Hey!
So, my home was invaded by some germs for a bit. I think EVERYONE is feeling better now and we’ve finally ridded ourselves of whatever was ailing. Today was nice and warm albeit a touch gloomier than I’d prefer, but the slight increase in temperature definitely helped me remember that spring IS around the corner, dammit. No matter how long it seems to be taking.

Right now I’m working on a very very cool project for a wonderful artist that I can’t wait to share. I’ve actually shared a peek of it on the animated image above ;) I’m also working on another great project, this one for a fabulous bakery. Definitely a fun one…you’ll see soon! I’m so happy to be back to work, I really truly believe my mind needed that break because I can feel the ol’ creative juices going again.

It’s taken me longer than I’d like to get the contest details up for everyone, but we’re working on it and I promise they will be up soon. We’ve already had quite a buzz generated as I’ve been getting almost daily emails with inquiries! I truly love doing these contests, they’re always so much fun.

Last but not least, you may have noticed some (slight) changes around here…I added a little bit of texture to the background and changed out a few of the graphics. Gotta change things up a bit from time to time ;) Have a great week everyone!

I get TONS of emails daily with questions regarding the Blogger freemades that I offer here. Readers wanting to know about a font I used on a particular design, others needing help with their image hosting, others wanting help modifying their templates into 3 columns or needing help adding items to their sidebars. Etc. Etc.

Up until recently I’ve been able to manage handling these emails along with the emails from prior, new or potential clients that have questions regarding their websites, hosting, or what have you. However, lately it’s become quite the task for me as we have been listed in various websites offering links to free blogger templates- thus increasing site traffic significantly. So, unfortunately at this time I have decided I can no longer offer support for the freemade blogger templates.

I will keep the existing freemades available for download and I will continue to post new freemades, however please note that support for these will no longer be available as of today March 27, 2008. I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause some of my visitors, but it is crucial for me to weed out the things that are unnecessarily keeping me from offering 100% of my attention to my paying clients.

It’s that time of year again, when I get itchy itchy to be outside, plant seeds and just enjoy the warm sun on my face. This year I especially want to get on with the planting because I’ve decided to take the leap to becoming vegetarian (11 days so far!). I’ve been thinking about it for a long time as I have never been a big meat eater. I’ve cut out refined sugars, dairy, and meats from my diet and I gotta say I feel GREAT. So I definitely want to plant many veggies this year and see what happens. I will be starting a personal blog soonish to yap about that stuff because I’d like to document the changes my body is going through during the process, and probably post some recipes too. I’ll link to it as soon as I get that going :) Well enough about that! On to some site updates…

I’m caught up with my queue (phew!) and am now going to start working my way through the waiting list. You may have noticed up top I posted my availability for April 22nd -May 1st. I’ll be on vacation, so I’m going to try and get everyone caught up before I’m gone and then open up the queue again for May. I’d like to also get a contest started before then, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to iron all the details out by then or if waiting until I come back from vacation would be a better idea. I’ll be sure to post updates on that.

Speaking of waiting list, I’ve had mixed feedback from clients regarding having the list published on the site. A while back, I was publishing the waiting list and queue and while most clients liked being able to check in and see the list status- I also had some clients let me know that they’d rather not have their names or websites posted because they wanted their new looks to be a surprise. I think it might be time to add a client area to the site for a compromise, this way clients would be able to log in and view the list, but not have it be all public. Know what I mean?… Ah well, it sounds like I better get crackin this spring!

Woot! Another Christmas accomplished! This year was extra tough at our household with my other half having thrown his back :( He’s feeling better now, but it was so hard to watch him hobble around knowing that he was being tortured by all the things he could be doing.

This year, for the girls (read: teenagery) it was the year of the gift card. And oh how they loved it! I always thought gift cards to be a bit impersonal but since they hinted around so much that the wanted to pick out their own stuff, we obliged. For the most part it was a good idea. I say most part because they still needed to be driven to the mall and most times wanted stuff that exceeded their gift card amounts. Heh.

Justin was really into the Christmas/Santa thing this year and he fully understood that behaving naughty was not good. Every time he would do something nice he would walk around shouting “Santa, are you watching?!!” It was too cute. He got all the mess…err, toys he wanted and my living room is completely kids zone. I only get bothered by it for a second or two because I realize that in a blink of an eye he will no longer be little. He’s already going to be 4. FOUR!!! I can still close my eyes and feel him kicking around my belly. Ugh, make it stop!

Anywhoo, this turned into somewhat of a personal post didn’t it? Right. So I’ve managed to set up my Print Portfolio (most of it, at least) so if you want to check out some of the stuff I’ve designed for print click on over. I should also mention that some of these designs are available for purchase (exclusively) via For Always Invitations. If you would like to contact me for a print quote, please don’t hesitate to ask.

That’s all for now, I’ll be adding more to the freebies section this week and I’ll also be posting about a redesign I’ve just launched for Dragonflies and Ladybugs. I’m so excited about this project because I got to work with one of my favorite clients -Robyn. It’s so much fun working with her! But that’s another post, for another day.

Things have been real quiet around here lately, but for good reason. There have been some major changes going on behind the scenes, and Girliebits Designs about to get a brand new look and identity!

Details will be coming up shortly! Think Pink! ;)