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

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

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...

• 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 :)

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

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

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:

http://whatilovewednesday.blogspot.com/

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

new web design studio website has launched!!!

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. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook Forward this to a Friend Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|* All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|* Update Subscription Preferences Unsubscribe Now

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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?

download this quote as a free printable here

xoxo, 

krystina

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 :)

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!

Say hello to The Creative Arcade!

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...