i have swapped ads a bit the last few months and it’s time for a bit of a refresh with some new faces. please contact me if you feel like your blog [...]]]> are you ready to hop on for the winter season!? well here’s your chance…

i have swapped ads a bit the last few months and it’s time for a bit of a refresh with some new faces. please contact me if you feel like your blog and/or shop would be a good fit with me and my readers (and vice versa) and if you are interested in exchanging advertising for the what’s left of november and december! if you currently advertise with me, please let me know if you want to keep swapping!

looking forward to this season of holidays, winter cooking, and sewing & crafts in our household over here (as well as being a little bit more purposeful on what i offer to you and when). i don’t know what’s in store, but it’s going to be great!

AND just because today 11-11-11, i’m offering 15% off in the shop, until midnight (pacific time)! use NOV11 when checking out. enjoy friends! happy veterans day, and happy friday.

i recently switched over to google reader to track all you lovely blogger friends and family out there, and within a couple days my reader has like a hundred new blog posts in bold that i haven’t read. of course, seeing that bold number grow bigger every day, [...]]]> ….i’m feeling overwhelmed.

i recently switched over to google reader to track all you lovely blogger friends and family out there, and within a couple days my reader has like a hundred new blog posts in bold that i haven’t read. of course, seeing that bold number grow bigger every day, makes it threatening and intimidating to sit down to read. it’s gotten up to 189 unread posts within 6 days.

and instead of feeling this fun feeling of ‘look how much i get to read about other people’s lives!’, i immediately start thinking about how everyone’s so dedicated and on top of it, while i don’t have my next post figured out. or how i’m lacking any sort of inspiration towards anything right now. or how i don’t make enough money while wil works his butt off (ok, that’s unrelated, but somehow always permeates my thoughts).

deep breath!

and then i switch over to twitter, and see all these fun tweets throughout the day, and then i start thinking about how i don’t tweet enough. or how i should take more pictures or promote my store more or whatever. or how i really don’t care about what celebrities are tweeting, and that i should delete them all.

deep breath!

and then i check google analytics for the shop & blog and worry about my traffic, where it’s coming from, how to get more and more.

and while i’d like to blame it on this monster called technology and his little pal the internet, really i keep selfishly thinking about myself. comparing myself to others. wondering if my life is interesting enough, or unique enough, or cute enough to share with others. me, my life, my stuff, my shop. blech.

i feel like i need a little internet sabbatical. and if not for a chunk of time, maybe a certain day of the week i don’t do anything. no blogs, no twitter, no facebook.

if anything, i need to get my focus off of ME!!!

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something new has happened around here this month…have you noticed? new friends hanging out on the sidebar, for you to visit! and you can find me hanging out on their sites too. just wanted to spend a moment introducing them to you.

Hi, I’m Kristen, the hands behind my Etsy shop, by the book paper, which features personalized paper products, most of which are bookmarks, note cards, bookplates, and gift tags, although I’ve got some exciting new creations in progress!  My blog, life by the book, is an outlet for all things going on around me including my shop, recipes I make, books I read, and other general musings.  Please stop in and say hi!

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Renee is one of my dear real-life friends… her blog is the chronicles of her newly married life with Chris. She’s a ‘gardener in training.  pianist.  teacher.  lover of fashion and all things pretty.  addicted to coffee.  chronic case of the baby bug.  happy with a book and a comfy seat.’ She is a part of Noonday Collection, selling gorgeous hand crafted, fair trade accessories crafted from artisans around the world.

 

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I’m Ashley, and I’m a self-employed twenty-something year old that’s ready to take on the world, ten projects at a time. I have a shop – After Nine To Five – where you can find jewelry, accessories, cards, and more. I like to take on too much at once, which means you can find me all over the place. Self proclaimed food aficionado, vintage lover, photographer, and crafter (and mess maker). You can find her blog here!

 

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Hi, I’m Andi and I’m a stay-at-home momma, a put-on-hold elementary teacher, wannabe photographer, crafter, and adorer of all things vintage antique.  I’m a country girl at heart, but live in the big city burbs with my husband and two young kids.  We love Jesus and love life!  Come visit us at The Hollie Rogue and don’t forget to say “hello!”

 

 

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hi my name is kelly i am a wife and momma. the only girl in our little family of 4. i blog because i have stories to tell…even if no one reads them. being the only girl in a house full of boys is sure to make for some crazy / amazing adventures. thank goodness i have the lord who carries me through. i’d love it if you all stopped by my blog fly with me and said hi. ‘life’s a journey, not a destination‘

 

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Mama Marchand’s Musings is a lifestyle blog about the life of this creative mama on a journey to opening my own etsy shop and living my dreams! I write about the ups and downs of mamahood, relationships, health, fashion, and everything in between, with a little bit of dry humor and insight thrown in. Come join me on my journey!

 

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please stop by and say hello to any of these lovely ladies! it’s been fun getting to know them, i can assure you, they are all gems.

also, september is rolling right along and the store is very well stocked! in celebration of having sponsors, i’m offering a 15% discount off everything in the shop…it’s stocked with lots of sandwich bags options (don’t tell me you are going to try another school year with ziplocs!!?), as well as the other usual goodies. i’ve been playing around with some cute patchwork pot holders, maybe you’ll see those soon too! just remember to use the code SPONSORS15.

I did some work on the look of the website.  I think it was just time to clean it up.  So, a lot of the old pages have been purged and we only have a couple important pages… the front page, a link to kris’ flickr page, and a webcam page.

I also [...]]]> Hey everyone,

I did some work on the look of the website.  I think it was just time to clean it up.  So, a lot of the old pages have been purged and we only have a couple important pages… the front page, a link to kris’ flickr page, and a webcam page.

I also imported a little widget type thing on the side that is a feed of kris’ most recent images.  I thought it was fun.  I hope you enjoy!

-wil

I know you’ve all been dying to hear about this… and i’m sure i’ve told most of you about it already, but a while back (about a month) kris and i got a new computer.

This isn’t just any computer, though. It is probably the most powerful and interesting computer i have ever [...]]]> Hey everyone,

I know you’ve all been dying to hear about this… and i’m sure i’ve told most of you about it already, but a while back (about a month) kris and i got a new computer.

This isn’t just any computer, though. It is probably the most powerful and interesting computer i have ever used.

It is a Dell XPS M1210 It is super portable, and super powerful.

Kris and i sold our other laptops because i knew i wanted to get a new one, (mine was an apple and i just didn’t want to use it anymore… no offense to apple or anything, it’s just not for me.) Kris wasn’t using hers much anymore since she doesn’t have a lot going on with school. I would’ve just upgraded her laptop to vista and used it, but it wasn’t powerful enough, and i didn’t want to deal with upgrading a processor in a gateway… =/ So, we decided to sell both and invest in a new one that would last us a good 4 years or so. I did a lot of research, ultimately deciding that i wanted something with a 12 inch screen or so that weighed around 5lbs. (ultra portable).

The M1210 was expensive, but quite powerful.  We decided to do some extra saving, so we could just pay cash for it.  I was patient and diligent, keeping most of the saved money in an envelope next to the computer; i taped a picture of the laptop on the wall, so i could always see it and dream of the day… alright, that is a bit cheesy.

I remember ordering it, and figuring out what day it would come.  I requested that day off work, so i could just play with the laptop…. it was sweet!

The computer has:

• 12.1 inch widescreen display
• intel core2 duo 2.0GHz processer
• 2Gb ram
• windows vista premium (i love this OS, by the way)
• integrated webcam (more to come)
• 120 GB Hard Drive
• Dvd burner
• 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Video Card
• Bluetooth enabled

Of course, this all could’ve been more powerful, but this was all that i wanted/needed.  It is about as powerful as the middle MacBookPro (which is pretty darn good!)

Some of my favorite features:

The operating system.  Windows Vista is pretty cool, and while there are some things that i don’t like about it (the fact that it uses lots of ram, and that there are still some bugs to work out), it is definately a step in the right direction for Microsoft.  They are working towards a more usable, more integrated (within itself) product.  It is very pretty and has some neat features.

I love the integrated webcam!  I can take pictures wherever i am using the computer with the click of a button.  I have also set up the webcam to work with my web server, so that whenever i take a picture, it is loaded onto the notebook cam page.  Sweet!

I also like that Microsoft has fixed the ‘sleep’ capabilities of computers.  On my old inspiron, i could never get it to sleep just right, and it would always mess the computer up.  But now, i can just close the lid, or press the button and it’s snooze fest in compy land! <-(this is one thing i always liked about my mac)

So, overall, the computer is freakin’ awesome!  I am really happy with the purchase, and i’m sure kris is as well.

-wil

i’ve got two orders of business here….

1. The gracie cam has been decommissioned until further notice. The software i was using to run it expired and i haven’t found a new piece that i like yet. Cheer up, though because once some new, free software can be found to suit… the gracie [...]]]> Hello everyone!

i’ve got two orders of business here….

1. The gracie cam has been decommissioned until further notice. The software i was using to run it expired and i haven’t found a new piece that i like yet. Cheer up, though because once some new, free software can be found to suit… the gracie cam will be back in action!

2. Many of you know that kris and i bought a new computer, (much more to come on that soon!). This computer has a built in webcam that i have enjoyed using so far… and since i am taking so many pictures with it, I thought it would be fun to automatically export all those photos onto our website. So… under the webcams page, you can click on ‘notebook cam.’ This is a pretty simple photo gallery that displays the most recent photos taken by my webcam on my laptop. Whenever I take a new one, it will automatically upload and be displayed on that page. So, be sure to check back to see the latest images!

Have a nice day!

-wil