Good morning!

Welcome to 2012!

Here’s hoping 2012 is a fantastic year for all!

If you are here today looking for my annual Pre-Mades New Year’s Day sale, there isn’t one this year.

For the last 3 months I have been working extensively on graphics for CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) as well as designing a rubber stamp catalog for a stamp company. I’m also designing some in-store point of purchase graphics for wholesalers. I’m doing a project for a stamp company who will be wholesaling to brick and mortar stores and they need to provide the stores with display board.

As a result, it has been hard to justify the prep time involved in preparing the premades for sale (setting up the premade graphic, writing up description, making paypal buttons) when I have so much deadline work to get done.

I will be finished with my CHA work shortly (CHA is end of January) … and I’ll start a whole new set of blog designs this month. When my CHA work is done, I’m thinking about doing a spring Premades sale… so basically the Premades sale will simply be a bit late this year.

If you’d like to keep updated on when my spring Pre-mades sale will be, please subscribe to this blog for updates at the left.

I will post an announcement at least a month in advance of the Pre-mades sale so that there is plenty of time for you all to get it on your calendar.

On another note…

I will be getting a brand new computer and all up-to-date software this month. Back in September, my computer was fried by a power surge caused by trees on 4 1/2 Mile Road in Racine hitting overhead wires. The result was a series of nasty flickering that ended when my computer went dark while working on a blog design.

I’ve been working on a “loaner” computer from my in-laws for the last 3 months, but the loaner is older than the computer I had, and it will not be sufficient for long term. So the computer and all software will be replaced THIS MONTH!!!!

Everything was backed up!!!!!

Don’t worry, all of my files and blog designs on my hard drive are safe! I didn’t lose any data at all. I back up on a regular basis and the hard drive itself was not fried, just the computer. My husband was able to remove the hard drive from my fried computer and place it in the loaner. So all is well.

Lack of blog posts…. I’ll be posting regularily again shortly!

Due to all the important deadline work I’ve been doing for CHA, it also has been hard to justify preparing and posting finished work on my blog. (I have a folder with at least 50 finished designs to post here). I haven’t had the time to prep and post them. But the CHA work is almost finished and I will be going back to a regular schedule shortly.

Catalog Design:

The reason I took on a large project such as a stamp company catalog is because 1. I love layout and I wanted to get back to my roots… take a short break from blogs and do InDesign layout… 2. Refresh my InDesign layout skills and 3. To have a catalog in my design portfolio.

So as you can see, my work in the last few months has been much different than my normal routine, and because of that, some things, such as preparing blog posts and pre-mades has been less of a priority.

Look forward to regular blog posts again shortly as I catch up with my long design wait list! And if you are not able to wait, let me know that as well and I’ll take care of your order.

I treasure the work I do for EVERYONE! And my wish is that EVERYONE is happy, but I take on work on a wait list basis because I’m one person and can only do so much in a day because I have to get sleep too! lol

So… I apologize that there is no pre-made sale today…

look for one later this spring…

and watch for an announcement about a month before the pre-made sale!

Greetings to you all in the new year and God Bless!

My partner Heather Wright-Porto and I are now offering a new, affordable service where we can create Facebook pages like these for you!

I created Tammy Shaia’s Facebook Welcome page where you see a custom Facebook page.  Heather created the one for Sandi MacIver which features what is known as a “reveal” page and uses video as well, and uses the new iFrame platform. Both compliment their blog designs!

And for those of you who have emailed me asking….
NO, you DO NOT need to pay for
private hosting of any kind
to have a beautiful, custom Facebook page
in the new iFrame environment!

To see Tammy’s page live,
go to www.Facebook.com/be-creative-stamping!
——————————-
Here is what you will see when visiting Sandi’s page:
http://www.facebook.com/SandiMacIver.StampinUp.PortlandOregon

Then after liking her page you can view her exclusive holiday video and more:

Facebook Custom Pages
Introductory Pricing!
One time, flat fee. No recurring charges!

Custom Page Only: $25
Custom Page and Reveal Page Package: $45

IMPORTANT NOTES:  A design list will quickly form, be sure to email either or Heather Wright-Porto or myself to help you (AND put FACEBOOK PAGE in the email subject line). If I’m working on your blog graphics, you can quickly email me to let me know you’d like to add the Facebook Page as well.

We work together and support each other so it doesn’t matter which of us you email…you will get a professional, beautiful facebook page!

Lastly, if you do not have a current blog design to use or coordinate with your new Facebook Custom Page, then additional design fees may apply.

Heather has an update about Google Sites/Blogger problems that everyone has been experiencing since yesterday.

Please click here to read her updates!

If the issue doesn’t get fixed, I will move your graphics to another file manager.

Today I’d like to dedicate this blog post to my wonderful husband Frank.

This month (on August 25) we celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary. How fast the time has gone! 15 years….

Here is a look back at our wedding 15 years ago… For our Honeymoon we went for a 2 week trip to England, Scotland, Wales and France (Paris, via the Channel tunnel). Here is a pic of “Laycock Lane”. We snapped this picture when we went to the small farming village of Laycock in Yorkshire, England (Emily Bronte country) on our honeymoon. It is said that those with the last name “Laycock” had ancestors originally from this village (if the records existed to trace back that far, which there aren’t). The night before visiting the village of Laycock, we spent the night in the Derwentwater Room in a Medieval Castle in Northumberland, England called Langley Castle that was built in 1350 a.d. The castle even has a working drawbridge!!! I watched their video and it brought back many happy memories. It was truly a “dream” honeymoon, if you have the chance to visit Langley, don’t pass up the opportunity!

Frank and I both have Scottish ancestors. My ancestors were MacPherson’s (poor tenant farmers, lol) and Frank is an descendent of the famous MacNeil’s of Barra (his great aunt has traced his lineage all the way back). While in Scotland I walked through the house (built in early 1600′s) where my great-great-great-great- grandfather was born. Then we popped over Gretna Green to celebrate our wedding in a traditional Scottish way by saying our “I love you’s” and did the obligatory kiss over the Old Blacksmith’s Shop anvil while hearing a bagpiper playing outside to the tourists.

Some of our wedding pictures… We got married August 25, 1996 at a Victorian wedding resort in Belgium, WI located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Mary, my Matron of Honor (Frank’s sister) lives in Madison, WI now. My bridesmaid Valerie lives in San Jose, CA now and she works as a makeup artist and Model for glamour magazines!!!! My bridesmaid Vanessa lives in the sunny state of Florida now and is enjoying the fun life in Tampa! My dress was a Jessica McClintock Victorian with a fitted fishtail style skirt and long sleeves dripping with Venetian lace. Looks a bit dated now… lol yeah… people have told me I had a vintage 1990s dress and they can tell by the dress when I got married … waaaahhh I’m getting old!!!… and I can guarantee I no longer fit in it!!! Frank is a great cook…funny how one tends to gain weight after one is married… is it the “I’m married now, who cares how much I weigh” syndrome?
My bouquet was a “waterfall” style with roses hanging from silk ribbons. I saw this bouquet style in a vintage 1920′s flapper wedding photo that I bought in an antique shop in Milwaukee and I gave it to the florist and told her “make my bouquet exactly like this!” And she did. lol

The only regret about my wedding is that it was “pre-stamping”… so my wedding invitations were not hand stamped (SHOCK!!!) because I didn’t know what stamping was at this time! I went to my first stamping party in 1998… In our household we use the term “pre-stamping” to refer to any time period prior to 1998. lol So, I look back at my wedding invitations and they are the boring pre-printed kind with some floral machine embossing. They were “okay” but I wish I had known about stamping at that time so that I could have made them “fabulous!”

Anyhow, happy “Crystal” 15th wedding month, Frank! Thank you, readers, for celebrating with us this month!

The July Design Team gallery at Christian Paper Crafts opened with a Retro/Vintage style theme! Here are the July graphics… banner ad, blog hop graphic and winner blinkie!

Banner ad:

Blog Hop Graphics: