Creative Kristi

Freebie Friday | {Dress-to-Impress}

2012-01-21T14:28:10Z

So my good friend Suz who writes “Well To Do, You” blog has been wearing the same dress everyday this year. Yes for the last 21 days she has worn the same dress.

BUT!

She has created a project where she has received donations from many people & businesses of different shoes, accessories, etc. to change the look of the (donated by L.L. Bean) dress each day. So for the entire month of January she is posting about this project, fittingly called:

Dress To Impress

Photo credit: Krystal Kathleen Photography | Graphic compilation: Creative Kristi Designs

At the end of the month ‘the’ dress & all of the accessories will be donated to Dress for Success of Portland, ME. This is huge because they don’t usually get many accessories or ways to ‘finish’ an outfit.

So besides telling you about this awesome project, why am I mentioning all of this on a Freebie Friday post?

Well because she asked me to create a “Keep Calm” poster in honor of her project. So I created 4.

Two colors (Turquoise & Pink)

Two shapes (dress form & clothes hanger)

Two sizes (8×10 inches and 5×7 inches)

Just for you!

For free!

Click the image below to download!

Free for personal use only. If you would like to share this freebie with your blog readers or twitter/facebook fans please send them here to download-do not share the download link or host the files on your site. Thank you!

Have a happy day,

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Everything Ebook Series | {Tell Your Time}

2012-01-28T11:19:29Z

Welcome back to the Everything Ebook series!

Today I’m reviewing Amy Lynn Andrew’s “Tell Your Time”

This ebook is in it’s 2nd revised edition & is at a fantastic price point: $2.99

Yes- TWO dollars and ninety-nine cents. When she says it’s for ‘less than the price of a fancy cup of coffee’ she’s not kidding!

For that price you get 30 pages, 3 printable templates & loads of practical advice.

I spent the weekend going through the book again (I had bought the 1st edition previously so I wanted to read the 2nd edition for this review) and filling out the templates for my schedule.

In general I think this is a helpful book for people who have a hard time managing time (and even those who don’t). Amy first walks you through figuring out your ‘roles’ in life & the activities for each role. Then you prioritize them and place them into categories.

The categories part was what really helped me: negotiable, non-negotiable, flexible & non-flexible times. This really opened my eyes that the items that I *had* to do and were at set times should be what I fill my calendar with first then work everything else around it. This is the part where “Tell Your Time” differs from other time management books. It has you list all of your activities but place them on a grid that separates them by if they are a flexible time or not and then also by negotiable or not-this helps you to see that while your yoga class is something you love to do that there might be other things you need to do first. So yoga could go in non-flexible (because you can’t change the time of yoga class) but negotiable (because you could choose to not go and do something else if need be).

I’ve used my new schedule for a week and while I didn’t quite stick to it because I had some emergency dental work, for the most part it was awesome! I got most of what I wanted & had to do done each day.

I think that this ebook is a quick, easy read with plenty of actionable items in it and for the price it is un-beatable!

If you would like to purchase a copy then Click here to visit Amy Lynn Andrews.

Contest is now closed.

If you would like to WIN a copy then please leave a comment telling me what your biggest problem is to getting stuff done.

Is it too many after school activities? No time left after work for all the things you want to do? Is it hard to get moving in the morning?

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents 18 or over. No purchase is necessary to enter. One winner will be selected using a random draw plugin on January 26, 2012. The winner will be announced on this post and must contact me within 48 hours to claim their prize. The approximate value of this giveaway is $2.99. Void where prohibited.

Review #1 in the series can be found here: 31 Days to build a better blog

Have a happy day,

If you like what you just read please Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!

Follow me on Twitter & Facebook for updates in between blog posts & also sneak peaks!!

Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you click these links and then purchase an item the seller will give me a small percentage of the purchase price-you will not be paying more for the item than if you went directly to their site to purchase. Thanks for helping to support CreativeKristi.com

Creative Kristi Classes #2 | {Did you win?!}

2012-01-12T18:01:01Z

Have you gone and checked the Rafflecopter widget on the Creative Kristi Classes post?

Did you win one of the 10 spots?

If your name is on there please email me by 7pm on Monday January 9th, 2012 to let me know you are in! If I don’t hear from you by then I’ll pick a different person to take your spot.

If you didn’t win– don’t worry! Make sure you are subscribed to the blog so you don’t miss when I make the class videos & pdf handouts available as a download! I didn’t make round one handouts available for download because there wasn’t much to download (we sat on skype and chit chatted and they asked whatever questions they had) since it was very informal. Each class had a loosely defined ‘theme’ but we talked about whatever they wanted to learn.

This time I already have 2 videos made up & am working hard on all the pdfs for printing.

Class will begin January 16, 2012 & it’s a four week course. The classes will be ‘held’ on password protected posts here on the blog as well as at least one Skype ‘face-to-face’ session (if it will let us have 11 people on at once–the site says it should work but we shall see!).

Besides the Skype meet-up (To be determined when that is) you do not have to get online at a certain time. Just remember to check your email on Sunday nights/Monday mornings to get the password for the week & the link to the post. Come over anytime that week, enter your password & read that week’s lesson, watch the videos, download the handouts & leave any questions/comments in the comment section. Easy peasy!

Ready?

Me too.

Have a happy day,

If you like what you just read please Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!

Follow me on Twitter & Facebook for updates in between blog posts & also sneak peaks!!

Freebie Friday & Blissdom 2012 Ice Breaker! | {Link up}

2012-01-07T00:13:32Z

Blissdom is just over a month away and I am super excited to make new friends & see all the ones I haven’t seen in a year!

That’s why when Meghan came up with the idea to create an “Ice Breaker” so to speak for everyone attending Blissdom I jumped to join her & create something FREE to use before, during & after the conference…..make sure you scroll down to take advantage of it.

How does it work?

*Write an “About Me” post so all those attending Blissdom can get to know you and your blog before we head to Opryland Hotel in February. Hit “publish” on your blog and once it goes live, link it up to the bloghop below. (You only have to link up on one of our blogs-Here or over at The Tuckers Take Tennessee-it will show up on BOTH linkys!)

*Comment on as many “Ice Breaker” posts you can and get to know each other. That way once you’re at the conference, you’ll be able to meet up and recognize each other a little easier.

*Grab the button we’ve provided below to place in your blog post as well as sidebars so we can spread the word about this Ice Breaker.

*Most of all, have fun, and get to know each other. This link up is for EVERYONE attending Blissdom…..so whether you’re a newbie or veteran, come link up and let us get to know you!{This link up will be live through February 26, 2012}

ABOUT KRISTI:

Creative Kristi began in 2008. I am a 28 year old “reluctant” military wife to my wonderful hubby of 5 years, Military Man/Handsome Hubby. Want to know how we met? Together we have two wonderful children, Little Man who is 4 and Miss E who is 18 months! We live in Maine, both my husband and I grew up here and pretty much love it (except for in the dead of winter when we just want some warmth back! haha!).

I made it my mission on Military Man’s last deployment to find something just for me, that would fulfill my creativity and that is how this blog was born! I call myself a ‘reluctant’ army wife because deployments & separation is not what I had in mind when I used to dream about my future husband.

But when life hands you lemons- decorate with them!

I have always enjoyed creating things and finding new ways to make something- this blog is just a way for me to share that! I am an eco-friendly, cloth diapering, breastfeeding, organic eating Mama. I love to recycle & re-use and a lot of my crafting comes from trying to find the cheapest way to do something while using the least amount of new product!

Now on to the FREE goodies.....

I am a Newcomer Community Leader this year at BlissDom and will be helping the newcomers feel comfortable at their first BlissDom. You won't want to miss the Newcomers meetup at 2:30pm on Thursday at Blissdom. Other Newcomer Community Leaders are Shell of Things I Can't Say & Leigh at Funky Faith Girl

I have created a fun Conference Prep Pack {help and organization for everyone before, during, and after the conference} for everyone to print - FREE! Mine is already printed and I've started filling it out.

So, let the planning begin, download your Conference Prep Pack and get ready for Blissdom '12! It's going to be a blast and I cannot wait to meet YOU!

Have a happy day,

If you like what you just read please Subscribe so you don't miss a thing!

Follow me on Twitter & Facebook for updates in between blog posts & also sneak peaks!!

Workin On It Wednesday #17 | {Moderate Minimalism}

2012-01-05T03:41:39Z

Happy Wednesday!

So this Wednesday I want to give you a sneak peek into a HUGE project {for me} that I am really excited about but also really nervous about.

I am starting a new series on Monday’s here where I will share with you my progress towards becoming “Moderately Minimalist”

I know for sure I don’t want the true minimalist lifestyle but I also don’t want the “Mildly Hoarder-ish” one I’ve got going now. See, I’m not a hoarder in that I WANT to keep my stuff-I just have never really gone through and said “ok you can go, you can stay & you need to be thought about”. AND I’m a piler. I pile things.

Which will come in handy for my project.

Wanna see my New Year’s day progress?

I shared this on Twitter with my instagram app a few days ago.

I went through baby clothes and did giveaway and keep piles. My goal was to see how high I could get the giveway pile before it toppled. I had to make it fun lol and I took this photo before I was done. that’s only about 75% of what I gave away.

I started with baby clothes because I still have almost 97% of Little Man’s baby clothes and he’s 4 & 1/2. It’s a HARD thing for me and I wanted to start the year off with the hard stuff so that when my momentum waned it would only be easy stuff left.

{I still have 3 big tubs to go through}

{wish me luck}

I also sent away 4 boxes of outgrown baby toys! Woot!

So now let’s see what YOU’VE been workin on!

Cate From DomestiCate broke a piece of her Mother’s china.

But she turned it into a keepsake for her mom, a mosaic picture frame!

What a great idea to turn a yucky situation into a memory!

Now it’s YOUR TURN to link up!!

Rules:

1. Link up your projects only (no shops please)

2. Use the direct url of the post-not your blog url so that if someone clicks on it months from now they will find the post they are looking for.

3. Place my Workin’ On It Wednesday Button (please do the button-not a text link) at the bottom of your post (not your sidebar, not on a page titled ‘linky parties’ or whatever) It must be on the post you are linking up. It’s only nice to Spread The Bloggy Love!

4. and of course-keep it family friendly!

5. If your idea was inspired by another blogger’s project please be sure to link to that specific post on the other blogger’s blog in YOUR post. If it’s a project that I’ve seen before and am reasonably sure you did too I will ask you once to link to that blogger and if you don’t join me in Spreading The Bloggy Love I will delete your link up. I’m not being mean-I’m following good blogger etiquette-it’s my blog and if you want don’t want to help Spread Bloggy Love then you are not welcome to link up.

Don’t forget to enter to win a spot in my Creative Kristi Class!

AND don’t forget to come back tomorrow for another great “Everything EBook” review!

Have a happy day,

If you like what you just read please Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!

Follow me on Twitter & Facebook for updates in between blog posts & also sneak peaks!!

State of the Blog 2011

2012-01-08T00:27:52Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Here’s a quick look at the state of the blog this past year!

#1: I started my own affordable web & blog design business. My goal for 2012 is to a) grow it & b) get my name out to local Maine Businesses who want an affordable site for their business.

all stats are according to Google Analytics

From Jan. 1, 2011-Dec. 31, 2011 creativekristi.com has had:

73,384 visitors {54,895 have been unique visitors}
145,591 pageviews
64,585 visitors from the United States, 2,879 from Canada, 836-United Kingdom, 805-Australia, 373-Germany, 207-Brazil & at least 100+ visits from the following countries: New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Philippines, Russia, India, Turkey, Spain, Malaysia, France & Mexico. {wow!}
28,149 people visited using Internet Explorer {Please download firefox from mozilla.com ! It’s a much better, fun-er browsing experience! Pinky promise!}, 20,263 visitors were already using Firefox. Then there were large numbers using Safari, Chrome, Android, etc.
4,980 visits came from a mobile device! woot! {the iPad won that one by a landslide, followed by the iPhone-you guys love you some apple huh?}
The highest keyword search {besides people just searching for ‘creative kristi’} was “oreo cake balls” (click to go to that post), followed by “dr. seuss baby shower“. Surprising to me was that “painting laminate countertops” fell to #7 this year.
50.49% of all of my traffic came from referrals!! Aww Spread Bloggy Love!! Top referrers: PrettyHandygirl.com {2,554}, theinspiredroom.net {2,501}, thenester.com {2,454}, pinterest.com {2,233}, theletteredcottage.net {1,349}.
687 readers subscribe through feedburner {join us if you haven’t already!}
334 Google Friend Connect ‘followers’

614 Facebook fan page ‘likes’

1,390 Twitter followers (as of January 3, 2012)

NOW:

How about getting to sign up to improve YOUR blog for FREE this month? The 2nd round of Creative Kristi Classes is about to start! This time we are doing the sign up a little differently. ~~I’m using rafflecopter and giving you different ways to ‘enter’ There are 10 spots only. rafflecopter will take all of the entries, double check them for me and then pick 10 randomly.~~

January 2012 class is about:

How to Start a Blog
How to write a post
Basic HTML
How to create a Fun Header & button
Basic Blog Etiquette
Best Blogging Resources
Where to Find Linky Parties to get your name out there
The beauty of Twitter
Basic Monetization (Ca-CHING baby!)
Feedburner set-up & optimization
Google analytics/adwords set-up/optimization
WordPress self-hosted versus Blogger–should you switch?

I know that seems like a lot to cover but we will! This is the crash course in how to create a blog, get your name out there, look professional from the get-go & where to learn more about blogging.

cool?

~~Ok go enter below!~~

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

Tell Me with a comment: what are your 2012 Bloggy goals?

Have a happy day,

If you like what you just read please Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!

Follow me on Twitter & Facebook for updates in between blog posts & also sneak peaks!!

ENTER BELOW:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 years ago today

2011-12-31T20:06:29Z

5 years ago today I married Military Man.

check out last year’s anniversary post- “he is“

We have had an amazing 5 years & in that time we have:

gotten married
become parents
had a deployment (12 months apart)
gone through 6? 7? military schools where Military Man is gone for at least 3 weeks at a time, usually more like 3 months
become parents a second time
bought land
bought two {used} cars
had a flood in our kitchen from the ceiling
paid cash for a big purchase {that is thrilling and something I recommend you do at least once in your life!}
gone on a honeymoon 2 years after our marriage
renewed our vows

crazy.

Today I want to {finally} share some of the vow renewal photos with you.

You’ve seen some already & seen the posts leading up to it.

Here you go!

Happy New Years!!!

Don’t forget to check out the “Everything Ebook” Series!

Have a happy day,

If you like what you just read please Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!

Follow me on Twitter & Facebook for updates in between blog posts & also sneak peaks!!

Everything Ebook #1 | {31 Days To Build A Better Blog}

2011-12-30T13:18:26Z

Welcome to the

Everything Ebook review series!

I am starting with the ebook that you need if you write a blog.

31 Days To Build a Better Blog

I resisted for a long time & then finally bit the bullet and paid the $30 plus to purchase it from ProBlogger.

This book (now on it’s 2nd edition) provides 31 Days of tasks to help improve your blog. In the second edition he has removed some of the tasks and replaced them then created an ‘extra’ week with the ‘old’ tasks.

I think that it was smart for him to update it since almost 100% of what is in the book is available for free on the internet (what isn’t found for free on the internet these days) now.

I have to say I was honestly a little disappointed that I paid $30 for the first edition then had to pay an additional $15 to get the 2nd edition. Especially since it was only about 6 months apart. I was also disappointed in the first edition when I bought it because there were only about 7 things I wasn’t already doing.

But I think that this book will help every blogger in some way because even if you already ‘know’ the information you probably don’t implement it (I didn’t) and you don’t have an action plan.

This book is meant to take away the ‘some day I’ll do xyz with my blog’ and force you to do one small task each day to improve your blog.

In my opinion I think that it is worth the money if you plan on taking your blog from hobby to a money making profession.

Here is an example of some of the tasks:

Find a Blog Buddy
Make your blog mobile friendly
Come up with 10 post ideas
Monitor statistics on your blog
and many more!

While those examples are pretty self explanatory he goes further than just telling you what you should do-he tells you in a specific order (so each day builds on the day before) and then gives links to the best tools to help you accomplish it as well as examples of bloggers who do it well.

What do you think?

Do you own this ebook? Would you recommend it?

If you don’t own it already- have you heard of it before? Why (or why not) did you not buy it?

Also: If you haven’t heard of it before: Will you consider purchasing it now?

sorry no giveaway with this ebook at this time.

BONUS: If you purchase this book through my affiliate link you will be automatically enrolled in the upcoming Creative Kristi Classes in January! These classes are usually filled on a first come first serve basis. This month’s class is all about setting up (nd optimizing) feedburner, twitter, facebook, google analytics, and free/easy blog design.

I usually only take 8 people in the class at a time but this month will be a special exception. More details this weekend for those who can not (or already own) purchase this ebook at this time but want to take the class.

You must be a follower/subscriber of this blog to take the class (click the subscribe link below my signature in this post)

Have a happy day,

If you like what you just read please Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!

Follow me on Twitter & Facebook for updates in between blog posts & also sneak peaks!!

some of the links in this post are affiliate links. When you click the link & then make a purchase I will get a small amount from that site. The item will not cost you more to purchase it this way.

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Workin On It Wednesday #16 | {Sewing Books!}

2011-12-29T16:59:02Z

Welcome!

Late again I know (resolution for 2012 perhaps?!) Don’t worry “Everything Ebook” series will kick off later tonight as scheduled!

How was your Holidays? Spectacular I hope! As I put on my personal facebook page last week: I hope you got just what you needed!

I got just what I needed-family time with just my husband & two kids!

I also got some great gifts:

L.L. Bean Primrose Slippers in "Foliage" color (and they are on SALE right now!)

slippers from my husband,

and an over abundance of iPad/iphone stylus’ LOL (my mom got me like 4 and Santa stuck one in my stocking). My favorite (which you will see me sporting at both Blissdom, as a community leader, and Haven as an organizer) is the pen/stylus combo. This one is unique in that the cap is the stylus. Most I’ve seen have the end of the pen as the stylus but then when you put your cap there (to keep from losing it) you can no longer use the stylus. This one solves that problem. I can jot notes, flip it around and tweet! And of course I recycled the box before seeing what brand it was to tell you. Bad blogger!

But my Mom ended up getting me three books that have me inspired and working on getting my space cleaned up so I can sew!

This sort of reminds me of last year when I dubbed Christmas 2010 “the year of the books“

Do you have these books? Have you tried any projects from them? Leave me a comment and tell me your favorite thing to sew!

Now onto the feature!

This week’s feature is from “The Uncluttered Lifestyle” (hello-perfect blog for ‘get organized’ New Year’s resolution makers!)

She took a clothes dresser and transformed it into a media cabinet!

Now it’s YOUR TURN to link up!!

Rules:

1. Link up your projects only (no shops please)

2. Use the direct url of the post-not your blog url so that if someone clicks on it months from now they will find the post they are looking for.

4. and of course-keep it family friendly!

Have a happy day,

If you like what you just read please Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!

Follow me on Twitter & Facebook for updates in between blog posts & also sneak peaks!!

Some links are Amazon affiliate links. By clicking these links and then purchasing something you will be helping to support my blog & my family. But don’t worry-Amazon does not charge you anything extra-they just pay me a small percentage! win-win for everyone!

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Tell Me About It Tuesday | {Everything Ebook}

2011-12-28T02:19:56Z

hey! How was your Christmas?? Who’s having a New Year’s Eve party?!

Welcome to “Tell Me About It Tuesday!”

Today I wanted to tell you about a new series starting here on Creative Kristi:

Everything Ebook!

In this series I will be reviewing ebooks written by bloggers. These ebooks are popular and successful & most of them will be available for a giveaway during the series!! WOOT!

This is a series I wanted to do because I know some of the ebooks are pricey & you question whether it’s worth the money. Well wonder no more-I will give you an honest & thoughtful review.

This was supposed to be a month long series with a new book every Thursday but I think I was a little crazy thinking I could launch a series in December and prepare for Christmas.

So this week I will be doing as many reviews as I can and this will be a two week series at most.

If you have written an ebook and want some more reviews & pageviews please contact me with “everything ebook” in the subject line-I’d love to hear from you.

I have ebooks prepared for review that include the following topics:

Blogging

Time Management

Blog Management

Furniture Refinishing

Creating Your Own Style

I hope to see you back here tomorrow for “Workin On It Wednesday” Link Party & then on Thursday for the first ebook review!!

Thanks!

Everything Ebook graphic designed by me. Want a book cover of your own? CreativeKristiDesigns.com

Have a happy day,

If you like what you just read please Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!

Follow me on Twitter & Facebook for updates in between blog posts & also sneak peaks!!

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