Thursday, April 18, 2013

The blog has moved... I thought you knew

i have missed you terribly - yes i have been blogging again. yes i am back.
i really truly miss seeing your lovely visits. could you, would you stop by the new place?
here's a peek

remember to subscribe in a reader or bloglovin' so you don't lose your way again.
and i don't mind a comment or two or ten... remember what you wrote way back when?
it's building of a community and i like to have ongoing discussions and learning where you are too, i would like to find your blog and leave a comment or two for you ;)

my new address is:
http://lollipopscards.com/

i look forward to seeing you.
with love,
krystina

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

top 5 reasons i left blogger
- 5 reasons you may want to stay

blogger-vs-wordpress
the blog has moved! check out the new site at: http://lollipopscards.com
if you haven't been getting lollipops in your feed or a reader be sure
to subscribe from the new site :)
here are the top reasons i made the move.
and the reasons why you may not want to make the move... wordpress-logo
  • plugins

if you don't have it or or don't know how to code it you can get it from a plugin. need an image slider? get a plugin. need an instagram widget? there's a plugin for it! forever i wanted to move over to Wordpress just for the recipe plugin from ziplist!
  • SEO

search engine optimization... + meta keywords. i couldn't find anywhere in blogger to put keywords. in Wordpress there are many places to put keywords, for the site, for each post, and for photos and media! getting found on the interwebs. this can be important, but not always.
  • genesis

genesis framework with studiopress has such beautiful themes with incredible SEO and it's quickloading. i have wanted it for quite a while now. it's pretty hard to beat!
  • unlimited

your possibilities are much more unlimited with Wordpress than any other platform. from design to widgets to typography - you have many, many more possibilities with Wordpress.
  •  typography

i started playing around with other beautiful fonts that weren't default blogger fonts and i would get FOUT. "flash of unstylized text" as the page is loading! how unbecoming. i used several fixes and codes that were supposed to correct this to no avail. i use typekit on Wordpress now and am super happy with the choices and results :)
blogger
you may want to stay with blogger for:
  • comments - moderation and import

watching the spam that rolls in and making sure the comment is spam through Wordpress. blogger somehow kept that out and unseen. also i have 6000+ comments on intense debate and have no way of importing those comments from my blogger blog using intense debate to Wordpress. they say they are working on an importer, but don't know when it will be done. i even tried a work around of importing my comments from intense debate to diqus then to Wordpress. nope. disqus doesn't import to Wordpress either. something to think about before signing up with third party comment hosting.
  • spam

emails, comments, crap. on Wordpress you must have a few tools and plugins to keep spam out of your comments. but i still get spam in my email associated with this domain. on blogger it was just easier. blogger/gmail kept spam out of my inbox and i didn't have to see all that gross stuff.
  • complexities of Wordpress

with those unlimited possiblities comes more complexities. there is configuring of widgets and plugins that sometimes are difficult and eyecrossing. i have had to skip a few of these as they are tougher than simple coding!
  • hosting

at blogger hosting your site is free, photos and storage space is free. your site could cost a total of $10/year for a custom domain name. at Wordpress good hosting is about $89/year plus domain name.
  • easy

from layout to gadgets everything is pretty easy to configure. you can make a nice blogger site in a couple of hours.   i realize that this discussion can bring up a lot of questions, so go for it. i would love to answer your questions :) what platform are you blogging on? what are it's pros and cons?

so the blog has moved over to Wordpress at:http://lollipopscards.com
if you haven't been getting lollipops in your feed or a reader be sure
to subscribe from the new site :)

xoxo,
krystina

Friday, March 15, 2013

business cards for Wienerdog Tricks.

as you know, i just did a web design for wienerdog tricks.
then Ginger wanted business cards.
so that's just what we did.

we used the logo and fonts from her new blog
and created her biz cards.

they measure 2.25 inches square and i love them.

they are handmade like her blog and her wares :)
i had so much fun designing with her, printing these out, and hand cutting them.

i only use suuuuuper thick smooth cardstock. 
love.


xoxo,
krystina

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

what i love wednesday is back!

after popular demand the weekly link up is back! and now with it's own blog!!!




link up every week starting March 6th and favorites will be featured :)
what i love wednesday now lives here:

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

new blog makeover for...


Wienerdog Tricks!

before:

after:

I loved working with Ginger on her redesign. Her blog is about the lovely things she salvages and sews. She gets all her fabric from things that were cast away and unwanted and she turns them into beautiful  things that are very wanted. Quilts, bags, scarves, wallets, aprons... you name it. And with such cool vintage fabrics she creates these cool goods. Not only does she make, she also writes well, and she is hilarious. You must stop by her blog to read a few of her posts, see her original works, and inspiring photographs. I think you'll be smitten by her quirky originality. I had so much fun working with her. Daily I would get a dose of Ginger and be laughing out loud in my studio right off my swivel chair. She has individual style, and had a good sense of what she wanted. And she was able to communicate it easily - which is quite helpful for everyone involved ;)

Thank you Ginger, it was truly a pleasure to work with you!

xoxo,
krystina
designed by the creative arcade

Monday, February 25, 2013

new web design studio website has launched!!!

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The Creative Arcade

Today!
Website Launch!



The Creative Arcade is our new webdesign studio, launching March 1st! Still making paper goodies from lollipops and now merging that creative flare for design to the digital world. Making stylish blogs & websites that are attractive, quick loading, and easy for your visitors to navigate.

Visit The Creative Arcade to check out our portfolio and what our customers are saying.







Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|* All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|*
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*|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*






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Monday, February 4, 2013

Happy Monday

i need to read this quote often...
it is very true in all aspects of life. i especially need it for business.
we can't be every service and/or product for everyone.
look at all the hugely successful big brands and you'll see,
they have a few things they are passionate about and they focus on those.
there was either already a market or niche or they found one.
i never did wedding invites, i was more passionate about playdate cards, party invitations, stationery, and prints. i never did letterpress either. i could have easily added these services, but i wasn't as passionate about them and would have needed to take away time and resources from my current services to research and implement the new services. 

we evolve. our passions are not stagnant. 
we grow.
currently i am still passionate about my paper services, and now i am also passionate about web design and very passionate about studying and preparing for acting.
my paper is all set so i don't need a huge investment of time and resources going in that direction. i have directed those resources to web designing and investing more time into my education for the screen. 

this quote reminds me that i am good at certain things for a reason, i am passionate about paper, web design and acting because those are the gifts God has given me. i could sew dresses, clean houses, and nanny on top of everything else {we are talented, smart, wonderfully made beings} but there is only so much time in a day and time on one thing means less time on another. i already feel scattered with the large responsibility of my design business and the lofty goal of acting.

i just try to plan, stay focused on the tasks for the day, find inspiration all around me, pray, and move forward. 

has being everything to everyone ever been a struggle for you?
what are you doing to balance and focus?

xoxo, 
krystina

Thursday, January 31, 2013

i like what this kid has to say


i think you'll like it too.
just watch.

...we're on the same team and we all need to start acting like it :)

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Hello Thursday

The Creative Arcade is now accepting clients for February.


Working with with Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, Joomla!, Wix, etsy, Bigcartel, Storenvy... and more!

  • You can get a whole new blog, or just a header or a logo design. 
  • What about help with your blog? 
  • Pretty buttons and post dividers?
  • Custom fonts or colors a la carte?
  • Threaded comments with reply notification and commentluv? 
The Creative Arcade does all of these things!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

what i love wednesday...

do you miss what i love wednesday?
i would like to take a vote.
please reply if you miss the weekly link-up.

i would like to bring it back. let's see what you think...

Monday, January 14, 2013

Happy Monday

one of my favorites...

"This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for it's own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." -George Bernard Shaw a compilation of his quotes put together by a student of Uta Hagen's

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Choose Joy

I'm Emmy, I'm 35, and I'm infertile.

Wait, let me back up.  I'm Emmy.  Krystina has been so sweet to allow me to invade her space for the day.  I own Much Ado About You {where I used to sell printed day planners, and now I just sell printables}, I occasionally blog {Confesstions of a Paper Freak}, and I incessantly Instagram {@itsjustemmy}.  I am married to my high school sweetheart and as of this year we have been together for more than half our lives.

Almost 11 years ago I got pregnant for the first time.  Nathan and I were so excited, and immediately started planning that child's future.  We were thinking of names... wondering if it would be a boy or a girl... hoping its due date of December 26th would not mean we were going to have a Christmas baby.

But just a few days later I started bleeding heavily, and knew in an instant that that baby was gone.

We had only just begun trying to get pregnant, but I had so many friends experiencing infertility and I begged God to spare us from that roller coaster.

Our doctor told us that since we were so early in the pregnancy I would not need a D & C, and that technically I could get pregnant as soon as my next cycle.

Which I did.

That pregnancy was such a relief, and I vividly remember thanking God that I was never going to have to walk that long and painful road of infertility.


A year after Beau was born we decided to start trying for a second baby.  We wanted four, so we thought we'd better get going!

God had different plans for our family. 

The next six years were spent going from one doctor's appointment to the next... from one surgery to the next... all in an effort to figure out why my young and seemingly healthy body was not working.

I have Endometriosis, a condition that basically destroys your body from the inside out.  During my final surgery my doctor made the painful decision to remove both of my non-functioning fallopian tubes, hoping it would increase the chance of my third and final IVF {invitro-fertilization} treatment being successful.

The next month we had our final IVF procedure.  It failed.  We were done.

We were physically {well mostly me on that one}, emotionally, and financially spent.  The chance of a natural pregnancy was eliminated with the removal of my tubes.  I was officially STERILE.  It is still strange to say those words.  I am a woman that cannot do what I was created to do... bear children.  That is a very strange reality to be faced with.

I spent seven dark years in the thick of my infertility {I say "my" infertility because the issues were mine... with another woman my husband could have had more children... more salt in the wounds}.  For some of those years Nathan and I were not on the same page.  He didn't understand my desperation for a child when I already was a mom.  Those years I struggled with a deep loneliness that I had never known.  It is so hard to explain what infertility feels like to someone that has never experienced it, but the bottom line is... IT SUCKS.

However, God also used those seven years to challenge my character and bring me to a place of total trust and reliance on His plan for my life.  I came to a point where I had to say, "God, I love you and I trust you, and I know that {while very different from mine} Your plan is the best plan for my life.  So even if I never have another baby I will praise you and be thankful for whatever it is that you call me to do."

And I really was at peace.  Without tubes I no longer had to live in two week cycles, wondering if each late period was the one.  I had an incredible eight year old that was the joy of my life, a loving, supportive husband, a thriving business... life was good.

Now since I have already babbled on for quite some time {and probably lost most of you} I will leave this next part of the story short and sweet {if you would like to read the whole story, you can find it here}.  Through miraculous circumstances, in March of 2011 we brought home the most beautiful baby girl that looks nothing like us.



And in the instant that I met her I understood every no that God had placed in my path. 

If you are in a season of not understanding the circumstances of your life, please be encouraged that someday you may understand and even appreciate the painful path that you are walking. 

Since experiencing infertility and adoption I have a heart for encouraging hurting women.  Several months ago I felt a calling on my life to do something to help other women that are experiencing similar trials, and the Choose Joy event was born.


Choose Joy is a one-day conference in Southern California for women and couples that are experiencing infertility and/or desire to grow their families through adoption.  I have somehow convinced several other women from all over the country to come and be a part of this event.  We have speakers on topics such as "God's Heart for the Hurting; Waiting Hurts, Waiting Perfects", "Having a Heart of Hope: Overcoming the Hurt of Infertility", "The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly of International Adoption", and much, much more.  My desire is for this to be a day of connection and community, and for women to open their minds to the plan that God has for their family.     

The event will include a luncheon and a dessert, and at the end we will be raffling off a cash prize to help someone grow their family.

Tickets are on sale for $30 through the 25th of January.  {After that the price goes up to $40, so don't delay!}  Please visit the website for all the details on the location and schedule, bios on each speaker, and to register for the event. 

If you aren't experiencing infertility, statistics say that someone you know is.  Please pass this website on to your friends or family that could use some support. 

Thanks for reading my story.
XOXO,
Emmy


Monday, January 7, 2013

Happy Monday

a favorite quote to start your week...
from the book Audition by Michael Shurtleff

i think we can use this in every aspect of life, not just acting...

"What confounds me is: Why do actors so love to make the negative choice? Look how you fought like a tigress to hang onto your negative choices! And negative choices don't do you any good; they drown you, obliterate you; they keep any auditor from knowing who you are. They're only one side of you, and they're not the side that motivate your life! You are motivated by dreams, not negative realities. Reality creates the problems, dreams are how we deal with them. Dreams are why we stay alive. If you leave out your dreams, you leave out the very best part of you as a human being."