Sweet Cheeky Designs Blog

Design 1- check!!

2011-05-18T23:47:00.002-05:00

I am FINALLY done with my awesome design class that I took this semester!! It was a doozy but now I know how to create my OWN designs and not have to purchase others' designs. Yea ME!! Now I just need some time to create. Where can I buy some time?

I also took another teacher certification test and PASSED it!! That stressed me out a whole lot. I hadn't been to school in 12 years and I was supposed to remember all that stuff? Well, I crammed like crazy and passed it with flying colors. Now I just need someone to show me pity and give me a job. They don't like it when you stay home to raise kids, apparently. It's hard to get back in if I don't have daddy on the school board, a close teacher friend bucking for me a position, I could go on and on......... but I will smile and keep subbing OTHER TEACHER"S CLASSES!!! Just a little bitter today.

I'm looking REALLY hard for a sign from God about what I should do with my life. Now that my kids are in school, I always thought I would go back to teaching. But since I learned graphic design, I would LO HO HOVE to pursue that. BUT, I would need more school. Will it ever end? Will an answer just pop up someday and I will think it's the best solution and just KNOW in my heart that THAT"S what I am supposed to do? This is when my mom would jump in and tell me to be patient and have faith.

I do realize that I am talking to no one and there's a reason that I didn't post this on my personal blog. Exactly! Because I would get comments about what I should do or no one will really care. I'm a little done with rejection so I will just vent here and go to bed and get a good night's sleep.

I redesigned- I can't stop loving pink! I don't know when I will be up to doing big jobs- I am still currently subbing and will until school ends at the end of June, but if you have a SIMPLE blog for me to design, I just may take the challenge.

Here is what I did for my final project in Design. I found the graphics and then drew them on my own. So, this is my own drawing on the computer of Mickey vintage to Mickey new. I think I did pretty good and am ready for some more challenges.

Goodnight, me!

EVERYthing I create needs a watermark now. Sweet!

unavailable for now :(

2011-02-27T11:44:00.002-06:00

I am currently not taking any orders. There are a lot of great blog designers out there and if you email me and let me know what you are looking for, I'm sure that I can point you in the right direction.

Sincerely Yours Paper

2011-01-19T08:39:00.000-06:00

I received the extraordinary honor of assisting Amy Hannon of Sincerely Yours Paper with her newly designed blog! If you have ever planned a wedding or just love style in the Northwest region of Arkansas, you know exactly who Amy Hannon is. She is the owner of SYP which is a company designing and producing award-winning wedding invitations as well as personalized paper lovelies and goodies for your home.

Feature in Martha Stewart Weddings

Her wedding invitations and paper lovelies have been featured in Martha Stewart's Wedding magazine and she personally knows Preston Bailey!! Preston Bailey, y'all! THE reason for my black magic roses at my wedding back in the 1900's. 99 to be exact but it feels like yesterday!

Black Magic Roses

AND, if you are a Hog fan with any sense of style whatsoever, you probably have one of these babies from SYP to wear to the games. I have one and I seriously wore it EVERY gameday!! They are now available in Signed, Sealed, Delivered, a local boutique/store full of goodies for your home.

Swanky, Soooie Tee

So anyway, when Amy asked me to help her with her blog, I was a little nervous. She has such great style and is a celebrity around here. Well, she quickly put my nerves to ease! She was the nicest, sweetest, person who knows exactly what she wants! You gotta love that about a girl! We both worked really hard at making the blog look awesome and I know that we had a great time talking and giggling on the phone in the process! ha!

So hop on over and check out the loveliness!

Sweet Faces and Revamps

2010-11-16T21:12:00.000-06:00

Remember this sweet 'lil face?

Well, now she has a brother and there are two sweet 'lil faces!

If I kept your files, it's been less than a year, and you would like a revamp of your current header, email me and let me know. Send me the photos that you would like changed out as well. I charge $25 for a revamped header and can get it to you relatively quick.

Designing

2010-10-12T14:41:00.000-05:00

Yes! I am designing and simplifying your blog if you are a current customer. Feel free to email me and if you don't get a reply within 24 hours, it probably means that I didn't get it for some strange reason and you can always send a follow up email.

I am currently working outside of the home but in my extra time will definitely still design for those who have been so great to me! Thanks to all of you! :)

Multiples and More Button Contest

2010-09-17T08:44:00.000-05:00

Last week, Multiples and More asked me to design a button for their blog and enter a contest where their readers were going to decide the winner. I thought it would be fun, so I put together a trendy little button for the contest.

So, sometimes I can be a little dense because I thought their readers would be deciding. I didn't think that maybe I needed to let all my readers and faithful customers in on the vote. So, I am calling on you to go vote!! If I have designed something for you or even voted on your child in a contest (lol), go to their blog right now and VOTE!

Love to you all! ♥

Define Your Space

2010-08-31T13:38:00.000-05:00

This is the next to the last blog off of my lengthy wait list from last spring. Define Your Space creates beautiful products using vinyl lettering. The owner wanted her logo in a frame with swirls and flourishes. She also wanted a black distressed damask background for her blog with pops of red and turquoise throughout. I love the look and couldn't wait to show it off!

update....

2010-06-01T12:12:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to give an update on what was happening with me and Sweet Cheeky Designs. I have closed my wait list and are taking my time with finishing those designs on my list. Luckily all the people on the wait list are taking their time with getting me info. Love that!

I am SO incredibly thankful for all the business that I had in the past two years and all the wonderful customers that wanted me to design just for them. I love designing blogs and meeting new people- some of you have been SO awesome to work with.

While I have enjoyed the success of designing for so many of you, I have also come to realize that time spent with my family is something that I was really missing. This is the last year for me to be a SAHM to my two wonderful children and I want to spend all the time I can with them. Working night and day and on weekends was not something that was working for me or for them, so I had to make the decision to close my wait list and give up the chance to design for some wonderful and successful people. I don't regret this decision and am relishing in the time that I am afforded to spend with the kids and hope that this summer will be an amazing time for us all before I start back to work full time in the fall.

Most likely, I will be available to design for my returning customers on a case by case basis. Please email me and I will let you know when and if I will be available and thank you SO much for understanding. Love to you all!!

more photography.....

2010-05-05T10:21:00.001-05:00

LOVE Heidi! I did a design for her sister, Shannon who I adore as well. Sweet girls with sweet talent! I like the sessions tab on her menu bar. It drops down to show different categories. Another thing I really liked about the design was the bottom. Designed to look like a wordpress blog (without the fees!) or a website. Very profesh!

Kendra- adorable! She loved everything and was such fun to work with. I am loving designing the photography blogs!

Kristin Merwin Photography

2010-04-14T09:43:00.001-05:00

Kristin is an amazing photographer that I had the pleasure of working with. I am in love with some of the moments that she has captured. She wanted a particular style for her blog and I looked all night for some Asian flower thingy that we found out later was bamboo! :)

She wanted a menu bar with categories and I made one but it just didn't go with her blog and looked a little blocky. So, we set up a page for her categories using some of her photos and I love it! I also gave her a light and a dark watermark to display on her photos. Go check out HeR BlOg.

Le Artist

2010-04-05T08:46:00.000-05:00

My daughter, Kylie commissioned me to redesign her blog. Her first design was a lady bug design and it was SO cute! But, now she is a serious artist who saw this cute kit and wanted her blog to represent that. She helped me and I just know that she is going to become a pro in Photoshop in the next couple of years. Maybe she can help me out with blogs? I love her!!

Here is her cute artist blog:

By the way, if any of my clients or friends have a sweet blogger that is looking for a cute design, I would love to make her one! Email me @ tracilynn8@mac.com

my sweet Jen

2010-03-29T09:24:00.001-05:00

I have a blogger friend that I would like for you to meet. Her name is Jen and she is THE sweetest and most thoughtful person that I have never met- yet! I have designed for her 3 different times and she has been so patient with me. This time she went for a really simple look and loved everything that we pulled together the first time. I just adore her and I know you will too.

While I was designing her blog I got a sweet little package in the mail from her. It was full of chocolate treats and notes with my name on it. SO very thoughtful. Hugs to you, Jen!!

case by case

2010-03-24T18:20:00.002-05:00

I have been on spring break in Texas enjoying my parents and my kids this week. I will be back home tomorrow and will resume working on those blogs at the top of the list.

I am working hard to get to the bottom of the list and then will only take clients on a case by case basis. I will absolutely work with clients that I have worked with before. Other than that, I will only be working with friends, friends of friends, facebook friends of me or sweet cheeky or blogger friends.

My wait list is still closed and will remain closed. I do this job because I love it and I like for nice people to have fabulous designs. I am a mother and a wife and I will be those first, just to be clear. :)

Muffintop Mama

2010-03-10T09:31:00.000-06:00

I just finished designing a blog for Muffintop Mama. She contacted me Monday night and asked me if I could design a blog for her by Wednesday morning since she was going to be featured at another website today. Normally, I just say no to these requests- I do get a lot of them- and when I told her my rush fee, she still wanted me to do it. So, she sent me the graphics, said she wanted hot pink and I got right on it. I spent a lot of time on the design and this is what I came up with for her:

wait list

2010-03-06T17:15:00.000-06:00

If you are on my wait list, I am working to get to your blog as quickly as I can. If your turn is up and I am working with you on your design, here are some things that you can do to help get your design quickly and to help me get to others waiting patiently on the list:

1. Please have everything you need in to me by the time your turn is up. I have some clients who will email me when their time gets close and tell me that they need more time- I LOVE THAT!! I will be more than willing to move you down and start work on someone who is anxious to get their blog designed!

2. Please answer all my emails in a timely fashion. If you want to show the testing site to your friend, or hubby, or mother- that's fine. But, I expect some correspondence within 24 hours.

3. If you know that you want your signature in black with a heart beside it in Inspiration font, please state that in the questionnaire. It takes time to go back and redesign images that you knew and could have specified before-hand. Just sayin'! :)

4. Read this awesome post from Amanda at Beautiful Blog designs. I think she puts things into perspective!

5. Finally, please know that I will design something for you that I hope that you will LOVE! I have some of the BEST clients and if I keep in touch with you, it's because YOU were an inspiration to me!! ;)

And lastly, please understand that I am a wife and a mother. I like to take off on holidays such as New Years and Valentine's Day. Also, if you email me on a weekend, I will return said email on Monday if I don't return it immediately. Thanks to all of you for being awesome and a real pleasure to work with!!

closed

2010-03-04T08:58:00.001-06:00

I have closed my wait list. Not only that, I will be reviewing my prices and rules for custom designs.

I will be out today for personal reasons.

summer's story

2010-03-03T17:42:00.000-06:00

Summer is awesome!! I just designed a blog for her and she was so helpful and joyous to work with! Every time I had a question, she was right there to email me back with an answer. That's exactly why her blog was done so quickly!

It was a pleasure to give Summer's blog a redesign. You should definitely make your way over there to read Summer's Story. She handles everything that's she's going through with grace.

Summer, you were a pleasure to work with and I look forward to keeping up with your blog! :)

I do want to add that I will probably not be doing the double background again. It looks totally different on my browser than on other browsers and Blogger hasn't come up with a fix for that just yet- that I know of! :(

whimsy blog

2010-02-25T11:24:00.000-06:00

Adele Sciortino is a figurative artist and has some really interesting pieces. She already has a website but wanted a whimsy blog, so I did my take on a whimsy design. She told me that she wanted purple, green and hot pink and this is what I imagined from those colors + whimsy. She was very easy to work with and so excited about her design. I dig that very much!!

I do have to talk about E-checks since it has happened a couple of times. PayPal gives you this option and it's lovely, but I have to wait until the e-check clears through PayPal which sometimes takes 5-10 days. So, unfortunately, Adele had to wait about a week before I could put the design on her blog. She was very understanding and patient- thank you, Adele!

I just want to reiterate that this is one of those rules that I am forced to enforce if you chose to use the e-check option.

some scrappy designs

2010-02-19T10:38:00.000-06:00

Just Cakes

2010-02-16T08:43:00.001-06:00

When Melissa wanted a design for her small business, I jumped at the chance. I have always wanted to own a bakery! Mainly a cupcake bakery but then Sprinkles came to town. So, the fact is that maybe I didn't want to own a bakery as much as I just wanted to design the logo and pick the colors. Well, Melissa baked and I designed and this is what we came up with:

I love it!! You should see some of the yummy cakes and goodies that she has made! Scrumptious is the word that comes to mind! Thanks for letting me fulfill one of my dreams, Melissa!

Price Change

2010-02-14T10:50:00.000-06:00

There has been a price change on the Cheeky Design. If you are currently on my wait list, you will still get to take advantage of the previous price.

Facebook!

2010-02-09T15:17:00.000-06:00

Sweet Cheeky now has a fan page on Facebook. Yup, I caved. I get Facebook and I like to talk to friends on it, but I just really am not getting twitter! I have no idea who sees my tweets or when my tweets link to facebook and so on...... Really, I am so confused!!

So, I am just gonna stick to designing and let the rest just be. If I have 2 posts on the same thing on each one- so be it!

So, if you wanna be a fan of Sweet Cheeky, click the badge to the left! I would LOVE to have you! :)

driving home in a blizzard

2010-02-08T15:33:00.000-06:00

We woke up early and made the trip back home. It rained hard all the way and when it wasn't raining hard, it was snowing like crazy. Some parts were a little tricky but we made it back home safely and are exhausted! I will get to my inbox in a little while :)

Here's a pic that I took on my phone from the car and tweeted:

superbowl weekend

2010-02-06T12:21:00.002-06:00

I am out of town this weekend and will be back on Monday afternoon. :)

Domestic Diva

2010-02-04T16:24:00.000-06:00

Sandy was a blast to work with! I had so much fun designing her blog and just getting emails from her. I never knew that I liked turquoise and orange until she wanted them in her design. I love the way this one turned out! Plus, the character in her header looks just like her! Oh yeah! TTYL, dahlin'!!

cary hairbows

2010-02-02T09:00:00.000-06:00

I had so much fun designing for Shannon of Cary Hairbows. Seriously, if you have a daughter and you love her look in bows, she has the best bows around! They are so trendy and fun and I really wish that my 8 year old daughter still wore bows! I do have a precious little niece that I can buy for, though! :)

Shannon just had a giveaway on her newly designed blog and I am sure she is planning more! If you just can't wait until another giveaway, visit her store. There are SO many bow and bowbands to choose from there. I am IN love with Paisley's bow! And let me give you a little tip- NO bow is TOO big!! :)

I loved working with Shannon- she was a class act! Check out her little bow model on her blog- isn't she just the cutest! I will definitely be working with Shannon again on her website in the near future. :)

Thank you so much for letting me design your awesome blog, Shannon. You are uber-talented!

still snowed in

2010-01-31T16:34:00.000-06:00

We are still snowed in but the ice is melting a little bit today. Hopefully, there will be school tomorrow and I will be back in business! I have a lot to catch up on.

I am pretty done with all the blog design for sweet cheeky. If you find that a link is not working- PLEASE let me know, k?

Aren't you jealous that you don't get to do all of this?

We let Kylie play with us so some of these words aren't legit! although Alan played fug and it is in the dictionary! ha! You learn something new every day.

I should be back tomorrow with design related posts and no more tom-foolery. :)

new look!

2010-01-29T16:26:00.001-06:00

Notice that I am in the middle of revamping my blog. Not only the look, but mostly the information. I get so many emails from people asking questions about price, designs, me, etc..... that I am guessing either my blog was too crowded and they didn't want to take the time to sift through the mess or I just didn't have information readily available.

Also, in the next couple of months, my home page and information will be an actual website! I am so excited about the layout. I couldn't do the exact layout on blogger (boo!) but I managed to make it look similar.

By the way, I am working in a snowstorm! We have so much snow right now and it is still coming down pretty fast.

Look at my poor little garden gnome. You can barely see the tip of his hat!

This one fared a little better because he is closer to the house and has some protection from the roof.

my mikey ♥

2010-01-25T10:08:00.003-06:00

I just did a redesign on one of my sweetest and bestie friends of all time! I have mad love for Michael Ann and she just revealed that she's having another BOY! That makes three and I am so excited for her and her cute little family.

So, Mikey's was one of the first blogs I did and every time I looked at it- I cringed!! It was a darker design and the main part that her posts were written on was red! With gold lettering! And, I could barely see what was written. Live and learn.

So, I made her a custom design using simple colors and polka dots. That family picture is awesome and I really wanted it to stand out. Also, I wanted to do a flash header where all 5 headers that I made would slowly flash so you could see them all but I have to get some serious software for that and that is on my list under web design. So, she will have rotating headers. Every time you refresh the page, another header will show up.

Here is the design and here are all the headers I made especially for her!

where is the love?

2010-01-20T12:58:00.001-06:00

I was wondering why I wasn't getting comment love from some of my favorite people! I had lots of comments that needed to be moderated. ha! I totally forgot that I turned that on. SO sorry and thank you so much for all the love that I finally saw today. :)

Stafford Stories

I heart my blog friend Melissa so much! When I first moved to NWA, I knew no one. Not a soul. I don't remember if Melissa found me or the other way around but she was SO nice! This girl loves the Lord and has a heart of gold and I remember thinking, "She's got it all!" But I was way off. She was struggling with infertility and wanted to be a mommy so bad. I read her blog and really felt for her and Chad.

Since she was going through a lot at the time, I decided that she would be my winner for my Inspiration Giveaway. This is where you nominate another blogger who is going through some tough times to get a free blog design by me.

Melissa was so appreciative and easy to work with. Then, the best news ever came- she is expecting a baby boy and he is due in March! She contacted me to share the news on her updated header. I was beyond honored!

Now that she knows it's going to be a little boy, she wanted a simple, clean blog look that matched her nursery. She sent me a picture and I made the papers to match it. Her photos make that design work- beautiful!!

Congratulations, Melissa! You are going to be a wonderful Mommy to Grayson! And, someday, I am going to meet Melissa (and her awesome twin, Amie!) in real life. I can't wait!

lately...

2010-01-19T16:17:00.002-06:00

EAD Designs
They have awesome vinyl designs and Emily was great to work with. I had SO much fun doing this blog for her! Click on the picture to see her site.

Displaced Southerner
DeAnn is hilarious! She wanted dark and spooky but not Halloween. At first I was like, "Uh- I like happy colors" but then I was loving where she wanted me to go with this. Plus, she wanted me to display her FIDS. (Feathered Kids) I love her! Click on the picture to see her site.

Happy Couponing

giveaway!!

2010-01-17T14:16:00.004-06:00

Winey Mommy is hosting a giveaway from Sweet Cheeky Designs. Go HERE to check it out. Also, her hubby is going to Haiti to help so let's show her some love! :)

If you are on my wait list, you MAY enter. Isn't that awesome?

Also, follow me on twitter by clicking the little birdie below to hear about more giveaways!

Photography Blogs

2010-01-12T21:07:00.002-06:00

Two photography blogs in twenty-ten! Carrie Taylor Photography got rotating headers. There are 4 of them so each time you refresh her page, more of her beautiful pictures are shown.

Carrie also had me make a couple of watermarks for her pictures, a logo for stationary, and another logo for other things.

Sarah Bella was really sweet to work with. We had some communication issues at first, but I am so glad that she gave me a second chance. She's pretty new to blogging but has some beautiful pictures.

This kit had been retired by me but I had 2 customers stop using their design so I used it for Sarah since she loved it so much.

blizzard warning

2010-01-05T22:35:00.004-06:00

We are supposed to have some kind of blizzard activity here tonight/maybe tomorrow night. I have CABIN FEVER because we have been snowed in since Sunday. I am hoping that I don't lose any kind of power since I have 3 designs in the works.

Just wanted you to be aware-

If I don't answer your email and I am in the middle of your design, I don't have power and/or internet connection.

Hopefully that is worse case scenario and I will be working away during the storm.

Check out our forecast:

3 more

2010-01-04T10:47:00.004-06:00

SO excited to get to design Kelsey's blog. Kelsey was a graduate student working at Early Class when Riley attended a couple of years ago. She wasn't Riley's clinician but I remember her sweet spirit and bubbly attitude. I was really happy when she found me and wanted a design. Look how fun she is from what style she chose. She is a purple leopard girl. Love it!

Kelsey is in the orange shirt and Riley is in the tan pants to the left of her. Didn't think I had proof, did ya Kelsey! :)

Grow is a Christian blog by a repeat customer. She wanted simple and found images from istockphoto.

Melissa designed this blog herself in iweb- a mac application. She also got images from istockphoto and I tried to match her blog to her website. I was disappointed that blogger couldn't do some things that I wanted to make it look exact but we came up with a nice design regardless.

Happy twenty ten!!

2010-01-01T12:53:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year! I will be sorting out emails and finishing up the designs on my wait list. My kids go back to school on Monday so I will have lots of time to get to those customers who have been waiting for a new design!

Thank you so much for being patient during Christmas and through my skin cancer surgery (I just got word that the doctor removed it all!) I appreciate all of my wonderful customers and I promise to give you a fabulous design when it is your turn. :)

email

2009-12-27T11:25:00.001-06:00

I am currently traveling so if I don't respond to an email, I will when I return home. :)

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-17T15:19:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas to my customers old and new! I will be working up until the 23rd so if you need to email me last minute pictures or talk about your design- go forth! I will be home next week (no more classes!) so I can give you my undivided attention!

Changes in 2010

2009-12-16T23:51:00.001-06:00

So, here we are in the midst of the Christmas Holidays. How did the time fly by so fast? I had a great year filled with lots of great customers. I learned more Photoshop than I thought was possible and learned to do a website the way I want to do websites. Plus, I got an 'A' in both of my classes! Not too shabby.

One thing that I was blessed with was a lot of wonderful customers! It seemed like the busier I got, the more people wanted on the wait list. I sure got quite a waiting list there for a while. I was overwhelmed, yet humbled by so many of you. And in the end, I hope I made each person happy with their design.

Starting the new year, I am going to be making changes. For all the good people that I was lucky enough to design for, I also got some customers who took advantage of my kindness and made me think about protecting myself by setting limits and upping my prices. What you see is what you are going to get on the new pricing menu. There is a $25 non-returnable deposit fee and if you would like a picture change-out for your header or sides, I will collect the entire fee before I start the design.

I will also be looking into designing websites- I know I have said that before- but I think that this time, I am really ready! I have a couple of people that are already bugging me for one and I love it!

So, lots of changes but still the same 'ole me! I love designing blogs and I love meeting new people! I like being small and customizing each person's blog so that they will love, love, love it!

This weekend, I will update all the "rules" that I have had to make over the past 3 months so that there will be no more gripey posts by me! I hate negative posts!

By the way, Amanda over at Beautiful Blog Designs wrote a great piece on finding a blog designer and what to expect. It is very informative and if you have time, you should read it HERE.

Christmas designs

2009-12-10T12:07:00.003-06:00

I have a really good real-life friend and a really good blogger friend who I did Christmas blog designs for this year. These two girls specified to me when I redesigned their blog the first time that they wanted to dress it up for Christmas and I squeezed them in! I wanted to do more but these 2 final projects are kicking my booty! I will be finished this weekend with my 2 classes and be a certified teacher in Arkansas once again. Wo-Hoo!!

questionnaires

2009-12-10T11:30:00.003-06:00

I know that I am really good at when it comes to designing your blog, but you make it easier when you tell me a little bit about your style, hobbies, or what colors and pictures that you like or reflect who you are.

I can't- rather, I won't just create a blog design for you without knowing some of these things that you include on your Questionnaire. Sorry- it's just not going to happen! We all have likes and dislikes and if you don't tell me that you hate green and brown together and I make your design green and brown- that takes time to fix. Time that you are taking away from me and another customer. To tell you the truth, I don't know ONE designer who would do that without asking for a creative fee.

I think my prices are pretty reasonable for the amount of work that I put into your blog or site while knowing exactly what one wants it to look like so please help me and fill out the Questionnaire if you are wanting a blog design. There is also other information that I really need to know and that reduces emails back and forth which takes time as well.

Thank you to those who make my job easier by getting all your information in to me and asking me questions about the process along the way. I have some GREAT customers and have been very fortunate to have met some sweet blogging friends through it all.

making wordy backgrounds

2009-12-01T11:56:00.004-06:00

I'm all about words on a background lately. I just did one for my Christmas layout and I did one recently for my sister in law's Hottie Hawgs website.

I apologize for not being able to do Christmas layouts this year. I feel really bad about that! After Christmas, I will be more free to get going on my wait list and start doing some web design.

Check out Hottie Hawgs:

back in business

2009-11-30T08:20:00.002-06:00

I'm back and working on the waiting list! Here's who is up for this week:

Amy H.

Courtney E.

Christi O.

I am also going to try to get caught up on the many emails that I received last week. :)

2009-11-19T12:26:00.001-06:00

i can SO do a website now!!!!!

2009-11-15T23:16:00.001-06:00

My friend, Renee should know that she is really helping me because I am using her cause and her blog design to make a mock WEBSITE for my web design class. Yes, I just found out that my final project is to design and make a full blown website with a minimum of 10 pages. I already started on the layout so I won't have to do it on my vacation and guess what?

I CAN DO WEBSITE DESIGN NOW!!!!! I totally figured out how to do the kind of websites that would make me happy! Not just boxy, professional, boring websites! I want to do girly, trendy, sassy, saucy websites for those with small businesses! This is my dream and I am beside myself that I can finally do it! Woo-HOO!! Check it out below. I have only done the first page but I am well on my way! Won't be long now! :)

Shop, sip, and share

2009-11-15T22:58:00.007-06:00

My sweet friend Renee contacted me about doing a blog for her upcoming breast cancer benefit. Of course, I will do anything for a great cause! She is cancer free and is helping to raise funds for those who have breast cancer, but can't afford treatments. I always knew she was a great gal!

Here is what I did for her. I am in love with the bras!! ha! I also loved how she named it Shop, Sip, and Share.

If you live in the Austin, Texas area, you should think about going to support this cause!

Chelle- My Belle!

2009-11-14T11:11:00.004-06:00

My sweet friend, Chelle is no longer Creative Mommy! The good news is- she's The Winey Mommy. ha! The really good news is that she contacted me to redesign her fabulous blog!

I met Chelle last year after she won a design from Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls. I was so excited about meeting her and designing her blog. This was the design.

Well, I was so happy to hear back from her this year. She is so easy to work with and so complimentary! I loved working with you, Chelle and I hope you always LOVE your blog design. Here is The Winey Mommy blog:

out of office reply + macbook = hot mess!

2009-11-05T11:53:00.002-06:00

So this was my facebook status the other day when I messed up BIG time!! Alot of you got a dozen emails from me saying that I was unavailable. In the head, maybe!! So sorry for all the junk mail!! It sent one or five to everyone that has contacted me in the past 4 months. It sent so many, that I was locked out of email for the rest of the day. I seriously felt lost :(

Since I am going on vacay, I wanted to set up an out of office reply so that people would know that I wasn't avoiding them and I would get back to them. I usually twitter it or put it on the blog here but you would be amazed how people just don't read the blog. Am I that boring?

So anyway, if you have a mac and know how to set up and out of office reply, PLEASE let me know!! This is the one time that I wished I had a pc. Also, here is a tip! When you google something, some people really don't know what they are talking about!

Beautiful Blog Design Feature!

2009-11-02T10:14:00.003-06:00

When Amanda from Beautiful Blog Designs contacted me this weekend to tell me that she was going to feature one of my designs on her site, I was SO ecstatic!! I look at her features every Monday (I love every one of them, too!) and just dream about being featured. Well, my dream has come true! And I owe it all to Karyn at French Charming!!

Working with Karyn was amazing! First of all, she had no clue about what she wanted her blog to look like. Then, when I showed her some samples of what I thought French Charming could be, she immediately became involved and spear-headed this design. Of course, I was trying to make it more bold, but she wanted simple, clean, but sassy and she and I together created her blog design. So, congratulations, Karyn. So many people love your design but your blog speaks volumes! You had me hooked from the first post. You are always at the top of my blog list with your creative voice and interesting take on things.

If you are looking for a blog design, Amanda has a list of great designers who are all creatively different and spectacular in their own style. Plus, she features giveaways! Not too shabby!

Check it out: HERE

Ooh la la.. Tres Chic!

2009-10-29T22:37:00.003-05:00

Karyn at French Charming won a makeover this summer from my friend Maggie at Just Add Glitter & Stir. Karyn kept putting the makeover off and come to find out, she just didn't want to make any decisions and the process was a little overwhelming to her.

So, when I got a little caught up and it was past her turn, I emailed her some ideas, showed her a rough draft, and she just came alive and was all too eager to get her new blog design up and running! She picked out the girl and I went from there. I love the simplicity of the white and the colors of the girl, the eiffel tower, and the awning. I hope you like it, too!

Jusika in Italy

2009-10-26T15:52:00.003-05:00

I just finished designing Jusika's blog for her. She lives in Italy right now and I cracked up when she said that she saw the Hogs play on Saturday. In Italy!!

It was a pleasure to do your blog, Jusika!

Fall Decorating

2009-10-22T16:25:00.006-05:00

Update:
Congratulations to Courtney for being the first person to put up my blog button!! The prize- a FREE blog design. Good thing you were wanting an update, Courtney!!

I am not going to be designing blogs for fall, Halloween, or Christmas this year. Boooooooo! But, I thought I would dress up my blog with a Happy Fall Y'all button and you can too! I know that there are people that love to celebrate on their blogs, so here ya go!

Just grab the code in the box and put it on your sidebar in a gadget labeled HTML/Java Script.

latest......

2009-10-21T08:57:00.004-05:00

I am in love with the deep purple that my girl, Jamie picked out. Thanks for letting me design your blog, Jamie! You have a sweet family and you are adorable!

Next up:

Jusika

Hollie

While I was on vacay with the kids this week, I gave myself a little makeover. Couldn't resist! Happy Fall!!

Still Closed :(

2009-10-15T02:43:00.003-05:00

My wait list is still closed but I appreciate all the nice emails. Please check back at the end of November. I should be all caught up by then. :)

If you haven't gotten a reply from me, I am SO sorry! Just know that the wait list is closed but you are more than welcome to email me again for any other questions.

latest......

2009-10-06T12:34:00.003-05:00

So, between tests, sick kids, and being the Homeroom Mom............

Our sweet friends Joel and Abbey are pregnant so she wanted a blog to reflect this special time in their lives. They struggled with infertility and are so happy to be expecting their first! Praise God!

Amy is a special education teacher which is near and dear to my heart and she wanted a trendy design. She liked the pinks, blacks, and yellows in this kit and I love how it turned out! Look how CUTE her cats are!

Changing Backgrounds

2009-09-28T16:29:00.010-05:00

If you are a customer of mine and are wanting a small change, let me show you how to change your background on your blog!

First of all, you will need to go to your photobucket account and see if there are backgrounds in there. Usually, I put 3 or 4 and try them out. If you do have one that you want to try, click on that particular background. Photobucket will pull up a page like this. From here, look to the left. There are 4 codes that you can copy. You will copy the 2nd code which says "Direct Link." (I put pink dots beside it!) The code will start with http:// and end with .jpg or .png

Now, take that code to your blog. Go into Edit HTML- this is your template. Normally I wouldn't tell you to go in here because you can really mess things up if you don't know what you are doing. But I am going to walk you through it!

Scroll down the template- it should be fairly close to the top- until you see some code like this:

See this:

background-image:url("http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/tracilynn/blueflowy.jpg");

(I have highlighted it)

You are going to replace the red code with the code that you copied in photobucket. When you are finished pasting, make sure that the ()'s are still there with the "" in them and a ; at the end. If you leave one colon, quote, or one parenthesis out, it will not work! Make sense?

Then, instead of saving, preview the blog to see if it looks right. If it does, then save it. If it doesn't, clear the edits and leave the first background. Then get out of there as quickly as you can!!

Any questions? Email me! Good luck!

Busy Week

2009-09-27T23:04:00.004-05:00

WOW! I cannot believe that I survived this week! I subbed two days, took care of a sick kid for 2 days, made it to only my Photoshop class on Friday, AND made a blog and weblog for Polly at Make Mine Beautiful.

The weblog/blog is beautiful but they take a lot of work to get them going. Kinda like a website- only I don't charge website fees. Nonetheless- they take a lot of time and dedication and I almost need to set aside a whole week to do them.

Polly's blog and weblog came out very nice and we are still working on it as I type this. She has a lot of great ideas and is going to put her whole heart and soul into this business. I am so thankful that she chose me to do her design.

So, what does that mean for you fabulous people still left on my waiting list? It means that I only have blogs left to do and I am hoping to get those done for you in the next couple of weeks! All of them! My goal is to have everyone finished before the third week in November when hubby and I go to Mexico for our 10 year Anniversary!! Ole!

Thank you for being so patient and I promise that I will give you the attention that I give everyone before you which is sometimes why you have to wait, my dears! :)

Next up:

Abby, The Jessica's (Jusika), and Amy O.

Make sure you have your questionnaire in to me, that your designer is approved, and if you want pictures in the header- you have emailed them to me. Thanks so much!

Check out the Make Mine Beautiful weblog and blog:

Taylor-Made Tales

2009-09-15T22:35:00.004-05:00

LOVED doing this design! Look at that adorable face! I also loved the kit from Zoe Pearn and didn't get to use half of the things that came with it because there was SO much.

This design was a homerun. I don't get those very often. There were no changes made and I'm really proud of it. I am also glad that Mandy loves flowers!

Deal, Diva, & Dudes

2009-09-15T08:59:00.004-05:00

I have become quite fond of Ms. Heidi! She contacted me a while back and wanted a blog design. This time she was serious and got on my wait list. Once I got to her blog, it only took one day to put it together and I uploaded last night. She knew exactly what she wanted and I so hope she got it this time! I love the colors she chose and all the pics of her sweet little family. After all, she is a diva living with a deal and two dudes! ;)

Wait List, Pricing, etc.

2009-09-10T21:59:00.004-05:00

Hey guys! Sometimes I wonder if anyone reads anything that I write on here. hmmmm

I also wonder if you know that you can click on the link that says "waiting list" on the right and see that it is CLOSED :( for the moment. I am down to my last 15 people and with designing blogs, working and going to school, it's taking a little longer than I thought it would. Hopefully after I get these people their awesome blogs, I will open it back up.

Also, did you know that you can look at the menu bar on my header and see my pricing? Try it! It will save you an email to me which may not be answered as promptly as it used to be.

I am looking forward to this semester to be over with and rocking out blogs again for those of you that are inquiring on a daily basis. Thank you so much for wanting a design from me! I LOVE what I do!!!

ARGH!!!

2009-09-08T19:08:00.002-05:00

Just a little advice:

If you don't want to wait for a scrapbook designer's permission (it can take a while), choose someone from my approved list. All of these girls have awesome designs!

(Can you tell that I having a hard time getting approval from random designers?)

SEE what I mean?

Now working with...........

2009-09-08T17:11:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to let you know that I am now working with the following 2 scrapbook designers:

Corina Nielsen at Funky Playhouse Designs

and

Megan Turnidge at Scrap Orchard

Both have amazing designs and you should check them out if you are looking for a scrappy look!

Back and working!

2009-09-08T12:45:00.003-05:00

I am back and working- trying to get through this wait list just as fast as I can while still giving each of you complete attention to your design.

My wait list is still closed. Look for it to open back up at the end of September.

Out.....for the holiday

2009-09-04T13:10:00.001-05:00

I will be out of town this weekend. All emails will be answered on Tuesday. Thanks!

Girlfriends of Grace

2009-09-04T13:04:00.006-05:00

I made Kate a blog for her Bible study group, Girlfriends of Grace. She picked out Pink Latte by Laura Deceatis and that kit is really bright and trendy! The first header that I made had a lot in it and with the pink and brown damask background (Kate's first choice) it was too much, even for me! So, I toned it way down and I really love the look of her blog. Check it out below! Maybe she will let me design a blog for her business next!

Spanish Lessons

2009-09-03T22:08:00.001-05:00

I was so excited when my high school Spanish teacher and family friend, Mrs. Pack commissioned me to help her out. She wants me to call her by her first name but I just can't! ha!

I have known Mrs. Pack since 3rd grade because her husband and my dad were both football coaches. So the coaches wives and the coaches kids always had a great time together. SO many memories! Anyways, she was the best teacher that I ever had. She made learning Spanish so much fun in the classroom. I always felt good when I went to Spanish class.

In the early 90's I got to go to Costa Rica with her on a summer study trip. I lived with a Costa Rican family that spoke only Spanish so it was a huge challenge for me. The family was so good to me and treated me as their own. I had a blast and I loved every minute of touring a volcano, visiting the beach and swimming near the equator, shopping, and taking in the rich culture.

So, enough about me- Mrs. Pack has recently retired and is offering Spanish lessons to adults and homeschoolers. Only if you live near McKinney, Texas, that is. She originally wanted a website but I talked her into a blog and she was more than happy with it when I got through.

I used bright colors and no tacky images that are sometimes associated with the culture. I also did a cool navigation bar with many options. Not just titles, but sub-titles, too! She named it Teach Them To Speak and she will do just that!

Monday.......

2009-08-31T08:05:00.002-05:00

Hello, Monday! You came much too soon. :(

I will be at the lab today working on homework that is due this week. Until I get the full version of Photoshop, I have to work at the computer lab instead of home where I can also work on some orders. Yes, my life is so sad!

Up this week are:

Jennifer

Gail

Kate

Abbey

Heidi (hopefully!)

If you are coming up on the wait list, make sure that you have everything that you need emailed to me. Otherwise, you will be skipped on the list and I will move on to someone who is really anxious to have their blog designed. Luckily, I have a lot of those anxious customers!

Photobucket Troubles

2009-08-28T16:51:00.004-05:00

Photobucket has really not made me happy!! Especially this week. I have had 2 customers have this unsightly image all over their blogs.....

This, my friends, is Photobucket's lame attempt to collect $25 out of you and make you upgrade to a Photobucket PRO account. If you have a blog button out there that gets seen by LOTS of blogs or if your blog gets a lot of traffic, I suggest you pay the $25 and get a PRO account before these crazy images just show up on your blog one day. Apparently, it's all about how much bandwidth you get in a month from Photobucket. It resets every month, but if yours is used up by others within that month, you will get this image until you wait the month out or pay.

CLICK HERE to read all about it.

FYI:

I cannot be held responsible for moving all of your images to my Photobucket account or paying $25 every time this happens. I am so sorry to any of you that this has happened to (it happened to me one time and I freaked out!). Just know that your only options are to pay up to see your images again or not be so popular. ha!

In the meantime, I will be looking for another host or a resolution. If anyone knows of one, please clue me in on it!!

My Sweet Niece and Redo's

2009-08-26T22:28:00.003-05:00

Well, it's about time that I had some people want to redesign their blog that I did almost a year ago. Keep 'em coming, people! Only, let me get caught up first! ha!

My sweet little niece is going to be ONE years old in a couple of weeks! We can't wait to travel back to Texas and celebrate with her. I am getting so excited to play with her because I hear that she is so much fun these days. I miss you, sweet Charlie!

My brother and sister in law have started using their blog to let us know what Charlie is up to. I felt like they needed a little redesign in honor of Charlie. Look how adorable she is!!

So, since they both blog, I gave them each a signature. Jeff's siggy gets a football and Kyri gets a soccer ball. These two were made in sports heaven!

Next, Karen at Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls really wanted a redesign. I really liked her last blog but I can certainly understand wanting a change! Karen has been so good to me to host giveaways and has given me MANY customers. Plus, she has had a rough time lately with their house troubles. I was glad to give her something to be giddy about again!

Waiting List- CLOSED! :(

2009-08-26T12:27:00.001-05:00

I am closing my wait list today. If I have agreed to do a blog for you and your name is not on the wait list, please let me know.

Thanks!

I ♥ Kami's Blog!!

2009-08-25T19:58:00.003-05:00

I have a crush on Kami's newly designed blog. Mostly because her brother in law drew an illustration of her and it is phenomenal! I colored it in and Kami picked the kit and fonts for the logo- so it was a true collaboration. I have used this kit before with Legally Blonde's Proceedings but this time I used a lot of the black in the kit and threw in some zebra print to go with the leopard print.

I really love the look of her blog and hope that she gets lots of business. She makes some cute bags and baby bedding and is starting to plan parties. Good luck, Kami!

Kami was one of my Giveaway Winners!! My other giveaway winner was Brooke. I finished her blog a while back but wanted to showcase them together. Brooke wanted the Damask and Dots kit which I have officially retired because I have done it so much that I don't think I can come up with another look for it!

Brooke only wanted a header, layout and background. She knew exactly what she didn't want which were side buttons and pictures in the header. She changes it around a lot herself and I love that about her! I really enjoy working with people like Brooke who know just what they want and let me know right up front! :)

Plus, Hunter is a-dorable!!

Animal Prints..

2009-08-24T13:28:00.003-05:00

Everyone loves animal prints! At least I do. Now I am missing my animal print blog.......*sigh*

Anyways, I have been busy designing blogs with zebra and I am working on a zebra/leopard/hot pink one at the moment that will be quite stunning!!

Here are the two that I did last week:

I heart Ashley! This girl is crazy and I mean that in a good way. She is trendy and fun and I am sure she is the life of the party. She also just had an adorable little girl. Check her out:

This next blog has been put on hold so many times because we were both SO busy! Kerri runs A&C Posh Designs where you can find bows, bling, and baby things. I even saw some little girl shirts and headbands on the A&C blog. Kerri is going to let me do a website for her after I master them from my class!

This is her family blog and it is sparkly and fun. Thanks for being so patient, Kerri!

Damage Control

2009-08-22T15:26:00.003-05:00

Today I was fooling around with my blogger account and I noticed that I still had a gmail account. I signed up for a gmail account so I could keep my private emails on my mac and my sweet cheeky emails separate. I quickly realized that my mac account reminds me when I have emails and my gmail didn't. I had to log into my gmail account and quite frankly, I would forget.

So, after I thought I cancelled it, I had about 15 emails that I had to send out apologies to and explain that I thought I cancelled it. Luckily some of those people still wanted designs.

Fast forward to this morning when someone told me that they had sent me an email back in June, yes, JUNE, and had not received a reply! So I checked- and sure enough, I had a WHOLE lot of emails from June, July, and August from people wanting designs.

Now, I know that I have been busy, but I have NEVER been too busy to email someone back. I am SO extremely sorry to those people who feel neglected by me. I have emailed you back today and if you still need me, wonderful! and if you don't and have found someone else, I completely understand!!

I have NO idea how people are getting that email address either. Both of my contact buttons have the correct email. hmmmm.....blogger!

Well, the gmail account is FINALLY cancelled and hopefully when you email me, I will get back to you in 25 hours. If not, I have made an unintentional mistake and I am so sorry!

Again, I apologize!!

My email address is tracilynn8@mac.com :)

This Week........

2009-08-22T10:35:00.002-05:00

First of all, you all have overwhelmed me with blog requests! :) I am going to really have to step it up and work more. I spend so much time on each blog making sure that you love, love, love it that sometimes it ends up taking longer than it should. Good thing that my customers are patient and know that they will get the same treatment! You do know that, don't you?

So, here's what's going on this week:

Kami B.

Jennifer B.

Kate W.

Hollie D.

These 4 girls have been waiting so patiently! Since it took me so long to get to you all, I will make sure you get a free blog button. A blog button is a button that people can grab to put on their site, see mine below:

New Look!

2009-08-21T18:41:00.002-05:00

Like I don't have enough to do...... this morning I changed my look. I got tired of looking at the blue and green. I love pink and brown and pink and black. I chose pink and brown because I really liked this pink and brown damask at istockphoto. Plus, I wanted a little bit simpler look. I am really going to work on the links because I have people randomly shoot me emails and ask me questions, like, "How much is a blog design?" or "What designers do you work with?" and it's all right here on the blog. I am wondering if I need to clean things up or if people just don't want to browse the blog. Or, can some people not access the links? If you have any problems clicking on my links, please shoot me an email and let me know.

I will be working this weekend to get caught up before I start back at school next week so y'all have a great weekend!

Wait List

2009-08-18T23:30:00.002-05:00

I am going to slowly open up the wait list. I will take people on a first come/first serve basis so if you are wanting a blog design from me, you should email me @ tracilynn8@mac.com in the next couple of weeks.

The wait list is approximately 3-4 weeks out.

Note:

I am so sorry that I have to do this but if you want me to hunt for a design or kit for you, you will need to pay the $25 deposit fee FIRST. I have had some people want this service and then they are nowhere to be found when I find something and get back to them. I know! There are actually people out there who do this! Shocking!

(I seriously hope that didn't sound TOO harsh! I LOVE all my customers!!)

Chic Giveaways

2009-08-18T08:00:00.003-05:00

Nicole contacted me about a blog for her site Chic Giveaways. She has some great giveaways so head on over there right now!

She found the hand/present image on istockphoto and I gave her navigation links, a blog button, and a fun header! We used a background from Dani Mogstad and incorporated the red and blue into the blog. Thanks for being so patient with me, Nicole!

Golightly Images

2009-08-11T10:17:00.004-05:00

One of my very sweet friends, Amber has started a photography business. She contacted me to give her a simple, yet elegant design. Of course, I wanted to fancy it up and she wanted "less is more" and stuck with that. She also wanted the Tiffany's & Co. box color with a silver ribbon and some black added in. I gave her rotating headers so that people could see a sample of what she can do. She is very talented, that Amber! Oh, and she also named it Golightly Images. So glamourous and old Hollywood!

Here are the other 3 headers:

(including both of her adorable kids)

That's Who I Am

2009-08-11T10:08:00.003-05:00

I haven't had a moment to blog about the blogs that I have finished so I will randomly post them in between working and taking my web design class which I am very excited about!!

I loved that Christy contacted me to do her blog. She is a first grade teacher and is currently expecting her first child. She was lots of fun to work with and always comments on my blog. That holds a special place in my heart!! LOL

July Inspiration

2009-08-11T09:53:00.002-05:00

My July Inspiration pick was Renee. I met Renee over email and eventually we talked on the phone about what she wanted for her Sassy Scrappin' blog. We had an instant connection and she reminded me of some of the best friends that I have had in my life. I then learned that she was going to start radiation for breast cancer and had just been through chemotherapy. She invited me to read her personal blog and I was overwhelmed. I had never known another person my age that was fighting this battle. I was inspired by her courage, her strength, and her passion for her son.

Renee has been cleared of the cancer. Praise God!! So, I chose her for my Inspiration Giveaway for July. Here is a sneak peek at the blog I did for her......

Waiting List- CLOSED! :(

2009-08-03T16:45:00.002-05:00

My wait list is closed at the moment. I am going to be substitute teaching at the local elementary schools and taking 2 classes on web design, so I will be quite the busy bee! I am going to finish up the wait list and then I will probably schedule orders for certain weeks that I know I will have some time to devote to designing. My main goal is to teach 2nd grade again and do web design on the side. So, hopefully that goal will come true by next fall. (fingers crossed!)

I am working as fast as I can but taking time with each of your blogs so please understand that I will get to yours and you will be so happy with it! Please feel free to email me for a status update. The next two weeks will be devoted to those on the wait list without any interruptions.

Thanks, friends!

Last Week Of Summer..... and Future Plans for me!

2009-07-28T12:04:00.006-05:00

Updated Wait List

Side Note: I am always available to existing customers!!

This is the last week of summer and we are busy getting school supplies, school clothes, and getting things ready for the new school year. The kids will start back next Monday, August 3, and I will start back to work next Tuesday, August 4.

I plan on finishing and starting and finishing the following:

Amber K.

Karen

Kerri

Christy

Nicole

Kami

Make sure you have your questionnaire in to me and all pictures that you want in the header and/or sides emailed to me so that I don't have to stop mid-way through the designing process and wait for anything. That way I can get your design to you pdq!!

Future Plans:

I plan on opening up my waiting list the second or third week of August and will probably just take people on a case by case basis since I will be working and taking a class or two. I have to have 6 hours to get my teacher's certificate reinstated and then I will probably go back to teaching and do blogs/websites on the side. So, no more SAHM for Traci! I am excited about getting out of the house more!

I have really loved designing blogs and will continue to do so but it will be on my time. More to come on this later! :)

Christmas in July

2009-07-24T08:55:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow, one of my customers, who has come to be a fun bloggy friend, is having a Christmas in July party! My personal blog is participating along with lots of other cool people. You can, too! That is, host or stop by any of the blogs listed on the side of JustAddGlitterandStir where Maggi will be hosting the party and will be giving away a present. I am not going to tell you what the present is, but you may find that you could win a Sweet Gift. That's all I am sayin'.

So stop by Just Add Glitter and Stir tomorrow and have a wonderful Christmas in July, my friends!

I've Been Featured

2009-07-23T08:48:00.003-05:00

Stephanie from Simple Things Here contacted me and said that she would like to feature Sweet Cheeky Designs in her spotlight of the week.

Take a look HERE

Thank you for supporting small businesses, Stephanie!

changing it up

2009-07-19T23:30:00.002-05:00

I am so surprised that I kept my last design for as long as I did! It has been a really busy summer and I have been a little overwhelmed with my wait list lately. Since the kids are out of school, I have been trying to entertain them plus work- it's much harder than I thought! Thankfully, they will be going back to school in two weeks and I can work at finishing up the wait list. As far as opening up the wait list, you may have to stay tuned for my future plans......(insert scary music)

Pardon the construction, please. The links should be up and working soon. Until they are, visit here:

Layouts and Pricing

Portfolio

Contact me @ tracilynn8@mac.com

Rest in Peace, Lil' Will

2009-07-17T09:02:00.002-05:00

Today is a really sad day. I just found out that Lil Will has gone to be with the Lord. Please lift his parents, Sequita and William up in prayer today. May Lil' Will be at peace in the arms of our maker.

Latest......

2009-07-15T13:05:00.004-05:00

Actually, I did this blog for Jenafer a while back. She wanted a monkey theme and found this kit herself. She's got two really cute kids and is a little social butterfly, that Jenafer! I just remembered to put her blog in my portfolio because she wanted a button for Friday Frugal Fixes. That may be something to check out........

I just finished Amie's blog and she was so patient and sweet! She has 2 little boys and they are adorable! Her twin sister, Melissa was so sweet to get a blog design for her! She said that she wanted to do it because she is a great mommy. I have no doubts about that at all! Amie picked "You Rock" by Zoe Pearn. There were a lot of colors to this one and I think it turned out really cute!

I may have forgotten to feature another couple of blogs that I have done- if so, email me and I will get right on that!

I have closed my waiting list but if you are a returning customer, you are always welcome! I have also let two other people talk themselves into being added- I am a softy! :)

Winners!!

2009-07-12T13:24:00.003-05:00

I have 2 Winners from my 1st Birthday Giveaway! Thank you all so much for participating and for leaving those sweet comments. I will have another comment/follower giveaway in August where I will pick someone who comments and follows (I have found SO many of you with interesting stories and/or personalities!!)

On a side note, I am going to CLOSE the waiting list for now. I have a lot of people that have been waiting a while and my ER stay didn't help one bit! As soon as I catch back up and get the kids back in school (the first week of August!!) I will open it back up.

{You could always contact me and persuade me to take you right now, but I can only take a few if any.}

Now, on to the winners! I will contact you and if by chance you have already got a design from someone else and don't need it, I will choose another commenter/follower.

Kami @ Custom Designs

Brooke @ Keeping Up With Hunter

Congratulations to both of these faithful followers! I look forward to meeting both of you really soon and working with you on a truly wonderful design!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Cheeky!

2009-07-08T14:37:00.002-05:00

One year ago today I started redesigning blogs for friends. It has truly been a blessed year and I plan on having an even better one this year. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and for those that keep coming back. I love you all!

I haven't been feeling great and yesterday I spent the whole day in the ER. I am talking the whole day. From 11am to 8pm. It seems that I passed a kidney stone -um, those things really hurt! So, now I am on pain meds and really sore. This is the first chance that I have had to get on the computer and I apologize to anyone that has emailed me and I haven't returned those emails. My parents are here helping with the kids and hopefully I will start feeling better or coherent soon!

So, you still have more time to follow and comment for a chance to win a free blog design. I will be randomly picking the winners on Sunday, July 12 so be sure and come back to see if you have won!! Thank you for understanding.

Have a Happy 4th!

2009-07-02T20:58:00.001-05:00

I will return on the 5th. Be happy and safe!

BTW- I am LOVING all of the comments. You all rock! :)

2 Giveaways on Sweet Cheeky's 1st Birthday

2009-06-29T11:00:00.006-05:00

10 more days left!!! Yes, that's right! I did my FIRST blog one year ago- last July!! My sweet friend, Alyssa, let me experiment on her blog and the rest is history. I have done a lot of blogs/blogsites this year and I hope it only gets better next year! In honor of my 1st year as a blog designer, I am going to give away TWO blogs to TWO lucky followers and/or commenters.

Here's how it's gonna go down. I will put all of the followers in a hat and if you commented in the month of June, you get an extra chance to win. Comment on your blog about the giveaway and email it to me and you get another chance to win. I'm not kidding around here, I want people that WANT a new blog design to win! And, if you already have a design you like, you can give it to someone in need.

So, if you are a follower or commenter, be on the lookout because I will be drawing or Random generating or whatever in 10 days! That's July 9! Hope to hear from ya!

~That's actually 10 days after today. I got so excited, I had to post this early! :)~

Inspiration Blog

2009-06-29T10:45:00.004-05:00

Melissa was my Inspiration for June. I met Melissa (I blog-met her, haven't actually met her) after I noticed that she lived in the same city that we moved to in October. I left a message on her blog and she responded. Ever since, we have been reading each other's blog and I have found out so much about her. For one, she lives near me and another thing that I learned was that Melissa and her husband struggle with infertility. After reading her stories, she really lets her feelings out there and I realized that many people struggle with infertility on a daily basis. Melissa is a strong woman yet is very loving and caring. I believe that she will make an excellent mother some day and she and her husband are definitely on my prayer list.

So, I wanted to give her a beautiful blog since I believe that she is a beautiful person. I offered for her to be my Inspiration for June and what did she do? She went and ordered a blog for her twin sister because she wanted her to have a beautiful blog since she is such a wonderful mother! What a true inspiration! I'm glad that I picked you, Melissa! You have a natural kindness and a big heart! :)

Take a look at Melissa's blog below and stay tuned for her sister, Amie's blog:

lately......

2009-06-20T10:47:00.006-05:00

Melissa is my Inspiration blog for the month of June. I will follow up with a post about how awesome she is!

Christie from Maters and Melons.

Lil' Will who was born premature.

Jocelyn- a scrapper, a grandma, and SO much fun!

Stay tuned for how I am going to pick my JUNE GIVEAWAY! I had so many people comment and follow that I wish I could give a free blog design to everyone- you are all so cool! There is still time to follow or comment. I am LOVING going to your blog and reading about you! I get sad when I click on a profile and you don't have a blog.......let's fix that!

Ribbons of Faith

2009-06-11T12:07:00.002-05:00

I got an email from Vickie who wanted to jazz up a Women's Ministry blog for her church. I can't think of a better way to include all the women in the church of the many upcoming events, prayer requests and praises, and pictures and stories of past events attended. Of course, I was really stoked when I found out it was for a C of C in the Arlington area. I clicked on her church website only to find out that my high school youth minister was their current youth minister. It's such a small world!

Vickie was such a joy to work with! She worked with me not only on the blog design but on some personal things that I was going through. Thank you, Vickie! I hope to stay in touch!

Check it out:

TLJ Photography

2009-06-03T22:07:00.003-05:00

The fun never stops around here! I am very proud of this next blog. Teresa is a photographer and wanted her blog to show her work yet didn't know which way to go with the design. Together, we came up with this simple, classic, clean design that would show off her amazing pictures yet have a little trendy kick to it.

I love the colors and how the flower doodles came together with the pictures to soften the look, yet let her pictures stand out. When you are that talented, you just don't need a lot of look!

You were fabulous to work with, Teresa! Thanks for letting me run with it and create one of my favorite non-scrappy blogs so far!! :)

Blinkies!!

2009-06-02T10:58:00.002-05:00

I stayed up last night until 3am to learn how to do blinkie buttons for my friend, Deanne, who lives across the pond in Northamptonshire. Deanne was so great to me while I was sick. This is the message that I got one day and it made me snicker! I love a good accent and I could totally hear it in this message.

"hey, bless you, you get yourself sorted thats the most important :)

Take your time :) xx"

I am going to tell my kids to get themselves "sorted" from now on! ha! I also told her that we were going "on holiday" next week and when she replied she said, "Oh, I thought you were in the states, are you not?" God bless her!

Okay, so anyways, Deanne wanted 3 buttons- 2 that blinked. So, I took on the job because if my customers don't order it, I may not figure out how to do it. It was fairly easy and I think she really likes them. Plus I gave her 3 for the price of 2 because 2 of them were alike except for wording. You see there! I will work WITH you, people!

Here is the button for her blog because her blog is pink and brown. Oh, and she will come back for a design from me, won't you, Deanne!

The two blinkies go into her crafting forum:

These are designed using Cheeky from Designs by Krista.

Crazy, Sweet Jen!!

2009-06-02T09:17:00.004-05:00

I love it when my loyal customers come back for a different design! My new best friend (yes, she is crazy and kooky and I heart her) Jen, just got a design from me in early '09. I think her hubby got it for her as a birthday present. The kit she picked out was a little heavy and so this time she wanted light, crisp, and clean! I think we went through a couple of kits to get it right but we definitely got it right! We both are ga-ga over it! Check out how cute Jen is when you click on the image above!

I'm Back!! & I Apologize.....

2009-06-01T00:37:00.007-05:00

Okay, I am back at work and feeling MUCH better! Thank you to MOST of you who understood! :)

Since I was deathly ill last week, I KNOW that I missed some emails and I am truly sorry! Please accept my apologies to you and don't hold that against me. I usually never get sick. Knock on wood!

I am going to be doing 5 orders this week (and if you have paid your deposit you are definitely moving up on the wait list- SCORE for you!) and then my family and I will be going to Texas for a couple of days so may/may not be available every second for you to catch me!

Okay, so that's the low-down and I just noticed that I say "Okay" way too much! It is after midnight, tho!

By the way, who is excited about New Moon coming out?

Giveaway Blog Winner

2009-05-28T19:48:00.003-05:00

Here is the blog winner from the Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls contest. Hope you love your blog, Kim!

Sick, Sickie, Sick

2009-05-27T19:20:00.001-05:00

Please don't take it personally if I don't get back with you today or tomorrow. I am really sick and am taking it easy so I can be back and stronger than ever! Loves to you all!