If you're struggling with something you'd like covered in prayer, please leave me a comment or send me an email: dfrieling1@gmail.com. I'd be honored to talk to God about you!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Inspiration via Transparent Tuesday
Sometimes we all need a little inspiration. Today's one of those days for me. I thought I'd share some of my favorite pinterest quotes today and let them speak for themselves.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Minimalist Abstract Art
Big walls often call for big pieces of art, the only problem is that those big pieces of art often come with BIG price tags. So, what's one to do if you like this look but don't have the budget? Make your own, of course!
Let's take a look at this type of art in action before I give you a pep talk to tackle your next DIY project.
Let's take a look at this type of art in action before I give you a pep talk to tackle your next DIY project.
Here's my attempt at making art on the cheap. Read the tutorial here. My love for this look bled right onto the walls as I used this technique to paint the entire room.
It doesn't have to be one big piece...break it up with 6 and bring in a handful of colors.
Several more inspiration pieces from artist, John McLaughlin.
Great news, friends...if you can paint a straight line, you can create your own work of art! Next time you have one of those handy 50% coupons for Micheals, snag an oversized canvas, break out the painter's tape to ensure a straight line, then BAM! you're set.
Don't think you can pull off the look? Stop doubting yourself and unlock your inner artist.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Client Office Accessories
Can I tell you how much I love my job?! Last week I met my client at Austin Antique Mall to search for treasures then yesterday I went over to her house to play with our finds and create beautiful bookshelves. We were having so much fun that I forgot to leave in time to pick up my kids from school. Mom of the year award, right?!
Let's start at the beginning. When my clients moved in, their office was a big, brown box. The ceiling was brown, the floors were brown, the doors were brown and the built-ins were brown.
Let's start at the beginning. When my clients moved in, their office was a big, brown box. The ceiling was brown, the floors were brown, the doors were brown and the built-ins were brown.
We began to break up the brownness by adding beautiful Burberry wallpaper. Next up was finding the perfect accessories to show off an eclectic mix. The bones of the room are heavily traditional and my clients were wanting to move in a more contemporary direction, hence our eclectic mix.
Office prior to styling
After styling.
We're missing the large wall clocks following a tragedy where one decided to jump right off the wall. I'll post pics again when those are up. The clocks really help pull in the modern element.
Remember when I told you they had ordered a zebra rug? Oh yes...doesn't it look amazing? Mr. Client gets 100% credit for this design decision. He was dead on with this pick.
Check out the black doors. They started out brown too. I love the high contrast between the trim and the doors. Wondering about the wall color?...Chelsea Gray by Benjamin Moore.
A closer look at our fun finds.
Next up...finding the perfect desk chair and accessorizing the desk.
Happy weekend, friends!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Random Act of Kindness #55
Did you survive? We did! I had one kid give away every single piece of candy before making it home and the other hoarded collected as much as possible. Isn't it funny the different personalities of each kid?
If you're like most families and have an excess of the sugary stuff laying around then put it to good use. Today's RAK challenge encourages you to eat 'til your little heart's content then send the extra to the troops. Did you know you can do that?!
On Tuesday, November 1st, many local dentists and orthodontists are offering buy-back programs for Halloween candy. Some are giving out cash, coupons and prizes to kids in exchange for their candy.
Then the dentists and orthodontists donate the candy to Operation Gratitude. Operation Gratitude sends care packages to US military serving overseas. How cool is that? It's a win/win situation. You get to share thecalories candy!
Curious if a dentist or orthodontist near you is participating? Go to the website HERE and type in your zip code in the upper right corner.
This is such a great cause and so much better than the waste that tends to happen to the candy after the initial excitement wears off around here.
Okay friends, it's that time...Go Out and Be Kind!
If you're like most families and have an excess of the sugary stuff laying around then put it to good use. Today's RAK challenge encourages you to eat 'til your little heart's content then send the extra to the troops. Did you know you can do that?!
On Tuesday, November 1st, many local dentists and orthodontists are offering buy-back programs for Halloween candy. Some are giving out cash, coupons and prizes to kids in exchange for their candy.
Then the dentists and orthodontists donate the candy to Operation Gratitude. Operation Gratitude sends care packages to US military serving overseas. How cool is that? It's a win/win situation. You get to share the
Curious if a dentist or orthodontist near you is participating? Go to the website HERE and type in your zip code in the upper right corner.
This is such a great cause and so much better than the waste that tends to happen to the candy after the initial excitement wears off around here.
Okay friends, it's that time...Go Out and Be Kind!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
My experience with Google Adsense
Sometimes when I tell people that I blog and Google sends me checks, they look at me perplexed. Isn't it just a hobby? Well, yes, but if I can pull off a hobby and make a little cash while I'm at it, then I'd be silly not to, right?
Following yesterday's post, Kate, left a comment asking, "...I'm curious about the monetary aspect of blogging-would you be willing to share how it works and how much can be made??? No one seems to discuss it, but I'd really like to know..."
Let me start by saying, there are ladies that I consider "real" bloggers that have addressed this and know LOTS more about it than me. I don't consider myself a "real" blogger only because my goal isn't to make money off my blog. My primary use of this blog is to gain local exposure so that my design business will grow. The truth is, I was too cheap to pay for a website so a blog seemed like a great alternative.
Once I jumped into blogging and quickly realized how much time it takes, that's when I began to entertain the idea of signing up for Google Adsense. I had lunch with Allison from House of Hepworths one day and she offered up some words of wisdom. She told me, "It doesn't matter how much traffic your blog is getting...sign up now!" She went on to tell me that the longer you're a part of their network, the better your ads will become. So, initially the ads they run may not be ads that grab the attention of your readers. But over time your traffic will grow and the ads will get better. Better ads means more clicks which in turn means more money in your pocket.
Setting up Google Adsense was really easy. In your dashboard, go to "Earnings" then follow the directions to set up Adsense. You can control where the ads are placed on your blog and you can also control the type of ads that run on your blog.
So, how do you make money? Every time a reader clicks on one of the ads, you make a tiny profit.
Google requires you reach $100 in earnings before they send your first check. It took me 6 months before I met this criteria. Here's a breakdown of my history with Google Adsense (money accrues over each month until you receive your first payment)...
Following yesterday's post, Kate, left a comment asking, "...I'm curious about the monetary aspect of blogging-would you be willing to share how it works and how much can be made??? No one seems to discuss it, but I'd really like to know..."
Let me start by saying, there are ladies that I consider "real" bloggers that have addressed this and know LOTS more about it than me. I don't consider myself a "real" blogger only because my goal isn't to make money off my blog. My primary use of this blog is to gain local exposure so that my design business will grow. The truth is, I was too cheap to pay for a website so a blog seemed like a great alternative.
Once I jumped into blogging and quickly realized how much time it takes, that's when I began to entertain the idea of signing up for Google Adsense. I had lunch with Allison from House of Hepworths one day and she offered up some words of wisdom. She told me, "It doesn't matter how much traffic your blog is getting...sign up now!" She went on to tell me that the longer you're a part of their network, the better your ads will become. So, initially the ads they run may not be ads that grab the attention of your readers. But over time your traffic will grow and the ads will get better. Better ads means more clicks which in turn means more money in your pocket.
Setting up Google Adsense was really easy. In your dashboard, go to "Earnings" then follow the directions to set up Adsense. You can control where the ads are placed on your blog and you can also control the type of ads that run on your blog.
So, how do you make money? Every time a reader clicks on one of the ads, you make a tiny profit.
Google requires you reach $100 in earnings before they send your first check. It took me 6 months before I met this criteria. Here's a breakdown of my history with Google Adsense (money accrues over each month until you receive your first payment)...
January $9.50
February $14.17
March $7.03
April $8.00
May $14.41
June $18.23
July $65.44
Woo hoo... I reached $100 so Google issued my first check for $136.78.
August $94.91 (wow...almost reached that $100 mark in one month)
September $170.98 (yea...huge jump)
2nd Google payment $265.89
October $231.13
Please know that I only share this information in order to encourage fellow bloggers to take advantage of opportunities, not to make anyone uncomfortable. It's a bit awkward talking about "how much you make" but I know I was constantly wondering when I first entered this crazy little corner of the world.
If you're looking for other opportunities, Mandi at Vintage Revivals, wrote a great post breaking it all down in more technical terms. Read her post HERE.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
I feel like a fraud (Transparent Tuesday)
Okay, I'm apologizing in advance to the non-blogging readers for this post because I'm about to throw around some blogging lingo that may not make any sense to you.
Transparent Topic: Fraud
Last December I was working hard on our TV niche built-in and hadn't put much thought into my post for the next day. I did a little searching and ran across a great tutorial on Save-on-crafts.com for iced branches. I literally copied and pasted the entire post! It's not as bad as it sounds...I didn't try to make this look like original content. I wrote in the post, "I ran across a great tutorial that was just screaming to be passed on." I even linked to the craft site 7 different times. You can read the original post here.
So here's where the transparency and fraud part come into play. This one post has single-handedly made my blog explode in terms of stats. I went from having 800 pageviews (on a good day) to consistently having closer to 7,000-8,000 pageviews/day. I know this is still relatively small but in terms of where I came from it was a huge jump.
I'm receiving lots of emails from people asking me specific questions about the craft but guess what?...I've NEVER even made them! A really large craft site even contacted me and asked if they could feature the craft. What in the world?!
So, I've had to reply to every email and to the big craft site and tell them the truth...it's not my original content! I feel kinda silly but honestly, I never tried to deceive anyone. My suspicion is that people see the pretty picture and jump straight to the tutorial, hence skipping over my disclaimer that I'm passing on a tutorial.
Since I've recently added Google Adsense, this nice little increase in traffic has literally paid off for me. I'm completely reaping the benefits from something I didn't do. Is that okay?
It's a hard one to swallow that I work my tail off creating huge projects like our Diamond Wall, creative shelving and even building an arbor in our daughter's bedroom and these don't solicit nearly the traffic/attention that this one post has!
What do you think? Should I feel bad about this or should I sit back and enjoy the benefits from a pin going viral?
Transparent Topic: Fraud
Last December I was working hard on our TV niche built-in and hadn't put much thought into my post for the next day. I did a little searching and ran across a great tutorial on Save-on-crafts.com for iced branches. I literally copied and pasted the entire post! It's not as bad as it sounds...I didn't try to make this look like original content. I wrote in the post, "I ran across a great tutorial that was just screaming to be passed on." I even linked to the craft site 7 different times. You can read the original post here.
So here's where the transparency and fraud part come into play. This one post has single-handedly made my blog explode in terms of stats. I went from having 800 pageviews (on a good day) to consistently having closer to 7,000-8,000 pageviews/day. I know this is still relatively small but in terms of where I came from it was a huge jump.
So far this month, this one post has had over 33,000 views.
So, I've had to reply to every email and to the big craft site and tell them the truth...it's not my original content! I feel kinda silly but honestly, I never tried to deceive anyone. My suspicion is that people see the pretty picture and jump straight to the tutorial, hence skipping over my disclaimer that I'm passing on a tutorial.
Since I've recently added Google Adsense, this nice little increase in traffic has literally paid off for me. I'm completely reaping the benefits from something I didn't do. Is that okay?
It's a hard one to swallow that I work my tail off creating huge projects like our Diamond Wall, creative shelving and even building an arbor in our daughter's bedroom and these don't solicit nearly the traffic/attention that this one post has!
What do you think? Should I feel bad about this or should I sit back and enjoy the benefits from a pin going viral?
Monday, October 29, 2012
Using Collections in Home Decor
Raise your hand if you've ever collected something? If I were a betting woman I'd say it's safe to say nearly every single one of you has your hand up in the air right now. Well, have you ever stopped to think how designing with a collection is a great and easy way to decorate? It's almost like cheating because you don't have to put a ton of thought into it!
Collections may seem like clutter to some, but if you put a little bit of effort into styling, your collection will quickly turn into a huge visual statement in your space.
Let's take a look at some great examples, shall we?...
Collections may seem like clutter to some, but if you put a little bit of effort into styling, your collection will quickly turn into a huge visual statement in your space.
Let's take a look at some great examples, shall we?...
There's definitely power in numbers. Do you have an awkward art niche that you've been struggling with knowing how to fill? Here's your answer. Multiples of anything with a somewhat common color scheme.
Here's my disclaimer...it's important to know when to say when! Don't go overboard and let your collection spill into every inch of your house. Keep your collection contained and keep it simple.
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