Auntie Pea's Blog

{ New Blogs & A Sale }

This will be the final post here on the typepad blog. I am thrilled to be moving to a wordpress blog officially as of today so from now on you can find me HERE. Between client blogs I'm sure I'll be making some fun changes over there as I learn more and more about the little gidgets and gadgets of wordpress. The toughest part about the decision to move though was the possiblity of losing some readers who might not follow so PLEASE if you've got me in your bloglines list or rss feeds add the new address so I don't lose ya. ;)

In case you missed in the last post I also set up a new blog specifically to talk about blog designs that I'm working on and just blogging in general. I'd love for it eventually to be a great resource for people just starting blogging or looking to add a little pizzazz in their posts so stay tuned for tutorials, links to blogging goodies or helpful tools and previews of the blogs I'm working on.

And out of my frustration over a little glitch at etsy I'm going to run a free shipping sale on my etsy stuff for today and tomorrow only (thru 10/23). For some bizarre reason etsy is adding shipping to their invoice but not charging it at checkout through paypal so for the next two days instead of hasseling with a separate paypal invoice for shipping I'm just going to waive it. Hopefully by tomorrow night I can find out once and for all what's causing this little glitch. Any etsy seller's out there with tips I'd surely appreciate it.

I've also added some new tunes to the blogpod recently and keep forgetting to mention it. Some good stuff on there so check it out and let me know what you think. :)

{ Mood Alert }

Found these little cards here and filled one out digitally Friday night.

 

Feeling a little better now but it's been a rough week. Seeing a grandmother who was always so strong and independent become so frail is tough. Seeing her casket carried to the gravesite next to my grandfathers by my brother and cousins was even more difficult. But to be honest I think it's entirely different circumstances that made the loss of my grandma this week particularly difficult. Circumstances that I chose for myself that I don't regret but that seem to emphasize otherwise bearable feelings of being alone. The email from my mom letting us know that Grandma had peacefully passed on came late Tuesday night after any friends that I could call had already gone to bed. Going to bed alone each night is a lonely feeling anyway but it's emphasized when you could really just use a hug. Going home to an empty house after the visitation Thursday night was equally emotional for me, emphasized by a severe storm (which I normally love) and tornado warnings nearby (which is a bit scary when you're in a 2nd floor apartment). I live alone by choice so I'm not looking for pity. I just want to remember what this time in life was like for me and this is my only journal so those of you who read unfortunately get the bad with the good.

Fortunately there is good to share too. I'm feeling better today. Wishing there were 2 more days to the weekend. But I got to spend alot of the day yesterday surrounded by the most adorable nieces and nephews on the planet. Sharing tiny cookie bites with Ainsley, watching Isa wink, cuddling with Selah in the nursery and getting one of the world's best hugs from Paige just a few of the good bits.

And I haven't even blogged about me new sweet baby niece that I got to hold for quite awhile Thursday night. She was such a honey. This is Gracyn Kay. You can see lots more pictures of her here.

Off to work today and then working on blog designs tonight. I decided it was time to start a separate blog to post about the design stuff. I felt like it was sortof taking over this blog. So if you are interested in what's going on in the blog design part of life you'll find all that here from now on. I have a lot of ideas for this new blog including links to fun blogging tools, advice on posting, tutorials and of course posts about the current blogs I'm working on. So, the following is the last (well, last regular) peek at a blog that I'll be finishing up hopefully tonight...

And finally a fun little quiz that I stumbled across and had to check it out for myself. I think it was right on for me. Funny cuz I really never think of myself as having an accent. Apparently mine is an Inland North accent. What's yours?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
North Central
The South
The West
Boston
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Have a great Monday.

random and with no sense of direction

So, blog updates... the fun banner I posted over a month ago IS indeed for my dear friend Jayne. Shabby Juls got it right. :) Jayne's got some fun things to add to the sidebar area and then we'll make some minor adjustments but for the most part it's done and it's absolutely one of my favorites so far. If she hadn't liked it I'd have used it for my own. :)

And then one that I did awhile back that I can't believe I haven't blogged about before was for a little shop in Oklahoma City called Basiques Boutique. It's owned by the sweetest mother/daughter team and I'm thrilled that they're going to actually start selling some of their gorgeous items online so stay tuned. Here's what we came up with for the banner using one of their gorgeous wall paintings. How fun is that?! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another blog that's not quite finished but close enough to show is Jo-Anne Coletti's. She paints gorgeous rose paintings and has recently released a CD of digital scrapbooking papers and elements. It was fun to use some of her own elements in the design. One thing you might notice about her blog is that I'm now offering the complete custom design package for blogger customers. Pretty exciting since I've had a number of requests for that. :)

I've got 3 blogs that are in their final design stages of pulling everything together and coordinating with the client on sidebar items and I've got a few that I'm waiting for feedback on their initial banner design. (A couple that were sent out over 2 weeks ago so I'm hoping they're just on vacation or something and not trying to figure out how to tell me the banner is not at all what they were looking for. LOL)

I also have been wanting to switch my blog over to wordpress for a LONG time and finally decided to take a weekend (and it took the better part of an entire weekend) to learn wordpress once and for all. I had just gone through a very discouraging situation with a client where I almost decide to hang up my blog designing hat. An idea that I had that I thought would be a fun option to offer to future blog clients, one that I'd put a lot of creative energy and work into was given to another designer and it just sucked the fun right out of this designing stuff. I don't get a lot of original, completely-not-done-before, creative ideas and this was one that I was pretty excited about. What made me even more happy was that the client was super excited about my idea too. Well, now the credit for that fun idea will go to another designer. If someone is interested in having a fantabulous about page done for them I am more than happy to haul out the fun ideas with all the bells and whistles that I have now stashed away in my little creative cabinet but I don't think I'll be advertising it as an ala carte option for now because I don't want it to appear that I'm copying someone else's creative idea. Sooooo, instead of continuing to feel abused and taken advantage of I chose to let the situation motivate me to learn more aspects of this blog design world and find something different to offer.

So this is my new home on the web and I'm SO excited to start offering full wordpress custom design and setup option to clients. What's AWESOME about wordpress is that there is no monthly fee for it and it's incredibly customizable. Like crazy customizable. I can't wait to play around more with my own design but for now I'm just tickled with little things like how fun the comments icons are and how nicely they show up right after my signature. It's the little things like that that can totally make my day. :)

So here's the current pricing for the various blog design options. I'll be finishing up the blogs I'm currently working on by this weekend so if you're interested in a custom design e-mail me or you can fill out the questionnaire here. Not to sound like an infomercial here but these are introductory prices and will likely change after I've had a chance to realize (as I often do) that I'm only making about 50 cents an hour on these projects. LOL I will also be likely increasing the prices of the design options in blogger and typepad but until I have time to make those changes on my website pricing page you can jump in on the current rates. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kay, infomercial over. :)

I saw this little photo project posted by Rachel awhile back and since a word immediately came to mind AND I have a fancy little remote for my camera I decided to join in. You can see lots more here.  But yeah, I'm beat. So if you decide to jump in on the photo project send me a link so I can check out how you're feeling. :) 

I also feel inspired, motivated and blessed so it's not all bad. :)

So here's my current balanced to-do list:

I decided that my to do list template needed a little updating. Still balanced, just different. I uploaded the new template so you can grab it here if anyone's interested.

And then I joined in a little challenge at one of my favorite blogs and they posted this little list of girl-power questions yesterday.  Here's mine. :)

1. Name - Shawn
2. Pink - Love it or Hate it? love it
3. Signature shade of lipstick, lipgloss, etc. - pink gloss (little bit sparkly)
4. Do you have a best girl friend? I have many - the VERY best
5. Do you have a woman mentor? not that I can think of
6. Are you a woman mentor to someone else? I highly doubt it
7. Tomboy or Princess? Princess
8. Favorite Girl Band can't think of a girl band but favorite girl artist - hands down Sara Bareilles
9. Are you a mom? Do you want to be one? just to pixel and actually no
10. Do you and your mom have any rituals? not that I know of
11. Fashion magazines - yea or nay. nay
12. Do you have a feel good outfit? do feel good shoes count?
13. Have you called your grandma or special aunt, or special older lady lately? saw my grandma for the last time Friday night
14. Signature Scent? angel although I rarely wear perfume
15. Favorite female tv character I can't pick a favorite
16. Favorite place to hang out with gal pals? a good chick flick with popcorn
17. Did you ever ditch your girl friends to be with a guy? Do you still? I'm sure I have
18. Friend you call when you need a laugh? Jayne
19. Friend you call when you need a shoulder to cry on? Jill and/or Nikki, depends how late it is. :)
20. Have you reminded your friends of how much they mean to you lately? not nearly enough

Can you tell I'm trying to make up for a month of not blogging? Kay, back to work and then dinner with Jill tonight and funeral visitation for my grandma. Tomorrow is the funeral and then I'm looking forward to a rather quiet weekend and catching up with out-of-town cousins. Back soon with some photos of recent sewing projects and hopefully an etsy store update.

Have a great day!

{ Remembering Grandma }

I remember...

Summers at the Conference Grounds and her firm belief that the black sand on the beach was caused by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Saint Helens. I'm still not buyin' that. Or how the water in lake Michigan could basically cure any illness or rash, especially poison ivy.

Sunday dinners where she mostly sat quietly and observed the craziness of a table set for 14.

Having a stash of pop and munchies in our bedroom when Grandma would watch us for the weekend because "pop turns your insides all black".

Cod Liver Oil ---> *shivers*

A ride with her and Grandpa to visit my cousins in Canada. The trip should take us straight east across the state of Michigan and then on into Canada. Instead somehow we ended up so far off track that we were passing Amish buggies on the road. Now the only amish area I knew of in the area is due South down in Indiana. That's a pretty major wrong turn. Not a particularly fun trip but one I'll never forget.

She was beautiful with great skin and a metabolism like none other. Two traits that I hope she passed down.

A hairdresser she was not. (poor mom - that had to be rough) LOL

She was a horrible driver and when they finally took her car away she called the cops to report it stolen. That's my grandma.

But she did have a green thumb and was a pretty good seamstress.

She volunteered endless hours, refused to turn down any charitable cause and even took people into her own home who seemed less fortunate.

And, although it seemed their entire lives that they never got along, when my grandpa was diagnosed with cancer she never left his side. He was a gem and he loved her. You could tell. I'm thinkin' there must've been something pretty special about her.

Right about now she's probably up in heaven getting one of Grandpa's scruffy cheek kisses. Man I miss those. And she gets to see my uncle Bob. He was a gem too. And hold Jacob. How sweet that would be. Hope she's giving 'em all kisses for me.

I know I haven't blogged in forever and I have so much to blog about but tonight I just wanted to get some thoughts down about my Grandma. She passed away earlier tonight after a rather short fight with cancer and a much longer struggle with alzheimers. It hadn't really occurred to me until the other night in her room that she was my last living grandparent. I regret that I didn't spend more time going through photos with her or learning some old fashioned sewing tips. I'm proud of my mom for taking such good care of her. I hope she's resting peacefully tonight knowing Grandma's finally home.

I promise to be back soon with more of an update. Right now I'm off to bed but I do have a post full of fun blog news including:

• a big blog move announcement and fun new design options
• updates on 2 projects that I mentioned WAY back in my last post a month ago. (One that's done and turned out super fun, the other unfortunately took a rather different turn)
• A store update
• TV show thoughts...the Bachelor, Brothers & Sisters... 
• and LONG overdue photos and announcements.

In the meantime, go hug your grandmas.

{ Fly-by Post }

I think there's a blog prompt out there somewhere called wordless wednesday. This is gonna be my version of that. More pictures less words because I'm...emotionally drained, way behind on last weeks to-do list, still in my pj's at 8:30 and meeting Nikki at Panera in an hour. So, quick recap of the past week in pics...

I like how this has sortof a wooded whimsy look. And because I mentioned new clothes in the last post. This is my new favorite top, although you can't see much of it here. You'll have to trust me that it's very cool. :)

My new bag. Still playing with a new design but this one I couldn't part with. The original idea was to take it for one night to get some pics in real life rather than hanging on a hook and then sell it but all the little things I carry around with me have called it home. Oh, and it's much cooler here now so I've hauled out my favorite shiny red shoes. They make me happy every time I wear them. :)

 

A night of sewing with Jill and then with Nikki and I've got 5 new bags posted in the shop. I've given up picking favorites. :) 

An off-road derby on Saturday night that I got to see 4 of my nieces at. No pics though, rushed off to not miss Dan's race and forgot to grab my camera. :( He did great though. We'll have to wait for Kimmy to post again for the details.

And yesterday I received a little package in the mail from Katelyn with another super sweet card and my very own remote for my camera. Now I've got a tripod and a remote so no more excuses for not using my camera more often. Plus I can finally take better pictures of my purses. :) Oh, and there's my new jacket from last weeks shopping trip. :)

Okay, off to finish getting ready for Panera and then work today and sewing with Jill again tonight. Tomorrow is a whole day of blog designing. First person to guess who's banner this one is...

...wins a little RAK from me. (click image to view full size)

I've got 3 others that should all be coming together by tomorrow and I'm working on another FUN project for Tara that I can't wait to share too. I got an email from her last night that actually said, and I quote..."I LOVE THIS MORE THAN OREOS!" That made my heart smile.

Kay, gotta run, back soon (hopefully) with more blogs to share, that recipe (sorry, just crazy busy) and a new revised to-do list template. I've discovered that certain areas need to include far more space. I also need to add a 'long term goals' area or something along those lines. Wow, this has turned out to be very wordy for a 'wordless wednesday' post. Sorry 'bout that. Now I'm gonna be late for Panera. Oy!

Have a great Wednesday!

Random Tidbits of a (too) Busy Life...

First of all, thank you for all the incredibly sweet comments on my last post. I really do have the best friends in the world. I took a little break from the designing yesterday afternoon to watch some football games over lunch and do some retail therapy. Someone spoiled me and hopefully if we get some photos this week I'll actually be wearing something different in them for once. I think someone may have been getting tired of seeing the same 3 outfits on rotation. :) He walked out empty handed though so we may need to plan a little day trip here, maybe on the way to some therapy of this sort?? We'll see. A road trip would be good. That's what finally gave me the breakthrough on Maegan's blog design so maybe it would help with a couple that I'm stuck on at the moment.

As promised, a little video of Pixel and her best bud Murphy. I hung out with them Friday night for a bit while Nikki was working. They're really quite hilarious together as you can see...

Does that count for a Pixel update? Trying to check some things off that list a couple posts back. :)

And my to-do list for the week.

I used the template I'd made awhile back along with some Leora papers and goodies by Gina, Jackie, Shabby Miss Jenn, Natalie and Jennifer.

Havin' a really hard time juggling everything lately so hopefully this will help. I'm finding when I let other priorities slip that my creativity seems to go downhill too so maybe keeping things balanced better will make me more productive in the blog design area. Right now I'm spending far too much time 'stuck' on designs and I really think it's because I'm trying too hard. Now if I just need to step away from the laptop for a bit and refocus I'll have this pretty list of things to remind me what else I need to be taking care of. :)

I know I've posted the template before but I tweaked it a bit while I was making this list so if you didn't get a copy earlier or you'd like the new (hopefully improved) version you can download it here. I don't claim to be a template designer and it would probably help if I used more templates for my own scrapping. In fact, if I did I could probably even add a little bit of scrapping for myself on that to-do list huh?! :)

Oh, and did anyone else watch the Sound of Music last night on tv? Well, if you missed it it's on again tonight. I have the DVD but somehow there's just something nostalgic about watching it when it's on tv. It's quite possibly my very favorite movie as you can maybe gather from my blog banner (which is WAY overdue for a rehaul). I put a little Sound of Music playlist on the blogpod for your listening enjoyment. :)

Kay, off to get ready for church. Then a full two days of blog designing with a little house cleaning thrown in here and there. Maybe a walk with Pixel. An episode of Big Brother tonight. Back to work on Tuesday, dinner at my favorite restaurant before they close for the season and ice cream at Charlie's.

I'll try and pop in here again before then with a couple more new blog links and that recipe I promised (if you can really call it that).

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend so far.

New bags, blessings and friends...

First of all, Jill and I did spend the evening sewing Monday night and I'm finally posting some photos of our fun. We set out to create a completely new design and came up with what I do believe is our favorite purse yet. As soon as I decide which fabrics will match with the most things in my wardrobe I'll be making one of these Lily Kate bags for myself. That is if I don't snatch one of these currently listed in the shop as my own. :)

You can find these purses in my shop here. Jill's been busy making Lily Kate bags ever since and if you're quick you may find one in her shop. She keeps her store much better stocked than mine so you'll wanna check back often.

So It's been a rough day for a lot of reasons. For that matter it's been a rough couple of months. In fact for the most part there hasn't really been much about the year 2007 that I'll probably hold any fond memories of. So lately I've been thinking that I might be overdue for a count-my-blessings post. Just a reminder of some of the little (and big things) in life that I do have to be thankful for. So here are a few things that came to mind as I've been thinking about this post over the past week...

• Fresh mowed grass (although that was Tuesday and the lines are beginning to disappear)
• Pixel's growing bladder. She no longer has to be let out every 5 minutes (although now I'll need to figure out another reason to make a dozen or more trips up and down the stairs each day because I think it was actually helping my figure)
• Hummingbirds that visit the flowers on my deck.
• Carnation Instant Breakfast (and a sister who keeps my cupboard stocked with cartons of it from Sam's Club) :)
• Blueberry muffins at Panera with Nikki 
• Shoe-of-the-day pics from Jayne, love this girl SO much

• Video mail from the amazing and talented Katelyn, not to mention the sweetest card. She's so good to me. :)

I really couldn't ask for better friends. They're so patient with me when I go days (sometimes even weeks) without checking in online or fall asleep on them while chatting (sorry Shari). I feel so blessed by the friends that I've met online. I know it doesn't make sense to some but these girls mean so much to me.

Then there's Jill who has been my friend since kindergarten. We talk almost every day lately and I love that. She's been there for me in so many ways and I could never thank her enough for her friendship.

And my new sweet friend Nikki. I should've added my apartment in general to my gratitude list and one of my newest favorite things about living here is my neighbor Nikki. Having moved out on my own this past February and going through a lot of months where I felt completely alone most of the time, Nikki has been an absolute Godsend. Our dogs are the best of friends. I have to get video of them playing together because it's the most hilarious thing. But Nikki is the greatest neighbor I could ask for. She's always up for a trip to Panera for bagels in the morning on my day off. She calls to ask if ice cream sounds good at 9:00 at night and we make a trip to Coldstone. When she gets off work at 11 I'm the only wierdo who's still awake that late so she comes over to chat and doesn't care if I'm in my pj's and looking a wreck. Gotta love that. :)

These are just a few of the beautiful people that I am so blessed to call friends. In a year where I have lost more than I could've ever imagined they have been there with love and support and a good laugh when I've needed them most. I truly don't deserve their friendship but I'm so glad they stick by me anyway.

And I have to ask for your prayers for another friend who just lost his mom to cancer. She died peacefully in his arms last night. He has been there for me through the absolute lowest points in my life and has never left my side and my heart breaks for what he has been through the past few months. I wish there were something more I could do to be there for him. Please keep his family in your prayers.

I'm off to work this morning and then plan to spend a majority of my long weekend designing blogs.

Have a blessed holiday weekend.

{ Catchin' Up - Part 1 }

Anyone still checking in here??? Wow, where to even begin after such a long time between posts...I have had so much I've wanted to blog about since my last post and I think if I waited till I have time to blog about all of it it'd never happen so I guess I'll just jump in with random bits and I'll try to catch up with more frequent posts over the next week.

Balance...struggling to find it. Think I'm getting closer...finally.

What I've been keeping busy with...designing blogs. Here's a few links to some recent projects:

Bella Pink, Mariah M Photography, and most recently Maegan's Confessions of a Scrapaholic and family blogs.

I have 2 others that should be finished this evening and 4 more that are in various stages as well as a website design that I think I'll be taking on for a very exciting client. I also had the opportunity to work with Tara on the design for her new Wriskey logo (wish I could share but she's got an exciting unveiling planned soon). :) She's got some REALLY fun marketing items that we'll be working on soon too. Busy busy but I'm loving it. The people I've met over the past month have been amazing to work with and I'm so excited to be doing something that I enjoy and actually making a bit of extra (read just enough) money to pay the bills. :)

Okay, lots more to blog about the new design endeavors but that's one of about a bazillion topics floating around in my head for the past month and I'd like to cover at least a few of them in this post so back to the design stuff later. :)

Sooo, apparently I'm a...

My sweet sweet friend Nancy listed me on her blog as a rockin' girl blogger. Right back at ya Nancy. :) She's one of the absolute sweetest most generous women I know. And an incredibly talented designer ta-boot. Thank you Nancy, you made my day. :)

So now I'm supposed to name my list of 'rockin' girl bloggers' which is nearly impossible for me to do. If you saw my bloglines list you'd understand why. So I think I'm gonna try and be kinda random here.

Shabby Miss Jenn - because I totally owe my crazy fun new designing career to her little referral to Tara a month or so ago. She's always incredibly supportive and just crazy sweet. Love her to pieces.

Okay, is it just me or are there certain blogs where you're just too intimidated to post comments on? Well, here's a couple on my list.

Melody's Sofa - She makes me so thankful for the 'keep new' check box in bloglines. I think I have 10 or more posts saved to go back and read now and then. Most recent posts added are this one (going to try doing this challenge tomorrow or wednesday) and this one. I wish I could just copy and paste the whole thing on my blog for everyone to read. Truly inspiring.

Red Shoe's Blog - this one I've recently started commenting on and I'm so glad I did. Catharine is not at all as intimidating as I thought. LOL She's completely sweet and has even posted flattering comments here on my blog. Totally makes my day. :) She has the most amazing store and it's right here in Michigan so I've been holding off ordering online in hopes that soon I'll be able to shop there in person. First thing on my list...a little red fairy door. Is that whimsical or what?! :)

Brianna Graham - I honestly didn't think we had any photographers this stinkin' cool in Michigan, let alone right in Grand Rapids. She's got a new website that's just gorgeous and is selling out workshops left and right. Attending one is on my ever-growing wishlist. It's another spendy item so I've gotta decide if it's right before or right after the tiffany blue bike. I think they're both pushed out to spring at this point so I've got some time to save my pennies. :)

Shabby Juls - A dear friend that I've gotten to know just this past year and I'm so thankful for her. Some of my favorite rockin' posts from her blog...this recent one - definitely gave me a different and much needed new perspective on life right now, and is this not the coolest table you've ever seen?! And how 'bout this fun retro bike that her DH restored? She's also started selling some gorgeous hand painted items in her new etsy shop.

Okay, gotta run. I wish I had time for more but if I don't post this now it'll sit in my drafts folder for another month. I promise to be back soon with pics and lots more links. Still on the list of things to blog about...

• a new balanced to-do list
• eating healthier - I've gotta share my latest favorite meal to make (yes I do make stuff...occasionally)
• movie and music reviews
• Pixel update
• lots of thoughts lately on the amazing friends that I've been blessed with. Goofy video and picture mail to share that made me smile. Super sweet real mail that I've received. I don't know what I'd do without them and it's about time I dedicate an entire post to the subject of friends. :)

That's just a few of the things still knockin' around inside my head so hopefully you'll come back. Off to hang out with one of those dear friends and do some sewing tonight. Maybe I'll be able to add a new bag or two to the next blog post too. :)

Thanks so much for the e-mails and comments checkin' in. I won't be such a stranger from now on. :)

{ It's Been a While }

It's been way too long since my last post. I'm trying to figure out the balance of this whole blog design thing. I'm learning alot about how my creative mind works especially in a 'work' type situation. I've been very disciplined with myself about setting goals before I post on the blog again or do a scrapbook page for my own album or even work on my own blog or the new website design. I'm starting to wonder if I'd ever get to those things if I stuck to my goal. I am overwhelmed and very pleased with how many orders I've gotten already for blog designs. This past week I've been working on 3 and have 2 more to start on this weekend. I actually enjoy having more than one to work on at a time because the styles are so different (especially for the 3 I've been working on this week) that when I'm stuck on one I just take a break from it and work on another. For some reason Tara's is intimidating the heck out of me. Maegan's I've already scrapped what I was working on and now have an entirely different direction that I'm going to try. I'm so excited about the new idea. I'll keep ya posted when those are finished.

I have some free time that I wasn't expecting tonight so I'm hoping to finish up those two by the end of the day. (see Mel, it's a good thing we're rescheduling) :) Anyway, I think I need to learn to take a break once in awhile and do the blog posts (or blog surfing) and I'd actually probably be more efficient at designing. I want each blog to be unique so I put alot of pressure on myself to come up with something new and different that my creativity just gets drained and could use a little recharge now and then. Excited to take a fresh approach tonight at the two I'm stuck on though.

In the meantime you can check out what we did for Shari's photography blog.

Kay, editing to add that to truly appreciate the coolness of Shari's banner you'll have to click on the link to her blog. For some reason it works as a banner but not as an image in a blog post. Darn it. :(

Super fun to work on. I just LOVE her colors. I've been so lucky to get to play with such amazing photos for these banners. Click on the link above to see her incredible photo albums in the side bar. Totally inspiring photography.

Speaking of inspiring photography have I introduced you to my friend Katelyn before? She asked me to play around with some photos she'd taken for a friend recently and come up with a baby announcement. It was nearly impossible choosing which photos to include. I think this version is my favorite...

The mom ended up going with this version because the blanket in the main photo had special meaning. And I think this photo was my favorite but maybe the red is a bit much for a baby announcement.

Katelyn has me on a mission to get a tripod and remote for my camera. 2 of the many things on my wishlist at the moment. Another recent addition to the wish list is the coolest bike I've ever seen. Check this thing out. It's halfway through summer and I so don't have $500 to spend on it but I'm thinking next spring would be a great time to start riding and how could you find a cooler bike to ride than this baby?!

Lots more to post about but if I wait for time to cover everything I'll probably never post.

Hopefully it won't be as long between posts next time. :)

{ Updates & New Music }

First, Fifi's blog is becoming more and more fabulous every day as she's adding posts and updating the albums. If you haven't checked it out since I first posted the link you've already missed a ton. I don't know how she does it.  

Pixel had a GREAT time at the dog park. I wish it weren't so far away 'cuz I think we'd go there everyday if it were closer. Nikki was so sweet to invite us along. I just happened to be out watering the flowers on the deck when she was driving by & the afternoon out in the sun, rather than sitting on the computer all day, was just what I needed. Pixel and Murphy had a blast. Here they are terrorizing a poor little dog who was trying to enjoy a nice walk through the park. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pixel slept pretty much the entire rest of the day and evening. She'd wake up to eat a bit and go outside and then fall right back asleep. So...finding a closer dog park might be on the agenda for this weekend. I've had Koda all week while Scott's up north fishing and dealing with the two of them has been rather trying.

I did get at least a temporary site posted for the blog design and also the boutique. Check out Jill's purses. She's been busy busy sewing. :)

I know I've got a spelling error (which I'm usually so careful about) on the pricing page. I'd like to add paypal buttons to that page this weekend so I'll fix the spelling error when I do that.

Tara (Bella Pink), Maegan and Shari, I've got you all on my list and I'll be emailing you today with questions to help get me started on your blogs this weekend. :)

 

I'll be catching up on e-mails today. Last night I actually gave myself a bit of a break from my usual computer tasks and just spent time chatting with friends and finding new music. And I found some great stuff. I was originally in search of a song that had me in tears on the way home last night by this group. I'd have bought their whole album but it's not available until the end of august and they haven't even let the first single out yet. :( The song is called East to West and you can hear it by clicking the link above. It'll definitely be on my blogpod as soon as it's available.

I did actually discover two new artists that Lauren and Katelyn had never heard of though. Score! :) Sara Bareilles & Jon McLaughlin are fast becoming my new favorites. I've updated the blogpod with a couple songs from each of them, as well as some other new stuff that Lauren sent me and I think a song or two discovered on 'So You Think You Can Dance'. One of the great bonuses of watching that show. :) This selection of songs best represents what I would consider my style of music. I like all kinds but if I had to pick a style these songs would fit it perfectly. I already see the lyrics from a few of these definitely showing up on a scrapbook page or two (or three).

Hopefully I'll be back with 1 or 2 links to fresh new blog designs and maybe a purse or two by the end of the weekend. I have two that are so close to being done but just haven't spent any time in the studio this week. And I really should work on my own blog design that is long overdue if people are going to be coming here to see what an Eclectic Whimsy Design blog could look like, dontcha think?

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

{ What Makes Fifi Fabulous }

I'd like to introduce you to someone who I only just 'met' 5 days ago and she's very quickly become one of my favorite people on the planet. Let me back up a bit to Thursday when I received an e-mail from Tara Frey of Bella Pink saying she'd been given my name by the incredibly sweet Shabby Miss Jenn. Jenn I hope you got my e-mail that I sent through your website.  I may have been too wordy. :) Well, Tara (who I'll have more to say about her fabulousness in future posts but right now this one's all about Fifi) gave Fifi my name and told her I would be perfect for the job of setting up her new blog, which is what I've been busy doing the past few days. I've learned a lot and had so much fun and I'm excited to get to work on the next blog. Sounds like I've already got a few lined up. Yay! :) So here's what we came up with for Fifi's banner but we did a lot of fun stuff in other areas of the blog so you'll definitely want to check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what makes Fifi fabulous in my book?

• She signs her e-mails with x's and o's
• She called Sunday afternoon just to chat and she has the perfect amount of french accent that I could've listened to her talk all afternoon but instead she seemed genuinely interested in little 'ol me. :)
• She crafty in an elegant but whimsical way that I adore, choosing photos to use for her banner was nearly impossible!
• She grew up in Paris
• She now lives in a little cottage that has more character in each room than most people have in a house probably 3 times the size.
• She has a cabana and a hammock that are to die for.
• She's a freelance writer and photo stylist for a number of national magazines. Half of her cover designs I actually have sitting in my magazine collection and one of them I even kept setting out on my ottoman long after it's published date just because the cover itself was inspiring to me every time I looked at it. What are these fabulous magazines you might ask? You can see a few in her sidebar on the blog but among the list are magazines like Cottage Style, Creative Home, Romantic Country, Home Companion, Coastal Living, Style, Windows & Walls, and that's just to name a few.
• She's writing a book. I can't even journal on a scrapbook page and she's writing a whole BOOK!
• Within less than two days of her blog going live it's been viewed over 2,000 times. That's a lot of people who must've known how fabulous fifi was long before I had the pleasure of meeting her.

Kay, the list could go on and on but mostly she's fabulous for being so sweet and giving me the opportunity to play with her fabulous photos and create a place where she can share her fabulousness with others here on the web. One comment left on Fifi's blog already seemed to say it perfectly...

"I can't stress enough how much I am enjoying your blog!!  It feels like an e-magazine.  Perhaps waiting for my favorite magazines in the mail won't be as painful now that I have found YOU!!" ~ Britta

Fifi, if you're reading this, thank you again for this opportunity. I have enjoyed working with you SO much.

So, other than learning a TON of new stuff about Typepad the past few days and putting together something as fabulous as I could come up with for Fifi I've been working also on the Eclectic Whimsy website and have that just about ready to go live with...again...but this time different. :) Hopefully I'll be able to finish that up later today. I haven't spent any time in the sewing studio but hope to do that a little today too.

Lots more that I wanted to post about but it's a GORGEOUS day and my neighbor Nikki will be here any minute to pick me and the dogs up to head to the dog park. I'll be taking the camera so hopefully I'll have long overdue pics of Pixel. Hopefully I'll have time to blog more later tonight. :)

{ Warning...Major Enabling Ahead }

You ever have that when you go to the mall with a couple hundred bucks in your pocket and you can't find a single thing that says 'take me home'? And then the opposite is true when you go with a friend to shop and don't have a dime to spend on yourself but you find the greatest shoes or the coolest t-shirt that's just so perfectly you. I haven't been to the mall in a long time but I'm finding the same scenario to be true online lately. So I figure I'll just be an enabler for those of you with a little extra money burnin' a hole in your pockets. If you don't have money to spend you may want to stop scrolling down right about now 'cuz you will find like me that you almost NEED to have these items, I'm sure of it. First I stumbled across a blog (an evil evil blog although I can't remember who's it was anymore) that mentioned Sarah Jessica Parker's new line at Steve & Barry's. Like these little numbers...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those prices, believe it or not, are for the entire outfit. Can't really beat that.

And tonight I got an email from Max Studio. I don't know why I even open these things. Is this not the perfect summer dress?!?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there were about 6 other great combos in this collection. I can totally see these working right into fall with a cute matching cardigan.

There there's 2 perfect jewelry pieces. I've been wanting a skeleton key necklace and this one has a little added vintage sparkle to it. And then what's not to love about Amy Butler fabric combined in a soldered pendant and does anyone else notice how PERFECTLY it would go with that brown and green dress above?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And in the digi-scrapping world...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amy's Ribbon Flowers                   Kylie's Sparkle-Arkle Vellum Alpha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amanda's Threaded Petals             Marcie's Curled Cardboard Pockets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weeds & Wildflowers Doodling Days #1: Curled Alpha

Fun stuff. I did pick up this free kit at 2 Peas. I think it's their best freebie offered so far. If you haven't gotten it yet definitely check it out. :)

Oh, and I thought I would share a little secret about a LO that I posted recently. I got a number of comments on my 'creative' use of Natalie's ribbons with Nancy's new comic frames and I have to come clean and admit that the idea behind using the ribbon that way was born of necessity more so than creativity. The photo I wanted to use in the top section of the frame wasn't wide enough to fit properly so I decided that if I could find something to cover at least a section of that frame I could clone trees from the left side of the photo and extend it enough to make it look as if the photo was much wider than it was in reality. And by golly if Natalie's ribbon didn't work perfectly to accomplish what I was trying to do. :) You can check out the original photo here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that's the real truth. Creativity born out of necessity. Does that still count for creativity?? Anyway, I guess that's more of a tip than a tutorial. If anyone's unfamiliar with the clone tool and wants a little lesson in that I can see if I can put together something more tutorial like. Just holler. :)

Oooh, one more bit of enabling speaking of Nancy. As I was looking for links to the comic frames I noticed that her newest paper pack is up at the Lilypad. The texture on these is gorgeous. I'm lucky enough to get to play with them a little in advance and I'm working on a LO that I'll hopefully finish later today with the fabulous cardboard included in this pack. Looks like she's got it marked down at least for today so check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to my new favorite software you can click on the preview above to get right to the Lilypad to buy this. Never could figure that out before. Not sure I'll ever wanna blog without this software anymore.  This whole post (which I realize is insanely long) would've taken me hours to do without it.

Kay, gotta finish getting ready for Jill to come over. Been feelin' a little (read a lot) lonely in this apartment lately and she decided to spend part of her 4th of July holiday with ME. She's picking up bagels on the way and then we'll be workin' on Eclectic Whimsy stuff for awhile. Other than that have a quiet day planned. Hopin' to do some more sewing in the studio and scrap a page or two. Maybe a nice long walk with Pixel (and the camera). Hope everyone else is enjoying a nice holiday with your families.

{ A New Bag & A Blog Tool Find }

Kay, I'm on a break at work so this will be quick (hopefully). First in regards to the last post I realized after posting that I talk about wanting to do more photography and possibly make a little extra money at it in the same post as a really not so great photo of Pixel. I mean she's cute and all in it but it was taken at night inside which is horrible lighting and I'm usually rushing to get the shot with her cuz within a second she'd have been back in the bathroom pulling a roll of toilet paper through the apartment. SO, I just want to acknowledge how silly that probably seemed that I would post a not so great photo in the same post as a discussion about wanting to make money taking photos. *blush* Also in response to some of the comments and emails (which have been awesome btw and I'm still working on responses to a few of them)...zippers - would LOVE to be able to offer them as a closure but I'm a bit of a perfectionist and zippers are sortof picky things to get just right so at least at this point I can't imagine anyone would want to pay for the extra hour it would take me to include a well sewn zipper in one of my bags. But I'll work on that. Maybe a trip to Utah and a week in Kim's sewing studio and I'd be a pro at some of that fussier stuff. Wouldn't THAT be fun?! :) Laptop bags - I have wanted to do these for ages and have lots of requests for them but here's the thing...laptops are heavy. At least mine is. They're also typically quite expensive. Personally I've just not gotten comfortable with the idea that something I make is responsible for keeping something that valuable from crashing to the ground and breaking into a million pieces. I also envision a laptop bag to have a zipper and ya already know now how I feel about those. SO, there ya have it on my current thoughts on those two items. Removable accessories, totally diggin' that idea. And the green, black & white combo is SO happenin'. I think green is my new fav color of the moment so I'll probably make two. :)

I did finish one up last night with some fabric that I found at one of my favorite fabric stores that's normally dangerous to even walk into for me. I love looking through their remnants and found just enough of this denim-y blue batik fabric to make a purse out of. I can't add a fancy picture here from work but here's a view of the inside and if you're interested it's posted in my etsy shop for sale here.

And Kimmy and I just realized how perfectly it matches my outfit today. It's really kindof a shame to sell it for how perfectly it goes so I probably won't be heartbroken if it sticks around. Extra money's always nice too though. :)

I still have that little tutorial (or really more like a creative tip) to share but don't have the image to include here at work.

I also found a new software for doing blog posts in that I just love. I can't use it here at work and I'm already missing it after only using it on one post. You can find it here. Check it out. :)

Kay, back to work. Lots more to post about so maybe I'll be back later tonight with more. :)

Where to begin...

Kay, here are some random things I've been giving a lot of thought. Well, partially random. I guess they all have to do with things that I enjoy doing. And they all have to do with ways to make a little extra spending money. So I guess they're not completely random. I have two part time jobs that I love. I don't really want to give either of them up because I know I've got it GREAT at both. Flexibility, great hours (although more would be even greater), great pay, a kick butt laptop that I can use personally (more than I even do at work)... I'd really be a fool to leave either job. They pay the bills (although sometimes JUST) but it would be really nice to find a way to make a little extra without giving up either of these job and doing something that I enjoy doing. That's everyone's dream right? So here's my random thoughts on the various things that I love:

LOVE sewing them. LOVE picking out the fabrics to sew them with. LOVE hearing how much people *heart* them when they arrive in the mail. Not a huge fan of doing the custom order type stuff. Really just not my thing I guess. What I love is making something that I would carry myself. At the same time obviously it's important to make something that people out there just HAVE to have.

So, here's where I'd love some feedback. If you were looking to buy a handmade bag what styles are you drawn to? Are there colors or patterns that you'd love to see? Is there a certain size that's just right? Would you be looking for something a little more unique? I've been playing around with embellishing some of my newer bags (to be posted soon I promise). Do you think that makes them a little harder to sell since I may be narrowing my audience a bit or is that just what someone would be looking for when buying handmade goods? These are the tough decisions that come along with trying to make money at something you love, right?  I just thought maybe getting some feedback might help me with what direction to take the whole purse sewing thing.

 

At one point I had big dreams of doing digital scrapping for hire. I even had a website darn near ready to go live. It was going to be sort of a collaboration with myself and a few other scrapping friends where people could choose which of us to work with on a project based on which of our styles best matched their taste. Seemed genius but I think life just got busy and there were a few questions that we never really got ironed out so it got put on the back burner. Still would LOVE to do this but not really sure how to find the clients and there are so many questions of commercial use policies that I wonder if it would be worth it. I'm someone who tends to use many different designers on a single page. I could see myself scrapping a page and having a tally of 5 kits that I'd need to re-purchase for the clients project and I would think that would eat into any profits pretty quickly. I haven't really checked recently if there's still a list of commercial use designers out there. Anyone know? To me if I couldn't scrap the pages for others the way I normally would for myself then  a) I'm not sure I'd enjoy it and b) I would think the client would be disappointed in the end-result if they hired me to do an album based on my current style. Wouldn't it be great if things could just be much simpler? Have any of you done scrapping for hire at all? I'd love to hear your experiences with it and how you handle some of the issues involved. Another avenue I could take with this particular idea would be to offer wedding album design. I'd like to find a photographer (ideally locally) that has a photography style that would be fun to work with and team up to provide an album for their clients that's a little more personal than the typical wedding album style. I was lucky enough to play with some of Shari's amazing wedding photos a couple years ago and it was definitely something I would enjoy doing more but having great photos to work with makes all the difference.

I've also done some digi-scrapping classes. Love doing these and it's so fun seeing people get so excited about the hobby. I know there's some others of you who do this (Kari). How do you reach new clients? I think it would be great to teach these classes at a local scrapbook store but are they more open to that now days? I've considered contacting one that's right near my apartment but I'm so intimidated by it and I'm not really one to sell myself. Gotta work on that. Do any of you teach at an LSS? I've noticed there are going to be seminars on just that at CHA this year so maybe they'll start embracing that after attending some of those classes. :)

Another idea I've been tossing around is blog banner design. Do you think people would love to have a custom designed blog header? Enough to pay maybe $20 for one? And then the question again is how to advertise such a thing. I could add a little blurb in my side-bar but I think probably 90% of the people who visit this little 'ol blog are perfectly capable of creating their own blog banner. I'd imagine most of you are also digi-scrappers and very familiar with graphic design. Hmmmm

Then there's...

 

 

I LOVE creating slide shows. For the life of me I can't figure out how to save them in a way that they can be inserted in a blog post but I WILL conquer that task. I just finished creating one the other night and have done a few others in the past. You can check them out here. The three earlier videos I'd actually love to redo now that I'm more comfortable with the software. I, for one, have such a love of music so something about seeing my photos set to a favorite song or one that reminds me of the event the photos were taken at just makes it so great. There are certain things that I think are so difficult to capture everything in a scrapbook page or even a whole album sometimes. Like a vacation or even something as simple as going to see Disney on Ice or a birthday party. I've never been good for some reason at scrapping those types of things but I can put together a slide show that makes me feel like I'm right back in that moment. Anyway, it's something I enjoy doing and have gotten pretty comfortable with the software for it so I'd love to find a way to do it more often and make a little extra spending money at the same time. :)

And then not entirely unrelated there's my love for...

 

 

 

I need to bring my camera in for a minor repair but after that I would LOVE to start doing some local photo shoots and get some practice to start building just a small side photography business. I have a great camera, a couple great lenses and some amazing professional actions for post processing work. Currently I seem to have to take about 100 photos to get 3 or 4 spectacular ones but with some practice, and a bit of studying what works and what doesn't, I think taking photos for other people would be immensely rewarding. I already have my first guinnea pig family lined up, just have to firm up a date that works but I'm really excited about the idea of making photography something more than just a hobby. :)

So that's the random ideas that I've been tossing around in my head. Would love to hear any advice or feedback on any or all of the above.

And this is where I should really start a completely separate post because now it's going completely random and waaayyyy too long for anyone to possibly still be reading but oh well.

Here's a recent photo of Pixel (per request)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the look she gives me after she's just been scolded. Like 'what? what'd I do?'. Typically lately I'm scolding her for any number of things like sneaking into my bathroom and getting my shower poof to chew on, or into the bedroom closet to find a flip flop 'cuz apparently they're the preferred type of shoes or her most recent silly adventure that seems to just make her SO happy is going into the spare bathroom and grabbing the last piece of tissue on the toilet paper roll and running as far down the hall and into the living room as she can get. It's amazing how much toilet paper I've gone through from this little stunt of hers. Ugh! It's a good thing she's crazy cute.

I think it's been about a week now since I've finished a LO. I was on a really good roll there for awhile and hoping to get back to it maybe tomorrow. I did have a pretty exciting morning though on Tuesday on the scrapping front. I was wondering why there seemed to be an unusual # of comments left on an older LO in my gallery at SisTv. Have I mentioned this site before? LOL Still infatuated with it and quite possibly even MORE this week :) So I started thinking that maybe my sweet friend Jayne was pimpin' me in the forums there again. That's what friends are for right? So I head over to the forum and scan through the threads on the first page and see a thread announcing that the new catwalk was posted and I thought 'NO, GET OUT! I couldn't be on the catwalk'. But YES! I WAS on the catwalk. And chosen by none other than Big Sis herself the founder of the site. Pretty exciting stuff. Made my day. :)  You can see the LO that was picked here. Funny cuz I wasn't even sure I was happy with how it turned out and figured I'd likely go back and make a few changes. Guess maybe not. :)

Kay, believe it or not I had more to blog about but since almost the entire post has been sitting on my computer for over a week now I guess I better just post it and blog again later. Hope everyone's having a great weekend. Mine has actually been pretty lonely and pretty crappy so I guess it's a good thing I wrote most of this on a much brighter note. Also not looking forward at all to the holiday week ahead which I know is completely bizarre but weekends and holidays lately are not my thing. I actually prefer the work week where I keep myself busy. Fortunately I do have a busy work week ahead so that'll help.

I do have a little tutorial to post that should've gone along with this post a week or so ago and maybe I'll be back to post a LO or two if I get some scrappin' time in after church tomorrow.

So, as Brittany says...Until

{ Quit Life & Start Living }

I was looking through my book of scraps over at two peas and I stumbled across this gem and thought I'd share here. I think eventually this will make it onto a scrap page but at the moment I'm stuck on how to best do that. I've got another post started but I'm too tired to finish it tonight so for now here's some advice that I thought was priceless:

How to Quit Life & Start Living
Jim Allen

1. Recognize that LIFE is what you get when you're born. . .
. . . LIVING is what you do with it! You can sit back and wait for life to happen to you or you can make it happen yourself. As Maya Angelou once said, "Life likes to be taken by the lapel and told, I'm with you kid. Let's go!"

2. Define life. . . it leads to the fine life.
Life is not a slogan, no matter what Nike, McDonald's, ABC, NBC, or any other media giant might have you believe. While those "Life is. . . ." t-shirts are often witty, the philosophy they propose, like the shirts themselves, are rarely "one size fits all." Define life and living on your own terms and you've a better chance of getting both.

3. Take charge of your life.
Geoffrey Abert said that when you take charge of your life, "there is no longer need to ask permission of other people or society at large. When you ask permission, you give someone veto power over your life." To start living your life, you've got to be in control of it.

4. Little things mean a lot.
Life throws a lot of little negative things in our way that must be dealt with or else they will greatly diminish how we enjoy our days. Stephen Vincent Benet said it best: "Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways." 

5. Employ the power of positive quitting.
Most of us view quitting as something negative, but it's not. "Winners never quit," we're told, when, in reality, winners quit all the time: choosing to stop doing things that aren't creating the results they desire. When you quit all the things that aren't working for you. . . When you quit tolerating all the negative things that hold you back. . . You'll create a positive "charge" in your life as well as well creating the space in your life for more positive experiences.

6. Charge into your future!
As you recreate this positive force in your life, take big, massive leaps into your future. Be imaginative, bold, and brave! The results may surprise you.

7. Use everything.
You are blessed with a particular set of skills and talents that NO ONE else has. Use every skill and talent to live your life as joyfully and abundantly as possible. Leave this life as Erma Bombeck wished to: "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'''