A few new designs…

August 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I’ve decided that I should plan on blogging about three times a year.  That’s do-able, right?

I’m honestly not sure why it’s SO hard for me to take the time to blog.  It’s a mystery… because I love, love, love the IDEA of blogging.  I love reading blogs.  I love designing blogs.  I just…. stink as a blogger!  So… you can plan on hearing from me once or twice a year, and then be ALL. EXCITED. LIKE. if I blog more often, ok?  Ok.

I have gone back and forth about putting together a portfolio page here on the site, and I think I’ve decided to NOT do that… but rather to just post occasionally with the latest header designs and links to new blogs and any digital designing I might have done (see, trying to give myself a REASON to blog!).

Today’s designs are all recent headers I’ve designed for bloggers.  Be sure to check out the blogs, and see the headers in full-size!

WhatKatieSaid.com:

http://www.eatsloveandhappiness.com/
 

http://enchantedladybugcreations.blogspot.com/
 

I am currently working on several new websites/blogs, and I’ll be back to soon to share a few more links!

Happy August…

Filed Under: Blog Design, Etsy Banners, Portfolio Tagged With: , , , , ,

2011 Update

March 29, 2011 By 1 Comment

I am LONG overdue for a blog post or two, and an overall update on life and business around here.  It’s a sad state when a blog/web designer is TOO BUSY to blog!  I’m hoping to remedy that this year.

So, what’s new?

For starters, I have a BRAND NEW site design, that I’m just thrilled about.  I wanted something fun and spring-y and… well… delightful!  I think I managed to pull that off – I hope you like it too!

Secondly, I have been VERY busy on a variety of new site designs this year.  I’ll be slowly adding them to a portfolio page over the new few weeks.  I’m excited about all the fun projects I’ve been a part of, and am looking forward to many more in 2011.

I have also revamped my pricing and overall structure for designs.  You can check out an overview of what I offer on the Place An Order page.  And of course, if you aren’t sure about anything, you can always send me a note and ask questions through my Contact page.

I will still be offering my designs on etsy, but I’m also adding a shopping cart here to the website.  I want to offer an affiliate program to former (and future) clients who can earn a little for referrals.  Almost ALL of my business comes through referrals, and I’d like to “reward” those who share about my services.  SO, I’ll be offering a 10% affiliate referral program, and I can help any one interested in setting up links on their blog or website.

There are a few more new things happening… but I’ll save something for the NEXT blog post!

 

Filed Under: Featured

Making Memories Monday

April 26, 2010 By 1 Comment

How has an entire month gone by since I last posted?  Oh yeah, it’s for sure because I’m notoriously bad about keeping up with blogs, even though I have the best of intentions. (No comments from the family/peanut gallery, please!)

But, thanks to Jennifer over at Adventures in McQuill-land, I’m posting again finally.  You see, Jennifer has started a new blog carnival revolving around Memories and Mondays.  (Making Memories Monday – cute, huh?)   And if there is anything that will get me talking (or blogging), it’s the concept of preserving or making memories.

Last night, Allan (hubby) and I were talking about our little Allan’s birthday, which is coming up in two short days.  (He will be five on Wednesday, and he’s VERY. EXCITED. about it).  It hardly seems possible that five years have gone by since his very dramatic entrance into the world.

I had serious blood pressure issues during his pregnancy, which basically developed into pre-eclampsia, bringing him here to us a bit earlier than planned.  In many ways, his birth was NOT a fun experience for me OR for his Daddy, and we always shudder a little bit as when we talk about those days. It’s a weird feeling – complete joy mixed with relief mixed with terror.  That pretty much sums up the experience.

Anyway… the point of my post today is not about that experience, but rather to share about the Birthday Memories we made as a family this year. “Birthday season” for our family starts on March 1st with Samuel, then continues on March 22 with Martha, April 8th for Daddy, and then finally lil Allan gets his turn on April 28th. (It’s a LONG couple of weeks between Daddy’s and lil Allan’s party, because he is SO READY for HIS turn).

This year, the kids all had very specific plans for their birthday parties. Samuel’s was at our local Natural History Museum, and centered all around their new King Tut exhibit (one of his obsessions).  Martha wanted a princess party (OF COURSE), and originally stated specifically Snow White, but she was happy to “settle” for ALL the Disney Princesses when Mommy forgot to order the Snow White “stuff” online and couldn’t find any in the local stores.  And lil Allan… well, he’s had some time to change his mind twice three times.

By accident, I started a new birthday shopping “tradition” that I plan to keep up every year.  It’s a simple thing really, but quite honestly, I think the simple ideas are usually the best.  Each child got to go on a specific shopping trip with me to purchase all the supplies for their party.  Tableclothes, cups, plates, napkins, candles… they got to go TO the party shop (and Walmart) and pick those things out.  One-on-one time with Mom (FABULOUS), mixed with a shopping experience ALL ABOUT them and their birthday.  Can’t beat that!

It was actually a really good idea that Samuel went with me, because I was kind of stumped about what to get to decorate for his party.  I mean, it’s not like the party stores have an abundance of King Tut party theme supplies.  I stood in the aisle at Party City and said, “um… what color tablecloth/napkins/plates should we get?  Brown?”  And Samuel replied, “MOM, we need to get YELLOW… for GOLD.  You know, like King Tut’s sarcophagus.  (DUH was implied)”   Duh, indeed!

Martha’s trip was a ton of fun for BOTH of us… I’m not sure who squealed more at all the PRETTY. PINK. PRINCESS. STUFF.  (Ok, it was probably me).

And finally, this last weekend, lil Allan and I went for HIS shopping trip, with the intention of getting Batman supplies (his second choice after the Incredible Hulk supplies were disappointing to him).  We arrived at the store, and found NO Batman stuff.  BUT, they DID have “How To Train Your Dragon” supplies, and that was the end of Batman.  We then headed over to the toy aisle, so he could give me a few “present” ideas, and that’s when I discovered that five is that MAGIC age when pretty much ANYTHING in the toy aisle will work just fine.  Or maybe that’s just my cute kid who likes it all…

Anyway, birthday party supply shopping – it’s our new tradition.  And I’ll be excited to go through it all again NEXT year.

Filed Under: My Family Tagged With: , ,

Just had to share…

March 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

My daughter makes a LOVELY, BEAUTIFUL Snow White… doesn’t she?

Her party was so, so fun… and I’m still recovering!

Filed Under: My Family Tagged With: , , ,

Graduation Announcements

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It’s getting to be that time again – time for graduations and parties and celebrations!

I have several graduation announcement/invitation samples in my Delight Design shop, and these are my two favorites:

Don’t forget, I can CUSTOM design around your image, including your school colors!

Filed Under: Announcements/Invites, Featured Tagged With: , , , ,

Fun Invite Samples

March 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A few days ago I posted a few digital scrapbook “book” templates that I made with Heritage Makers software.  Today I have a couple of cute 5×7 invitation templates I designed.

I have two boys and one girl, and I’m not sure WHICH design I like better!

Filed Under: Digital Scrapbooking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

My baby is three…

March 22, 2010 By 1 Comment

I’m not sure how it happened… or when… but my baby girl is turning three today.  In the last few months she’s been evolving from toddler girl to BIG girl, and we are trying to keep up!

Over the weekend, we kept talking about lasts… “this is the last Saturday you’ll be a two year old”…. “this is the last time you’ll go to the Museum as a two year old”…. “this is the last time you’ll go to church as a two year old”.  (Yes, her dad and I are slightly sentimental.)

Martha (age THREE) At the Museum, playing with the sand (her FAVORITE activity)

When I was a girl, I always expected that I’d have a girl FIRST… and then a boy… and be done.  Life didn’t turn out that way.  I adopted my first child (a boy), and because of health issues, I didn’t expect to have any more.  But, God’s plans for me included THREE children, and I was able to have one more boy… and my baby girl.

Even though I talk (and write) a lot, I can’t ever put into words what this girl really means to me.  (You know I’m going to try, right?  Here goes!)

Martha Maysielen is my “mini-me”, an almost mirror-reflection of the me that was.  She grins at me and it takes my breath away because she looks JUST LIKE the pictures of me at her age.  (Except I think she is even cuter, especially when she has her hair in two pig-tails.)

Temperamentally, she is very much like me too.  My mother used to say that from the time I came out of the womb I wanted to be bigger and older than I was.  I would get frustrated, even as a baby, because I couldn’t do something I wanted to do.  I always kind of laughed when mom said it… but then I met my Martha.  Turns out… she’s exactly the same way.  She threw screaming fits when she wanted to roll over but couldn’t.  Crawling made her mad as could be, because she wasn’t running with her big brothers.  Yes, she is my daughter, thru and thru.

Thankfully, she has a bit of her Daddy in her too.  It’s an interesting mix… Mommy’s Type A personality with Daddy’s laid back, “what are clocks for again” personality.  Unfortunately for Martha, she got stubborn-ness from BOTH of us, so we’ll be working on that trait over the next few several years.

I love that she is the youngest… and has two big brothers to look up to.  She is just as comfortable with trucks and dinosaurs and tools as she is with baby dolls and stuffed animals.  (She often “rocks” the trucks LIKE a baby.)  She is tough and determined and not knocked down easily.  And when she IS knocked down (she has two big brothers, after all), she gets right back up again.  She is the easiest to re-direct of the three (so far), and is also the most exasperating.

I just love my sweet, tough, stubborn, fiesty, talkative, expressive, beautiful girl.

Can you tell?

A couple of weeks ago, I pulled a couple of scrapbooks out of a box that hadn’t been unpacked yet (you know, because we’ve only been in our house for almost 3 years now!!).  One book was Samuel’s (his first 3 years) and the other was Allan’s (his first year).  Martha looked around after we finished looking at them both and wondered aloud (and annoyed) where HER book was.  OOPS!  Mommy needs to finish it, sweetie!  Every day since, she has asked me where HER book is.  I think I have some digi-scrappin’ to do!

There are a few layouts done with her photos and story… I just checked, and I have most of her first year done, so I’m only about a year behind!  I’m going to post a few of those “first year” layouts below, just for her. (She likes to see herself on my computer, and I’ll show her this post when she wakes up.)

(And maybe I’ll be in LESS trouble about the “book”, if she sees these.)

(Or not!)

Happy Birthday, Princess!

(And Mommy will get busy right away on all the second year layouts for your book… I promise!!)

Filed Under: Digital Scrapbooking Tagged With: , , , , ,

Sunday Shout-Out

March 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I can distinctly remember the first time I realized there was a “digital scrapbooking” industry.  It was around 2004 or so, and I had already been a web designer for several years.  At that time, I enjoyed my own form of digi- scrapping, mostly through personal websites – you know… a blog, before blogs were “cool”.

I was often frustrated with the limitations though.  Quality graphics were hard to come by, and I could visualize what I wanted a website to look like, or a cute photo enhancement to look like, but creating that with “pixels” was time consuming and difficult (and often impossible – mostly because my imagination is better than my digital artistry skills!)

The day I found “digi kits” for sale was a happy, happy day.   Finally there were other people just like me out there, trying to design, create, and SCRAPBOOK on their computers.  I suddenly didn’t feel “weird” anymore for trying to do something others did with paper and glue.

In the last 5 or 6 years since I found OTHER digital scrapbookers, the industry has exploded beyond belief.  And I have been very, very lucky to find my own little niche within that industry.  I realized fairly quickly that I am not a digital KIT designer, but I’m rather a layout designer … a layout artist…  a digital scrapbooker-for-hire.  Or, if you want to keep it a little more simple for non-digi folks, I’m a graphic designer… using the designs of OTHER graphic designers to create something new.

I could not… could NOT do what I do without the fabulous (and very generous) digital KIT designers.  Over the next few weeks, I’d like to offer up a Sunday Shout-Out to some of my favorites.  Now that I think about it, it might take a year (or two), since I’ll do it just once a week… and I have SO many favorites.

I’m going to start with Miki Ferkul aka Microferk Designs.  She sells her designs at Scrapbook-Elements.  I’m starting with her because I’m using one of her graphics in my header here on this blog… and because a great many of my current samples and designs, in both etsy shops, were created using her products.

I have always loved her designs and her style.  The day she changed her TOU to allow for crafting/designing for hire, I literally did a dance in my house. (Really, I did… and I told her so too!)  I have a rather large section of my external hard-drive filled with her kits and products.  She has designed so many lovely kits… and she puts out something new nearly EVERY week.   I would tell her to slow down a bit, so I can catch up with purchasing all her designs, but I love, LOVE to see her new stuff every week.

A few of her latest designs that you really need to see (and buy…and use!):

SEE!  I told you she was amazing!

Thank you, Miki, for being inspiring… and encouraging and generous to digi-scrappers/artists like me.

Filed Under: Digital Scrapbooking, Sunday Shout Out Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Digital Scrapbook Book Templates

March 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Over the next few weeks, I hope to add a variety of “portfolio” type items to this blog. Today’s post includes a few sample book templates I designed using the Heritage Makers software.  These were all designed in both 8×8 book size and in 12×12 book size.

Doodle Whimsy:

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Christmas Album:

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Baby Girl Album:

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Baby Boy Album:

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If you are interested in custom digital scrapbook layouts or book design, please check out my Delight Design etsy shop, or send me a note!

Filed Under: Digital Scrapbooking Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Custom Blog Design

March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Spring is in the air… or at least here in Las Vegas it is! And with the fresh air, sunshine, and birds singing usually comes a desire to SPRING CLEAN! I’m guessing that’s why I’ve had several requests for new blog designs lately – it’s not just me who feels like it’s time for a change, a new look, an updated feel.

If you are in the mood for a makeover or custom design, I’d like to invite you to visit my etsy shop to place your order and get started! I have several great sample designs for you to check out, and I would love to help you get Spring started with a fresh look.

Here are a few screenshots of my samples:

And a recent design I did for Jennifer at Adventures in McQuill-land

My pricing is as follows:

  • Blogger custom designs OR makeovers – $200
  • WordPress custom MAKEOVER (for existing blogs and wordpress sites) -  $450
  • WordPress custom design, set-up, and installation (if you are new to blogging/wordpress)  – $650.00
  • Custom blog headers – $85.00

You can visit my etsy shop to place your order or send me a note, OR just email me directly at char @ delight-designs.com (no spaces in actual email).

Filed Under: Blog Design Tagged With: , , , ,
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