Delia and hubby were sick last week, I haven’t decided who is the more difficult patient, although I have to say, on the day my husband finally decided to stay home, he spent it doing laundry and cleaning, between long bouts of sleep.  It was bizarre, but I’m not going to complain.  Delia seemed to have every symptom there was, and I was just trying to keep her comfortable and keep her fever down.  One night, I went to give her some multi-symptom cold medicine, just hoping it would help her sleep a little, and she yelled out - “I will not take that medicine, it tastes like Rotten Radishes!”  The English major in me had to suppress the big smile at her great alliteration, but I’m still trying to figure out where that phrase came from, because I don’t think we’ve ever even had a radish in the house.  Thankfully everyone is better this week! 

The last couple of months have been a complete blur.  I fully anticipated my annual slow down in December, which happily never came - instead, things sped up.  By February I was exhausted.  I made a couple of changes that hopefully will help me avoid the craziness of the last couple months.  I am now scheduling custom work every 3 weeks instead of every 2, and all client work will have a 3 week due date, instead of my usual 1 or 2.  This might take some planning from people - it’s much harder for me to accommodate rush requests, but I’ll do my best when they come in.  I think I’m also going to start trying to launch new QuickStores the same time every week, to work it into my schedule better and also give people consistency.  Not sure how that will work, but I’m going to try it.  I like launching them on Wednesdays, so maybe a preview newsletter on Tuesday (that’s right - you get a preview if you sign up for my newsletter) and then in the store on Wednesday. 

Here are two for this week.  Obviously I was feeling like a little pink and brown - when am I not feeling like pink and brown!  Oh, and I think I need a new system for naming.  I will not be so bold as to say that I was the first to use names for the stores - I got the idea from a clothing cataloque, I’m sure someone else was doing it somewhere, but it seems to be running rampant now for other designers and just doesn’t seem as special.  I’m not sure what the stores will be named next week.  I chose girls names because it was so much easier than trying to find a fun, descriptive name.  Anyway - here are this week’s stores - Phoebe and Missy.  Grab them while they are there - last week the store sold out in about an hour and I had two people email me after asking if it was really gone…so sad, but it was gone.

The first is Phoebe.  I’m not entirely sure about the bow - ok, actually, I love the bow, just not entirely sure everyone else does.  We can easily remove that if you don’t love it as much as I do! http://modernsugar.com/boutique/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=148

The second store is Missy - I toyed with the idea of a stripe back and the caramel background as a divider - we could easily make that change if you wanted even more pink.

http://modernsugar.com/boutique/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=147

Have a great Wednesday!

I love these desktops from the Shabby Princess, but this one is by far my favorite!  It went perfectly with the new pics I took of Delia - make sure to stop by The Shabby Princess blog to download one for your computer!

Finally - our new site is up and finished!  I am so excited.  We needed a change and I think this is perfect.  It came together beautifully.  We’ve streamlined some of our sections to try to make it easier to find what you want.  We are still working out some bugs and old links, but for the most part, it is ready to go!  And, soon, we’ll be adding writing services to our list of services.  Our writing consultant is phenomenal, so I’m really excited about this.  Keep an eye out for it!

Be sure to check us out at http://www.modernsugar.com/! 

Delia has been asking (begging) me for months to take her to get her hair cut, “just like Thelma.”  She wanted it cut to her cheeks (eek), I finally consented to having it cut to her chin.  I have to admit, it looks great.  My preference on little girls is short hair because I always think it looks so much fresher, why I’ve hesitated with her hair, I really can’t say.  But I’m glad we finally did it.  Here she is modeling an outfit we were going to list for sale, but I’ve decided to take a break from selling clothes to concentrate on web design.  Delia marvled “you mean I get to keep this mommy!”  Isn’t she cute - I absolutely never tell her what to do during our “photo shoots” but check out how she manages to strike a pose in the last one!  LLBean sent out a letter to their employees asking for submissions of photos of their kids for the LLBean winter 2008 children’s catalog - se we’ll submit some of these and see what happens!

So, I have a few changes in the works.  I’ve known for awhile that we’ve outgrown our name, but haven’t really found a new name that I love - until now.  For the past year I’ve searched and searched with no luck, looking for that perfect, fun, quirky, name, and finally, I just happened upon it.  About two weeks ago I was trying again, several different names, usually finding ones that I really liked, but that were already taken.  I liked Modern Studio (taken) and thought, well I could try Modern Studio Designs, which hubby thought was way to wordy.  So, I was writing modern over and over again on a sticky note, when I reached into the cupboard to fill the sugar bowl - and voila - Modern Sugar came to be.  I ran to the computer and registered the name right away.  Now, I just have to deal with the logistics of switching over.  It’s not that difficult, I just need a big chunk of time.  I’ve started on the redesign - which won’t be a completely new design - here’s the new logo:

I’m still tweaking it so I’m sure it will change, but I think those will be the main colors - as always, I just love pink and brown but thought we’d go for a richer brown!

So, with that comes a couple of other changes.  The Maine Baby Boutique will just be The Maine Baby.  I’m setting up a new store for our boutique clothing, using our new cart.  I can’t wait until that project is finished - I have a design in mind, which is different from the one I posted a bit ago - I want something more fun.  Actually, I have my eye on a QuickStore that’s been there for awhile, I’ll give it another day or so and then I’m taking it!

I think this blog will also move to The Maine Baby, makes more sense since TMBDesigns won’t be around anymore.  Finally, My Little Model is slated for a new Blog.  I think that changing the format will help me keep up with it - I just have to get it designed and then transfer all the content into blog posts.

My goal for all this - the end of the month - we’ll see how that works out for me!  And, I still have a couple of projects to catch up on and some new custom projects that are starting this month! Enough talking, I clearly need to get to work.

I have everything under control.

I am feeling a bit like this today.  I have a lot of work to catch up on, several quotes to get out and some emails that need to be returned.  Things were still looking ok on Friday morning, but then Delia stayed home sick, so a few hours lost there.  It’s drills weekend so hubby is serving his country all day Saturday and Sunday so the usual long stretches of work time that I get on the weekend are absent.  And, of course I caught whatever Delia has so I was a bit under the weather last night and went to bed a bit early, no work time then.  I did watch a favorite movie in bed though - The Pursuit of Happyness.  It’s not just a feel good movie, makes you really think about what you have and what you can accomplish.  I love it when he talks about how he used to do well in school and thought about all the things he could be and then never became any of them.  I loved school, I have the Sallie Mae bills to prove it, but all those things I studied, they just weren’t me.  So here I am, early on a Sunday, trying to catch up.  

So, some things, like the new QuickStores and stand-alone cart are on hold.  Hopefully I will have some new QuickStores done by the weekend, maybe sooner, the muse visits at odd times.  And the stand alone cart, well, of course, i can’t leave well enough alone and came up with yet another brilliant idea (more on that to come) so I may be holding off on the cart. 

Oh, and I’m going to work on an about me page for the site this week.  I have to comb through the pictures to find one that I want to share with everyone.  And then write a paragraph or two that wraps up my life and somehow explains my design philosophy.  Should be fun!  Have a great Sunday and a wonderful week!

So, I’m feeling a little like Sally Field today - in her infamous, “you like me, you really like me” speech.  Our QuickStores have been doing quite well lately, and I couldn’t be happier.  I started offering them because it’s a great way to get a beautiful site for much less than a custom store would cost.  I also love the creativity and design freedom it allows me.  My designs have changed a bit recently, mostly due to my new love of Indie.  I’ve been looking at art, clothing, and all things indie and have been truly inspired by what is out there.  Even though the QuickStores have been doing really well, I was floored yesterday when I realized that in 2 days we sold 3 designs.  Don’t worry - I have more designs on the way, including a new one with a kit from The Shabby Shoppe.  We haven’t used a kit in awhile, but I saw this kit and fell in love with it!  Carousel - with rich colors and some fun accent pieces - I can’t wait to get started!  The great thing about our QuickStores with The Shabby Shoppe graphics is that we obtain the commercial license and take care of the proper crediting before we design the store - so once you buy it you are all set to go!  Stay tuned, we hope to have that design up by the weekend!  As always - thank you so much for your continued support!

We gave our splash a makeover last night and I’m so pleased with the results.  It really cleans up the front page and hopefully makes it easier and more appealing to look at.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the whole package and presentation of not only my site, but the sites I create.  We will be offering a splash package soon as well as an add-on for QuickStores - something that goes beyond a quick picture for the front and really adds professionalism and polish to the site.