Good stuff coming up!

Now that I've finally caught up with outstanding projects I am looking forward to getting my own new design up! I've been working on it here and there for a few months and finally have some time to devote to it. Stay tuned!

Also, by popular demand, I'm ready to start offering Flash websites and Flash elements within websites. I've been working on a super cool new website with Flash and as soon as it's done I'll share. I must say, it's awesome! ;-)

In other non-web news, it is FINALLY warming up in Maine. Yeah! I haven't had to turn on the heat at night in over a week, so that's good news. Flowers and trees are in full bloom and I'm convinced that Maine is one of the most beautiful (and underrated) places in the world!



~ Kelly

Happy Birthday Anya

My little baby girl turned five today! What a wonderful, painful, happy and hectic five years it's been! I can still remember the day she was born. It was such a traumatic birth that ended with an emergency c-section. We were so scared that she wouldn't be ok. But, from the minute she was born I knew she was my angel. She hardly ever cried, slept nonstop and smiled when she was awake. I would put her in the sling and take her everywhere... out to eat at restaurants, to Redskins games, NYC, the park....

Today she is still a dream come true. She plays well by herself and with other kids, loves the beach, is usually sweet to her brother and tells me I'm her "best good mommy in the whole world." I tell her that when she was in my belly I dreamt about what a sweet angel she would be, and how she is even more perfect to me than I ever dreamed.

Happy Birthday, my sweet five-year-old girl.

Beekeepers Cottage

I have so many 'new' projects to add to my portfolio and I keep putting it off... too many things to do, as usual. But, I will try to add a few here on my blog until they are officially added to my portfolio.

First up is Beekeepers Cottage. I was so surprised to hear from owner Nancy Hilliard. I grew up in Northern Virginia and had been to her store, located in the cutest cottage in Lucketts, Va., many times over the years. My mom is a HUGE fan! It was such a coincidence that Nancy contacted me, and of course I couldn't wait to translate her fabulous style and products into her online store.

Our creative consulations about her website usually included her tips to me on how to decorate my own daughter's room. Nancy is so, so talented! I also designed her blog, so please check it out after you've explored her website.

Nancy taught me the beauty of a simplistic web design, and I learned things during our work together that I'll bring to all of my future projects.

Maine or BUST

As many of you know, my family and I moved to Cape Elizabeth, Maine about two weeks ago. My husband was transferred to company headquarters and the idea of staying in NC without half of our income in this economy was just too scary to contemplate. So, after a whirlwind househunting trip in January, we started the move mid-February. I left with the kids to stay at my parents' house in Northern Virginia and Mike stayed behind to handle the movers and fix a few things around the house.

Being the Type A Virgo that I am, I planned and planned for the transition. I ordered myself a fancy Blackberry so I could be in touch with clients. I set deadlines with clients in January and let everyone know I'd be unavailable except via cell phone and email for two weeks. All seemed good.

Except, my Blackberry did not arrive in time. I was unable to check email at my parents' house. I was supposed to take Cleo, my 12-yr-old cat, with me to my parents house so she wouldn't be too stressed. But, she hid out while I was loading the car and disappeared on her nightly stroll. She reappeared later that same night.

Both Jack and Anya became sick at my parents' house, leaving me to cancel plans I had to visit with old high school friends I'd recently gotten back in touch with via Facebook. Poor Mike forgot to save himself a pillow and blanket from the movers and had to sleep on the bare floor.

He finally joined us that weekend in Virginia and we planned to leave Sunday morning on our 10 hour drive to our new home. In one SUV we had Mike, me, Anya, Jack, Cleo in her carrier and our two dogs, Hector and Eliza in the very back, their new dog bed laid on top of our luggage.

The first five hours went relatively smoothly, except my job as co-pilot included managing directions, tolls and making sure the kids had everything they needed (Cheetohs), left me tired and frustrated. But, things got much worse...

It started raining on the Jersey Turnpike, which forced us to slow down. As we got closer to NYC the dogs started get antsy. Then, out of nowhere a very foul smell seeped in. At first I thought it was Newark, which is notoriously smelly, but no.. Eliza had pooped. We were stuck in traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway, with nowhere to stop. Jack lost his boopy (pacifier) and started screaming. Anya had to pee. The smell was so bad, I had to grab a bag and threw up. We were in bumper to bumper traffic, windows down in 20 degree weather, Jack screaming, Anya desperately had to pee, Cleo crying in her carrier, and me barfing.

Finally, AN HOUR AND A HALF later, we pulled over at a rest area in Connecticut. I prayed for a couple of solid logs in the back, but no, Eliza had diarhea all. over. the back. of. the. car. I took the kids inside to potty while Mike cleaned up. He's a good man, that Mike.

We decided to eat at the McDonald's inside the rest area and give the car time to air out. We finally relaxed and went out to the car. Eliza had jumped the back and was sitting in the driver seat. I opened the back door to let Anya in and saw that Eliza had pooped in her booster seat. Mike cleaned the mess up while I walked Eliza in the parking lot, and seriously considered leaving her there. Seriously.

But I didn't, and we got back in our smelly car and continued north. Maine or Bust! Around Massachusetts it started snowing. We figured it would stop the closer we got to the coast. Wrong. It only got worse. It was so bad on Interstate 95 in Maine that there we were the only ones on the road. I begged Mike to stop and get a hotel, but he was a man on a mission.

Finally, around 3 am (we had lost a few hours in traffic and poop clean-ups) we arrived in Portland. Except, we couldn't read the street signs because they were covered with snow. We stopped to ask a snow plow guy for directions, and I was too exhausted to be embarassed. I mean, here we were, the Beverly Hillbillies rolling up in the middle of a snowstorm in a stinky, packed car with barefoot kids and too many animals.

When we finally arrived at our new house, we blew up the air mattress and set up the pack n play and congratulated ourselves on "making it." Fifteen minutes later, the power went out due to the storm. We woke the kids up, got back in our stinky car and headed to the Holiday Inn. Of course we got lost.

The movers were on time the next day and Mike let us stay at the hotel while he handled the movers. But, Cleo was sick. She wasn't moving too much and she was crying. I thought it was the stress of the move. I tried to call a vet, any vet, but we don't have cell service here! Our phones, internet and cable hookup was postponed for 10 days due to the storm.

Poor Cleo. She died that night in her kennel, with her little paw stretched out of the carrier like she was begging for help. My poor Cleo. I'd had her in my life for 12 years, since college. She had seen boyfriends, a husband, kids, lived in 5 states with me... She was my little sidekick and I still can't believe she's gone. There will never be another Cleo, ever.

A week later, I slipped on some ice behind the house and twisted my back. It was one of those oh-so-cool moves where you catch yourself before you fall. Hours later, I couldn't even walk the pain was so bad. A few muscle relaxers and painkillers later and I'm feeling much better.

Other than that, I am still remaining upbeat about Maine. Below is a picture of our new house which is right across the street from the Atlantic! We can sit down for dinner and look out to sea. Anya and I have been looking for mermaids and whales, naturally.

And Eliza is doing better too. Here she is reading Vogue and eating Cheerios out of Jack's bowl.

I am finally getting caught up on my work and lucky for me I have the nicest and most understanding clients around. I'm currently taking custom projects for April 1, so please contact me if you're interested. My new plan is to take on only 2-3 projects a month. I'm just too old to do anymore... I've aged considerably after the Roadtrip From Hell.

~ Kelly

Latest Custom Project

Matina, proprietor of Lil' Moo contacted me with a rather peculiar request. She wanted her logo to include a calf hatching from an egg! Plus, she needed a web design that was adorable, precious, upscale and one of a kind for her boutique.

I quickly determined that a computer drawn graphic was not going to convey the proper image, so I dug out my watercolor paints. Yes, I love to paint! I just haven't had much time for it since motherhood and my full-time business took over my life.

The end result was the cutest baby cow emerging from a beautiful blue egg. The rest of the design involved a faded polka dot pink background, also done in watercolor by me. I then added stars, ribbon, roses and eyelet borders. Ahhh, just truly precious! I am so proud of this one.

Matina's boutique business offers custom, handmade clothing for little girls and beautiful one of a kind boutique bedding. Her work is exquisite! Original, gorgeous, I just can't say enough about her products! So, please check out her website: http://lilmoo.com.au/!

I hav a few more custom sites to add to my portfolio, hopefully I'll get to it before Christmas!

Take care!
~ Kelly

Thankful

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy late Thanksgiving and a happy holiday season! We spent the entire long weekend at home, a stay-cation for my husband. I worked pretty much everyday except Turkey Day. We had a small dinner, just me, Mike, Anya and Jack. And it was wonderful! Low stress, low-key and lots of time together.

Thank you to all of my clients! I wish you much success this holiday season and I am so grateful for your business.

~ Kelly

New Article: Search Engine Optimization

One of the top questions I receive is “Why isn’t my site showing up on search engines?” Just because you've created a website and added products doesn't necessarily mean that you are the top site on Google Search or that you're even ranked at all.
You need to optimize your site for the search engines so that potential customers can find you. This is called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.

Read the entire article.