Blogs for Kit and Kaboodle

Okay so their names really aren't Kit and Kaboodle, they're Kat and Rhea, but these two peas-in-a-pod were so fun to work with. First, they kept an eye on each other's test blogs, each cross-commenting on their own blogs and each other's blogs. Second, they have the same sense of humor. If they weren't separated by 6 states I'd swear they were twins.

Anyway, Kat from Sunshine and Lemonade, is my second redo. I love when clients come back. It makes me feel so loved. Kat is a sassy, spunky, fun blogger who needed some buttons that fit her. My repertoire has grown since I did her blog, so now she's got fun buttons. I also redid her header - same idea just updated.




Rhea is deep in the heart of Texas. Funny, I've always wanted an excuse to refer to someone as "deep in the heart of Texas". ;) Her blog ties in her home state, her family, and her passion for the tangled written word. Check out her button and divider - it's a boot bouquet!



Here is Rhea's button for her blog. If you'd like her button, visit her blog and snag it from her sidebar.

Designing for Charity

People who know me well know that March of Dimes is my absolute favorite charitable organization. My family has been personally touched by their mission. So when they've got a project for me I always hope I can be of service. The Iowa Chapter is having a Ladies' Gala this summer called "High Heels for High Hopes" to try and raise money for research to prevent prematurity, birth defects and infant and pregnancy loss. I was asked if I could design something for their event. Here is their finished product.

Mock Ups for Kristina

Love the bright colors. Love the pea theme! Here are mock ups for Kristina; her blog is called "Sweet Pea Wanderings". Projects like this remind me that I need a tablet. Graphics like this would be so much easier with a stylus instead of a mouse. ;)



Header option #2 - I made the older sweet pea have some hair. :)

Can you feel the breeze? Anna is LIVE!

Picture it... a warm, salty breeze. The squawk of the seagulls. The soft crashing of the waves on the seashore. Far-off sounds of children playing in the sand. This blog... this beach house blog takes you there. Can you feel it? Anna K wanted a blog that feels like you're sitting at a old, comfy desk. I imagined a beautiful vacation beach home, filled with 'treasures' found along life's journey. Very...very... peaceful. Click to see the image up close.



(several design elements credit to istockphoto)

Blog Buttons: Blinkies aka Animated gifs

Oh my goodness... I have been wanting to post a graphic I made a couple weeks ago for my friend Nester over at Nesting Place. So I made very simple 2-frame animation buttons in Photoshop. But I couldn't figure out how to export it. Thankfully, my friend Todd is a *real* graphic designer (as opposed to me who, I guess, is a fake one???). He so graciously told me how to take my animation from stuck in my computer files to YOU.

Do you love Nester as much as I do? Then you need her button! Aren't they cute? Just copy and paste the code below the one you want! The first one is static, and the the others are animated.

<center><a href="http://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj124/nestingplacenc/NPsquare175.gif"></a></center>


<center><a href="http://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj124/nestingplacenc/bNPperfect175.gif"></a></center>


<center><a href="http://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj124/nestingplacenc/animNPperfect125.gif"></a></center>


<center><a href="http://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj124/nestingplacenc/animNPmc125.gif"></a></center>

SWAK to the Nester

The Nester and I go waaaayyyy back, like waaayy back to 2007. I mean, you know when you know someone before they're big? I feel all big sisterly and proud to see how famous Ms. Nester is. "I knew her when..." If you haven't ever visited her blog, do... she is just so funny and fun to read.

Nester is SO famous in fact that now she needs buttons to spread the love. If you'd like one of Nester's buttons to show the world that you've been "mistreated" or show your love from Nester's nest you can have these buttons, too!

The Patience of Job

This post goes to Perla, over at The Classical Mommy! I've mentioned over in my sidebar how I've been wanting to expand my repetoire beyond Blogger. Well, Perla blogs over at WordPress. I've never done graphics for a WordPress blog; add to that the 10 hour time difference between Iowa and Saudi Arabia... Perla endured a lot of my pokiness and learning curve. Anyone else probably would have given up on me! But Perla had a definite vision in mind, and wouldn't let me rest until I got it right. I learned so much working on this blog - thanks, Perla, for putting up with me! Gracias amiga! Tienes la paciencia de Job!

Here is the WordPress-compatable header and footer I made. Flowers and swirls adapted from istockphoto.

(Insert Schoolgirl Scream Here)

I am a boybarian mom. It's not that often that I get to get my hands on girl spaces. So when Katrina from Sunshine and Lemonade approached me about doing her 10 year old daughter's blog I literally jumped up and down in place with excitement. And all that jumping gave me an idea...

Sugar and I have something in common. We both *heart* Zac Effron. Only she's 10 and I'm thirty-*coughhackcough*. My love for Zac might be is a little creepy while hers is adorably cute. Anyway, like I was saying, all that jumping gave me a really good idea. So I gave Kat a homework assignment.

"Go take a bunch of pictures of Sugar jumping, please. And email them to me." Dutifully, she did. And look! Inspired by our love for Zac... I made this, starring Katrina's beautiful daughter.



Wanna know something else about Sugar? She knew what I meant by "John Nashesque". Brilliant.

ps - Dear Blogger, Pretty please can I have spell check back? I have now edited this blog 2 3 4 5 times. Thank you, Darcy

pps - Do you think it would be weird if I made a High School Musical Poster of *me* jumping???