Avalon Rose Design

This Blog Has Moved

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:08:00 +0000

I've officially jumped ship! The Avalon Rose Design blog can now be found here!

Grand Opening! Vintage-Inspired Digital Graphics from Eclectic Anthology

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:45:00 +0000

Eclectic Anthology by Avalon Rose Design is officially open! Royalty-free vintage digital graphics available for immediate download. No waiting! Commercial-use is allowed on all our graphics. Vintage/antique roses and florals, Photoshop brushes/shapes/actions, paper ephemera, photo frames, seamless backgrounds, grungy metal elements, feathers, freebies and more! Tutorials, and project ideas coming soon. Also in the near future are custom photo cards that can be ordered as prints for your event, or the digital version is available for photographers or those that want to print their own cards. New graphics will be listed on a regular basis, so don't forget to follow us on Facebook to keep up to date on when new graphics are listed!

Samples of some of our newest graphics are below....

Peacock Feathers

Silk Garden Flowers

Steampunk Time Graphics

New Year, New You Giveaway! $4500 in Prizes!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:33:00 +0000

Yep, that's right. $4,500 in prizes for a lucky lady that either wants to start up an online business, or to help boost an existing business. So many prizes were generously offered by so many business women to help the winner become successful. To learn more about the whole thing and how to enter, please visit the Designher Brands blog!

New Exclusive Website Templates Available!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:47:00 +0000

Several new exclusive website templates have been listed, and all are available for immediate installation to your website on one of our compatible webhosts.

Farmhouse Chic Website Template

View Purchase Page • View Sample Site

A beautifully clean and chic design featuring a neutral yet warm color scheme with a scalloped edge, doily and old tag adding that "farmhouse" element. Also comes with a built-in photo slideshow for the homepage.

Retro Collage Website Template

View Purchase Page • View Sample Site

A intricately layered retro design featuring old buttons, polka dots, vintage papers and flashcards, pop art roses, and more with a kitschy color scheme of black, cream, red, hot pink, and turquoise.

Eclectic Romance Website Template

View Purchase Page • View Sample Site

An elaborately layered collage-style design featuring a retro color scheme, roses, butterflies, hot air balloon, rhinestones and more.

Nouveau Gypsy Website Template

View Purchase Page • View Sample Site

A dark and eclectic design featuring art nouveau elements, florals, rhinestones, drapery, and lace to bring in the gypsy aspect with a little circus flavor thrown in.

Vintage Nursery Website Template

View Purchase Page • View Sample Site

This design features many vintage animal illustrations as well as a gender neutral color scheme with stars and a scalloped edge.

Damask Vintage Website Template


View Purchase Page • View Sample Site

An elegant design featuring a damask background, some linen and velvet ribbon along with vintage metal elements such as a key. Also comes with a built-in photo slideshow for the homepage.

NEW! Vaudeville Glamour Exclusive Website Template

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:13:00 +0000

A decadent design featuring rich elements in blacks, golds, and peacock colors. Feathers, metals, rhinestones and damask are all found in this design. This design is coded with SEO in mind so that your page content is one of the first things a search engine will read when visiting your site. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once.

Lovely Letterpress Exclusive Website Template

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:49:00 +0000

A clean and elegant design with charcoal text and ornamentation designed to be reminiscent of letterpress style. A textured gray background and clean white center make this a perfect design for many types of businesses. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once. Available for use with our compatible webhosts.

Basic Photo Editing in Photoshop Elements

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:47:00 +0000

I've gotten numerous requests over the years for tutorials explaining how to edit photos that come directly off a digital camera and make them usable on a website. There are many image editing programs out there, but the one I recommend most for those just starting out is Adobe's Photoshop Elements. It's quite affordable, and will allow you to do anything you need to do with your photos to make them work well on your website.

Some of the most common questions I get are how to rotate, resize, and crop photos. I've put together a video tutorial that will explain all of those things step-by-step.

{ CLICK HERE TO VIEW TUTORIAL }

Bright & Beautiful Free Photoshop Actions

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 14:56:00 +0000

Photoshop Actions are useful little things that can help you save time when you want to use the same steps over and over. These Bright & Beautiful free and simple Photoshop actions will help make your photos pop! Included are 4 actions: Warm Sun, Sharp, Cool Breeze, & Soft. You can see the examples below....

These Photoshop actions were created in Adobe's Photoshop CS3.

Keep Your Eyes on the Stars

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:57:00 +0000

I put together a little digital art piece of one of my favorite quotes of all time. "Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground." ~Theodore Roosevelt. Feel free to share the graphic. :)

BRAND NEW Commercial-Use Digital Graphics

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:43:00 +0000

Avalon Rose Design has offered commercial-use digital graphics for some time, and I'm happy to announce the release of 5 new graphics collections. All of my digital designs are available for immediate download, so after purchase you don't have to wait, you can access the files immediately.

20 Vintage Paper Photo Frames

Vintage Roses and Flower Elements Collection 3

Gilded Frames Digital Graphics

Vintage Ephemera Digital Graphics Collection

Vintage Bookcovers Digital Graphics

Essential Website Pages for an Online Business

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 23 May 2011 17:03:00 +0000

If you are running an online business, there are a few pages that are necessary for your website. Those pages are ...

About
Policies
Contact
FAQ

These pages will help your potential customers learn more about your business, and give them the opportunity to find answers to questions that they may have. The more information that is available for your customers will inspire confidence in your business and products.

The About Page

If you are running an online business it's essential that you should have an About page on your website. It will give your customers an insight to what type of business you are running, inform about your products, find out where you are located, and what type of business owner you are. The primary focus of your About page should be your business, not your personal life.

Explain what your business is about, who your primary customer base is, and what type of products you are selling. You can also add information about any publications you've contributed to, any awards your business has won, and any press your business has received.

A short personal bio can be included that will inform viewers of your education or experience, why you were inspired to start the business, and will allow them to learn a little bit about you as a business owner. Leave out irrelevant comments along the lines of who your favorite celebrity is, what your favorite color is, what type of car you drive, what your favorite TV show is, etc. This is a mistake that I've found a lot of new businesses owners make. Your About page shouldn't be a platform to tell the world about you.....it should tell the world about your business.

The Policies Page

The policies page on your site should tell your customers about how your products ship, what type of payments you accept, privacy information, copyright notices, and any procedures that are specific to your business. Having policy information available will help reduce any confusion, and your customers will know what to expect.

The Contact Page

Your customers need to have a way to contact you. If they have questions or concerns, this is essential, plus it instills confidence in your business. If a potential customer knows that they can contact you if a problem arises, they are more likely to purchase from you. The contact page should have a form where you can be contacted through. You should avoid listing your email address directly on your contact page, however. Spambots can scoop up your email address, and you'll find yourself eventually inundated with spam email if you don't know how to circumvent it with coding techniques.

The FAQ Page

You may find (especially as your business grows) that there are certain questions that arise frequently from your customers. If you find yourself answering the same questions over and over, it will be beneficial to you to have a page that lists Frequently Asked Questions along with their answers. That way the information is readily available to your customers, and it will save you time in the long run. And time, as we all know, is money.

Why a Professional Design is Important for your Website

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:32:00 +0000

If you own a business you need a website. Period. We live in an age where the internet is the ultimate reference source for most people. Your website will personify your business in the world's largest market, so it needs to represent your business in the best possible light.

A professional web designer is your go-to in this situation. Sure, you can use one of those hosting companies that allows you to "design" your own site, but most of them set you up with a bland template that's used by hundreds of other sites and you just plop your logo into it. That's not what's going to make your website stand out in a crowd. You can also try your hand at Photoshop and basic HTML, but chances are it's going to take hours/days/weeks to figure it out and your results will most likely end up just alright. You want your website design to make your potential customers sit up and take notice, not make them leery that you're a legitimate business because you have a shoddy website design.

Professional website designers understand the intricacies of HTML and CSS code that looks like gibberish to the majority. A good professional will write code correctly and efficiently, therefore minimizing errors in the display and/or function of your website. A professional is also proficient in graphic design, and a spectacular design will draw in more customers. Put it this way....ever tried fixing your own car, replacing your roof, or cutting your own hair? Certain things are best left to the pros, and when it comes to your business are you willing to risk losing customers due to a design that is boring, dated, or even worse, non-functional? A professional website design is an important investment for your business.

According to Stanford University's Web Credibility Project, "nearly half of all consumers (or 46.1%) in the study assessed the credibility of sites based in part on the appeal of the overall visual design of a site, including layout, typography, font size and color schemes." This study was done in 2002, and since then consumers have become much more savvy when it comes to judging a site based on appearance, so the number could be higher than 46.1% now.

So, we have learned that the credibility of your ecommerce presence relies heavily on your website design. How do you know what type of design to choose?

Think about your primary customer base. If they're mostly women, then you'll need a feminine design, for example.
Make sure your design is unique. You want your business to stand out in the crowd, so a basic or a copycat design are what you need to stay away from.
Choose a design that is relevant to your product. A dark, gothic design won't work well if you're selling children's items, and a pink, floral design is not a good idea if you're selling comic books.

If you have questions about what type of design will best represent your business, contact a professional. Send them your ideas, tell them what you will be selling, and they can assist you in creating a design that will bring credibility, interest, and therefore, customers to your online business.

Several New Vintage Rose-Themed Website Designs Available!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:45:00 +0000

New designs just listed! These are all exclusive, one of a kind designs, so each will only be sold to one business. Check them out below!

Cottage Rose A cottage rose design featuring a lime background with bright vintage roses, butterflies, and beautiful flourishes. This design is coded with SEO in mind so that your page content is one of the first things a search engine will read when visiting your site. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once.

Watercolor Roses Website Template - A beautiful and elegant design that combines feminine vintage aspects along with a clean, modern layout! This design is coded with SEO in mind so that your page content is one of the first things a search engine will read when visiting your site. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once.

Embellished Paper Website Template - A beautiful & clean design featuring layers of vintage papers! This design is coded with SEO in mind so that your page content is one of the first things a search engine will read when visiting your site. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once.

Vintage Glamour Website Template - A beautiful design reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour This design is coded with SEO in mind so that your page content is one of the first things a search engine will read when visiting your site. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once.

New Flickr Gallery Option Now Available!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 19:17:00 +0000

Ever wanted a cool gallery option on your website? If you're an artist, photographer, or designer, then it's essential to have a slick gallery that allows your viewers to easily and quickly view your images. It can even be used as a portfolio or lookbook! This gallery option that's now available from Avalon Rose Design will link to your Flickr account and automatically add photos to your gallery when you add them to your Flickr account. Simple, no-hassle.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A WORKING EXAMPLE OF THE GALLERY

Brand New Exclusive Web Templates and Digital Graphics!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:54:00 +0000

New designs just listed! These are all exclusive, one of a kind designs, so each will only be sold to one business. Check them out below!

Eclectic Junk Website Template- A beautiful, eclectic design featuring layers of vintage papers and metals! This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once.

SOLD-THANK YOU!!

Linen and Lilies Website Template - An elegant design featuring a neutral color scheme of gray, beige, and white along with linen, ribbon, and vintage floral engraving elements. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once.

SOLD-THANK YOU!!

Theater Goddess Website Template - A decadent dark design with vintage metal pieces, rhinestones, theater curtains, damask and roses. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once. Available for use our compatible webhosts.

SOLD- THANK YOU!!

Ornate Vintage Metal Elements Digital Graphics Collection - 20 ornate vintage metal elements! Great for digital scrapbooking, website/blog designers, jewelry makers, card and tag designers, and pretty much for any craft purpose you can come up with. They are high quality images in .jpg format at 300 ppi. You will receive each file individually as well as a collage sheet that can be printed. Can be used for your digital projects, or printed out if you would like.

These great digital graphics are available for personal or commercial use. If you want to use them commercially, there is no need to buy a separate license or mess with any of that hassle. All you have to do is follow these rules.

Big News! The New York Times and Nate Berkus!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:07:00 +0000

Two of my clients have some very big news today, and I'm so pleased to be able to share with you! I very recently finished a website for a beautiful mess, an antique store located in Agoura Hills, California. Kymberley Fraser, along with Karen Chambers, Marilyn Thompson, Victoria Stoehr, Leah Cox, Tina O'Flaherty, and The Junk Girls, have a beautiful shop featuring items such as antique grain sacks, architectural salvage, 16th and 17th century antique vellum books, ironstone, oil paintings, industrial antiques, lighting and more. Today a beautiful mess is featured in the Home section of the New York Times! Congratulations!

My second big news of the day is that the moggit girls are on The Nate Berkus Show today! Some of you may already follow Joy and Janet, and if you don't already, head on over to moggit.com now! Moggit is the 'guilty pleasure of the decorating world'. Hilarious posts about dubious aspects of design will make your day. Congrats, ladies!

If any of you have any big news about your business, I'd love to hear and share!

Designher Brands - Creative Solutions that Mean Business

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Looking to start an e-commerce website, but are nervous about where to start, what to do once you've got one, or how to market your business? I'm sure there are a lot of you out there. As a website designer, I get questions like this all the time. But since I don't generally do website maintenance, nor am I a copywriter or SEO expert I can generally point clients in the right direction and that's about it. Now, however, that's changed.

My client, colleague, and I'm proud to say friend, Melissa Bolton, has started a business that can help even the most computer illiterate get an e-commerce business off the ground and become successful. Designher Brands can help with SEO, marketing, copywriting, product entry, brand identity, and print items.

If you need a helping hand getting started or help making your current business more successful contact Designher Brands today!

THE FEMININE HOME magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:45:00 +0000

Jo-Anne Coletti of Vintage Rose Collection has been one of my clients for quite some time. Some of you may know her, and some of you may not, but if you love pink, romance, and roses, you must visit her website. She has recently released a magazine THE FEMININE HOME. For more information about the magazine and where to find it, please see the press release below....

THE FEMININE HOME embraces the heart and soul of a woman. It is a singular place where loveliness resides and the language of romance and poetry lives; a home that coaxes an extraordinary life that is enduring, purposeful and distinctly feminine. Rooms are presented in noble sophistication that is rich in tradition, yet casually fashioned. It is pretty, not fussy, spiritual and earthy. Flowers are painted with sweetness. Decorative flourishes, ornamental borders, penned verses and tender poems all mingle to orchestrate a pensive bucolic beauty. Cottons and velvets, crystal chandeliers and whitewashed walls, scrubbed wooden floors, simple furnishings and objects from the garden; these are the elements that make a romantic home.

The magazine is 128 pages full of beautiful photos, tips and ideas with NO ADVERTISING!! Thick, full color images with excellent printing! I was thrilled when I received my first proof.. A keeper ladies that you will go back to time and again for inspiration.

On Sale until December 31st at a special price so order yours while supplies last!

http://www.vintagerosecollection.com/Feminine Home Magazine.html

New Digital Graphics for Commercial Use Available for Download!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 19:12:00 +0000

Avalon Rose Design now has even more digital graphics available! A second collection of vintage metal elements, vintage papers, vintage illustrations of architecture and cottages, vintage newspaper ad stamps, and a collection of altered art vintage lady printable tags. Perfect for graphic design, digital scrapbooking and more!

New to Maintaining an E-commerce Website or Just Thinking About It? Some Basic Tips....

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 18:47:00 +0000

There is a lot of good advice all over the internet on how to operate, maintain, market, optimize, etc. etc. your e-commerce website. Much of it, however, assumes that the reader already knows the basics. From my experience, I've had a lot of clients that have ZERO knowledge of where to start, let alone understand what SEO or CMS stand for (Search Engine Optimization and Content Management System, respectively for you newbies). If you are one of those that doesn't know what a shipping table is or how to resize a photo before uploading it to your site, or you think of yourself as 'computer illiterate' this might just be a little necessary reading.

Before I start I want to address those of you that are in that 'I think I want an online store' stage. I want to make sure that you understand that the website fairy isn't going to come along and 'bippity boppity boo' your online store and then 'poof' you'll have customers. It takes a lot of time and a lot of work. If you want your shop to be successful, you either have to put in the time or hire someone to do it for you. If you've already got a 9-5, and want an e-commerce shop as a side business, be prepared to also have either a 4-8 (that's AM) and/or a 8-12 (PM) on top of that 9-5. It can take weeks sometimes for your first customer to show up if you're just starting out. Depends on how much you put into it. "You get what you give" is very true in this situation. I'm not trying to discourage you, because owning your own business can be one of the most rewarding things in your life, just being honest so that you know what to expect.

OK! Now onto those basic tips I was talking about. These are just going to be random...

Unless your website is for a musician or is related in some way to the music business, do not have music on your website. If you must, be sure there is the option for your viewer to shut it off if they want to. You may think that it adds an ambiance to your site, but 99% of viewers will either be scared out of their mind when they hear it because their speakers are turned up too loud, or they'll find in annoying because they're already listening to their own music on their computer, or they'll really hate the music you're playing. All of them are are reasons to hit the back button and get the heck outta there! The last thing you want is for people to have a reason to leave your site, so just skip the tunes.
I'm not saying this to promote my own business, but have a good website design. Seriously. If you have a web design that looks like your husband's cousin's nephew designed it in 1999 in his high school class, get a new one. Now! Viewers will not take your site seriously, they won't have faith in or respect for your business. Which means you won't sell anything.
Presentation, presentation, presentation! I can't emphasize that enough. Not only does your site need to look good, but make sure your photos are lovely too, if not fabulous. Dark, blurry, oversized photos will not make someone want to buy your product. Get a good digital camera, and learn how to use it. Make sure your lighting is good. Vignettes are a great way to display your items. It may be worth it to hire a professional photographer for at least a few of your products to get you started.
Speaking of photos, you will need a graphics program to crop/resize/brighten/sharpen your photos. Gimp is free, but if you can afford it get either Photoshop (expensive and most likely overkill for the average user) or Photoshop Elements (a fraction of the cost, and a much smaller learning curve). There are a gazillion Photoshop Elements tutorials online as well. Take the time to learn the program, or at least the basics. It will help with that 'fabulous' photo thing I was talking about earlier. Plus you will NEED to resize your photos before you upload them to your website. You can't take photos directly from your camera and upload them to your website. They will be GINORMOUS!
Pictures speak a thousand words, but you need those words too. Have descriptive text on your site and product listings. Let's pretend you're selling a red sweater. Do NOT have the product listing titled "Red Sweater". Um, can we say boring? Either be a bit more descriptive, such as "Red Cable Knit Wool Sweater" or interesting "Little Red Riding Sweater". There are a lot of sites (especially clothing) that are using sly, catchy names for their products, and it makes the site, thus the products, more interesting to the viewer. Also, search engines 'read' your website, so if you don't have text on your site then it doesn't know how to classify it. You can have a catchy product name, but be sure you are descriptive in the product description.
While we're on the subject of text. Don't have gigantic letters on your site. Isn't this annoying? Not only that, but even though you're trying to emphasize something, it actually makes it more difficult to read for some screen resolutions. Use bold or italics instead. Another text issue is ThIs OnE. Unless this is a gimmick for your business, try to stay away from have capital letters where they don't belong. It really makes reading difficult, and is, well, annoying. Same goes for bizarre color combinations.
Social networking is a big deal. Get a Facebook and Twitter account as well as a blog and a newsletter option for customers to sign up for. Use them to tell stories about your product, promote sales, make new business acquaintances, etc. Do not use them only to spam your product listings.
If you've already begun selling items, congratulations! Keep on top of it though....if an item has sold, either remove it from your site or put it in a separate category or gallery of "Previous" items. Shoppers don't want to go through a site filled with items that are already sold.

There you go....some basic hints on where to start and be successful. I'll be adding more detailed tips and information in the future! If you have any questions about any of them or want to add a tip of your own, just comment on this post....

New Exclusive OOAK Website Templates

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:28:00 +0000

New designs just listed! These are all exclusive, one of a kind designs, so each will only be sold to one business. Check them out below!

Burnished Damask Website Template- An elegant and classic design featuring damask in burnished hues and an uncomplicated layout. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once. View Demo Site

Click Here to View Purchase Page

Steampunk Shoppe Website Template - A startlingly unique steampunk design featuring metal flourishes, gears, chains and more. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once. Available for use our compatible webhosts, and this design can be converted to a Wordpress theme if you only need an informational site. *View Demo Site*

Click Here to View Purchase Page

Berry Delight Boutique Website Template - A wonderful boutique design in pinks and greens with retro candy shop appeal. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once. Available for use our compatible webhosts. *View Demo Site*

Click Here to View Purchase Page

Wild Rose Website Template - A beautiful design featuring vintage wild rose illustrations and vintage papers put together with cottage styling. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once. Available for use our compatible webhosts. *View Demo Site*

Click Here to View Purchase Page

Modern Flower Website Template - A beautiful design with red and coral flowers and a clean layout. This is a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) website template that will only be sold once. Available for use our compatible webhosts. *View Demo Site*

Click Here to View Purchase Page

New Digital Graphics for Commercial Use

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:36:00 +0000

For a long time I've had vintage digital graphics available as individual files, and a few available in groups. I've decided to go ahead and get rid of the individual file option, and have all the graphics available in element packs all under the Eclectic Anthology name. All of the graphics are available for personal or commercial use. If you're going to use them commercially, there's no need to buy a separate license, or mess with any of that hassle. The terms of use are fair, and simple. The graphics can be used in website and blog design, digital scrapbooking, jewelry, cards, tags, tshirts....whatever you want. There are metal pieces, vintage roses and florals, buttons, jewels, paper photo frames, postcard word graphics, and ribbons and textiles. More on the way! Here they are, and if you have any questions about them, please contact me.

Vintage Metals

Vintage Textiles and Ribbons

Vintage Photo Frames

Vintage Roses and Flowers - Set 1

Vintage Buttons

Vintage Rhinestones and Jewels

Vintage Postcard Words

Vintage Roses and Flowers - Set 2

Retro Buttons

Web Design Overhauls

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:52:00 +0000

I've been at it again! A few of my wonderful clients have been had me rework their websites from the ground up with sleeker designs that are more user-friendly and (of course) beautiful.

The first is the French Garden House. Lidy, the owner of FgH has been with me from almost my very beginnings as a designer, so I had a lot of fun working with her on the new site design. I think it turned out marvelously, don't you? Be sure you check out the new look book on the site.

Next on my list of overhauls is Topsy Turvy Design, and Kim has been with me almost as long as Lidy. This site is considerably slimmer on design which allows for a sharper focus on the stunning photography. The product layout for this site differs from the standard, and was implemented by Simple Mods.

Shabbyfufu is next! Not only did Janet completely redo her design, but she switched from a site that was edited with Frontpage, to one hosted at Shoppe Pro. The new layout makes it easier to navigate, and the slide shows are a great addition!

Last, but not least, is Katie's Rose Cottage Designs. A neutral color scheme shows off the beautiful photography, not to mention the fantastic products. (This site is also the Featured Business of the Week over at Avalon Rose Market Square.)

Digital Art Featured in Digital Studio Autumn 2010 Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:31:00 +0000

Recently more of my digital art was published in the Autumn 2010 edition of Somerset's Digital Studio magazine. To see my art and read my article, please visit your local bookstore and pick up a copy!

Grand Opening Giveaway on the Avalon Rose Market Square Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:27:00 +0000

Avalon Rose Market Square is going strong with many members reporting traffic from the site, as well as other members becoming associated with one another and creating business partnerships exchanging wholesale goods. That’s good news, is it not? We’ve also begun some online advertising, starting with a Facebook ad that in just a few hours has generated significant traffic to the site. I hope the ads generate a lot of business for the members! To celebrate, we’ve got a Grand Opening Giveaway and the prize is:

The Find ~ by Stan Williams (great book about decorating with thrift shop and flea market treasures)
Fanciful Paper Flowers ~ by Sandra Evertson (how to create beautiful paper flowers….so pretty!)
Fanciful Paper Projects ~ by Sandra Evertson (amazing patterns and designs for paper art)
A glass jar with a cream rose, ribbon, lace, and tag from Katie’s Rose Cottage
Two packs of vintage ephemera: French/English dictionary pages and Bible pages from Adored Before
A pair of vintage ladies deerskin gloves and crystal, rhinestone, and key charm earrings from Salvaged Curiosities

The winner of the prize will be chosen at random, and all you have to do to be a contestant is to comment on the post over on the Avalon Rose Market Square blog (NOT this one!) telling what you like best about the Avalon Rose Market Square website! Good luck to you all! The winner will be chosen on Wednesday, September 15th.