Articles Tagged with: holiday cards

Get So You Can Give

Our new Holiday 2014 Cards Unveiled above and available NOW on Etsy!

Get so you can give…. I know your probably thinking; don’t I mean the opposite?
No. I’m talking about putting your air mask on first.
I’m not talking about being selfish, I’m talking about nurturing yourself so that you have everything to give. I’m saying to focus on tuning in, charging up your batteries and filling up your bank account so that you can give your time, energy and gifts to others; after you have enough to fund and fuel yourself.

I think that having a mentality of abundance BEFORE that paycheck comes in, having the faith that everything will work out and not feeling like the victim is key to having the life you want to live. I know it’s hard, but you have to trust that things are only given to you that you can handle and so that you can grow from those experiences.

I was not always in the position that I am in now, and I am only half way to where I really want to be. However, I have learned that in getting stuck in the lack mentality brings more lack into your life. Likewise, having a mindset of abundance, a feeling that there is more than enough to go around, a trust that we will be taken care of and provided for in the grand scheme of things, and a knowing that if I / you get something – that does not mean there is LESS to go around. There is an infinite supply of LOVE, MONEY, TIME, HAPPINESS, SUCCESS and anything you could possibly imagine. To believe that these are commodities that are scarce leads to the fear that “there is not enough for me” or that “there is not enough for others if I get.” This simply is untrue.

Has time ever stopped? Is money not being printed right now? Does the success of one person mean no one else can succeed? If someone is extremely happy, does that mean that no one around him or her can be happy? Have the banks of Love ever run dry. No. Of course not. You may have thought at some point in your life that a person you love, was the owner of ALL of your love, and you could never love again after that person. When time went on, as it always does, you discovered you could love again, maybe even more than you ever thought possible. This is true with having children I’d imagine. You have no idea you can even love MORE than you ever have, and yet – you do. Love does not run out. You must just continue to tap into it. Everything is possible if you unlock your mind and heart to the possibilities that are out there for every one of us.

Give love to yourself FIRST, if you feel you are not getting the love that you want. Give time to yourself FIRST, if you feel you do not have enough time for others. Invest in yourself FIRST, so that you have the riches to give to others after your boat is afloat.

Don’t forget this, and don’t forget to put yourself first in these ways because you are no good to the world if you do not love yourself, if you don’t make time for yourself and if you don’t invest in yourself.

Scrap the defeatist attitude; scrap the victim mode (if you are taking that up), choose to believe that these energies are plentiful, abundant, ever flowing and continually changing and reinventing themselves. Choose to take ownership of your life, your happiness, your success, your time, your love and your world. The holidays are coming. You have the power to live in an abundant world, if you only give to yourself first.

As always,
Hope this inspires you.
Xoxo
Emily

www.etsy.com/shop/EmilyBrickel
www.EmilyBrickel.com
♥ www.EmilyBrickelIllustration.com
www.blog.EmilyBrickel.com

Follow me on Instagram @EmilyBrickel

NEW Holiday Cards available now on Etsy

These and more styles!!!

September 18, 2014

I like the way you WERK it! My top 5 tips to the Perfect Hustle + NEWS

Illustration of Style Blogger @SomethingNavy

The update:
NY Fashion week has come to a close and it’s all about the hustle. Now take a trip with me (virtually of course) to, London
Milan, then Paris for more fashion shows galore. September should basically be called fashion month, and omg can’t wait for the day when I can go to all of them!!!!

I’m working on some illustrations of my favorite looks that I’ll share with you soon!! In the mean time – here above is an illustration of style blogger SomethingNavy. Check her out on instagram and her NYFW look. I am loving it.

What’s coming:
I really don’t know what it is about September that forever is engraved in us “back to school” and “back to work”. I feel like September should be the real start of the calendar year – it is the start of the New Year, in the Jewish religion anyway. But it’s more than that, it’s the beginning again of everyone’s hustle, the last few months of nice weather before everyone hibernates for the winter months, or is bombarded with holiday soirees – whichever comes first!

I don’t know about you all but I’m feeling super productive.
I am super excited about all the projects I have coming up including a 2015 Illustrated Calendar, Holiday Card sets, Custom Holiday cards, and first of course – Halloween cards! Stay tuned for so much more to come here and on my Etsy account!!! Many more colllabos and projects in the works and…. Some really exciting news::::::

NEWS::::
Behold… an Illustration and jewelry collaboration!
Emily Brickel x Chloe and Isabel

Check out the brand new illustration I did for hot Jewelry company Chloe + Isabel!!!!! It is so exciting to get to work with a brand like this because as it turns out, I am obsessed with their jewelry. I got a few pieces in the mail and they are sick! I can’t stop wearing them ( show photos) and I had the chance to actually create a customized shop with them where I can share my favorite jewels with you – and YOU CAN PURCHASE THEM through me! Click here to check it out.
You can now access this link through this illustrated ad on my blog which will be on the top right hand column! Along with… ahem, ahem,…. Three new illustrated buttons to help you easily navigate around my site. Check it out!!!

These pieces look even better in person believe it or not and everywhere I go I am getting stopped on the streets with compliments and people literally grabbing my jewelry and asking where I got it! Woah.

Here are some of my favorites:

More illustrations in the works that I can’t wait to show you!!!

Anyway – back to the blog:

It’s all about the hustle.
Here are my 5 top tips to getting your hustle on and making waves!

Don’t forget YOU are the temple. Your body is the wheels that run the whole ship so you have NO hustle without your health – make sure to take care of it everyday. Work out, meditate, and take “me” time. You know this is my best advice. Your cup will runneth over to all the places you need it to go!

Stay organized. The less time you have to spend looking for that piece of paper, that business card or your keys – the more time you have for everything else. If you have big dreams – organization is KEY. It is a time saver and a lifesaver. Invest in the small amount of time it takes to set up your organization because in the long run it adds up to many valuable free hours. No system is perfect and I am always looking for the latest and greatest ways to stay organized, but do what works for you and update it as you go.

Put your game face on. You gotta show up with GUSTO. When you meet anyone new, when you try something you’ve never done before or when you are just ready to show um what you’ve got – put your best foot forward. Dress the part, educate yourself, be prepared and get excited (but not tooooo overly excited – I need to check myself here sometimes lol!). This is your moment to convince others of what you already know – that you are MADE for this ShizNit and you are ready to make some moves. Your game face can consist of a smile, the outfit that works perfectly for the situation at hand, and a notebook or your notes section of your smart phone. Remember names, make eye contact and be your authentic you! Others will take notice.

Ask for help. If you are overwhelmed – ask for help. Rome was not built in one day and it was CERTAINLY not built by one man. Reach out for advice, help or tips. You will be surprised what you will find.

Support others. Give that help right back to anyone that needs it. When you create a giving situation, more will come right back to you. The world is such a small place and you needed help at some point along the way! Don’t forget that! There is way more than enough to go around so never feel like giving to someone means less for you. It is quite the contrary. What is wrong with supporting and empowering other women (or men) in your field? Wouldn’t it be a much nicer place to live and hustle if we all supported each other’s success? Don’t get jealous, don’t put anyone down and know there is more than enough for all of us. Building others up really builds you up too in the long run.

That’s it for my blog this week! I hope that didn’t overwhelm you – I know that was a lot of information but I can’t help but be so excited!!!
Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to click around my site, and email me if you are interested in early custom orders for holiday, or even some jewelry (can you believe that!?)

Hope that inspires you to up your hustle!
Tell me all about it at Emily@EmilyBrickel.com
Xoxo
Emily

www.EmilyBrickel.com
♥ www.EmilyBrickelIllustration.com
www.blog.EmilyBrickel.com

Follow me on Instagram @EmilyBrickel and my new account for all things fashion illustration @EmilyBrickelillustration

November 21, 2013

Your Deepest Desire

So as you know I have been listening to Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey’s daily meditations on The Chopra Center 21 day Meditation Challenge and this one is about desire and destiny.

One of the day’s meditations asks you to question – “What is it that I really want?” and Deepak says, “Your heart knows the answer.”

So what if that’s true, if your heart really knows the answer to your deepest desires then why are some of our dreams still left unfulfilled?

It is because we are afraid to go deeper. We hear “What do you want” and we answer with our ego… a car, a big house, a designer bag, a great relationship, a successful career. But we need to go even deeper. Why is it that you want these things – because the things will never make you fulfilled even after you get them.

The truth is we all want some sort of intrinsic need to be met; to feel loved, to express our creativity, to be heard, to feel important, etc.

When you get down to the core of what you really want you can base your dreams and your plans on satisfying these needs.

Epicurus said “(It is) not what we have, but what we enjoy that constitutes abundance.”

Here is a quote from the meditations that really hit home with me. “Our desires are a force of nature that can’t be denied. You are here to fulfill a purpose, your desires are clues that lead you directly to the expression of your destiny.”

Pursue what captures your heart. Trust in your desires and use it as a map to fulfilling your dreams.

Even I feel like I am not expressing myself fully – even after I write my weekly blog, create my weekly illustrations and work for myself and on my client’s projects, there is still so much more to express. I still feel like there is a part of me that I am holding back on. If I feel this way, I’m sure one of you must feel this too. What is it that you are holding back on?

I am making a commitment to myself to rediscover how I can fully express my creativity and I know things are on the way but I am making a change in myself to really dig deeper than just the hit of inspiration – to take more risks and to give more of me to all that I do.

As my mentor Gabrielle Bernstein has said: (and she has really changed my life if you haven’t noticed) “People ask me if I like the person I have become, …. And I reply that it is not the person I have become, but it is that I have become more myself.”

I hope this helps even one of you get at least one step closer to fulfilling your dreams! Go with in.

Hope that inspires you!
xoxo

Emily

Screenshot 2013-11-21 01.04.24

November 23, 2012

Black Friday Weekend Sale!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Black Friday and happy sale weekend!

25% off Coupon code below!

Double your happiness factor this Thanksgiving all weekend long!

The effects of gratitude can be overwhelming and Thanksgiving is the time to have it. This year we have tons to be grateful for, surviving the Super Storm Sandy with our lives, maybe even our homes, and if we were really lucky, maybe even our belongings. Others were much less fortunate and if you are reading this now, you are blessed with a computer, Internet, heat, electricity and more. You may have family who love you, are healthy, you yourself may be healthy, and have enough finances to provide these things. Maybe you have a few of these things or maybe you have much more. Maybe this year is better than last. Maybe last year was better than this, but we are still fighting the good fight. We are still here and alive. While we may not all be billionaires (yet), we are among the very privileged to not be living on the street or living in a war zone.

Taking the time to be really grateful for all of these things, and the bountiful feast we are about to take part on for this Thanksgiving holiday. It is important for ourselves, for our family and as Americans.

Being grateful will shift your mindset when you are running low on energy and feeling stressed over the holidays. Yes we all have tons of things to do, maybe tons of things to cook, to organize, travel arrangements to uphold and more. Perhaps your family is or will get on your nerves.

Take a five-minute break and through these times of stress remember what you are grateful for. Write it down if you must. If you are feeling really down, and this can be done any time of year; set your alarm clock for 5 minutes and write down all that you are grateful for. You can read this right? You can see, you can hear, you can smell, your arms and legs may or may not be functioning, you may or may not be in full health. You have a roof over your head, you have a lot of things to write down on your list. If you are alive, celebrate that. Continue your list until the 5 minutes are up, read it through and this is scientifically guaranteed to boost your happiness quotient. After that share some smiles to strangers or lend a helping hand.

Although Thanksgiving is the time to be grateful, we should remember to be grateful all year round. Get yourself or someone else a Gratitude Notebook. Decide that in this notebook you will only write positive things, affirmations, goals, dreams, what you are grateful for and your progress. Refer back to your notebook entries anytime you feel down.

“Give that which you wish to receive.” Deepak Chopra. Give love to get love, give gratitude and respect to get gratitude and respect. Give compliments and well wishes and receive it back. If you are feeling down, help someone. Make someone else feel better. It can be as simple as sending holiday cards like these – send gratitude to those you love and write a quick note about what they mean to you.

To share my gratitude with you for subscribing to my newsletter and for supporting my dreams and my journey, I am offering you a Thanksgiving Sale discount this weekend!

Get notebooks, holiday cards and custom illustrations all 25% off this weekend for Black Friday, Small business Saturday, Sunday and Cyber Monday get 25% off with discount code: ThanksgivingSaleWeekend2012 on www.EmilyBrickelIllustrations.com

And if you so desire, I would love it if you wrote an email back to me about what you’re grateful for and how I can serve you better!
Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope that inspires you!

Xoxo

Emily

November 21, 2012

How to survive the holiday season stress free:

Click here to get these holiday cards! www.EmilyBrickelIllustrations.com

1) Think in ADVANCE!!!! – Yes I know this whole blog post may be coming in advance – but yet Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I repeat TOMORROW. Yes that means Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are this weekend. So this blog is actually rather timely. Use these steps in advance to get you through the holiday season un-scathed and ready, willing and able to enjoy in the holiday fun!

Think about these things in advance:
Holiday gifts you will give. Now is the time to actually read your catalogues and check off some items for your holiday list. Add it to an actual list, (no a checklist in your head does not count) – I like an excel sheet. Add a budget for each person and a column for what you will get them. If you don’t know yet leave it blank. If you can get gifts for every body on your list from two or three stores only or order them online together you will save time and money on taxes from repeat trips.

Plan meals, outfits, hairstyles, makeup or what you will bring to a party in advance. Everybody knows that when you wait to the last minute you don’t serve up your best. This is generally because you don’t leave yourself enough time. I am the queen of this, well until this year since my 2012 new years resolution was to think more in advance and OH the wonders it is already providing me. I am much happier and I am more proud of myself every time I do anything even a little bit more in advance. Better still, I can give more of my best efforts. This allows you to be more creative in your projects, say holiday décor or pie baking. You can put more love into something, or actually get things out on time, say your holiday card notes. You can even wear something that you look and feel good in and maybe have a plan B outfit incase you don’t like it that day; This will make you feel soo good, instead of running out the door in a rush, not completely confident in your wardrobe decision. Remember, when you don’t feel comfortable in what you are wearing it can be completely distracting from your fun and relaxation.

Buy Holiday cards and Thank you cards in advance. This is true for birthdays and other occasions as well. I’m talking a month or so in advance. This way you get the best of all the options out there, get what you really want, have time to write them and send them out or have time to wrap your gifts in a really fun way. When the stress of the actual holiday gets here you won’t have to frantically run to Wallgreen’s to get a card making you late and frazzled. (Been there.) Check out my website for some awesome holiday card options.

2) BALANCE it out! Your diet: Ok so every year for the holiday season I waittttt for the sweet potato pie with marshmallows on top, the pumpkin pie, apple pie, any kind of pie really. A la mode? Even better. Desserts and homemade holiday pies are totally my thing. And I will get seconds. Oh. Yeah. Thirds? It will cross my mind.

Now, I definitely don’t want to gain any weight right? I ate really good all year, I worked out and want to look skinny for the holidays coming up (Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, Valentines, oh my). So what’s a girl to do? Balance it out.

The weeks before the holidays I try to eat really clean and healthy. Clean to me means only foods with one ingredient in them like: Chicken, Steak, Veggies, Fruits, Rice, Potatoes – only things that are naturally grown and 100% unprocessed. For sweets I like dried dates (they look gross but totally squash my sugar cravings) and they are only 150 calories for 3 of them. Other desserts: yogurt with no added gunk in it, with honey and berries! Yum. Snacks: bananas, apple sauce. Drinks: Water, water, water, an occasional glass of wine, tea, maybe a chai latte with coconut milk.

Take some extra days in the gym – tack on 2 extra days or 2 extra hours a week AT LEAST so you can pre-game your body to enjoy in the holiday calorie yumminess and not feel guilty or gross.

Your work: Take on some extra hours at the office, get some projects done in advance (if this is ever at all possible), and work your little butt off so during the holidays you can disconnect from technology and not feel guilty about taking your days off. Plan social media in advance but don’t forget to take lots of pictures to upload to your instagram later at night!

Your head space: If you know or think you know the day will be full of stress, take the morning to spend an extra 5 or 10 minutes in your morning meditation, take a yoga class, a walk or a nice long coffee break. Clearing your head at the start of the day will help you manage the stress and commotion later in the day. You will feel better and be able to get through any possible mishaps with a clear head and a non-defensive attitude.

Hope this helps and inspires you to get ahead of the game and enjoy the holidays this year.

**The holidays are really about family – so taking these extra steps will ensure you wont get carried away in the stress of the “packages” and material things. Your mind will be focused on the priorities.

What’s that? You don’t have time for this? Well you will have less time later on that’s for sure. As my mentor Gabrielle Bernstein says when people tell her they don’t have time to meditate, “Do you have time to feel like crap?”

No thanks! Well spoken Gabby!

Hope that inspires you!
xoxo
Emily