Graphic Design Tools Online Series : Stencil

If you are seeking to wow your customers then this Graphic Design Tools Online Series if going to do just that for you. This series comprises of graphic design tools online free and paid .

graphic design tools online 1 Graphic Design Tools Online Series : Stencil

Looking for graphic design tools online then you must check out this series of canva alternative, grpahic design online software to create images and graphics for your blog or social media.

This post includes affiliate link and I get paid a small commission every time someone decides on purchasing the product they found through me. However please know that all that i share comes from my honest opinion and I was not contacted by the creators of stencil for this post. 

You do not have to be a graphic design wizard or a pro any more to product awesome images and graphics online. Gone are the days when you had to go down the difficult route of spending hours struggling with graphic design softwares no there are plenty available online for free.

Today I am introducing you to Stencil!

No more spending hours on youtube trying to learn complicated programs to accomplish your everyday graphic design needs. Stencil is a very simple and intuitive platform that in my opinion is exact rival to Canva. Sometimes there are hidden gems found if you only know where to find them!

Ok so What exactly is Stencil and how this can take on place of your regular graphic design tool online?

59111310993fc Graphic Design Tools Online Series : Stencil

Stencil as your online design maker

Create sleek images for social media posts, ads, blog posts, and more, plus organize your designs with custom collections. It doesn’t matter if you are a graphic designer, a personal Virtual Assistant or a Novice Blogger. We all know that sometimes the most time consuming part of doing business online is the creation of continuous graphics and we are always looking for free graphic design templates. 

As soon as you login you are presented with a clean and professional interface that is much similar to Canva but in my opinion if Canva is still complicated then you might want to take a look into using Stencil. The interface is much cleaner and there isn’t much “noise” should you choose it to be your online design maker.

graphic design tools online Graphic Design Tools Online Series : Stencil

Alternative to: Canva, PicMonkey, and Venngage

While Canva, PickMonkey and Venngage are great tools on their own Stencil can be your simplest alternative to any of these. The interface just comprises of free graphic design templates that you can edit with ease. There are a collection of quotes and icons library making it real easy to create something if the tech side of online graphic design tools scare you.

Quick and easy graphic design tools online

So the fun part here is that if you are a Social media marketers, bloggers, and content teams looking to make awesome graphics in less time then you are at the right place check out the video below with some detailed explanation by people at Stencil

5910c34f8768a Graphic Design Tools Online Series : Stencil

Creating high quality graphic design and images is a breeze with stencil You can access gorgeous stock photos, dope templates, clean icons and graphics, artsy filters, and Google fonts that transcend Comic Sans (plus personal fonts you can upload).

design your own picture online for free Graphic Design Tools Online Series : Stencil

Create amazing graphics instantly

Use various filters, icons, filters and fonts to create amazingly creative graphics instantly! And whoever you are ready you can share your creative work directly to social media. While you do that fear not the graphics will be saved to your library to be accessed later. This means that you can create graphic design templates that can be used over and over again.

stencil2021 1 Graphic Design Tools Online Series : Stencil

Seamless integration and posting to social media

This one feature I swear can save you tons of time and while I was using Canva it really bugged me that their posting to social media feature is kind of wonky. When you edit the design it edits the scheduled post as well. Say what?? Well at the time of writing this post if they have made an update to this particular feature then kindly let me know !

5910f78636c25 Graphic Design Tools Online Series : Stencil

So when you are done with creating a graphic design maybe for your blog post or your product offers, then you can directly choose to post it to social media.  The social posting feature allows you to post to facebook , twitter, pinterest, instagram and guess what Buffer! . Now this is interesting as if you have access and direct add it to buffer you can schedule it to be posted across all your media profiles which ofcourse is another story!

Images are sized accordingly ! what else would you need?

591111027f105 Graphic Design Tools Online Series : Stencil

Web browser connectivity an added feature

With add-on options for Chrome and Firefox along with a handy WordPress plugin, you can make magic right in your browser instead of waiting on slow process-heavy programs

design Wizard

Say what? Install the WordPress Plugin and create images from within WordPress as you create posts

WordPress Plugin

Install the WordPress Plugin and create images from within WordPress as you create posts.

Safari Extension

Add the Stencil button to your Safari toolbar and start creating images from anywhere.

Firefox Add-on

Add the Stencil button to your Firefox toolbar and start creating images from anywhere.

Chrome Extension

Add the Stencil button to your Chrome toolbar and start creating images from anywhere.

Get a live preview of your masterpiece before publishing it to the world!

59111fca144e0 Graphic Design Tools Online Series : Stencil

2020 New Year Resolution ideas Start With Reviewing 2019 Here is how !

I just cant believe that this is 5th year in a row that I have recreated the Year in Review Planner and upgraded it for a brand new year ! . This exercise is so much powerful that it literally has the power of changing your course of life. Once we take time to look back and review the past year having a birds eye view our next steps clearer and easier to understand.

This about it ! if you have a GPS system of your life , or you are seeking a way to get to a destination in your life you need to enter two positions. Where you are coming from and where you are going . Now ofcourse you have dreams wishes and desires that define your big vision and that define who you are. But when you stop and look back you will find Gold nuggets that will help you understand which path best suits you.

The past is not there to linger upon and it is not there to fret and cry about our mistakes , it is there to define what is coming our way and what can be ahead. When you review your past your decisions of past become lessons of future. Your failiures become your lessons and your wins help you discover who you are and what you can be.

For the last 5 years I not only review my year at the end but I also take care to use the same process to review each quarter.

Over the years many have downloaded and use the same year in review planner and they have totally loved how it sets the foundation for the coming year.

Click the button download to get yours. 💗

yearinreview2020setgoals1 2020 New Year Resolution ideas Start With Reviewing 2019 Here is how !

What they aren’t telling about selling Art Online

Disclaimer : This post was written almost 3 year back, obviously I was in a mode of anger and resentment and was hurt at the time. Things have completely changed over the last three years.  3 coaches for mindset and business development and many self improvement and Business Masterminds down I am sure of myself more than ever before. This incident gobbled up 3 years of non creative time, spent under depression. I wish today’s me would go back and shake me out of this trauma a bit sooner. I am leaving this post up for a lesson for other artists and in hope that someone might find it useful, but know that everything happens for a reason. I was pushed towards a route of self discovery following this and today I call myself successful and thank this event in my life and for the life lesson it brought me.

For years I believed that selling Art is an easy task , which ofcourse I was led to believe . Somehow , some where and by someone.

I have no idea.

BUT I believed that all you had to do is to come with a creative idea that is brand spanking new and create something around it . Enjoy creating it , create it from the heart, throw it out in the world , get praised and that’s what creativity is all about.

I nailed it, I was led to believe by the praises that I got for my work that I nailed it .It was easy for me to wake up to a new day create something new and just be content with it.

For years I believed that,  I am a very creative person and that I can easily sell my creativity. Now a belief deep rooted like that has two sides of it , either, you become over confident. OR , you get so lost in creating new Art that you entirely forget about selling side of it.

But wait here is another downside of this

You confidently give your art in the hands of “trusted” source to be sold “For you ” and on your behalf.

But what they aren’t telling you about selling Art Online is that you must know your rights and besides just knowing your rights , you must also know HOW they can ” Trusted” sources can go about cheating you.

I got badly cheated and stabbed on the back by an Art Licensing agency. Who took my art and took advantage of a “Line in the contract” that “really meant” something which ripped me off “MY RIGHT” over “My Work”.

To this day since last 2 years I have NO IDEA how many copies and products of my art have been sold by this Agency and they continue to do so. My emails were answered back for a while for the initial time of my protesting but not for so long.

As a result the Artist within me had a jolt !

I mean the deep initial jolt that really shook my creative side and I was unable to draw or create for a period of 2 years. Damn two years, I found myself lamenting about not being able to create something or anything.

I felt suffocated ! the artist within me screaming …….the ideas and creativity both abandoned me….. I was left alone.

I found myself struggling to find help trying to find the root cause of “not being able to create anything”.

Struggling to create something , anything !!

All this while the creative side of me screaming at me from inside , trying to break free , come out and like Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fearir?t=asmaamurad 20&l=am2&o=1&a=1594634726 What they aren't telling about selling Art Online says

” creativity screams to come out through you and if you don’t listen to it…. it will go and look for some other souls to bring it into realization”. (Read in detail here )

Dozens of ideas , failed to see the daylight through me found new souls those who listened to them and brought them into realization.

Ironically it is really painful to feel an idea banging against you screaming to you for realization. And then comes a time that you can feel them fading away.

Gone…….

And then suddenly you come across that creative idea, making bad faces at you, cause they found another outlet . Another creative soul who respected them enough and shaped them out.

I am a bit of an empath, ideas when they come to me they just come in bunches and no being able to transform them into reality really feels painful. I fought for a long time with the inability to create anything, inability to “Birth” these ideas. Failing at it , painfully seeing them adopted elsewhere.

I paid a heavy price for not listening to my intuitive sensitive side , burdening it with the “betrayed acts of trusted body”. I wasted 2 creative years of my life . Hell dozens of ideas knocking at my creative door and then finding other homes……..

Fighting it I tried “OTHER” arenas to bring my ideas and creativity to reality only to find being “betrayed” once again. Well thats another story for another day………

Today I find myself waking up from this burden of betrayal by someone else. And I wanted to start my journey by letting go of the pain of betrayal, and come out of the black cloak over my creative side.

And I am compelled to share my journey and the struggles of the two years and the process that helped me overcome that in hope that someone else might find a way out of un-creativeness a bit sooner than me.

With less scars left over the creative soul……

In the coming posts I hope to share how you can too come out of it if…..

[mailerlite_form form_id=3]

 

 

Project Planner Or Goal Setting Worksheet : Planner Tour with Free Printables !

I have a confession to make , I had always struggled with the “just right ” planner to do everything for me . And I have always printed tons of pages from everywhere in search for just ONE planner that will streamline everything in my head hoping to get the perfect Goal setting worksheet.

I had always been looking for , buying , printing “Just the right” planner. And I love how creatively designed planners are out there. But I’m sorry dudes and dudesses (is it even the right word?). None served the task of planning out this blogging graphic designer , who is an artist.

So what did I do ? You know me I designed my own version of goal planning worksheet. Maybe it wont fit requirements of many of you who are like me . But for me it work like a charm. I have been 80% more productive after starting to do this goal planning exercise along with finding my focus workbook.

[Tweet “Want to know how I plan my goals? I share my printable goal planning worksheet here!”]

My personal workflow for projects is this baby , but I will admit , I rarely use the monthly , weekly and daily pages included in this. But I did include them because I know there are many who will love it.

I have shared this planner before on the blog  but now I wanted to give you an updated walk through ,So lets get working , I will walk you through my goal planner system and let you download each section of goal planning worksheet as we move forward.

Why would you even need a project planner

Goal_planner_2016

Let me be clear here , YOU MUST ALWAYS , sit down before you even start working on a projct , yours or someone else’s . And walk through visualizing its completion. You will be amazed that if you only go through this planner , even if you decide to through these planner sheets out the window , into the trash . This planner would already have done its job. that is to make you visualize the project you are getting into.

[Tweet “This is how I plan my projects Step by Step Weekly and daily”]

You will have a clear understanding before you start
If you are working with a client you will know before you even start that which section might need some client input . You can note it down and send to client to start working on that section before you are at it.

So basically this goal planning worksheet or project planner whatever you need to call it walks you through project visualization.

Lets get started

Out of your mind and onto the paper!

GET THE FULL GOAL PLANNING WORKSHEETS HERE

[Tweet “Printable Goal Planner pages that simplifies your life Just Get it DONE!”]

Project Planner Supplies

You might need the following supplies if you are a neat freak and one who likes to manage their lives better. I have linked them to external source so should you decide to get the best out there , it is easier for you to get it.

Lets start the walk through.

THE COVER

The first thing is the cover , many binders have a pocket to slide in the cover page , but if yours does not have then dont worry you can either paste it over the front of just leave it . But “it looks pretty”.

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

Download it here

DIVIDERS

I will suggest that you print out the dividers and then either have them managed as Sections or projects. What i mean by this is

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

Download here

For projects.

Print the divider with the project name and insert it where it belongs . And then print the goal planner pages , its phases pages and then monthly pages. Insert these in the projects section. While in the end of the who planner binder you can insert monthly and weekly and daily tasks sheet.

[Tweet “The One and only project planning system that works Get it FREE“]

For Sections

You can print the dividers and name them as sections , that is , Projects , Monthly pages , Weekly pages , Daily to-dos.

I personally prefer Projects way of managing it, but it is totally upto

Brain Dump page for GOALS or project

You are your master , think away! dream big
This is the master goal planning worksheet if you have multiple projects and goals that you want to accomplish. Just print this buddy out , and write down your goals in a big picture. You can also include personal goals , relationships , financial goals or projects just get everything out of your head and onto the paper.

[Tweet “Get stuff done! out of your brain onto the paper! #dreamcatcher”]

brain-dump-page01

Download this Brain Dump Page

PLANNING

STEP 1

Get working on the planning now . Now take the notes out of your brain dump pages and write them more clearly with some key dates! . These are your Yearly goals , these can be spanning to 5 years to, this is all ok!.

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

STEP 2

You will be taking ONE goal to the next step that is use the goal planning worksheet page to break it down. This is where things get more fun. You will be now focusing on ONE goal and breaking it down into its time frame and timeline. Give it a time mapping it out to 12 months if needed. This way you have a clear understanding of when you need to get it done.

One yearly goal is broken down to 12 months with a due date , then to 6 months , then 3 months , 30 days and finally 7 days . Key is to start thinking backward and visualizing that what you must have achieved by 30 days , 3 months or 6 months.

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

STEP 3

Goal Planner To-Do tasks 

Next lets break it down to further to-do master list which will consist of further breaking it down and focusing more on next job to do ahead.

You will break down your goal span of 12 months into phases now , refer to the goal planning worksheet above and then dump to-do tasks . Track your progress and give yourself even smaller goals by filling in “By the end of phase 3 I will have ____”.

[Tweet “Break down your projects into Phases this is how….”]

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

STEP 4

Monthly planner pages

Moving on to now monthly tasks. Once you have mapped out the tasks now you can just totally forget about next 6 months and 12 months and just concentrate on the next month. Use the tasks pages to fill out your current month plan.

This monthly planner page can handle 3 projects so you get a birds view of the current work plan. How neat is that!!

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

STEP 5

Monthly Tracker pages (Bonus)

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet to track daily habits . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

This  system also includes tracker pages , so if you are working on a social media task and want to map it out or your blogging habbit OR just your water intake this is your planner page to go!. Print as many as you like.

STEP 6

Daily and Weekly planner pages (Bonus)

Included are daily and weekly planner pages as well which you can use to plan out your day to day tasks . I suggest that you fill each day out at night so when you wake up you know where to start your day from.

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

I have never found something as useful as this weekly goal planning worksheet . Just print it out and add your to-do tasks and get them done!

PS: COPYRIGHTS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS SYSTEM IS MY OWN CREATION PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR REDISTRIBUTE I HAVE SPENT DAYS CREATING THIS PLANNING SYSTEM RESPECT THE CREATOR , NECESSARY STEPS WILL BE TAKEN IF NEEDED

BUY MY GOAL PLANNING SYSTEM

 

3 Steps to Focus and get more done

Our brain is merely a muscle that we strengthen to have more things done in a day. It is entirely upto you to sharpen its powers in the right direction and as a result get more done in a day.
and the good news is that you really do not need any training from outside to unlock the potentials of the brain to be more productive. You do not need some expensive help to unlock its power.
There are some simple exercises my friend that you can start right now and today to get the most out of your day. Be more creative and as a result be more creative.
My biggest challenge had been to concentrate not on million tasks at hand but to do one bit at a time.
Although my Goal planner workbook did help me towards streamlining my project planning . But these simple exercises help a lot.

So my creative challenge for you today is to channelize your brain to its creative potential and as a restult get more stuff done.

This post will show you how to…

  • 1 – Explain a simple mediation exercise to begin your day with
  • 2- Keep track of your progress and help you commit yourself to a project and project tasks.
  • 3- Help you create a list of tasks that will help you work towards your bigger goal.
  • 4- Help you find the perfect tool to track your project tasks.

lets jump in and see what you can do TODAY to get more creative focus.

1- Mediate

Meditation is an approach to training the mind, similar to the way that fitness is an approach to training the body.different meditative practices require different mental skills.he easiest way to begin meditating is by focusing on the breath — an example of one of the most common approaches to meditation: concentration.

In a concentrative mediation you need to focus on one single point. This single point can be watching the breath , repeating a mantra , listening to a repetitive gong or counting beads. In this way of mediation you just need to refocus on the way you are mediating and come back to it again and again , caliming everything else down.

A very simple mediation exercise that you can do right away is just to close your eyes. Take deep breaths .
Breathe in and breathe out and concentrate and just try to listen to your own heartbeat and your own breathing sound. Avoid listening to any of the surrounding sounds.
Slowly relax your muscles and take your brain to a place which is calm and you are the most happy at.

The one thing that you can do today is to commit to yourself that you will be mediating everyday for a few minutes. How this helps is that sometimes we are stuck in everyday mayhem and a few of the tasks just stick to our part of the brain that is taking actions.

Mediation will help you find the clarity about which tasks requires more attention and which tasks you can leave  for later.

In the workbook i have a added a simple tracker that you can just tick mark everyday so you can keep a track of it and dont forget to give your mind a little break.

2-Work on a to-do list

As simple as it might sound having a to-do list and a proper one is a task in itself. For years i wandered the internet looking for the perfect to-do list. I pinned a lot to many to-do lists and printables. I printed too many , i worked on too many until it dawned to me that every person has his/her own way of doing things and you cant really follow someone else’s printable to-do list . But you must have a system that helps get the tasks done efficiently that resonates to your own personality.

I found this system in form of my goal planner which works for me fine. Basically just follow these simple steps to get things done following a to-do list.

1-Write down your big focus and give it a logical date
2-Break it into three steps
3-Break each step into tasks.
4-Prioritize tasks and write them down with dates.
5-These smaller tasks will become your weekly goals .
6-These weekly goals are your achievable to-do lists.

Start writing them down and marking them off as you go forward towards your big focus.

3- Use tools to find your focus.

As crazy it might sound but sometimes you do have to return to the technology to find a focus to really stay away from the unfocus that it brings .

Confusing? yeah it is ! but really here are a few tools that you can find online which can crazy help in finding your focus.

  1. Use Focus at will 
  2. Mindmeister  to laydown your plan of action
  3. Trello to manage your tasks
  4. Evernote to save links for reading later
  5. Get an online app to track your block of times.
  6. Mute your gmail with inbox pause

DOWNLOAD FIND YOUR FOCUS WORKBOOK

BONUS TIP To get more done:

use a Start – Stop – Continue method every now and then
here is how you do it

  • Stop: What am i doing that slows down my creative process?
  • Start: What can I Start doing that would increase my creative outcome?
  • Continue: What should I Continue doing that is bringing me returns.

 

Keeping track of your daily tasks bit by bit helps you work towards your ultimate goal . The most important thing is to focus of one thing at a time. If you are unable to focus on a single task today you wont be able to move towards your ultimate goal. The trick is to overlook the overwhelm and focus on a bit at a time.

This works for each and every aspect of our lives. For all the roles that we play so you might need to focus on one Role of yourself at a time. Here is the final breakdown.

Focus on one of your roles at a time. Use the worksheet to write down the big focus for that particular “you” . write down your weekly then daily tasks . Repeat for all the roles that you play and then eventually refer to all these roles and find a clarity of what needs to be done today.

Happy finding your focus friends!

Got questions? Want to share an idea? Leave a comment down below!

 

Project update: Coloring Book for Adults “Color to Glee”

So i have been working on a little project of mine these few days , due to which i haven’t been able to post much Vector tutorials on this blog as much as i would love to and as much as i would like to . I present to you my coming up Coloring Book for Adults.

Adult coloring pages

But i thought i will take you along with me on to my next artistic journey and share some moments with you .

coloring-book

I have been doodling and drawing and while doing that i also concentrated on creating more art for Artlicensing . I would like to share with you one of my drawings that you might like to color if you are a fan of coloring pages.

Coloring Pages and coloring books for adults have become a sort of therapy aid . It really helps clear the clutter out of your mind.I have tried using to-do lists , Chore lists for my kids , planners and some of the apps available for project management but the connection to hand to paper is always the best healer.

I have worked on a few drawings and then took some time out to color them and found them quite engaging and releasing a bit of stress.

So from my first batch of new drawings below is one of the pages from adult coloring pages.More of the coloring pages (2)

I hope that you enjoy coloring it as much as i did and i will be sharing next coloring page as soon as i enter my next phase of project .

Download 4 Free Coloring Pages from Color To Glee Coloring Book for Adults

 

 

Free Things to Do notes Printable

 

prev01 Free Things to Do notes PrintableWhen it comes to organizing stuff , i can be an organization freak or the messiest girl , the messy girl when i am creating 🙂 and while i working on a project that i love i really really forget what to do next OR what needs attention ! Yikes! , anyway i created these Printable Things to do notes with some hand doodled sock monkeys (don’t ask why sock monkeys :))) ) . you are invited to Download , print and organize yourself!

prev02 Free Things to Do notes Printable

FREE Printable Kids Chores List– Kids need some Directions — Get them busy! —LIFE ORGANIZATION

I had tons and tons of work in my hand , my house chores are piling up while i type, doodle and color … and then it just hit me ! i have an eight years old and the other is six they need some directions at-least let them do their own jobs!.

I must OutSource my House Chores now it is high time! been baby feeding them for too long….
While searching for Chores list i came across a very nice image and list by EcoKids but the link was no longer available and there were tons of people asking why the site is down.
So i doodled… again ….. and created this list for my kids.
I am glad to share it with you , there is a pdf file with blank place for what chores you want to place this can be edited either through pdf writer or by printing out then adding.. totally upto you!
I hope you this will help you as much as this was for me……

Kids Chores list printable pdf file print at home

Kids Chores list printable pdf file print at home

Author:Asmaa’ Murad
Web site:Aifactory Graphics
Software: Adobe illustrator
Category: PatternsTextures 
Terms of use: Show Info

This is a PDF file you might need Adobe PDF reader to open the file.

Check out more freebies on my blog

prev-party
Click on the image above to download daily planner pdf printable file

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