…and I’m nearly ready.

The tree is up, the cookies for the neighbors are made, and the presents are {almost all} bought and wrapped. The computer has been off, projects put on hold (I promise to be back in a week!), and the family festivities have already begun.

I hope this time of year is a meaningful, relaxing and joyful time for you and your family. I want to thank you, my readers and clients and casual visitors,  for making 2011 such a pleasant and successful year for me. I love my job and the amazing people I meet through this little blog of mine. I have some fun things planned for the new year…

PS. Before I sign off for a few days and go drink more eggnog I wanted to share some exciting news. See that little brown button over there?

> > > > > > > >

Yes, that one. Im thrilled and honored to be a part of Blissdom 2012 as a Community Leader! Are you going??

I knew this day was bound to come sooner or later. My poor little MacBook Pro is currently in the shop getting her insides logic board replaced as we speak. Ick.

So what does that mean? Pretty much that I’m dead in the water without my faithful workhorse. Luckily I use Carbonite so even if it were my hard drive, my data wouldn’t be lost. And now with Gmail, Google Docs and iPads, a crash doesn’t mean what it used to.

In the mean time I’ve been trying to keep myself from freaking out and going fetal by….

Doing dishes

Laundry

Making cookies (I may be 300 lbs. before this is all over)

Sketching Fall designs for Snapfish

Swimming (did I mention that it’s Fall break for my kids…and by Fall I mean it’s 90 degrees and sunny in AZ?)

So if you are waiting on me for some work (and I’ve probably already contacted you…), you’ll need to be patient with me until next Tuesday or Wednesday. Everyone has been so kind and understanding…thank you! I suspect they have felt this pain at one time or another.

Until I post again with a happy MBP…

So before I head over to Craigslist and oDesk and open myself up to all the loons of the world, I’d like to tap the talent in my little corner of the blogosphere first. (Ok, just kidding…I’m sure there are no loons on Craigslist.)

I’m searching for a graphic designer (or two) to help me with overflow projects. The good Lord has chosen to bless me with more work than I can handle by myself. So I’m branching out and trying something new. Projects would include things like blog banners, background patterns, social media sets, etc.

What I’m looking for…

• Someone with excellent design skills and a strong grasp of Photoshop and Illustrator
• Preferably a woman, given that 90% of my clients are women and I need a feminine approach to most of my projects (though men are welcome to respond)
• Someone willing to work on an as needed, sub contracted basis
• Someone with an EIN or SSN (my expenses will be reported to the IRS)
• Someone who can work on a quick turn around schedule
• Someone who doesn’t want to deal with invoicing, client care, web applications, etc….who just wants to design
• A SAHM, working mom, student…makes no difference to me

How to respond…

• Please contact me via email or leave a comment below
• I will ask for samples of your work or your portfolio
• Please let me know what kind of compensation you are seeking

If you are interested but have more questions, please feel free to contact me!

The Pixel Boutique is getting a new outfit. Please excuse the mess while we try on some pretties…

It’s never a dull moment at The Pixel Boutique. Amidst the tutorials and blog design, another aspect of custom design is emerging today. Introducing Custom Printed Stationery.

You may be aware of my partnership with Snapfish and the amazing resource they offer with a full line of photo greeting cards. That outlet remains alive and well. But to round out my design services, the following products designed specifically to your needs and tastes are now available…

• Invitations
• Birth Announcements
• Thank You Cards
• Save the Date
• Stationery Sets
• Stickers
• Business Cards
• Letterhead
• Envelopes

Included in the cost of the service is the custom design, ordering via cafepress.com or overnightprints.com, printing, and delivery right to your door.

So for all the deets on the process and ordering, check out the Custom Printed Stationery page!

Self employment is a unique animal. I’ve said many many times that I love my job and all the benies…like working in my jammies and taking a day off for a school field trip and the flexibility.

That last one there? Yeah, that’s a double edged sword. Working for yourself also means meeting a deadline even when its dinner time or 2 a.m. There have been many football practices and wrestling matches with the laptop in tow.

But as hard as I try to do what I say Im going to do and meet every deadline, I’ve made it a rule of late to take weekends off. As much as I want to peek at my email or create just one teeny tiny Twitter button, I refrain because before I know it, 2 hours will go by as one little fire needing to be put out leads to another.

Instead, I’ve been spending my weekends enjoying my domestic bliss…

• Making something other than cold cereal and Eggos for breakfast, such as Stuffed French Toast (ohmygoodnesssogood!)
• Cleaning, straightening, putting away piles of piley things that collect over the busy week
• Picking up my Bountiful Basket (much more on this later)
• Plucking the eyebrows, coloring the hair, and the sort
• Watching a movie or too much tv…or both…with my kids
• Sleeping in
• Snagging some great deals at Saturday garage sales
• Working on my mad crochet skills (not really…)

So I trust you’ll understand if your email sent on the weekend isn’t answered until Monday…and I promise to make ever effort to do so.

Promise.

What about you? How do you spend your weekends? Working? Playing? Sleeping?

In the past week, I’ve cleaned out 4 closets and filled 3 Goodwill bags. What is it about the holidays and the new year that compels us to take stock and organize? I love it. Spring (or in this case “Winter”) cleaning is totally my thing. Love it.

Just like I catch myself neglecting my linen closet during the year, I find I often do the same with certain areas of my blog. Maybe now is a good time to take stock of your blog and do some sifting and sorting. Here are a few areas to thing about…

1. Sidebars: Have a couple out of date meme buttons still hanging around? Or even some sponsored button ads? Its easy to loose track of buttons in the sidebar. Less is more…dont waste precious real-estate with outdated buttons or text.

2. Affiliate Ads: If you are a part of affiliate ads like Share A Sale or Commission Junction, you can manage what ads you show when depending on the time of year or current campaign of the companies you advertise for. Remember to check on them and make sure your affiliate buttons and links are still up to date.

3. Static Pages: How up to date is your About page? Or your Disclosure Statement? Maybe you’ve been wanting to add a new page on update one. Dont forget your static pages (trust me…I’m preaching to the choir right now.)

4. Platform Updates: All the major blogging platforms perform regular updates and upgrades to their software. It isnt a good idea to ignore these alerts. You want to stay up to date with these so you don’t have issues with compatibility down the road. I know…it seems like there’s an update every 5 minutes (especially if you’re on WordPress). But it usually only takes a minute and a few clicks for most people.

5. Plugin Updates: Same thing here…if you’re on WordPress, occasionally check your plugins and make sure they are up to date with the latest published version.

6. Comments: Now is a good time to check your spam and pending comments. If you’re using Akismet for WordPress (and if you’re not, you should be!) it does a very good job of catching spam comments for you. Empty it out every once in a while after doing a quick scan for the occasional valid comment that slipped in. No need to take up this extra space on your database.

So what about you…what’s the hardest part of keeping things up to date and neat and tidy on your blog?