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Squarespace

Where I tackle Squarespace related FAQ's, SEO, Squarespace hacks and more. 

Portfolio

A behind-the-scenes look at the Squarespace sites I've launched or am currently working on.

Digital DIY

I like to share what I'm learning when it comes to building a website, DIY design, and social media.

Creativity

I've been interviewing a bunch of photographers, painters, print-makers, illustrators, writers and musicians about what goes into completing a creative challenge. It's been an incredible process!

Instagram

Instagram is by far my favourite place to hang out online. It's also an incredible tool for marketing your business. Here you'll find interviews, inspiration, and tutorials.

Photography

Follow my photographic adventures (and mishaps). 

Handmade

Things I'm making. Hint: There's a lot of indigo!

Hello! I'm Claire. I get really excited about making stuff, and helping other people make stuff. Its all here in this blog. More about me over here. 

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And just like that the muted pink tones I have been working with for the last few weeks have moved over to make room for bright bold turquoise 🐬 On a totally unrelated note, I’ve been looking into some client management software lately, and came across something called ‘Cushion App’. It’s a project management tool especially for freelancers (vs teams) and what I like about it is that it lets you see all your projects at once in colour coded chunks of time. It’s not terribly fancy and doesn’t have all the bells and whistles but I quite like it so far. It’s helping me track actual time spent on projects (vs imagined time which I tend to do as then underestimate how much work I put into a project) 😳 Can anyone relate? Do you use a paid project management tool, or your own custom system, or a mix of things?
I’m love the flexibility my work allows me. In fact, it seems totally surreal!🤷🏻‍♀️Right now I have the privilege of being based in Rio, while working with people in Ontario, Joburg, Cape Town, Berlin, Durban... and Southbroom. Southbroom deserves a mention because I’ll always be a small town girl at heart. 😂💕🌊
It’s always a good reason to celebrate when a site goes live! ‘Ooh Lulu’ is a Cape Town based events, venue and coordinating company who are all about nostalgia, romance and creating lasting memories. You can check out the long scrolling one-pager at www.oohlulu.co.za 🥂🎉🙌🏼
What podcasts are you listening to? I tend to come back to Andy Pizza’s “Creative Pep Talk.” Always such good material, excellent food for thought and super practical tips on how to dig deeper into creativity, how to find your gifts, and how to build a balance between making stuff you love and earning a decent living. If you haven’t found them yet, I highly recommend all his stuff. 🌿🎉
Just wrapping up a wedding + events related website. Some of my favourite things about this project have been working with beautiful moody images, and partnering with design whizz @biancabouverie on the branding side! 🎉 A simple, beautiful one-page Squarespace site coming soon...
I have to thank @thecreativespacewithsonja for sharing this on her Instagram today. It really spoke to me and has helped me through the day. I realise how often I steel myself to “struggle through” a creative sticking point, but this phrase pretty much stopped me in my tracks. I had to ask myself, “Does this have to be hard? Or am I allowed to enjoy the process? To have fun?” I wrote it in bold across a big piece of paper and kept looking at it. Deep breath. Keep going. Let it be light. Let it be easy.
I spent such a lovely weekend pottering around the historical town of Petrópolis, once the seat of power in Brazil, home to the Imperial Museum and the oldest brewery in the country. How was your weekend? ⛪️
As someone who builds Squarespace sites for a living, I get a lot of questions about the platform. People ask me things like: * Is Squarespace any good? * Why should I use it? * Why would you recommend it? * What are the capabilities? * Is it cheap or expensive? * How does it compare with Wordpress? * Is it safe, or will my site be hacked? I decided to gather the top questions people ask about Squarespace and try to answer them all in a blog post. [Link in bio]
For many of my clients the most challenging part of a website build is not necessarily the website itself. It’s the process of defining who you are, who your target audience is, what your services entail and how you want all of that presented online. It requires focused thinking, writing, rethinking, editing and discussion. And it’s helpful to have someone outside of your circle guide you through that process, which is what I find myself doing more and more of these days! Here’s a site I worked on with a New Zealand based NGO just as they were starting out. You can read more about them on my blog or visit the site on www.envisagenow.org
Do you have any ‘go-to’ things you do when you feel creatively stuck? My top three things to do when I feeluninspired, blocked, or bored are: ⏰ Set a timer and tell myself I’m only going to work for ten more minutes. Somehow that one works, and because I’ve taken the pressure off myself to finish something, it feels kind of freeing, so I end up working in a more concentrated fashion. ☕️ Have a cup of tea. It might be the tea. It might be the act of getting up to do something different, but either way it helps get my brain out of a rut and thinking a little differently. 🚶🏽‍♀️ Go for a short walk. Getting outside, breathing in some fresh air, or just observing little interactions around me do wonders for my productivity levels. 🍃 What about you? Anything you rely on to get your mind and creativity going again?

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And just like that the muted pink tones I have been working with for the last few weeks have moved over to make room for bright bold turquoise 🐬 On a totally unrelated note, I’ve been looking into some client management software lately, and came across something called ‘Cushion App’. It’s a project management tool especially for freelancers (vs teams) and what I like about it is that it lets you see all your projects at once in colour coded chunks of time. It’s not terribly fancy and doesn’t have all the bells and whistles but I quite like it so far. It’s helping me track actual time spent on projects (vs imagined time which I tend to do as then underestimate how much work I put into a project) 😳 Can anyone relate? Do you use a paid project management tool, or your own custom system, or a mix of things?
I’m love the flexibility my work allows me. In fact, it seems totally surreal!🤷🏻‍♀️Right now I have the privilege of being based in Rio, while working with people in Ontario, Joburg, Cape Town, Berlin, Durban... and Southbroom. Southbroom deserves a mention because I’ll always be a small town girl at heart. 😂💕🌊
It’s always a good reason to celebrate when a site goes live! ‘Ooh Lulu’ is a Cape Town based events, venue and coordinating company who are all about nostalgia, romance and creating lasting memories. You can check out the long scrolling one-pager at www.oohlulu.co.za 🥂🎉🙌🏼
What podcasts are you listening to? I tend to come back to Andy Pizza’s “Creative Pep Talk.” Always such good material, excellent food for thought and super practical tips on how to dig deeper into creativity, how to find your gifts, and how to build a balance between making stuff you love and earning a decent living. If you haven’t found them yet, I highly recommend all his stuff. 🌿🎉
Just wrapping up a wedding + events related website. Some of my favourite things about this project have been working with beautiful moody images, and partnering with design whizz @biancabouverie on the branding side! 🎉 A simple, beautiful one-page Squarespace site coming soon...
I have to thank @thecreativespacewithsonja for sharing this on her Instagram today. It really spoke to me and has helped me through the day. I realise how often I steel myself to “struggle through” a creative sticking point, but this phrase pretty much stopped me in my tracks. I had to ask myself, “Does this have to be hard? Or am I allowed to enjoy the process? To have fun?” I wrote it in bold across a big piece of paper and kept looking at it. Deep breath. Keep going. Let it be light. Let it be easy.
I spent such a lovely weekend pottering around the historical town of Petrópolis, once the seat of power in Brazil, home to the Imperial Museum and the oldest brewery in the country. How was your weekend? ⛪️