A Fun Adoption Portfolio

When you adopt domestically, an adoption portfolio book is very important.  It is a book that represents your family!  It is all about who you are, how you live, what is important to you and what your values are. 

I love working on adoption portfolio books…it’s an honor and there is so much heart that goes into each and every one.  I recently completed an adoption portfolio for the Shelton family…what a special family! 

Sheltons…  It was an absolute true pleasure to be a small part of your special journey!  May you hear good news very, very soon!  Please keep in touch!  : D

A few pages…

 

 

I have been busy, busy!  I have been working on seasonal card designs all week.  It is my hope to be able to offer them again this year!  I hope to have new cards and ordering information up within a week or so!  This is the only time of the year that I offer cards.  God bless,

Tera

Not So Random Stuff

“Nothing in life is random, there's a purpose and a reason for everything that we encounter. That's the reason for this blog: to capture and remember the not so random occurrences, the rich events that make life what it is.”

Don’t you just love that?  That is what Gina, the author of the blog “Not So Random Stuff” , has to say regarding the purpose of her blog.  Gina’s blog is SO inspiring…  The posts are all about faith, family and making a house a home.  And, she features truly wonderful photos in her blog posts!  Her blog is the latest blog on my “must read” list!  And, I am SO in love with the design that we put together…check it out:

You just have to visit Gina’s blog in person!  I think that you will decide that you must add “Not So Random Stuff” to your list of reads!

Thanks again, Gina!  You are a dream to work with!

God bless,

Tera

A New Look for Susie Harris

Have you visited www.susieharrisblog.com?  If not, you should! Susie’s blog is filled with inspirational DIY projects and design ideas for your home. Susie also has a very cool Etsy shop that is filled with all sorts of fun goodies including customized family name signs (I have one hanging in my kitchen…love it!) 

Susie sent me and email recently and said that she was ready to give her blog a new look.  Although we will miss the beautiful blue from her previous blog design, her new design is lovely…it's fresh, clean and oh-so-Susie.  : )

Below, you will see the previous design that Susie and I designed together…I will admit, I have some serious love for this design…hee hee…but everyone needs a change now and then…  ; D

And, here is the NEW Susie Harris blog design…

The banner was created using a photograph that Susie took of one of the baskets in her home.  Isn’t this a fun idea for a banner?

Thanks again, Susie for trusting me with your blog!  It is always so much fun to work with you…you are so creative and talented!  I love trying out new and fun ideas for your blog!

God bless, Tera

All You Can Do is TRI

It is always a pleasure to design for Kelly.  : D  This is the second blog project that I have helped Kelly with.  : D  The title of Kelly’s new blog is:  “All You Can Do is TRI”…the tagline for her blog is “From Couch Potato to Triathlete in Ten Months or BUST!”  Don’t you just love that?!  Kelly is currently training for a triathlon and I put together a blog for her so that she can blog about her journey…her new blog is both inspiring and fun!

Kelly chose a BLOGwear design for her blog that uses a predesigned BLOGwear kit from The Shabby Shoppe.  I highly recommend BLOGwear blogs…they are fabulous!  If you are interested in a BLOGwear blog, check out the predesigned BLOGwear kits at The Shabby Shoppe…make sure to view all of the kits…there are THREE pages of gorgeous kits to choose from!  Once you find a kit that you love, contact me…I will purchase the kit on your behalf and we will then begin your BLOGwear blog customization and installation! 

CLICK HERE to see Kelly’s new BLOGwear blog design.  : )

Why choose a BLOGwear design for your blog? 

*  The designs are FABULOUS!

*  You can know beforehand exactly what your blog banner will look like.

*  The cost of a BLOGwear blog is just $45 including ALL graphics fees.

*  BLOGwear customization and installation is QUICK…on average, from the time that I start working on your blog, it can take me as little as 48 hours to customize and install a BLOGwear blog if we have quick communication!

CLICK HERE to view all of my blog design packages.

God bless, Tera

Mi Sol

I had the privilege to meet Carrie Pagliaro, a sweet and amazingly talented photographer and fellow “Guatemama” to two adorable children, during our adoption processes.  I was so honored when Carrie asked me if I would be willing to help her to create a web presence for her photography business.  Carrie chose to go with a blogsite for her business website.  Her blogsite will be used both as a website and as a blog.  Visit Carrie’s new blogsite, Misol Photography, and enjoy browsing through her beautiful, warm new home on the web!  You are simply wonderful, Carrie!  You are an incredible photographer and I just know that your business will be a great success!

God bless,

Tera

Sweet Adventures

Working with Mera from “The Adventures of Gabby and Hunter” was indeed a sweet experience!  Mera was a delight to work with and we were quickly able to agree on a beautiful, elegant and personal design for her blog.  Really…  How purty is this blog?  ; )

 

Stop in and visit Mera at The Adventures of Gabby and Hunter and read about the passion that she has for God, for her family and for living more simply and naturally. 

Thank you for choosing me for your blog design, Mera…it’s always a pleasure to meet a fellow Guatemama!

God bless,

Tera

Gifts of Hope

I have just completed an online marketplace using a blogsite layout for Across All Borders…an organization that works to provide orphan care and outreach to families living in extreme poverty in Guatemala.  The funds that will be generated through the Gifts of Hope marketplace will go directly into helping to fund AAB’s work in Guatemala.

If you are not familiar with Guatemalan crafts, artwork and textiles {or even if you are} you should check out the beautiful items that are available at Gifts of Hope:  Across All Borders Marketplace.  I especially LOVE the beautiful painting and the lovely terra cotta angel ornaments.  Items are limited right now but additional items will be added in October.  And, I hear that Guatemalan coffee will be available through Gifts of Hope very soon.  : )

God bless,

Tera

Counting Seeds

It was meant to be…

I think that Stephanie (the author of the blog “Counting Seeds”) was meant to find little ol’ me here at A Little Bit of TLC {The Creative Blog} because everything about her blog design process was seamless! 

Stephanie chose my custom blog package for her personal blog and as soon as she chose her graphics, we were quickly on the way to making her blog a reflection of who she is.  I love the color palette and I also love the little touches that let visitors know that they are visiting {Stephanie’s} blog.  Blogging is personal…I think that blog design should be personal too!  Here is a sneak peek of the completed design…

I love it!  CLICK HERE to visit Counting Seeds.  Stephanie, thank you for being a dream to work with!  Keep in touch!

God bless,

Tera

Ad for Across All Borders

I created an ad for Across All Borders.  The ad will appear in an upcoming issue of Weaving Families online magazine. 

** UPDATE:  CLICK HERE to view the magazine! **

I’m always happy to help when I can!

God bless,

Tera

Scrappy Goodness

I met Kelly from Scrapbook Creations by Kelly and Custom Lifebooks through our adoption agency…we both used the same placement agency for the adoptions of our beautiful Guatemalan children.

Kelly is a sweet, creative and very talented stay-at-home Mom who LOVES paper scrapbooking.  She has turned her beloved hobby and passion into not one but TWO home businesses.

Kelly’s latest business, Scrapbook Creations by Kelly, will help clients in her local area to organize and preserve their photos and memorabilia items and put them into scrapbooks. 

Kelly turned to me to help her create a web presence for her new business venture.  I had a wonderful time working on this blogsite with Kelly!  Kelly is currently hard at work adding content to her blogsite pages!  Click HERE to visit her.

I had such a wonderful time working with you, Kelly!!  You are so talented…your layouts are inspiring!!  I hope that your new business venture will be a great success!

God bless,

Tera

Bienvenue!

That is the warm welcome that you will receive when you visit Susie Harris’ fun and inspirational blog! 

I have been visiting Susie’s blog for several months.  I love her decorating ideas, the little peeks into her home, her crafty ideas and her genuine posting style. 

Susie is one talented lady!   She makes tassels and she also makes signs like the one the below.  She hand paints and distresses each and every sign!  *swoon*

Recently, Susie has been wanting a fresh new look for her blog.  She had a vision of what she wanted but wasn’t sure how to fully execute her vision. 

Susie had a great banner idea that she was using and she found an ad that she wanted to pull some inspiration from.  I quickly realized that my “usual” design style was not going to work for this blog design.  I was excited that I was going to be stretched a bit creatively (and, I was also a wee bit intimidated…hee hee…right, Susie?)  We put our heads together and went to work!  Everything clicked and fell into place. I just love it when that happens!

The inspiration:

The “before”:

  

Purty, fresh and clean…just as it was!

The “after”:

Ooooolala!  We took what she had and made it extra wonderful.

Susie was as sweet and genuine in our telephone consultation as she is at her blog.  She was very patient with me as we dealt with sickness at our house this week and a bloggy glitch!  It was truly an absolute pleasure to work with her.  Thank you, Susie!!  CLICK HERE to visit her new blog!  And, while you’re there, check out the fabulous goodies in her Etsy shop!

God bless,

Tera

Sprucing Up

Please excuse my mess as I spruce things up a little bit around The Creative Blog.  I’m doing a bit of pre-spring cleaning!  : D

God bless,

A Blog-site and a Blog for AAB

Across All Borders is a brand new organization that will begin working in Guatemala this year!  I am a supporter of organizations like AAB, Mayan Families, Global Orphan Team, Guatemalan Harvest, etc. because the main focus is on Guatemala.  And, with adoptions currently not being viable in Guatemala, HELP is definitely needed! 

I helped AAB with a new blog-site and with a redesign of their current blog.  A blog-site is basically a blog that can mimic a website.  A blog-site usually has “pages” (which are actually posts) and some sort of a linking system (either a link bar under the banner or a link bar in a side bar).  Blog-site design is a new service that I am offering!  The nice thing about a blog-site is that you can have the look of website with the ease of use that comes from having a blog.

I had a wonderful time working on this project…it was very rewarding!

CLICK HERE to visit the AAB blog

CLICK HERE to visit the AAB blog-site

God bless,

A BLOGwear blog and an Adoption Portfolio

I have been working on several projects.  One project was the installation and customization of a BLOGwear kit from The Shabby Shoppe.  Another project was a domestic adoption portfolio that I have been working on slowly for a long while and the third project is a project that will be revealed in the next week or so.  : ) 

Here is the finished BLOGwear blog:

I just love how Trisha’s blog turned out!  Trisha is a talented (and super cool) demonstrator for Uppercase Living.  She wanted a special space to post tips and decorating tricks using the amazing UL products that are her favorites.  Trisha chose the ADORABLE Gabby BLOGwear kit from The Shabby Shoppe for her blog.  She picked out the photos that she wanted for her banner (seriously, how cute is her family?) and I inserted her photos, enhanced them just a tad and customized the banner and the buttons with the text of her choice.  : )  The background that she chose is a beautiful, almost sea glass blue digital paper from Design by Dani that we both absolutely love. 

Thank you, Trisha…you are very sweet and you were just wonderful to work with!  May your business be very successful!

If you are interested in a BLOGwear kit customization and installation for your blog, just send me an email.  : )  My next opening will be in mid to late February (however, I might be able to squeeze you in a bit sooner than that).  Using a BLOGwear kit for your blog is a very cool option…  The kits are predesigned by The Shabby Shoppe, so you will know in advance what your blog banner will look like.  Using a BLOGwear kit is very economical too.  The entire blog makeover (including graphics) is $45 and the entire design process from start to finish can be very, VERY quick.  Check out my left column for more information about this fun and exciting blog design option.

Onto my adoption portfolio project…  : )

Seegal is a friend of mine and we met during our adoption processes.  We both used the same adoption agency when we adopted our sweet baby girls from Guatemala.  Seegal’s family is now hoping to complete their family by adopting another baby girl through domestic adoption.  I was honored to work together with her to complete her domestic adoption portfolio books.  We worked long and hard on this project together and Seegal was an absolute dream to work with.  We took a lot of extra time to really research the creation of a portfolio because we were both new to the process and we wanted to “get it right”.  We had a lot of fun too!  I enjoyed myself so much that I am going to start helping other families with their portfolios, as time allows, starting sometime in February or early March.  Check back for more details.  : )  Here are just a few sample pages from the 12 page books:

Seegal chose the beautiful Olivia digital kit from The Shabby Shoppe and we used frames from Heather Ann Designs.

Seegal, thank you so much for allowing me to have the honor to work on such a special and important project with you.  I learned so much and you are a sweetheart.  THANK YOU!

A side note:  I am going to be busy until February (although, I might be able to sneak in the installation of one more BLOGwear kit if you contact me ASAP…hee hee).

God bless,

A Special Card Request

I was approached by Guatemalan Harvest to create a card just for them.  I was excited and humbled to receive such a request.  Sometimes when I am busy, I refer custom card orders to a talented friend.  However, I had what I thought was the perfect kit for this card (the card was created by me and the kit is from Design by Dani) and I happily went to work on the card project.  Guatemalan Harvest wanted something that was very festive.  I just love the colors in this card:

Around Christmastime, I was also approached by Global Orphan Team and I helped them to make their card design printable.  I was happy to help them!   I loved working with both of these wonderful groups.  I am currently working on yet another project for another s00n-to-be non-profit organization.  I have been so honored to receive these requests and to be able to support these wonderful organizations.  ALL of them are worthy and ALL of them are greatly needed!!  I love that they want to help Guatemala (and other countries around the world) in unique and honorable ways based on individual and God-given callings, visions and strengths. 

Now, more than ever, (especially given the fact that adoption in Guatemala is not currently viable) please consider supporting an organization that helps the people of Guatemala!  God bless,