Blog Design Give-Away Winner is......

Angie from Quilly Silly's Vintage Boutique! Angie has a beautiful boutique as well as an Etsy shop, so swing on by and wish her a big congrats!

Wanted to share.....

....a new banner that I made for the boutique and also some news and happenings with me. I am now going to be designing websets and templates for several different do-it-yourself website services, one of which I have personal past experience with and recommend to anyone looking for a website provider. All of these systems are very easy to use and operate much like the Pappashop systems. They have built in shopping carts which eliminate the need to have a Mal's or other seperate shopping cart.

The system I have the most experience in is DIY Estores. Their system is where I hosted my former pattern business and can honestly say it is the easiest and most carefree system yet. I do like Pappashop and I don't mean to knock it, but since I opened with Pappashop, I realized just how great the DIY system is. The cart, as I mentioned, has been a headache since I signed up with Pappashop....having to log in to a different system to set everything up, and not to mention setting up the shipping (I've had a hek of a time with that).

The Mal's cart also doesn't eliminate products that have been bought from my site....so this is what happened......I had a woman purchase an item, and since it didn't register as sold, an hour later another customer bought the same item. It was awfully embarassing having to write that guest back and try to explain that someone had already bought it.

So, anyhoo....I'm going to give everyone a list of the companies that I will be designing for....and if any of you don't currently have a site and are looking to get one, these are really good options to choose from.

DIY Estores

Designer 218

Create A Shoppe Plus

Also, if you're looking for a new, fresh venue for marketing and networking, visit Prim Mart, they are a division of DIY Estores and have a host of business resources (among them printing services and so on) and also a forum in which you can speak to hundreds of other business owners. Hope you enjoy surfing around and checking them out!

Quote-worthy

I love comments, and in fact relish them. They are like little treasures to me and alot of the time they spark a new post that I just have to write. Cielo from The House in The Roses (who has an amazingly beautiful blog, she's got creamware up right now) left a comment on my Blog Design Give-away post that did just that. She commented that her and Helen Hayes were kindred spirits and I wanted to share more quotes by the famous actress in honor of that "connection". Enjoy....and thank you, Cielo......

“We relish news of our heroes, forgetting that we are extraordinary to somebody too.”

“I cry out for order and find it only in art.”

“If you rest, you rust.”

“My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others. That is nice but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success.”

“Age is not important unless you're a cheese.”

“Every human being on this earth is born with a tragedy, and it isn't original sin. He's born with the tragedy that he has to grow up...a lot of people don't have the courage to do it.”


I'm beginning to think Cielo isn't the only one who is kindred spirits with this famous actress. Such wisdom........

Blog Design Give-Away!

I hope everyone had a delightful Easter! In honor of Spring, I want to have a three column blog design giveaway! Installation will be provided! All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favorite thing to do in the Spring is. Is it being in the garden? Painting in the studio with the windows open? Hanging out on the porch with a good book? I want to know! I will randomly pick the winner on March 30 and announce then!

The only restrictions are that you have a blogger account, I am not currently designing templates for any other blogging system. Good luck everyone!

Be Your Own Woman

I have mounds of magazines that I keep on hand for inspiration or for ideas, most of them have been relocated from my grandma's house (whom has the same addiction to glossy pages) and been lovingly put into my collection of worthy past isssues. I have at least one back issue of almost every magazine I can think of. Last night it was a particular issue of Ladies Home Journal that I idly picked up for my bedtime ritual of reading before I go to sleep.

I came across an article that really hit home with me. It deals with societal pressures and what the article refers to as "groupthink", conveying staggering statistics on how little percentage of women are really their own woman. I've struggled with this my entire life, feeling as if I had to go with the flow and make everyone else happy before myself. I can't find the back issue to give you a reference so that you can read it yourself, but it came from the March 2005 issue and these are five tips that come from the article.

1.) Figure out what matters to you-Not Others. We've all been in the situation. The situation where we find ourselves faced with either buying a product that can make us "better" or buying a piece of clothing that we know will be restricting and uncomfortable because we think someone else might like to see it on us. Ask yourself the question, "Is this really important to me?"

2.) Start Small. If you're annoyed at your inability to voice your opinions, wants or desires, start with a small situation, such as something as simple as seeing which movie........where your opinion is at odds with the majority. Be firm, but kind in relaying that your opinion counts and that you are willing to stand up for what will make you happy. Of course, compromise is always there, but being your own woman in small situations goes a long way in affirming the fact that you control your life (in your eyes and others).

3.) Talk Yourself Down. Inner monologue can help squash anxiety or fear about expressing an unpopular opinion or buying shoes you like but that might not be considered stylish. Tell yourself that your opinion counts....but not just counts, it's the only one that matters.

4.) Ask yourself if you are too harsh in judging others. A critical step in learning not to be swayed by other's judgements is to learn not to be judgemental yourself. The less you judge others, the more free you are of other's perceptions.

5.) Consider how you want to be remembered. When you're gone, people and those you love will not discuss what kind of car you drove, how big (or little) your thighs were or if you had great hair. They'll talk about the type of person you were. Wouldn't you like to be remembered as the artist of a custom-designed life?

This article had me falling asleep with a smile and I just wanted to share it! Included at the end of the article was a link to The High Pressure Friend and it was great as well!

Great Find.....

I have found a wonderful tool for artists or anyone needing a fully customizable website and blog that are integrated into one.....It's called Squarespace. You might have heard about....the Wall Street Journal Online calls it ..."the kind of software the internet has been crying out for."

One site powered by Squarespace that you might be familiar with is The Purl Bee, a division or sister site to Purl Soho.com. Other amazing sites to view that are a part of this fabulous do-it-yourself program are Hip Momma's Journal and MiSoCrafty.

I haven't had a chance yet to figure out how the shopping cart integration is set up or if they have their own Ecommerce option, but I have to say, I really am blown away by the features for the price. Initially, you can sign up for a free 14 day trial, then after, you can sign up for one of the options they have, the cheapest being $7.00 a month for a bundle of fabulous features.

I'm seriously considering using Squarespace for my writing website. Just wanted to share what I thought was a fantastic find. Once the word gets out, I do believe Squarespace might take the lead in do-it-yourself websites. Let me know what you think if you visit or sign up for a free trial!

Typepad Problems.....

I think Typepad is holding a grudge over the fact that, after taking a trial run there, I decided it wasn't for me and now it is punishing me in every way possible. Does it do these things for everyone else, or is it just me or my slow puter???.........

~runs so slow that I forget what blog I'm trying to visit.
~it never fails that I mess up the security code after trying to post a comment, then I have to wait forever to do it three more times.
~to scroll down, the screen jumps, gives me a heartattack, then takes a couple seconds to show back up again.
~makes all the other windows that I have open act up, run slow or not show up at all.
~on two occassions I've actually had to manually turn off my computer because of the interference.

Now, there's perfectly logical explanations for these things.....

1.)My computer just needs to be put to rest, it's had a good life, anyway.
2.)I'm losing my ability to cope well under stressful cyber situations and just seem to take it out on Typepad.

Nonetheless, I get so disappointed because there are so many beautiful and interesting blogs to visit there!!!! But, I have to admit, I've been straying away from visiting just because I'm afraid my computer will fry up. I feel so left out! {insert pout}