I recently launched a design for Solaris Studios, run by Aric Hoek, an incredible and unique photographer in the Houston area. His site is fully run on one single installation of WordPress, of course, and I provided him a lot of custom code to make the various pages and categories of his site function in specific ways. He utilizes pages for primary content, posts for his blog content and specific categories combined with the YAPB plugin to run the photoblog section.

He’s really maximized the various uses all in one installation - which I’ll be doing here on my own site over the next couple/few weeks.

I managed to talk Lisa into moving to WordPress, which she did ever so gracefully (heh! seriously, she jumped right into it!) and now she’s sporting a new custom design that I created for her that will really highlight her (amazing) photography so much better. I had such fun creating this design - go have a look around!

Just a quick update on my schedule, for anyone interested/waiting:

I’ve completed two blog designs this week:

• SpencersGame
• Eartodastreetz

And a few last week, in case you missed them:

• VividNUrban
• Fanboy@50
• Kissythecutie

Next week is wide open and I’ll be in the studio finishing up several custom pet portrait paintings:

• Simba, a fluffy orange tabby
• Kiwi & Boo, a pair of bird portraits
• Jambalaya, a red & white husky portrait
• Rex, a tuxedo kitty cat portrait

Then I’ll be back to blog designing for a few more weeks, then a couple more portraits, then a couple more designs … it’s going to be a busy summer!

Stay tuned for portrait progress updates!

Ta-da! It’s been 17 days since I planted my garden, and I have progress! I was goo-gooing and gaa-gaaing over this baby green pepper yesterday. Here’s what it looks like now:

I got my hoe on yesterday, prettifying the “aisles” and adding cucumbers and another couple of musk melon plants, because I think my other two are pretty hopeless. The beets, bush beans and spinach have all germinated and are going crazy. I’ll have to thin them out, but first I have to figure out when and how to thin them out. I’m such a garden virgin.

Still scratching things off my to-do list, getting my girls graduated from 6th and 1st grades, gardening, Wii Fit’ting - and doing a bunch of extra stuff that my hubby usually does but can’t now that he’s one-armed.

The girls have been on summer vacation since Wednesday afternoon, and they were, in usual form, bored after being home for 10 minutes. Catybug went to her friends, Chickeymonkey invited her friend over, and since then it’s been crazy with slumber parties and sleepovers and playing rain in the driveway with the garden hose - and then, just when you think things have calmed down for 5 minutes, they argue over the Wii.

Ahh yes. School’s out.

I have to brag though, Chickeymonkey finished 1st grade with a straight A average, and Catybug nearly an A+ average. Her GPA was 98.6 for the year - but her test scores (The ISAT) were at 99%, she tested at a 10th grade 5th month level, which is the highest you can go. (Beaming? Why yes, we are!) We are very pleased with the education they’re receiving and glad to make the sacrifices to get them a good one.

I’ve also been working like a mad woman over the past week, and though I wasn’t able to hit the studio as I would have liked, and I still haven’t gotten the progress pics of Jam and Rex for you, I have managed to design and launch a few neat blog designs. The next couple of weeks will be hugely busy as I try to get current again with everything - finishing design projects and paintings both.

I know you’re anxious to have a look at those designs, so here you go:

• VividNUrban - this is an urban magazine style blog, the main page is all custom code to pull in all of the categories he wants to highlight, linking to each post and also the full category. You also have the option to read it as a “blog” in the main menu. It’s a sweet design, and nearly caused my brain to burst.
• Fanboy@50 - Lew deals with anime and comics - he’ll probably be opening a shop on his blog as well.
• Kissythecutie - Though Kissy is still formatting her content, you can at least view the design and the beginning of her career in the blogosphere. I’m looking forward to seeing where she takes things with her blog!

And that was my week in a nutshell - I’m looking forward to lounging around today and recuperating so I can start it all again tomorrow morning.

How was your week?

Last week was crazy. I launched a bunch of designs, painted and snapped photos whenever I could and even managed to order an Edible Arrangement for my very good friend who celebrated her mmmpftieth birthday on Friday.

I didn’t post the blog designs, so here’s the list. Since the fitness blogs are all grouped together, I’ll keep ‘em together even though I’ve posted about the top two previously. They all belong to the same dude.

• Atlas Juice
• Optimum Flexibility for Golf
• Butt Hip & Thigh Makeover
• Abs of Stone Core of Steel
• Upper Body Fitness
• Athletic Legs for Men

If you get a chance, watch Joey’s video intro on his Golf site, he is totally cool and such a really neat person to know. His fitness book is really honest and he’s very much a health conscious guy, I am happy to have had the opportunity to meet him. I’ve also been working my way through his Butt Hip & Thigh Makeover video, and have to say I am totally impressed (and have been very, very sore) with the effectiveness of his routine. It’s quiet, laid back, and actually relaxing. Also? Just at the moments in the video I was telling him to lay off because it hurt so much I didn’t think I could push forward, he would say just a couple of words that made me bust a gut, considering how I’ve been able to get to know him.

Having said all that (and sorry, Joey), I am so glad his projects are wrapping up. It’s a tough thing having a personal trainer waiting for non-fitness related projects, though my fingers and brain DID get quite the workout.

I did complete one more design last week, as well - this one was so fun and I just loved the graphic workup on this. The client had a custom illustration made for his real estate business (by another artist, who is quite talented but doesn’t appear to have a website portfolio I can link to) and - well - go have a look:

• The Keys to New Jersey

If any of you live in the NJ area, he’s a really nice guy and if you’re ever in need of an agent, look him up!

Now I’ve got more paintings and a couple more blog designs and upgrades on my schedule this week - so I’d better get to it!

Happy Monday!

Oh, how I *love* me some creative license.

Go, click around.

Thank you, once again, to Kimberly - for giving me the freedom to be totally creative with your latest blog design. I want to build a house in Petroville.

This (adult content), and this, and this and this - and another one I can’t show you yet, cause she wants me to WAIT. (grumble grumble, impatience - and more grumbling…)

So, yeah, it’s a lil busy over here. I’ve also just added two cat portraits to my schedule, and I’ll be painting a gorgeous Husky soon, too!

I’ve been jamming to this while I’m working (since now I can have hugemongo programs open AND play a CD, woot!), eating lots of grapes (I am bloated from all the grapes. Bloated. That’s a lot of grapes. Too many, perhaps?), and wearing my new earrings, which I’ll post about um, next chance I get!

Also, I’ve been totally jealous of her, because she went here and met him (and she says he smells like heaven), and so next year I might just have to go.

SooOOooo, what’supwithyou?

I had the privilege of working on this custom painting that is going to be used for a logo/header on the web. My client purchased full license along with the commission, so she’s free to use it wherever she’d like. It would make a nice notepad paper, don’t you think?

She asked for flowers on a table, an open book, a stack of books - tea, and soft pretty colors. I worked up a sketch first, which she approved. I then created a watercolor painting from the sketch, which is hers to keep. Once I scanned in the painting, I re-watercolored it digitally to enhance the pretty pastels and soften up the artifacts that scan in with “real” artwork, and what you’re seeing here is a 1/3 scale version of the full sized web-ready painting.

It’s a very unique way of branding, I think, original artwork goes digital. I really enjoyed working this up as it turned into a nice cozy and feminine piece, and it was good to get out the watercolors again.

I’ve been quite busy lately, and haven’t even had the chance to post individual screenshots of these designs for your viewing pleasure. Here are the designs I’ve completed recently if you’d like to go have a peek!

• LifeCruiser - LifeCruisers 3rd design, this one is a two column seascape done up in shades of blue.
• Brit Out Of Water - an EW client, he’s been in the States for 152 days now (today, according to his sign), and he’s got some hilarious stories and goings on in his life since his arrival. He’s got a two column cityscape design, the UK in the background and NY in the foreground.
• Phone News - another EW, this one is in Beta right now and will have a few more mods before it’s “officially” complete, they provide a great resource for all things wireless and cellular.
• 94 Monkeys - an EW client, this is a blog for medical students. They had custom illustrations done up of all of their monkeys in a “hear no - see no - speak no” fashion, which are very cool.
• Nappily Evah Aftah - Tracey is in love with the art of LaShun Beal, so her theme is based on the painting Ebony Beauty. It’s got rich, beautiful earth tones and sports the sought after tabbed menu container to really organize her sidebar.

You can see I’ve been crazy busy, these are just the designs I’ve completed so far this year, not counting my own portfolio and blog here. I’ve got a few more designs in the final stages and smaller busy work that keeps me hoppin’ all day, and so many more on my “to-do” list, I’m good through the end of February.

I’ll be in the studio painting the end of next week, and I’m all too excited about that! I received another new order this week for a custom dog portrait painting in oils - I’ll be sketching up both of my commissions this coming week.

So there’s a quick view of my life, 18 days into the new year - how’s yours goin’?

I’m buggy as all get out too, I think. Welcome (you have to come see) to my 2008 Blog Revamp, made to match my Portfolio revamp launched on the first of the year.

If you see any bugs, please let me know so I can squash them early on. My eyes and mind are both a bit wonky and I’ll be taking the evening to rest and refresh - more blogs to design this week, and a sweet white dog custom portrait painting to begin, too!

- thank you, IE, for the gargantuan headache. :grumbles:

Enjoy!