the most watched Ted Talks of all time, being viewed by millions of people all over the world who were inspired by his message, passion and enthusiasm to find and do work that they love, creating and living their own legend as he did. 

I first discovered the Live Your Legend community when I had turned in my resignation at my job where I had reached exactly the place I had always wanted to be: Creative Director and Vice President of an award-winning advertising agency. Yet I still felt there was something missing in my life, and after 14.5 years there, I discovered this creative gal needed a change. But I was frightened as all get out about how I was going to start my own business and forge a career for myself. I knew I needed help and I knew I needed a support system of other like-minded entrepreneurial types that I could turn to. I did a Google search for "I just quit my job, now what do I do?” and Live Your Legend popped up in the search. After reading many of Scott's unbelievably inspirational and informational blog posts, I signed up for his flagship How To Connect with Anyone course to help me through the transition from corporate life to entrepreneurial life. Immediately, I got value out of the course itself, which taught me to lead my new graphic design business with generosity and gratitude as my shining star guiding me forward. And I also made incredible lifelong connections through the course – people who have guided me every step of the way on my journey and I know will continue to do so. Thank you!

This picture warms my heart: Scott proudly wearing the T-shirt that I designed for him and his LYL community and holding a flag that he intended to hold high above his head after he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with his wife Chelsea. 

As I charged forward with more confidence each day as I wrote out my business plan for my humble company, it dawned on me that I wanted my ideal client to be people that inspired me, projects that I truly believed in that I could get passionate and excited about! I wanted to work with awesome, kind and amazing people. Scott Dinsmore was one of my ideal clients! I made an offer to him to work for him for free for a specified period of time so that he could get to know my work, my high standards, and see my commitment to excellence in design. To my surprise, he accepted! My first assignment was to create the T-shirt that you see Scott proudly wearing in the above photo. As he was about to embark on his epic one year journey around the world, he asked me to create the “Do Something That Matters” flag that he is showcasing also in the photo. He said to me excitedly “Make me a flag that you can picture me holding up on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro after I climb it!" After complimenting my designs and my work ethic making me beam from ear to ear, he asked me to be one of his chosen designers to help him spread his mission around the globe, and support him on his journeys. I was absolutely thrilled and proud of my decision to pursue him as a treasured client. 

As one of the ways I served Scott and his needs for building his community, I was responsible for updating his Dinsmore World Tour map as he landed at each destination. This is the map that I created for him last week. He last words to me were “You rock Cathy. Well done.  :)” He was always so grateful, complimentary and respectful in all of his communications with me. 

I am shocked and devastated to let you know that I received word from his wife Chelsea yesterday that Scott did not survive a natural disaster that occurred while he and Chelsea were living their lifelong dream of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro together while purposely taking themselves “off the grid” to truly enjoy nature together, each other’s company and achieving a sought after physical feat. I find comfort knowing that he transitioned from our world to the next doing exactly what he wanted to do, living his own legend with the person that he chose to spend the rest of his life with (however long that lasted), living each day without regret. 

I just learned that he was only 33 years old. That's a lot of life to live, and huge impact for a young man to make in a short period of time. I would like to share with you one of Scott's favorite songs that speaks to his mission and purpose: Beyoncé’s “I Was Here.”

Scott, I know that you are shining your bright light down on all of us now from the heavens. I thank you for all that you have taught me, for your support in my personal and entrepreneurial journey, and for the love, passion and joy that you shared with all of us. I will be forever grateful. My heart and deepest sympathies go out to his wife Chelsea, their family and friends and everyone who has been affected by this tragic loss. I plan to share Scott’s life and take his legacy forward in my business and my every day life for as long as I have left here on Earth. 

Scott, your work will never be forgotten and lives on in all of us. Thank you, my dear friend. 

Here is an awesome (yet chilling) guest blog post that I discovered on Scott's friend's website (and one of my favorites), Zen Habits. Excellent read from an exceptional man. Your words will live on, Scott. 

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Heropreneur Project: Inside the Artist’s Studio

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

On this fateful day of September 11th fourteen years ago, first responders descended on the World Trade Center in NY exhibiting extreme acts of bravery and valiant rescue efforts to help those who found themselves in the midst of a terrible tragedy. In honor of the memory of the fallen and with much gratitude to the firefighters and other first responders, today I would like to introduce a wonderful and important project that I have had the privilege to work on recently, The Heropreneur Project by my good friend and colleague, DG Gregory. 

In short, The Heropreneur Project helps firefighters, veterans and police officers start an online business so they don't have to struggle financially just because they chose a life of service. DG is on a mission to show these potential “Heropreneurs” the unlimited possibilities that exist for them to start a successful online business in their spare time.

The project was created to provide the hard working men and women of these noble professions with an alternative to;
    •    unfulfilling, low wage side-jobs,
    •    disruptive career changes
    •    capital intensive “brick and mortar” small businesses

The Heropreneur Project is a platform and a community where members learn from successful online entrepreneurs as well as connect with mentors and other “Heropreneurs”. They also have access to an extensive catalog of courses, lessons, and resources to help them launch their own online business. Learn more about the Heropreneur Project and sign up for the free newsletter at Heropreneurproject.com (website in progress).

The final colorized logo showcasing the tagline that we collaborated on: Helping Veterans & First Responders Build an Online Business. The logo is meant to look badge-like as well as reminiscent of a medal, borrowing elements from the firefighters logo. I also made sure to focus on the “hero” aspect with the use of a bird in flight, and added a rope accent to suggest “first responder.” The chosen colors coordinate with DG’s Second Half Comeback brand and podcast, which is his umbrella brand. 

When DG first came to me requesting help with branding and a logo, I was thrilled to help. Both of our fathers honored our country by serving in the Korean War among other endeavors. I jumped at the chance to offer my talents in support of this noble project.

I thought today I would take you down the path with me of how I approach a new logo project. 

I have heard over the past year many entrepreneurs use the words “it’s just a logo – I need something fast, simple and cheap”. I have been professionally trained in graphic design, as many other talented artists have and have enjoyed 25 years in this fantastic and rewarding career. So to me, it is never “just a logo”. It is a representation of the mission, the values and the spirit of the project, and will set the tone for the entire brand moving forward. A good logo speaks a thousand words, just like a picture can. I do my best to put much thought and research into the job, as well as my heart and soul. I partly started my own boutique graphic design firm to work on projects that I truly believe in for amazing and inspiring people, like DG Gregory who is a firefighter (and long-time entrepreneur) himself. When I hire other professionals, I hope that they put that kind of heart and soul in their work as well. I value that. 

This image is a sneak peek at my sketch pad during the brainstorming and experimental phase of the logo creation. Several of these marks were later taken to the computer to be executed in Adobe Illustrator. 

I always start the process with an in-depth interview, which then helps me craft a thorough Creative Brief where I outline the marketing strategies, target audience, any competitive research and analysis, as well as graphic preferences and requirements by the client. This provides me with a guide to help me really hit the ground running before I even put pencil to paper. Next, comes the brainstorming and sketching process. I will experiment with the wording, the tagline, icons, graphics with the end goal in mind on a large sketch pad for as many hours as it takes. Once I am satisfied that I have some ideas worth executing, I take my favorite and most workable ideas to the computer, often scanning sketches that I will later trace or use as a guide in Adobe Illustrator. I always work in black and white first, only adding color after I am satisfied with the initial logo layouts and configurations. I am “old school” in the sense that I believe if a logo does not “work” as a cohesive unit in black and white, it will never look better once color is added. Gotta start with the basics first to lay the proper foundation! Lastly, I will put together a presentation for my client summarizing the stated mission, our collective goal, show any relevant and related graphics, and then present my logo options. I gave DG several options on a limited timeframe, and he was thrilled with the final results – and off to the races we go! Thank you, DG for the opportunity to assist you make this project a success! You and your mission are awesome!

Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch, branding, T-shirt or invitation design? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

One-Year Anniversary Happy Dance of AWESOME!

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

It is with great joy and gratitude that I am sharing this post with you this week. Here at Giant Leaps Creative, we are celebrating our first year in business! We made it! I am so proud, happy and delighted! I could not have gotten here without your support and encouragement. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. Some days, I need a little extra motivation and a pep talk from such “little giants” as the now famous sensation, Kid President. Please join me in celebrating by giving yourself a treat in watching this fabulous pep talk. He kills it! Worth watching again if you’ve already seen it. Treat yourself to the magic...

The awesomeness that is Kid President! Thank you for giving your gift to the world, Robby!

As part of my professional/personal development as an entrepreneur and effective human being, I recently attended the WDS conference in Portland, OR. I had the pleasure of getting to see Kid President himself and his uncle, Brad Montague speak before an audience of almost 3,000 with grace and humor. Here is a brief write-up of their mission:

“Brad Montague created the Kid President YouTube phenomenon with his young brother-in-law, Robby Novak. Their poplar web series, featured on Rainn Wilson’s SoulPancake YouTube channel, has been viewed and shared more than 80 million times. With a passion for helping foster creativity and compassion in young people, Brad is also the founder and director of GO! Camp, an experience for teenagers who want to change the world. He also co-founded Love In Stereo, a collective of artists striving to create work that matters. Both he and Robby live and work with their families in Tennessee.”

How bloody awesome. Great work, guys and thank you! I shared some of my biggest takeaways from their presentation in my last post, but here are some more:

– You are a Wizard: Don’t hide. You are becoming uniquely prepared to do something magical.
– Be Nice: Treat everybody like it’s their birthday. Haters gonna hate, but huggers gonna hug. Let’s have a Joyful Rebellion. 
– You Matter: Everyone has someone in their life who believes in them. Celebrate them. And remember how powerful you are.
– Sharing is Good: Sharing also creates opportunities that you cannot see yet.
– Invite Everybody to the Party: Take a chance with what you have right now. Example: they successfully contacted Beyoncé with a chicken nugget video. 
– Enjoy Life: There’s ALWAYS a reason to DANCE! Choose to dance!

Wow. I am humbled. It was great getting to re-visit these chicken nugget bits of wisdom. I am thrilled to share them with you here on the Giant Leaps Creative blog and website. Let’s all take a moment to take a giant leap into celebrating you! Now go Hive Five Yourself and the person next to you! Thanks for being here!

A touching moment on stage between Robby and Brad. Awwwww...

Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch, branding, T-shirt or invitation design? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

WDS – The Creative Power of an Inspiring Community!

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

Have you ever wondered what the power of community can do for you?

Has the question: “What more can I be doing to create something magical in the world?” ever come to mind?

and finally…

How do you live a remarkable life in a conventional world? 

Those are exactly the type of questions that got answered for me recently at the 2015 World Domination Summit (WDS) in Portland, Oregon – a wonderful city that is a hub of creative thinking and open-minded people. I got to experience the magic that is WDS along with over 2,000 other people for the first time this year – and it has forever changed my life and business for the better!

“Be always looking for and striving for your voice“, “Bravery is a choice – not a feeling” and finally “When you see people as your platform, you eventually stand on top of them.” – Jon Acuff, speaker and New York Times best-selling author of five books. Photo credit: Armosa Studios

When I started my company, Giant Leaps Creative, and my entrepreneurial journey, I felt alone, nervous about how to navigate running and owning my own business, and yearning for connection with other like-minded people to help guide me through the process. I turned to the vast wonders of the Internet for answers, communities and courses, and my quest did not disappoint. Via inspiring, entrepreneurial-minded and community-creating courses that I found at Live Your Legend and Rock Your Purpose Live, I discovered a wealth of information and techniques and strategies for success. But most importantly, I realized the power and value of connection with other creative, world-changing thinkers, doers and achievers who are ready to set the world on fire with their thoughts, experiences and inspiring creative projects. Through these supportive communities, I am thankful that I was encouraged to attend WDS this year. 

The incredible team of ambassadors and volunteers that helped us break the Guinness Book of World Record for “Largest Number of People Eating Breakfast in Bed.” The event Worldwide Waffles was a fantastic once-in-a-lifetime experience. We broke a world record, we had a lot of fun, and we made a huge impact on a community that needs our help (all beds were donated to local homeless shelters in the Portland area after the event). Photo credit: Armosa Studios

WDS is an incredible experience that is built on the three tenets of Service, Community and Adventure as their main mission. Throughout the weekend, together we discovered answers, possibilities and opportunities exploring the question of: How do we live a remarkable life in a conventional world? They lead through example from the word “go”! There are non-stop gatherings, meet-up groups and “socials” that are more than simply “networking opportunities.” They are events filled with joy, laughter and gleeful squeals as people from literally all over the world come together to meet in-person for the first time or alternately discover brand-new lifelong friends. These remarkable explorers and adventurers all share in the vision that is WDS adding to the sense of community. Then of course, there is the event itself which includes an outstanding opening and closing party, coming together to break a world record (this year, it was the largest number of people eating breakfast in bed. Spoiler alert: we did it!), and of course the speakers themselves on a gorgeous, innovative, colorful stage un-like any that I have ever seen before. Coming from the standpoint of creativity and thinking outside the box, the event is completely outstanding and for this gal <--- not to be missed. 

Two of my amazing friends, Melanie and Dorene, from the Rock Your Purpose Live (RYPL) community each sporting T-shirts that I designed and created for both the RYPL community (“Infinite Possibilities” T-shirt) and my community as well (“Be The Change You Want To See In The World” T-shirt).

Here is a snapshot of some of my biggest takeaways that I brought home to my design studio and my life:

— Meeting awesome people in real life that you have been talking to / collaborating with online is such an incredible high that keeps on giving. Surrounding yourself, even from afar with amazing people can make a massive difference in handling the ups and downs of life and entrepreneurship. – Cathy Broadwell <---- this gal, right here

— “Be always looking for and striving for your voice“, “Bravery is a choice – not a feeling” and finally “When you see people as your platform, you eventually stand on top of them.” – Jon Acuff, speaker and New York Times best-selling author of five books

— "Bear witness to and acknowledge other’s pain and sorrow instead of trying to fix it. Be a rule breaker: We need to tell new stories of how to withstand pain, not overcome it. Practice intense forms of love and bravery in a world where things go wrong.” – Megan Devine, writer, speaker and educator

— “Be brave, vulnerable and authentic.” – Jeremy Cowart, speaker and trailblazing celebrity photographer, entrepreneur and humanitarian who had an awe-inspiring and brilliantly executed slideshow to share

— “If you want to be awesome, treat people awesomely. When I’m an adult, I’m gonna try to be a kid. You don’t need money to be in charge – you are in charge of yourself.” – Kid President and Brad Montague, creators of the Kid President YouTube phenomenon and pioneers of helping foster creativity and compassion in young people

— “No one knows the future, thus business plans are moot. Commit to solving problems versus attaching to a certain goal or outcome. Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not persistently pushing. Ask instead of answer – learn instead of preach.“ – Derek Sivers, speaker, writer, programmer and entrepreneur

— Being an introvert, or highly sensitive person or getting overwhelmed is OK. Just take a time out and come back when you are ready. You can still do amazing things in the world. Be shockingly unique. – Cathy Broadwell <---- this gal, right here

Those are some pretty kickass take-aways – and that’s only some of them! I am THRILLED to already have my golden ticket to attend next year. Look for another update in approximately 365 days. Whoot!  #WDS2015

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Want to read more blog posts from attendees of this spectacular weekend event and conference? Here’s more sharing from my new, inspiring and talented friends:

Letting Go Of Fear & Finding Your Voice (by Mike Goncalves)
How New People Can Change Your Life (by Dorene Wharton)
How WDS Changed My Life (by David Ryan)
WDS 2015: The Year of Tears (by Joe Brachocki)
My World Just Got Bigger! (by Elizabeth Miner)
I am an Introvert (and that’s ok)! (by Kevin Langman)
Sincerely, WDS (by Kristen Blake)

“We made it!” The Power of Community: A gathering of amazing and inspirational women from the RYPL community including our fearless leaders, Nazrin Murphie (front) sporting a T-shirt that I had the pleasure of creating for the RYPL Community (“Infinite Possibilities” T-shirt), as well as Leah Hynes (second from the right). I am on the far left in this photo.

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Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch, branding, T-shirt or invitation design? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Bullshit Analysis Book by Action-Alchemy

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

Here are Giant Leaps Creative, we are always looking for great projects to get behind and put our creative talent to good use. Recently, I had the honor of working with Cat Knott at Action-Alchemy on her awesome book, Bullshit Analysis: Instant Solutions to Cut the Crap and Get Moving! What a pleasure she is to work with and I am proud to not only call her a client, but a good friend. And I am so proud of her for getting past her own bullshit (as we all need to from time to time) to “put the duckie down" and author this amazing book! The advice and clever insights that she imparts are just awesome and stop-you-in-your-tracks good! If you can believe it, this book is FREE on her website, action-alchemy.com. I had a blast coming up with the design, layout, book cover and overall theme that we created for her book. Thankfully, Cat likes “funky graphics” and a very organized and interesting format, just like I do. I am very happy with how the final book design and cover turned out. Download the book for free and check it out! 

Custom created book cover and interior pages design, free proofreading services thrown in for added-value. We hate typos at Giant Leaps Creative and do our best to eliminate them!

Here’s a brief description of the book:

This book is all about Bullsh*t. The sort of BS that makes perfectly amazing, creative, generous and powerful people stay completely hidden, or end up lingering on the verges of their own potential, but never quite reaching it.

“I’m not signing off on your Bullshit reasons for why you’re not, and neither should you!”

Your Bullsh*t wants to keep you small, it wants to make you stay safe and give in to your fears. Its power lies in its ability to keep you from trying. It wants you to believe that you can’t!

It’s time to breaking through the destructive aspects of your personal, self generated BS and tell your Bullsh*t that YOU CAN!

Looking for a business and life coach to help you get moving? Consider Cat Knott at Action-Alchemy. Here’s some more about Cat:

Cat Knott, The Action Alchemist knows that under the weight of all the Coulds, Shoulds, Maybes, If Onlys and Buts that you’re carrying there is an amazing, powerful, successful person aching to get out.

A dedicated empowerer and courage giver, she carries her emotional pom poms with pride and loves nothing more than screaming encouragement from the sidelines of other people’s lives as they take their scary steps forward that can lead to incredible change.

As an Intuitive Creative Cat has helped hundreds of people over the last 10 years to find their voice and get their passion out into the world.

She knows that there comes a point where you need to put away the reasons why not, say ‘enough of the bulls*it’ and Take Action NOW!

“I'm an unashamed believer that there is magic in the world.

A Magic that can shift lives, create change & make what seems impossible... possible! This Magic is Action!”

_______

Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch, branding, T-shirt or invitation design? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

One Girl Australia – Our Latest Worthy Cause at GLC!

Cheers Creative Enthusiasts,

At Giant Leaps Creative, each year we donate a portion of our proceeds to worthy causes in an effort to help make the world a better place for all of us. We mainly try to focus on those that can’t easily help themselves and could use some support – such as our youth, our animals and those struggling with mental illness. Today, Giant Leaps Creative is proud to support One Girl – an organization that is helping put young girls into schools. 66 million girls around the world are not in schools and could use our help to get proper education. Would you be interested in helping make a difference in a young girl’s life? If so, click here or the image below. Donations starting at just $10 can help supply items such as school bags, books, uniforms as well as even business training and school fees for years to come for these young ladies – part of our future. Find them on Twitter @onegirlorg.

This campaign was started by an organization that I really believe in: Rock Your Purpose Live (RYPL). Owners and business / life coaches, Nazrin Murphie and Leah Hynes are on a mission to help change the world by helping others create a life that matters. It only takes one drop, one ripple to move an ocean. You can access their FREE toolkit and get weekly inspiration and actionable tips direct to your inbox by signing up for their newsletter. Feel free to check it out! 

Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch, branding, T-shirt or invitation design? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Spend Kindness Like It’s Money, and Pretend You’re a Millionaire – LYL

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

What do you get when you cross an highly successful entrepreneur, a love of traveling and adventure, and a desire to help as many people as possible find and do work they love? Why Live Your Legend and the Dinsmore World Tour of course! Scott Dinsmore and his wife Chelsea are on a mission to spread the good word of actually enjoying what you do to earn a living, while hopefully even making a world changing difference. After I graduated from Scott's flagship course, How To Connect With Anyone, I got to know this amazingly inspiring man and we began working together to spread his message. The first assignment he gave me was creating the T-shirt that you see Scott wearing on his adventures all over the world for his year-long Dinsmore World Tour (and later the Live Your Legend signature flag that you see featured here). He and his wife Chelsea, who is a fantastic chef and yoga instructor, are holding dinner parties with as many Live Your Legend Chapters as they can find along their travels, connecting one on one with his supporters whose lives he's helped change for the better. 

If you would like to learn more about Live Your Legend, the Dinsmore World Tour, or would like to use any of the free toolkits you can find there, please click any of the links provided here to learn more. There is a wealth of information at his website and provided tools, as well as inspiring words of wisdom and hope for finding a fulfilling life doing meaningful work that matters to you. 

Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch, branding, T-shirt or invitation design? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Power Of One: Preventing Suicide in America Mission and Branding

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

Here at Giant Leaps Creative (GLC), we are passionate about helping support worthy causes in any way possible, including creating support materials promoting powerful missions. Power Of One: Preventing Suicide in America is an incredibly worthy cause that GLC has been helping brand and promote with various marketing materials, working closely with Alivia Tagliaferri – the director, filmmaker and good friend. I greatly appreciate the work she is doing, and stand beside her furthering this mission. Featured here is our four-color, tri-fold brochure, and media kit, stepped inserts (featuring our new logo) that were all produced via Ron Vermette at Tray, Inc. Ron came through efficiently, speedily and with a smile and great attitude when we needed him. Thanks, Ron for a great job!

Power of One: Preventing Suicide in America four-color, tri-fold brochure, and stepped media kit inserts, all printed with Ron Vermette at Tray, Inc.

Every 15 minutes, someone in America dies by suicide. This documentary explores the risk factors and features the people trying to prevent it. I would like to invite you to consider helping make the documentary film: Power of One: Preventing Suicide in America a reality by contributing even a small amount, such as $10 (by clicking here). Your donation is tax deductible, but you get so much more! Let's not lose more of our friends and family to suicide. Let's help prevent it! 

“The life I touch for good or ill will touch another, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops, or in what far place my touch will be felt. Our lives are linked together. No man is an island.”
       -- Frederick Buechner, “The Hungering Dark”

Here is Alivia’s description of her upcoming documentary:

Power of One: Preventing Suicide in America is a feature documentary about suicide and suicide prevention. The title and program reflect the profound impact we have on the lives of those around us. We feel this impact acutely when we lose a love one to suicide; we also feel its reverberations when one person helps prevent suicide. 

Power of One will address complicated root causes and contributing factors of suicide, but also share stories of hope, resiliency, recovery and prevention. 

Our focal areas include: 
• teenagers and young adults
• the LBGT community
• military service members and families 
• former sports players and middle aged men
• veterans
• senior citizens and elderly 

Her goal: Create an informative, insightful and nuanced documentary to be utilized as an anchor for national outreach to talk to Americans about suicide and suicide prevention.

_______

Thank you, Alivia Tagliaferri for your hard work on this documentary.

Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Two-Time Winner of the 21st Annual Communicator Awards!

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

I am honored and humbled to have been selected by The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts to receive two awards from the 2015 Communicator Awards. As stated on their website, “The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program recognizing big ideas in marketing and communications. They receive over 6,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes from around the globe, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world. They honor work that transcends innovation and craft – work that made a lasting impact, providing an equal chance of winning to all entrants regardless of company or agency size and project budget. If your work moved people, we want to give it a chance to take home a Communicator.”

Click the image to learn more about The Communicator Awards, enter your own work, or see winning entries from other talented participants.

I am incredibly excited to share with you that this very website – which first launched in October of 2014 – won the highest award: The Gold Award of Excellence for self-promotional website design. What an honor! This website was my very first foray into using the website building online application: Squarespace. I was pleased with the end results, the easy-to-use interface of the application, and the fact that their technology works incredibly well across all mobile devices. They also have excellent customer service. Whenever I had a question, they were quick with a thorough and effective answer. I have used Squarespace for other website designs since as well. I am happy to provide you with a free estimate for your next professional website design.

The second award that I was humbled to receive is The Silver Award of Distinction for custom-designed wedding invitations that I created for a heartwarming holiday event in December of 2014. The invitation consisted of an outer envelope with hand-done calligraphy by Phyllis Marton, three inserts (map, hotels and RSVP card and envelope) held together with a gorgeous ribbon, the invitation itself with gold backing, all sealed with a beautiful gold sticker. The inserts were carefully hand-cut for accuracy, and the ribbons lovingly tied by the amazing wedding planner, Jensina Olson. The main paper materials that I used to create the invitation were from an incredible company called Envelopments of which I am an authorized designer and dealer. As an added bonus for my clients, I can offer a 10% discount on their products for any event that you may want a special, eye-catching announcement – such as birthdays, baby announcements, holiday cards, special events, retirement parties or indeed, weddings and bridal showers. 

The ensemble of wedding materials included the invitation itself, the programs for the ceremony, menu cards displayed at the reception in beautiful frames, and earlier was the Save The Date Postcard. The inserts, program and menu cards were all hand-cut for accuracy and consistency. Click the image to read the original blog post about this project. 

Can I help create your custom materials for your special event or help you with your new website launch? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Are Business Cards Still Useful Today? Enter, GoSend...

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

I recently had the privilege of being tasked to brand a new company called GoSend for my friend and colleague Rich Rodgers, CEO – working under the parent company of TransitSystems – moving and shipping experts. GoSend is a new concept for offering affordable, competitive product purchase and shipping for foreign-based customers to ship to the U.S., using a tax-free Delaware warehouse to save their customers money. It is international shopping and shipping made simple, easy and convenient. Awesome!

To create this new brand, we focused on the international aspect and conducted research on the competition, as well as foreign mailing companies and branding. We wanted to create a feeling of trust and credibility in the customer’s eyes using GoSend’s convenient shipping services (versus the competition, that does NOT also offer the tax-free advantage). After much experimentation, we finally landed on a yellow, black and light grey logo with an international feel, featuring an arrow to indicate movement and efficiency. The rounded corners and dotted lines are reminiscent of European mailing services. We also were sensitive to using an easy-to-read, friendly font. 

Next came business cards. Rich really wanted his business cards to POP and stand out! After many design options were explored, we settled on these sharp looking cards, featuring silver foil stamping surrounded by black matte finish on the front, and clean, easy to navigate information on the back with icons for all of the social media and various contact information. We finished it off with rounded corners to coordinate with the logo itself. Boom! Instant appeal and great completed look. To achieve this final product, we used a company called MetroInk Printing in Staten Island, NY, and we were very pleased with the result. Thanks so much, guys!

Silver foil stamped, black matte finish on the front, four color printing on the back, finished off with rounded corners – all printed on 16PT silk card stock . Production by MetroInk Printing in NY. 

Recently, in an online forum, a colleague asked:

“Curious: what is your position on having business cards? Do you have them? Has it made a big difference to your networking capabilities? Or do you think most people just pocket them and never follow up? I think they are kinda old-fashioned.”

My answer:

“It was the first thing that I created when I started my business. I gave away the entire first box in a month. I place several of them in thank you cards, checks to vendors and keep them in purses and briefcases to hand out on the fly. The business card isn’t old. Mediocre, boring design is old.

Also, I have gotten clients via my business cards. ‘Old school’ people keep the cards and refer back to them, others give them to their friends as referrals, and I recently got a client in Europe when I sent her a gift with my card in it. Whoot! I get compliments on the design, so it’s good to make memorable, nice cards that stand out.”

Your business cards are often the first impression that you are making with a new contact – why not make a great one? Also, many of us don’t easily memorize names and website addresses upon first meeting someone. Your business card is a great way to remind them later after they get back to their office how to get in touch with you. Lastly, it’s a great idea to make notes on the back of a business card how you met that person, what you have in common with them, and any other pertinent information to keep handy for future use as you develop a relationship with your new colleague. Business cards are handy indeed and a valuable tool for your business as it grows. 

I invite you to contact me for a free estimate for your branding, logo and identity needs at any time. I am here for you when you need me!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Blind Painter Uses Touch and Texture to Create Incredibly Colorful Paintings

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

Recently, a very good friend of mine brought my attention to an amazing blind painter. Yes, you read that right! The man featured in this article, John Bramblitt, has been completely blind since the age of 30 (he started to lose his eyesight when he was 11 years old). Yet he creates incredibly vivid, gorgeous and moving works of art, despite his lack of sight. How is this possible? Read on or click any link or image to learn more.

John Bramblitt went blind in 2001 due to complications from epilepsy. “It wasn’t until a year after going blind that I began to figure out a way to be able to draw again. Basically what I do is replace everything that the eyes would do for a sighted artist with the sense of touch.”

Here are some highlights of the article that I invite you to read if you are interested...

“It’s easy to imagine blindness as a crippling disability that would end a visual artist’s career, but in John Bramblitt’s case, his blindness was actually what sparked his career as an artist. Bramblitt began to paint in 2001, when he lost his sight due to epilepsy.

Bramblitt is “functionally blind,” which means that his eyes can only differentiate between sunlight and darkness. Despite this, he has developed a novel way to paint – by using textured paints to feel his way around the canvas. “Basically what I do is replace everything that the eyes would do for a sighted artist with the sense of touch,” he writes on his website. “The raised lines take care of finding your placement on the canvas.“

“The first art shows that I did I never told anyone that I was blind. I didn’t tell people that I was blind not because I was ashamed, but because I didn’t want it to affect the way they perceived the art.”

So how does he do it? In his own words:

“When you break it down the eyes really only do two things for a painter; they allow you to know your placement on a canvas, and it allows you determine color. Over time I have developed different techniques that allow me to be much more precise when it comes to me laying down the lines. All of the bottles and paint tubes in my studio are Brailled, and when mixing colors, I use recipes… I will measure out different portions of each color that I need to produce the right hue.

The first art shows that I did I never told anyone that I was blind. I didn’t tell people that I was blind not because I was ashamed, but because I didn’t want it to affect the way they perceived the art.”

Such an inspiration! And also, I find his work absolutely beautiful, blind or not. I applaud his determination and trust in himself to create art despite challenging circumstances. Well done! I hope there is something here that inspires you as well. 

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

“Raves” Page & Thanks for the Support for GLC!

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

I hope that you are having a splendid week! I want to take a moment today to THANK YOU for all of the support and general wonderfulness that I have enjoyed as I have started my graphic design business that I run out of my studio. I recently completed a “Raves” page that celebrates the amazing testimonials that Giant Leaps Creative has received for recent work, as well as awards that I have been lucky enough to earn for recognition of my graphic design work over the course of my career. And I must say – I am humbled, delighted and just oh, so grateful for the love that has been bestowed on myself, as well as Giant Leaps Creative LLC. 

Click the image to check out the new “Raves” page. Featured here: Chelsea Dinsmore’s Cook To Connect program and accompanying online brochure. She was an absolute pleasure to work with!

Please feel free to check out the new page. And please accept my sincerest gratitude today and every day for your support, love, generosity, trust in me and the time many of you have taken to let me know that you appreciate not only my work here at Giant Leaps Creative, but the work of other artists and designers around the world for our contribution to society. 

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Winner of the 12th Annual SIAA Awards!

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

I am so proud to announce that my graphic design studio has been selected as a winner in the Twelfth Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards (SIAA). We have been awarded a Merit Award for my creative work on a custom-made, one-of-a-kind wedding invitation for a momentous event that transpired this past December 2014. The invitation featured hand-cut inserts, a hand-tied bow, a gold stamp for the enclosure and custom calligraphy (thanks to calligrapher, Phyllis Marton in NY) on all of the outer envelopes. The gorgeous paper was selected and ordered for the design from Envelopments – where Giant Leaps Creative is a featured design studio, as well as a dealer for these beautiful and diverse products. As a dealer, special discounts are available to you, my clients. 

Thanks goes out to Jensina Olson – who not only recommended me as the designer, but who also assisted with production, hand-tying every single bow. Thanks also to Cory Lynn Caulfield, a local painter, artist and novelty item designer, who assisted with hand-cutting the specialty inserts. Thanks of course also to the entire Eiseman family, who entrusted me with creating these materials to help make their special day truly a day to remember. I was honored to participate, including dedicating a special song in conjunction with Willem Dicke, an acclaimed musician and special event DJ. 

The custom-made, one-of-a-kind wedding materials consisted of the Save The Date postcard, the wedding invitation (with two inserts and the response card tied with a ribbon), the wedding program as well as menu cards – beautifully framed and set at each table for the guests. 

About the SIAAward:

SIAAWARD is the only advertising awards to specifically recognize the advertising achievements in the service industry. Many other advertising awards are dominated by consumer goods, packaged goods and other tangible products. The service industry is adding a significant contribution to marketing and advertising.

SIAAWARD recognizes the creativity and communication accomplishments of the service industry recognizing the best service industry advertisement, print communications, websites, TV Radio and electronic communications, and social media.

As a service industry marketing professional, the Service Industry Advertising Awards gives you the  opportunity to test your programs and content against the best in the country. A national panel of industry specialists will review each piece; judging creativity, marketing execution, message impact, technology application and innovation of content.

__________________________________________

Here at Giant Leaps Creative LLC, we are honored and humbled by being recognized by this prestigious organization for excellence in graphic design. I will be entering again next year! And I can’t wait for the opportunity!

Do you have a special event coming up for which you would like a custom-made invitation created? Please feel free to contact Giant Leaps Creative for a free consultation and estimate made especially for you.

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Curls: The Ultimate Book Collection – A Comic Strip by Carolyn Belefski

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

I have been hard at work in my studio working on many exciting projects! Some I will be sharing with you soon. In the meantime, supporting other artists is a highly important mission of mine as well. Today, I would like to feature a visual communicator, designer and cartoonist that I have had the pleasure to get to know recently, Carolyn Belefski. She is in the process of spearheading a kickstarter campaign to create Curls: The Ultimate Book Collection for her comic strip about adventurous situations of her imagined character – named Curl’s – and her gang of animal friends and a life-sized piece of toast. How awesomely creative!

In her own words: What Is Curls?

Curls is a comic strip written and drawn by Carolyn Belefski featuring a gal named Curls who dreams of adventurous situations that come to play in real-life with a gang of her animal friends and a giant piece of toast. The purpose of this Kickstarter is to collect every strip into a book which will allow readers to see the evolution of Curls—from a university newspaper to an award-nominated comic strip. The book will also include never-before-seen extras, including sketches and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the creation process.

If you would like to watch her video and / or would like to support her mission or even simply share a link to this post in your social media networks, Carolyn would be most obliged. Check out the link below:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/carolynbelefski/curls-the-ultimate-book-collection

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Epic Short, A Poem and Video – “Shoulders”

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

Happy Friday! A new globally-minded friend of mine recently brought this video to my attention. It is an amazing spoken word poem by Shane Koyczan. (<—— link to his page here, or also there will be some information below on Shane for those who would like to know more about this award winning, Canadian poet, author and performer). This video blew my mind when I first saw it, and I hope to watch it many more times to help keep me inspired, remembering all of the beauty that surrounds us everyday, and how we need to protect it. It is splendidly executed in my opinion and I love the artful way it tells an important and epic story. Very impressed. I love the illustration style as well. 

“There will be no other thing as worth saving as this. Nothing more important, nothing as precious. This is home.” 

Watch, share, and consider learning more about the #bluedot movement – supporting the right for Canadians to live in a healthy environment.

Everything he said was so true: we are Atlas, together we can make a difference. We have to be like the seed, not knowing the end result but doing it anyway. Many of us may not live to see the change, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t get started right now. We NEED to start implementing better systems, cleaner ways of doing things. 

Like Shane said, “Don’t f*ck with the bees.”

Even our oceans are in trouble.

This is also another thing we can be doing so that we don’t have to be eating the poisonous genetically modified foods.

Now for the information on Shane Koyczan:

I don’t know how many of you know about Shane Koyczan. For those who don’t know, Shane is a brilliant and profound spoken word poet. He became the first Canadian to win the Individual Championship title at the National Poetry Slam in 2005. Shane has published three books – poetry collection Visiting Hours, Stickboy, a novel in verse, and Our Deathbeds Will Be Thirsty most recently in 2012. Visiting Hours was selected by both the Guardian and Globe and Mail for their 2005 Best Books of the Year lists. Shane’s “We Are More” and Ivan Bielinski’s “La première foie”, commissioned by the Canadian Tourism Commission, were unveiled at Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on July 1, 2007. He performed a variation on his piece at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In 2012, Shane Koyczan released a full-length digital album entitled “Remembrance Year”, which “tackles abuse with courage and displacement with inspiration.” In February 2013, Koyczan released an animated video of his spoken word poem “To This Day” on YouTube and at the TED Conference. The poem focused on the subject of bullying that he and others had received during their life and its lasting effects. “To This Day” went viral shortly after its release, with the video receiving over 13.9 million views as of August 2014. If you haven’t seen it, consider taking a look.

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

Photo Magic: Manipulation and Editing

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

I hope you are all well and getting super stoked to watch the commercials this Sunday during the Super Bowl Game. What... you mean there’s another reason to watch the game? Not unless the Eagles are playing! (hey, you can take the girl out of Philly but you can’t take the Philly out of the girl). 

Previously, I had done a blog post showcasing my band’s new website that I had recently designed. I thought with this blog post, I would “lift the hood” so to speak on some Adobe Photoshop magic that was required to be able to launch the website showcasing the current band members. We had a very productive photoshoot several years ago with the incredibly talented photographer and artist, William LeDent, who captured the striking image below in a beautiful wooded setting in front of a gorgeous barn. I personally love this photo... What a happy crew!

Original photo with our former drummer, Dan, on the right in the shot. 

But alas, as happens with bands, we had member changes with the musicians. First, we found a second guitarist, Matt Rowan, to add to our lineup. And later, we needed to replace Dan as the drummer with Steve Synder. Given everyone’s hectic schedules and it being the middle of winter right now, we have not had time to schedule a new photoshoot, scout a location to do it, etc. So in walks Photoshop magic to save the day! The photo below shows how I created extra layers in Photoshop to begin “erasing” Dan from the photo so that I can seamlessly place the new band members over that area of the photo. 

Photo showing interim work of “making Dan disappear” after he decided to leave our band to pursue other dreams.

The photo below is the “After” photo showing the two new band members placed in with some color correction to adjust how the lighting is hitting their face and clothes. I also needed to add some shadows behind each of them to help make them look more incorporated into the photo. The template that I used in Squarespace for our new website at www.surrenderfriday.com has a tint over the main image, so that helps make it even more forgiving. 

Current photo on the home page of our website with Matt (our newer guitarist) and Steve (our newer drummer) “photoshopped” in. 

Once it gets warmer and we can get everyone’s schedules to line up, we will be replacing this photo with an actual photo of the entire current band all in the same shot, with proper natural lighting and shadows. But I love me some Photoshop to save the day when I need it! 

I’ll periodically share case studies of how I use Photoshop to create illusions that serve the task at hand. Photo editing and manipulation is one of the services that are available here at Giant Leaps Creative. Please feel free to us on Facebook for fun updates and free information about graphic design, marketing and advertising.

I hope you have a magical day! And don’t forget to try to pay attention to the commercials on Sunday as you watch the game! Hopefully there will be some great creativity there to inspire us.

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC

One Flag to Rule Them All – for Live Your Legend and Scott Dinsmore

Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,

Happy Martin Luther King Day! Today, I found this incredible excerpt about its meaning:

“Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America and the world at large. We commemorate as well the timeless values he taught us through his example — the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility and service that so radiantly defined Dr. King’s character and empowered his leadership. On this holiday, we commemorate the universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and nonviolence that empowered his revolutionary spirit.

We commemorate Dr. King’s inspiring words, because his voice and his vision filled a great void in our nation, and answered our collective longing to become a country that truly lived by its noblest principles. Yet, Dr. King knew that it wasn’t enough just to talk the talk, that he had to walk the walk for his words to be credible. 

It is a day of interracial and intercultural cooperation and sharing. No other day of the year brings so many peoples from different cultural backgrounds together in such a vibrant spirit of brother and sisterhood… This is not a black holiday; it is a peoples’ holiday. And it is the young people of all races and religions who hold the keys to the fulfillment of his dream.”

Live Your Legend Local, Buenos Aires, Argentina – January 15, 2015. “Amazing group of visionaries, entreprenuers, and most of all – supportive community!”

On this day, I would like to highlight Live Your Legend and its founder, Scott Dinsmore, who is on a one year quest to bring people together worldwide for one goal: To help others find and do work that they love, work that brings meaning in their lives and that helps them come alive. I highly support this mission, and I have had the privilege or working directly with Scott to help achieve this end using the skillset that we have here at Giant Leaps Creative.

In the exciting days leading up to Scott (and his wife Chelsea) embarking on their worldwide adventure, I created the Live Your Legend flag that you see in these two photos, as well as the updated World Map featured on the right in the Buenos Aires, Argentina photo. The map shows all of the Live Your Legend Local communities around the globe that is growing stronger every day! I would like to give a shout out to Banners.com who not only met the deadline of creating custom flags within a week’s time, they even delivered one day early to help make me look like a rock star! I am a big believer in brilliant customer service and meeting deadlines in style, both with my company and the vendors that I choose to work with. Thank you, Matt G. for service with a smile!

87 carefully selected items, 28.1 lbs into 1 carry-on fit for a year around the world. Full video and itemized list has been published on LYL! Click the photo to read the article.

Thank you for reading, and I hope that you enjoy today to celebrate living your dream. Have fun!

To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.

Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC