Happy Leap day everyone! Are you enjoying all the leap-tastic puns flying about today? I know I am!

With today marking the final hours of the NettioDesigns 1st Anniversary Celebration, it seems only fitting to end this month with a post sharing a few of the lessons I’ve learned from my first year as a digi designer/blogger/business owner. This year has definitely been one crazy learning experience for me so I hope you find some of these tips helpful.

Lesson #1: You’ll work harder for yourself than anyone else.

Ask any small business owner and they’ll tell you the same thing. When the entire success of your big idea falls on your shoulders, it can be tough to take a step back and relax. Even more so when you’re passionate about what you’re doing and your work life is but a few small steps away behind the computer screen. But ultimately your business needs to work for you, which means no matter how passionate you are, you need to make time to relax because being burned out and overwhelmed is no fun.

Lesson #2: A little planning goes a long way.

What natural type-A business owners don’t tell you is that managing yourself is hard. When you’re setting your own deadlines and working from home, it can be WAY too easy to convince yourself that watching that Price Is Right marathon is a good idea. Which is why having goals and a plan is key and if you can find an accountability buddy to keep you on task even better. I’ll admit I am still in the process of figuring out a system that works for me but I have no doubt that the times when I’ve planned out my blog posts or kept my to-do list up to date, everything has run much more smoothly. And less stress equals better work from me.

Lesson #3: Things will always take longer than you expect.

That timeline you planned out? Double it. Or triple it. Because despite your best intentions, you don’t always know what you don’t know until you’re in the midst of a project and as Adam likes to remind me, no plan survives first contact. You’ll be thankful for the extra time when something unexpected comes up.

Lesson #4: The best person to be is yourself.

When you’re out and about in the world wide web, it can be SO easy to start comparing yourself to everyone else and think you’re never doing enough. But the reality is the reason people come to your site or check out your work is because of YOU. Looking back through my archives, I know that the blog posts or the projects people love the most are the ones that are 100% me. So put your head down, go with your gut and be you. Your right people will find you.

Lesson #5: I have the bestest hubby in the whole world.

So it’s not like I didn’t know this already (he does do all the cooking around here after all), but after all of the support and encouragement Adam’s given me this past year, I can easily say I am one lucky girl. Not only has he been patient with all the late nights and weekends, but he’s been there to share his thoughts, offer a helping hand or a boost of confidence. He’s offered hugs during the frustrated meltdowns and helped me celebrate the victories no matter how small. I have no doubt this would have been a much tougher adventure without him by my side.

And so with that, I’m about ready to call this 1st Anniversary Celebration done-zo. But first we have some winners to announce…

The Show Off Your Scrapbooking Awesomeness Winners!

Four lovely ladies entered our Show Off Your Awesomeness Contest and I have to say, it was SO fun seeing all your layouts! But without further ado here are the winners…

Our 1st place winner is…Denise with this awesome take on my free Oh the Places We Go layout. As a child who also spent many a summer vacation traveling around in a car, I loved her tribute to that spirit of travel and adventure. I especially love the way she shrunk down the template to fit on a single page and added all the fun text into the states.

And our runner up is…Stephanie with this fabulously creative take on my Single Temp No. 4 Photo Focus template. I LOVE the way she flipped and scaled down the template to use as background for all those gorgeous papers. And an AAM at that? That’s extra bonus points right there. Stephanie will be receiving $15 to spend in the Shoppe!

Congrats ladies! Way to go showing off your scrapbooking awesomeness! I’ll be emailing you about your prizes later this week. And a huge thank you to both Amy & Nanette as well for being brave enough to enter the contest. I’ll be emailing you a little something too. 🙂

And with that I’m ready to bring this 1st Anniversary Celebration to a close. It’s been fun but I more excited than ever to see what this next year has in store!

Just reminder that there’s only a few more hours to save in the Shoppe so if you’re wanting to get something, you won’t want to delay. Sale ends tonight 2/29 at 11:59ET!

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