DIY: Citrus Printed Towels from Dulcet Creative
Today we thought it would be fun to share some content from our blog. We love to blog about some of our own personal creative outlets!
A LIFESTYLE “DIY” PROJECT FOR ANYONE
Contributed by previous Guest Editors, Kayla and Amber of The Dulcet Creative
Hey Established California readers!!
Today we thought it would be fun to share some content from our blog. We love to blog about some of our own personal creative outlets like crafting, cooking and travel. Here is one of our most recent summery DIYs we think you may enjoy!!
There is something so fun and addicting about pulling your paints out and getting a little messy! This week we are sharing with you how to make your own hand painted dish towels. This was such a simple little project but a great way to dress up an ordinary item in your kitchen.
What you will need:
Plain white dishtowels
Fabric paint
Paint brush
Lemons or limes
What to do:
Cut lemon or lime in half and allow to sit out for about an hour to dry out.
Lay your dishtowel out on a flat surface.
Dab the fruit with fabric paint. Cover the entire surface lightly then go back and add extra paint to the areas you would like to highlight like the rim and the triangular ridges.
Practice a few times on a piece of paper to make sure the pattern looks right.
Press fruit stamp onto your dishtowel.
Hang to dry!
Wash the towels before using and enjoy this bright new summer-filled accent to your kitchen!
Simple Styling Tips from Dulcet Creative
Amber and Kayla here of Dulcet Creative! We are here today excited to teach you a few simple styling tips that we’ve learned this year that we hope will help you with styling your images. Styling is a tool with unlimited possibilities.
Hey Est. California Readers!
Amber and Kayla here of Dulcet Creative! We are here today excited to teach you a few simple styling tips that we’ve learned this year that we hope will help you with styling your images. Styling is a tool with unlimited possibilities. If you’re a business you can use these tips to help you create a cohesive visual presence and help people to get to know you and your products better. If this is your first time souping up a shot, this will guide you through. In time, you’ll get faster and more daring as your styling mind develops! The end result will be beautiful, creative photos that not only showcase YOU, but also provide attention-grabbing images to show off in blogs, social media, newsletters or anywhere you find a promotional photo op!
#1. Choose your colors:
Choose one or two colors to weave through your scene in order to keep a cohesive visual harmony throughout your image. Choose your colors according to the message you want to convey. If you’re looking to create a fun, summer look, then use pops of bold color here and there to make a statement and use neutral colors for a more mellow, understated look. While there are times when all white on white can be visually striking, it is also fun to look for backgrounds that create contrast. So a pale colored food and plate gets a dark background whereas a vibrantly colored dish tends to be best with a simple white background.
#2. Keep it fresh:
You will rarely ever see a scene that we’ve styled without some kind of fresh element like fruit or greenery. Adding those pops of flowers or plants will breathe life into your images.
#3. Liven things up
Get a few work-in-progress shots. Bringing hands into your scene will add a human element that makes things more personal and real.
#4. Create Balance
Start simple and add more props for complexity. Play around with different lines, varieties of dark and light colors, lights and shadows, and so on until you find what you like. Your main focus will be to balance the different elements in order to create a pleasing aesthetic to the eye while keeping everything consistent with your brand and products. As always, trust your judgment and continue to step back and reassess to continually get a sense of what emotion you are looking to evoke.
Don’t be afraid to play around with white space. Set your props around the edges, or corners of your picture. This comes in handy if you ever put text over your images for website or blog purposes.
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Getting Started is the Hardest Part
You hear people say it often: “Getting started is the hardest part.” Whether it is in reference to a diet, working out, a project; we can mostly agree that getting started on anything that puts you out of your comfort zone is no easy task.
After going to school and starting our “grown up jobs”, we both felt this mutual desire for something more. We dreamed of a place where we could use our talents and our passions to their full capacities, a place where we felt as though we were working towards something bigger than ourselves… We dreamed of being a part of a creative community that would challenge and inspire us. We were searching for something that we could not find and our response to this was to create it for ourselves. After deciding on the name DULCET which is sometimes defined as sweet, we coined this dream life of ours as “the sweeter life”.
Today we are truly living “the sweeter life”. We have both quit our jobs to pursue DULCET full time and are thrilled to say that our careers reflect our passion for the first time in our lives. We are finally doing what we truly love. Like most good things though, it hasn’t come easy. We want to share with you a little bit about the trials and frustrations that we experienced in the beginning of our journey and equip you with some of our tips for success if you are in the process of starting your own.
You hear people say it often: “Getting started is the hardest part.” Whether it is in reference to a diet, working out, a project; we can mostly agree that getting started on anything that puts you out of your comfort zone is no easy task. Procrastination, perfectionism, insecurity, fear and apathy are just a few of the issues we had to face when launching our business. What began with wild excitement could have easily ended in devastation if we didn’t learn how to deal with these frustrating barriers to success.
We realized quickly that starting your own business is like volunteering to take a ride on an emotional rollercoaster. For every tinge of excitement you feel there is a load of fear of the unknown that drops on your head like an anvil. For every all-nighter we spent dreaming about the exciting possibilities ahead of us there was a day full of troubleshooting web coding and trying to translate what the tech support representative was explaining to us on the other line. We spent days questioning ourselves and were constantly questioned by others as we tried to put our vision into words and paint a picture for people about what it would look like when we were finished. We got crazy looks and responses like “well… I hope that works out for ya” with a questioning shrug. We were not always supported in our pursuit. Then throw in a dash of insecurity and an aptitude to constantly compare yourself to the incredible talent in the world around you and you are questioning your dream of making “the sweeter life” your reality in no time.
We say all this not to scare you straight but to give you a fair warning about what you are up against and to let you know that if you feeling a little worn out or lost in the chaos; you are not alone.
After months of brainstorming, idea mapping, planning and strategizing, we ultimately came to the conclusion that if we waited until we had every detail of our business figured out than we would never get started. So we gave the perfectionist side of our brains a break and we just jumped in full force before all of our ducks were in a row. Looking back now, that leap of faith we took was the absolute best decision we have made this far.
So now, one year in, we almost feel like we are past the starting line. We have sharpened many of our skills throughout this past year and have added a lot of new ones to our skillset. We survived the trying first few months and would love to share some things that we learned in the process!
If you are considering pursuing a new endeavor:
1. Don’t do it alone.
Accountability is key. Use a friend, spouse or loved one not only as a sounding board for your ideas but as an accountability partner that will hold you to your commitments and help you to follow through with your ideas.
We had each other to keep motivated and without that we know for a fact DULCET would not exist today. There is power in numbers, people!
2. Write it down.
The ideas, the lessons, the doubts, the concerns, the triumphs; document it.
The beginning, like we said, is a whirlwind of emotion filled with highs and lows. Writing was a great way for us to sort through the web of ideas and feelings that was bombarding our minds.
3. Simplify the dream.
If you are anything like us, you are the visionary type. We get a thrill off of BIG, unthinkable dreams but the thought of doing the tactical work required to bring the vision to life makes us shudder. Take as much time as you need to slowly break down the big goals into small, realistic daily tasks. Once you have simplified the dream, half the battle is won.
4. Don’t compare yourself.
It can be so hard not to compare what you are producing to someone who is more experienced, has a clearer vision, has more cohesive branding or a larger following than you. There is a constant temptation to compare and that will always exist unless you have found a way to overcome that completely (fill us in on how to accomplish this if you have mastered it!) but for goodness sakes at least give yourself a break when you are just starting out!!
5. Be Positive!
It sounds cheesy and so obvious but it is way easier than you think to get down on yourself and go negative. We can’t tell you how many times we exchanged text messages to each other that said something like:
“WE ARE AWESOME… WE GOT THIS… WE CAN’T LOSE!!”
It became our little joke to be overly dramatic about every minor triumph throughout the process but in the end, it became something that was so necessary for our success. We pumped each other up and spewed out pep talks as much as possible. It brought us closer and made the whole process so much more fun.
If you are considering pursuing a new endeavor, we hope these tips were helpful and if you have any questions on this topic please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@dulcetcreative.com!
Love love love,
Kayla & Amber
Meet Our July Guest Editors, Kayla & Amber of Dulcet Creative!
We couldn't be more excited to announce our July Guest Editors for Established California! Meet the ladies behind Dulcet Creative, a company that celebrates the artists, the creative minds and the small companies that are doing big things.
We couldn't be more excited to announce our July Guest Editors for Established California! Meet the ladies behind Dulcet Creative, a company that celebrates the artists, the creative minds and the small companies that are doing big things.
When we first started chatting with the ladies of Dulcet Creative, we instantly fell in love with these two unique, fun and beautiful women. Co-Founders, Amber & Kayla, began their company just one year ago and have grown so much. So this month, they are joining the Established California family and sharing their California lives with you all.
Hey Est. California Readers!
Amber and Kayla here of Dulcet Creative! We are thrilled and honored to be selected as the guest editors of Established California for the month of July!
It was one year ago this week that we launched our business Dulcet Creative. We had absolutely no idea what to expect or where it would lead us but looking back, we are so glad that we took the plunge into the great unknown because it has been one of the most memorable and rewarding journeys of our lives thus far!
We started Dulcet with the desire to promote and celebrate artists, inspired minds, creative entrepreneurs and small companies who we believe are truly doing BIG things. We have always had a natural desire to CREATE and over the years we have become deeply passionate about creating, capturing and sharing stories…. which is exactly what we get to do for our clients today! As visual storytellers, we work to help refresh our client’s brand image through photography, styling, set design and creative direction. We also run a blog where we share stories of people who inspire as well as snippets of our daily creative endeavors! This past year, our passions and our careers collided and ever since our lives have never been the same.
As guest editors, we are thrilled to be sharing with you how we got started, some key lessons that we have learned in the process and some content from our blog!!
Follow along with us on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest!
Love love love,
Kayla & Amber
