Wow, the last four months have flown by at an amazing rate. I knew that taking care of a child was a lot of work, but I never dreamed that I would be THIS busy. I’ve had to resort to cramming my work hours in at night when the baby is asleep — which sometimes only allows me to work 1-2 hours a day. As a result, emails are sometimes answered days late – but I promise I am answering as fast as I can!

I just have to give props to WAHMs. It is tough to try to balance a home business with children!

Alice is just a bit over 4 months old now and is growing wonderfully! She is babbling, grasping, rolling and amazing me more and more every day.

The bad news is that aside from custom design work — I haven’t had the opportunity to design anything new lately. I have some web store designs that need a few final touches and I plan to have those up for sale in my shop soon!

I completed a couple of really snazzy and fun designs right before I went on leave and I wanted to take a few minutes to show them off! If you get a chnce, please visit these wonderful sites yourself and check out their products:

4mygirls.com

themidgetgem.co.uk

I’m oficially back to work and trying to juggle mommyhood and business. It’s a bit difficult right now with frequent feedings and feeling tired, but it is also a great opportunity for me to get a bit of a break from mommy-mode!

I am happy to announce the birth of my daughter Alice Nichole! After a long labor that ended in an emergency c-section, my sweet girl was born — she weighed in at 7lbs. 11oz. and was 20 inches long.

My recovery is going to be a bit more cumbersome than I had hoped, but other than that both the baby and I are doing great and my husband and I are having a wonderful time as first-time-parents — luckily our little one is mellow and is very patient with our newbie-ness!

The day has finally arrived! I will be going in tomorrow morning at 5am for my induction, so I will be officially on leave. I expect to be mostly unavailable for the next two weeks. However, I will check emails periodically, so please don’t hesitate to email me! I will resume work on custom projects and any ready-made designs that have been purchased around February 15th, but my hours will be limited to whenever I have a chance

Thank you once again for all the well-wishes I have received! I will be updating my blog over the next few days when I have news and pictures, so check back!

Wayyy back in July, I announced that I had a baby on the way. Originally due on February 5th, I will be getting induced on January 27th, just a bit over a week from now.

I still plan on working right up until the day before I am induced and also plan to be back to work part-time within two weeks following the birth of the baby. So, if you are in the market for custom work, I am still taking orders, but they will take longer to complete and my communication through mid-February may be a bit on the slow side, since I will be looking to make time to work between feedings and sleeping!

I did want to take a moment to thank everyone who has written with advice, well-wishes, congratulations and those who have been so understanding of my shorter hours and slower communication! You have helped to make this new transition between Self-Employed Desiger to Self-Employed Designer & Mother fantastic! Thank you so much!

I’ll update again as soon as I can after the 27th about the condition of the baby and I!

It has been a while since I did a large auction template launch, so I am really excited to announce these four new designs:

If you think these designs might make good e-comm sites — I am in total agreement! So, keep your eyes out for budget web design versions of all of these!

In other news, I am a little bit past the halfway-point in my pregnancy and I am getting more and more excited every day. We’ve found out that we are having a little girl, and I am really starting to feel all her moving around. It is completely amazing (even if it does keep me up at night!)

Colors say a lot about you and your business, and sometimes, a new color scheme on an old design can revitalize and perhaps even entice a different shopping clientele!

I’ve just finished up a re-color project for High Fashion Boutique. If you’ve ever looked through my portfolio you may have seen the previous design for her auction template. The colors were monotone, with touches of red that was a very sophisticated look, but over time wasn’t the ideal look for the store or products.

Re-envisioning the template with bright, spring colors and a chic illustration has given the store and auction template a more modern and youthful appearance that goes well with the products and concept of the store.

Everything is up and installed, so please stop by and check out the re-envisioned High Fashion Boutique!

It’s been a while since I wrote anything, but I have been busy with even more than usual! Since my last post, my husband and I have learned that we have a new addition to the family on the way, who is due on February 5th! This is our first baby, so we are really excited and the ups and downs of the first trimester knocked out a bunch of my time. Below is our first glimpse:

Now that I am feeling better, I have a new auction template design listed and plan to have more on the way in the next week or so as I put some finishing touches on some projects that got a bit pushed to the wayside.

Available now: the Belinda Auction Template design. This template features gorgeous caramel and peach tones in a design the is both rich and stylish. Scrapbook-style details such as grosgrain ribbon and eyes and depth and interest! Click on the thumbnail to view the listing!

I am also happy to announce the launch of http://www.dluxelacewigs.com/ — this lovely shop features both front and full lace wigs for women who need wigs for medical reasons or women who desire fashionable style options without the risk of damaging their own hair. Please stop by and check it out if you get a chance!

Another of my recent clients launched their new web design — this time it is English Tea Paperie — this lovely shop sells stationary with a classic feel and a focus on staying green!

This site was a lot of fun to design because the colors are right up my alley!

New Design
In other news, I’ve added another new website design to the budget category of my store. This one is a minimalistic design with touches of vivid colors. The perfect kind of design is you sell really colorful products and you don’t want the template to distract people away from your product!

Check out the Simple Things Website Design in my store.

Have you been looking for the right time to buy a Meepworks Auction Template? Now is that time! From May 15th-June 15th you can buy one of our auction templates and receive the second FREE! Click on the banner above for details.

New Designs
I’ve added three new website designs to my store. These are all listed under the budget section. They do not come with branding tools, so the price is just right!