Countdown To Blissdom, A New Bag, and A Big Move

 

I am so excited!!!  In 15 days I will be hoppin’ on a plane and headed to Nashville to attend my very first blog conference, Blissdom!  To say I’m excited is an understatement.  I just can’t wait to learn more about this little hobby I’ve created for myself! 

 

To prepare myself for Blissdom, I’ve done lots of searching on Polyvore for the perfect outfits, I ordered some business cards, and I got myself a new bag!

I kind of panicked about the business cards.  I procrastinated a bit and was afraid I might not have them in time so I wasn’t able to order the snazzy die cut cards like I had hoped, but that’s ok!  I designed my cards and ordered them through Vistaprint. 

 

I also decided that I needed a snazzy new bag!  My first thought was to turn to Kellie @ Nest of Posies.  But, I was in a bit of a time crunch and a little bit of a $$ crunch.  I just couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger and purchase the bag from her (although I am totally about supporting fellow bloggers).  I thought maybe I could DIY a tote bag like Lara @ Less Cake More Frosting did and save some money! 

So I set off to Hobby Lobby and purchased a cute jute tote.  It was the perfect size for carrying my laptop, iPad, blog binder, and pens!  I got some paint and fabric medium and had full intentions of DIYing my tote bag!

Then the light bulb went off!  I remembered that I had won free monogramming from a local shop here in town!  DUH!  I could take my bag to them and have them embroider my blog name on the bag.  They were able to create EXACTLY what I wanted.  I was afraid they might not be able to do the frame around my blog name, but they nailed it!  I love it!  I got it home and quickly got busy adding some cute felt flowers to it!

 

I love, love, love it!!!  I have it hanging on our entry shelf and I just smile every time I walk by it!

In other news, I am making a big move.  I am in the process of moving my blog over to Wordpress.  Crazy, I know!  Even crazier….I’m attempting to do the move ALL BY MYSELF.  So far I am about to pull my hair out (Thank you, Maryann for putting up with my 50 million questions)!!!  It’s not as easy as all the tutorials I read make it seem!  Haha.  But, I’m going to stick with it and figure it out because I think it will be better in the long run for me and for my blog. 

As you guys have probably heard, Google Friends Connect is going bye-bye on all non-blogger blogs.  Which means, when I’m all done with the switch, GFC will pretty much be obsolete.  I might get a week or so where it’s still active on my Wordpress site.  I will continue to keep you updated on ways you can follow my blog when I’m all done switching it over.

In the meantime, if things look wonky….don’t think too much of it.  Hopefully I’ll have it all fixed soon!  If you notice that links aren’t working properly, please do me a favor and send me an email and let me know.  That’s the part I’m struggling with most…..getting all the links to transfer, etc. 

I really appreciate you guys sticking with me.  This blog really gives me a place to go and be ME.  Not mom, not wife, not daughter…..just ME!  Don’t get me wrong, I love being all those things.  But this blog really gives me the chance to get in the zone, be creative, and do things I really love.  I’m glad you’re by my side on this little journey!!  I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Ummm…..don’t you just love my new bag!?!?!  Are you going to Blissdom, by chance?  If so…..leave me a comment!! I’d love to meet you!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

I am linking up to many of these great parties:

M: DIY Showoff Project Parade, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Today’s Creative Blog, Making Monday Marvelous, Polly Want A Crafter T: Get Your Craft On, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Homework, A Bowl Full Of Lemons W: Uncommon, Oopsey Daisy, Uncommon, Twin Dragonfly Designs, Creative Spark , Not Just A Housewife Th: 36th Avenue, Just A Girl, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths, Every Creative Endeavor F: My Repurposed Life, Sassy Sites, I’m Lovin’ It, Remodelaholic’s Anonymous, Frugal Friday, Fingerprints On The Fridge, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Weekend Wrap-Up, Weekend Bloggy Reading S:  Positively Splendid, I Heart Naptime, Be Different, Act Normal  Su:  Under The Table & Dreaming, Remodelaholic, Homemaker On A Dime

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Work It

 

Hi, friends!  Just a heads up to let you know that I am doing some exciting work on the back end of the blog today so if some things look funky, just know that it will be squared away soon!

I hope you all have a wonderful hump day!!

 

My Top Ten Favorite Projects of 2011

Hey, hey!
Yesterday I shared with you the top 10 projects of 2011 based on YOU GUYS and your page views!  I have to say I was shocked at some of them.  I never would have thought that the DIY Mercury Glass would have been the most viewed project!  I guess a lot of people Google that phrase! 
Well, today I am back to share with you some of MY personal favorite projects from this year. 
Here goes…..

#10  Painted Beadboard Bookcase


#9  Half Bath Makeover


#8  Envelope Pillow Cover


#7  Fall Pumpkin Topiary


#6  Burlap & Felt Christmas Pillow


#5  Sleeping Baby Sign


#4  Family Room Makeover


#3  DIY Tabbed Back Chevron Curtains


#2  Stenciled Dining Room Wall & Painted Striped Curtains


And my absolute most favorite project to date……….

#1  Emily’s First Birthday Party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I hope you enjoyed all of these projects as well!  They have certainly helped to transform my home into a place that I am proud of! 
Thanks for stopping by!

Top 10 Projects/Posts of 2011

Hi friends!!  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!  I know I sure did.  Santa was very good to me and even better to Emily.  It was so fun watching her open all of her presents and play with all her new goodies!  I hope to post some pics from our Christmas soon!
I wanted to start a new tradition here on the blog.  I would like to post the top 10 projects from this year….according to YOU guys!!  That’s right!  I was looking at my analytics and thought it would be fun to share the most popular posts from this year!
So….here goes!

#10  Under The Stairs Closet Re-do

#9  Monogrammed Pumpkin


#8  Sleeping Baby Sign


#7  Pinterest Challenge Canvas Art


#6  Crockpot Lemon Herb Chicken


#5  Football Season Crafts


#4  DIY Tabbed Back Chevron Curtains



#3  Emily’s First Birthday Party


#2  Burlap & Felt Christmas Pillow


And the most viewed project of 2011 was………..

#1  DIY Mercury Glass


Thank you all so much for your support this year and for sticking around and sharing this little corner of “blogland” with me!  I just love writing this blog and sharing bits of my life, home, and family with you.  I have had several new followers lately so welcome to all of you!!  Thanks to those who have been with me for ages too!  I have big plans for 2012 and this little ‘ole blog of mine!  So I hope you stick around and continue to share this journey with me!
Although I love all of those projects above, I’ll be back to share my favorites from this year tomorrow!
Thanks for stopping by!

Friday Freebie {Linky Party Checklist}

Hi Friends!  Happy Friday!!
I took a few minutes today to whip up a little checklist of sorts.  I love to link up to all the different linky parties!  Let’s face it, it generates a ton of extra traffic and I just love, love, love checking out all the other ideas!  There is so much creativity & inspiration to be found in blogland!  But, I found myself not being able to keep up with which parties I had linked up to already!  I would link projects to a party, then a couple days later not be able to remember if I actually linked to that party or not.  Typical Amy!
So I decided the best solution for me would be to create a checklist.  I needed to be able to have the project name at the top with a list of all the linky parties I participate in underneath with a box next to them so I could easily check them off!
Here’s what I came up with:

I created the checklist in Excel.  It’s definitely nothing fancy and I whipped it up in about 5 minutes flat (naptime was coming to an end)!  But, it’s functional and is just what I needed.  I’m happy with it.  And I actually ended up being able to fit 3 on a page!  I will probably end up just printing one on cardstock and putting it behind a sheet protector so I can use a dry erase marker on top.  That way I won’t have to waste paper and ink by printing out lots of copies!  Win!
I wanted to share my checklist with you incase you have the same dilemma I do each week!  I am sharing the actual Excel document so you can make any changes you might need to make.  This way you can include the linky parties you participate in! 
Click here to download the Linky Party Checklist!
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

Oh….and don’t forget about the 31 Gifts giveaway!!
     

I am linking up to many of these great parties:

M: DIY Showoff Project Parade, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Today’s Creative Blog, Making Monday Marvelous

T: Get Your Craft On, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z

W: Passionately Artistic, Twin Dragonfly Designs, Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible

Th: Just A Girl, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths

F: Sassy Sites, I’m Lovin’ It, Remodelaholic’s Anonymous, Frugal Friday, Friday Fun Finds, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Weekend Wrap-Up, Weekend Bloggy Reading

S:  I Heart Naptime, Be Different, Act Normal, A Little Lovely,

Su:  Under The Table & Dreaming, Remodelaholic

Random…

Ok, so I had a dream last night about going to Blissdom.  It was really funny.  I was so nervous and scared and felt like I had no clue what I was doing there.  I felt like I had just stepped into Hollywood as some of my favorite bloggers were there and I got to meet them.  It was totally random.  Totally funny.  And probably totally unrealistic.  Or is it a sign!?!  Hhmm……

Blogging Tips

Gail at My Repurposed Life recently did a few posts with some amazing blogging tips (which is faaaaantastic for a newbie such as myself)!
She ooohed and aaahed about Windows Live Writer.  So with that much praise, I had to check it out.  I am happy to report that I am now writing this post via Windows Live Writer!  It is pretty easy and user friendly.  Gotta love easy!  I just need to figure out how to add my signature at the end of every post without manually having to do it each time. 
She also shared a link that was shared with her that has seriously changed my life.  Ok, maybe it’s not that dramatic but it was a pretty neat little trick!  So, Google Reader is great.  I love it.  All my blogs, in one place.  I have to admit that before I discovered Google Reader, I had all my favorite blogs bookmarked and saved in my “favorites”.  Everyday I would go into my favorites folder and click on each blog individually to see if they had posted anything new.  Wow.  I was lame!  But I’m admitting that’s how I did.  Then came Google Reader and saved the day!  But I realized that I missed seeing everyone’s layouts and cute headers and backgrounds.  And I also didn’t like that I had to go out of Google Reader to their blog if I wanted to leave a comment (and let’s face it….being a newbie blogger I’m trying to leave lots of comments and make some new friends in blogland).  So this is the link she shared.  Seriously border-line life changing! Follow the easy peasy directions on that link (which will take you to another stellar blog, mind you) and you will be able to go through your Reader, but it takes you to the actual blog.  You can see their cute blog designs and leave comments, but you’re only reading the new posts that are in your Reader!  AH-MAZING!
If you’re new to blogging like me or just want some great tips, head on over to Gail’s blog and have fun (make sure you have a snack and a cup of coffee…..you might be there a while)!
And on that note, I’ll leave you with another picture of my ridiculously cute child!  :)

{snuggling with daddy watching football}

Amy