Labels and Stickers For Your Business

If you have ever tried to make your own labels using the templates provided in Microsoft Word, you know that this seemingly easy task can easily become daunting. Sure it's simple to add the text, but adding graphics can cause you to want to rip out your hair and throw your computer accross the room! The reason for that is, Microsoft Word is great for creating documents, it is not a graphics program. If you are lucky enough to own Publisher, this task is slightly easier, but let's face it, these programs are expensive and not always user friendly.

We are now offering individual graphic design options in our shop. You can now purchase these items without having to purchase a package or banner set. We do all the work, you print!

Happy Birthday Sis!

Here's a little birthday shout out to my wonderful and very talented sister!

Sis, I wish that days weren't so hectic

I wish we could find a way to talk, visit,

and spend more time together.

I wish you weren't so far away!

I wish that days weren’t quite so busy,

and that weeks passed less quickly,

and there were more days like today -just for celebrating you...

I hope you always know

how much you mean to me,

and what a wonderful sister you are.

Love you and miss you!

Take a look at her shop

Abelone Fit For The Throne

Earthbound

Dedication

I'm new to the whole blogging thing and wanted to add some custom buttons to link to my ETSY shop and Twitter. I designed the buttons, loaded them and had them all linked up, but I still wasn't happy. Wanting to add a little bling to my buttons I brought the images into Adobe Flash and made them into .swf files. Unfortunately Blogger doesn't support these types of files so I had to find an image hosting site to upload the files to.

Once I had the files uploaded I thought, "Great, now I have my bling." Nope! I could see the images but I couldn't get them linked properly. Back to Adobe Flash to embed the URLs right into the file. Again, I thought, "Great, now I have my bling and the links!" Nope! Now I had to go back into my widget and add more code to allow the scripting! What a hassle, but so worth it in the end! It was a learning experience for me and it only took 12 hours! LOL.

Now, that's dedication!

Simple Saturday

Newest listing in our shop today!

Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it"

Mark Twain

So I'm reading Break No Bones By Kathy Reichs, who is the inspiration behind the TV series Bones. As I was reading, I stumbled across the quote above and really connected with it. How many times in our lives have we felt stepped on, but to be able to forgive, is one of the best feelings in the world. I thought I would share it with all of you in hopes that you find it as inspiring as I did to help remind us that we shouldn't always sweat the small stuff and to work through and past the large stuff.

I had taken this photo last summer during one of our excursions to a local forest preserve and decided to play with it a bit in Photoshop and share that as well. Hope you enjoyed this little quote and photo.

Until next time!

Puppy Love

Puppy love is the newest addition to our Custom PreMade Banner Sets. What is the difference between a Custom Premade Banner Set and a Custom Banner Set? With the premade sets the only thing you need to do is figure out which one you want and we add your shop info. With a regular custom banner set, you get to decide everything from type of design, whether to use images of your products, colors, fonts. You're starting with a blank slate and working upward. The great thing about premade banner sets is that you don't have to spend time making all of those decisions, we have already done all the work! Keep checking back often to see the new additions that will be popping up over the next few weeks.

Short on cash but still need a banner? Check out our Basic PreMade Banner Sets section for simple yet stylish designs at an extremely affordable price.

Happy Earth Day!

If you click on the images you will be able to see super large versions with tons of details. :)

In honor of earth day I thought I would share a few pics taken last summer at Brookfield Zoo. I love nature photos and had more fun finding interesting images to shoot. We are currently going through all of our nature photos to make a collage for our bare basic white wall in our living room. This one has been one of my favorites so far even though it's not quite as colorful as some of the other photos we have taken at various state parks and local forest preserves.

I love the colors in this one! We have networked our new laptop with the X-box 360 and have been able to view all of our photos on our tv. Wow, what a huge difference! The clarity and colors are so much better that we like to leave them on slideshow and just watch that for hours. Yes, we're weird. LOL.

There were tons of these at the zoo that had little tiny white flowers on them; however, this one was void of all it's flowers. I thought it a very interesting speciman and couldn't resist capturing it forever in my mind and heart.


I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do. Happy Earth Day!

What The Heck Is A Logo????

I have been asked this question many times and the best way for me to describe it is, it is your business identity. It is not a banner, although it can be used in a banner, your logo is something that makes your business instantly recognizable. Think of some of the 'big' companies out there like Microsoft, Coke, Nike, etc. Whe you see their logo, you automatically know the maker. A logo does not have to contain graphics to be recognizable either. Many big companies go with a simple text logo with unique fonts or standard fonts with small additions as their logo.

Once you have your logo you can now use it on a wide variety of applications but be careful. Images with a lot of gradient colors do not print well so while they may look flashy on the web, they won't look so great in print. If you are planning to use your logo on more than one medium be sure to have your designer make the logo in grayscale or black and white as well as a color version. This will help ensure that your logo will look just as good in print and it will give you a less expensive option for printing if you want to add it to tags, business cards, letterhead, etc.

Be sure to stay tuned for more tips and tricks on how having a unique business identity can help with branding and how you can use your logo to help promote your business.

How To Become A Sponsor

Advertising your shop or blog is extremely simple.

Your ad should be 150 x 150 pixels, static images only, no flash or animations.

2 weeks = $2.50

4 weeks = $5.00

My blog is relatively new; however, I have already obtained 61 followers and average about 150 views per week, not much compared to some blogs which is why you can become a sponsor for such a small investment. I post regularly and I post links on Etsy and Twitter on a daily basis so I am gaining more readers on a daily basis.

Payment accepted through Paypal only, please contact me if you have any questions. Payment due before your ad will be placed.

Don't know how to make your own ad, don't worry, I will include a basic ad design like those shown on my blog for free! Just send me the image you would like to know either via email or through convo on Etsy and I'll do the rest!