A Day at the Beach

We have a little lake in the city of Cheyenne with a nice sandy beach. Saturday the kids and I went there and played for about 4 hours. Coleton buit a Sand Castle and then a HUGE mote around it, Noah played with his Ben 10 guys in the water and chased minnows into the weeds. The day was absolutely perfect and quite relaxing. I took several pictures which I hope to scrapbook next weekend.

Today we are going to the Harvest Festival in Windsor Colorado. Windsor was hit by some terrible tornados recently and the town is using the money raised to help rebuild. I think we'll have a great time eating concessions and going on kiddie rides!

Since my husband is away in Alaska fishing for Salmon for a Whole Week, the kids and I are pretending to be on our own little vacation this weekend LOL Which is good because we all really need it!! I hope everyone finds a way to enjoy Labor Day weekend with family.

Fun Friday! Something Cute

Last night my mom emailed me this adorable picture from when I was three years old. In the email she wrote, "Hope this goes through, this was one of your favorite games!! LOL".

I haven't seen very many pictures of myself as a young child in several years. My parents, until recently, traveled around parts of the US in an Oversized House on Wheels for their business. This last month, they finally set up a permanent address down in Arizona. So my mom has been going through some stuff they had in storage, such as all the photo albums, old home videos, etc.

Anyway, I opened up the picture and just started laughing like crazy! The first reason is because my son Noah is three right now. The only difference between this picture of me and the way he looks right now is his red hair. We have the same eyes, nose, face shape and smile.

The second reason I love this picture and think it's so funny, is because apparently when I was little my favorite game was to hide in a closet then sneak out and say "boo" to whomever had the misfortune to come by.... and guess what? ... I still enjoy doing that LOL

My kids LOVE it when we play Hide and Seek. I almost always hide in one of the closets and they get nervous to come and find me but excited at the same time becuase they know without a doubt I'm going to jump out and surprise them. Then we fall on the floor in a huge tickle fight until none of us can breathe.

I'm thankful that my mom has these beautiful gifts from our childhood and look forward to the day when she gets them organized (ha) and makes copies (no pressure) so that I can share them with my children.

4 New Designs Added Today!

Wow, I had a major creative Tuesday... I think it's because I'm eager for the wonderful older son to go back to school tomorrow. I know that the house will be a great deal calmer during the day without constant bickering between two boys!!

Today I added two new designs to the Limited Edition Premade section of the store and two new OOAK Premade design. All are VERY different from each other, and very different from what I've created in the past month.

One of my great customers, Leah, of RetroWhimsyDesigns.com gave me some feedback on the new store the other day - she said she loves my work, BUT, I might have too many Floral type templates. I think she's right! I hadn't realized my love of florals and swirls was taking over my entire store!! So.... I'm working on that. I want to design templates that fit a much broader audience of shop owner than just floral lovers like me :) Thanks for the input Leah!!

Here's a peek at the new designs you'll find at SpiffyBoutiques.com this week:

Fresh, Spiffy New Look!

I'm loving the new look, how about you?

I haven't added any new designs to Spiffy Boutiques yet as I've spent the last few days revamping the design of my shop, my blog AND setting up my Spiffy Boutiques Top 100 Directory site.

come on by and check out the new look - be sure to visit Spiffy Boutiques Top Site and list your boutique related site for FREE.

I also have a few premier advertising spots available at the top of the directory.

Looking for some feedback

I'm interested in hearing some feedback about SpiffyBoutiques.com. What can I do to make it better? From a web template customer POV, how do you feel about the selection of products, prices, terms and services offered on my website?

As a small business owner, I know how invaluable my customer's and prospectful customer's input is to my business. My goal is to offer a product that meets the needs and desires of other small online business owners, especially WAHM who are just starting out.

Please take a minute to view my new template shop and share your thoughts with me!
www.spiffyboutiques.com

Humbling Words

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

-Mother Teresa

Take 5% off at SpiffyBoutiques.com!

SpiffyBoutiques.com GRAND OPENING Savings Event!

Take 5% off your total order when you shop Spiffy Boutiques at this address: http://www.spiffyboutiques.com?code=NEW01

Each customer will recieve 5% off their order. Offer good from 8/13/08 to 8/27/08, so hurry in!

You must follow the link above to get the savings!

Shop OOAK, Limited Edition and Budget Templates, Etsy Store Banners, and WordPress Themes in a variety of colors and styles for your boutique shop or blog. New designs added DAILY!

Sweet Freedom!

It's been a month since I launched SpiffyBoutiques.com and I'm loving it - not the low sales, but other things...

I love that I can just design without the pressure of a custom design. No one is telling me what colors to use, no one defining the style of the layout. It's quite Liberating!

My concern going into this new online boutique shop was that I may run out of ideas -How could I have known? Without a voice whispering in my ear - pushing me to grasp the imagination of another's desire for their website and bring it to life - I thought that perhaps I might not know where to begin.

How wrong I was!! Glad to admit it too - thrilled to embrace the challenge and just design whatever I want to.

True, I've only sold ONE template in my shop to date, but I am not worried. I've also found that I love custom designing once again for my customers. I have the freedom I needed to express myself through another avenue, therefore, allowing me to focus better on my custom design clients when they need me.

Actually, I have so many design ideas and color schemes swirling around in my head, I can't get them out fast enough - thus the new templates added nearly daily...

I've got the best of both worlds here... Now if people would just buy something :)

Boutique Templates $199 or less

Today I marked down all OOAK Boutique Template Designs to $199 and then decided that from now on, all designs at SpiffyBoutiques.com will be $199 or less. My customers can count on high quality designs at a low everyday price.

Visit SpiffyBoutiques.com to find your perfect design!

Beautiful New Designs Added!

Looking for great designs at affordable prices for your blog or online shop doesn't have to be impossible! Visit www.spiffyboutiques.com for an amazing variety of designs - I bet you'll find just what you need...

Yesterday I created some new designs for Limited Edition Boutique Designs category and OOAK WordPress Themes.

Got Questions about SpiffyBoutiques.com?

When visiting SpiffyBoutiques.com, you can now chat with me or ask me any questions you have LIVE!

Today I added my free Volusion chat service to my new template site. I've seen a great deal of traffic to my site in the last few weeks and want to make it as easy as possible for anyone visiting to write me a note, ask me a question, or just say "hi!".

The Free Chat software provided by Volusion is GREAT for anyone with an online business - especially if you are on the computer frequently throughout the day. You can customize your Volusion Chat graphic, and personalize your welcome and away messages too.

I love it!

Today I also added a fun, grundgy type One-of-a-Kind design to Spiffy Boutiques called Jezabelle. It's the darker side of my creative flow I think with some funky purples and teals mixed in. This design started out on a white background, as all my designs do - but felt too soft and a bit boring, so I tossed in some black and BAM! it went totally grudge.

For me, grudge looking design can be difficult to do - but this one was a breeze. I just cut loose and had some fun with the colors and textures. I think it would be a great Blog Layout, Jewelry Boutique Design or Clothing Boutique Design - but whatever you want it for, it can be yours. Just Visit www.spiffyboutiques.com

New Designs added at SpiffyBoutiques.com!

Good Morning!

Today I created and added two new designs. One OOAK Boutique Design and one Limited Edition Design. My focus for the next few days will be Limited Edition and Budget designs. Next week I will begin adding additional services such as business card designs, matching banners, etc.

Check out the newbies!