Is pink still in? New Color Trends

“Think pink!” “Pink is the new black!” “Only real men wear pink!” Is the pink frenzy gone? Are we all pinked out? Although it is still widely used, it is not as a popular choice as it used to be. Once the boys play with pink, it loses the girly factor. Oddly enough, China` color for boys is pink! Read more

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Friday Gratitude

Happy Friday baby yeah!!! Friday makes the week worth another go around the other 6 days, bearable. So with today here comes my gratitude gush!

Divapreneur is my baby. But I didn`t do it alone. It took three of us at the beginning. The idea was to have a place we could all help each other grow. We did that and attracted some of the best divapreneurs on the web. From bow boutiques to actresses to multi million dollar companies, it has become a great place to network. Yesterday they all showed me how special they think I am. I wasn`t expecting that. Recognition is so wonderful, I always knew that. I was lucky enough to have it experienced. They taught me never to underestimate it. Thank you! You are the best!!

Barbara Curran I met at DP. She is so sweet and giving. She is currently orchestrating an event for The V Cancer Research Foundation. She also has a really cool jewelry store called Finderskeepersjewelry.net. Her stuff is awesomely priced and she also has a great selection! I had been thinking about doing this for her for a while! She has been helping us at DP and has become one of my friends. Love ya Barbie!! And thank you!

I already gushed about her, but here it goes-I love HIJA4.com !! Raquel recently created the cutest pendant for me. When I got it and held it, I felt so special and unique. She is so inspiring! You have to try her. You will love her Velma and Wilma pieces-Very Flinstones!!

Last but not least my husband and my kids. After a horrific bout of migraines in which I thought I would go mad, I had to rely on my sons, little girl and the 30 year old baby (A.K.A. hubby). From meals to medicine, from foot rubs to Vick`s vapor rub (I actually was so desperate I thought Vicks would kick my headache), they were the only ones helping me. I am so thankful and felt incredibly lucky to have them. I love them very much!!!

Happy Friday everyone! Love graciously. Live harmoniously. Forgive foolishly. Dream abundantly.
Lots of love,
Elaine

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Feelin` Love

This morning I was humbly bestowed upon the “Ultimate Diva” title at Divapreneur.
I am ever so thankful that these wonderful women who I admire in awe, admire me in the same manner. It will take me a lifetime to show them all my gratitude and will forever take you in my heart.

You guys rock!
Lots of love,
Elaine

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Feng Shui Your Site

Although some may argue that is impossible, I feel some of its concepts can be applied to web design. Feng Shui means water and wind, implies the seen with the unseen and is a term that has been used for over 3000 years.

I heard someone describe it as finding the acupuncture points on a land or home in order to have a specific effect. Another guru mentioned that it is the art of arranging a space in order to attract things. You get very well acquainted with a similar concept, when you start to learn design. It`s called accessibility.

Feng Shui chinese characters-Dreamstime.com

I have always felt that your site is your home on the web. I have clients who obsess about intro pages, wanting a particular font or are completely stuck on one color. Every thing you own and love is connected to you by a memory or a feeling. Even a font can have the same effect!

Per example, my husband gave me a one carat diamond and gold pendant when we got married. The pendant is very dear to me and I often find myself touching it when I need comfort. The pendant connects me to the energy (chi) of the memory and its consequent effect is one of calm and center. I am sure that the effect would be the opposite if I had divorced him.
<—A feng Shui room.Dreamstime.com

Although a web site is either a place for information or shopping, some of the concepts can be applied to web design. Here is a little guideline!

• ?Craddle in the comfort and safety of a chair-Just because I love my 9 inch heels doesn`t mean everyone else does. Highly adorned websites may look cute to you, but are not effective at what you want, which is selling your items! Look at gap.com or victoriassecret.com. These sites make purchasing a breeze and evoke safety. That doesn`t mean you can`t have graphics, because they have fantastic visuals, but I don`t feel assaulted by neither color or patterns. The previews are large and attractive. I am comfortable, safe and invited to shop.
• ?Change is good-Declutter! I am totally guilty of this as I recently had a third eye visit my site and critique my working space on the web. The repetitious pages are extremely counterproductive. Time is the new currency, being able to provide information at one glance will not only allow for a much simpler layout, but will make buying much easier.
• ?Honor yourself, Honor your visitor -Are you cheating your customer of the experience of shopping at a boutique? I love, LOVE, buying from pinkparisdesign.com. Paul takes extra care in the packaging, sending her cards in a fabulous pink box, tissued with damask paper and the cards come in a frosty pillow box tied with a silky ribbon and hang tag that is shimmering with german glass glitter. Even her notes resembles silky frosting! A neglectful box is a sign of someone who doesn`t care. If you don`t care about packing, why would you care about selling? You are as good as your store!! Honor yourself! Attention to detail honors the customer, and in turn customer honors you.
• ?Environment displays consciousness-This pertains to the reason of displaying art or furniture and why we hold on to it. In the case of my site, I wanted to display all I can do and say everything in one go-my front page. WRONG! When you open your door, do you give your resume to a stranger? No, you introduce yourself! My front page now has a paragraph introducing me. Also putting improper personal information on your site is as bad as walking into your house and finding a bra in the middle of the living room. Why would you let everyone know what age are your kids or what was your school mascot? Usually those are your security questions on different sites,. You might as well put up a sign that says “Stalkers wanted.”
• ?Honor and respect create beauty-No one likes a messy room, same goes for a site. A logical category order is imperative if you plan to make money with your site. Although in our every day, we will add items, rework category order and rewrite information, your site cannot remain in a state of creative chaos. If you do, not only will you not feel creative and motivated to work on your site, but you will lose money each day you let it go. You must organize, organization is beauty. Beauty equals money.
• ?This means something to me-Great! That, which you are holding on to, means nothing to your customer. Ponder even deeper, why do you hold on to it? Imposing the presence of an item, artwork or pattern because it makes you feel good, may be completely having the opposite effect. I recently met with a client who had wanted an all pink site. Why? “I love pink!”She says. The shade of pink she wanted was very baby pink and her high end, sophisticated items would suffer the association of “baby”, small and not adult. Think of what your store is representing now and what YOU want the store to represent. If you have a large discrepancy between the two, then it`s time to change.

Feng shui is a discipline that can take a lifetime to master. I know enough about it to make a few calls here and there. However, the more and more I learn about, I can`t help but think that this sound advice can be applied in every aspect of your life.

Feng Shui Lucky bamboo-Dreamstime.com
©2006-2008 Elaine Biss. All rights reserved.

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Attack of Designerzilla

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have been copied.** Better yet, how many times I have gone designerzilla on the infringer. Poor Paul got her first taste of it.

<---This guy actually got paid 300 dollars for the hacking of my work. She knows I am retentive about watermarking stuff and she is now getting a taste for it. Anything you make for a client falls under works for hire, anything you make for fun, it`s yours and anyone wishing to use it MUST ask for permission and pay fees to license it. The © copyright symbol offers some protection, but nothing beats a lawyer. After having my own site and illustration that I created to my likeness hacked, photoshoped and resold, I made a point of becoming very familiar with copyright laws.

The worst part about it was when I found out that the offender not only contacted me about two months prior, but used software that clones site. He wasn`t smart enough to figure out I had used an e commerce cart script to run my site. He even told his poor client he coded my site! HA! Maybe if he had been sitting on my lap or had his hand up my butt like a puppet.

<---This guy got 1500 dollars for this killing spree and is now in hiding. Where is Judge Judy when you need her?

I recently got an email from another web designer friend who said “my client`s husband is an attorney and they are looking to purchase the commercial rights.” Commercial rights? That`s not even a legal term-and yes I looked it up and I asked Sir O.D (but if you know better, enlighten me.) No one uses the attorney card so quickly in the transaction, but I told her that she should tack on an extra fee. Specially for previously made work, licensing fees, the correct term, will apply.

I cannot begin to tell you how important it is for you to watermark all your work even if a little one, and be VERY clear about what you do and do not allow. Spell it out as if people were dumb. In Paul`s case, this little fruit cake found a way to bypass her very well written TOS and even stole images and created work she planned to use. Not cool!

Here is a nifty little link to help you further. http://norcal.gag.org/legalities/2006/legalities_no25.html

There is nothing worst than an offender who doesn`t get it. In that case, after sending them a standard cease and desist letter, make your attorney do your leg work. He can send the offender a letter stating the quantification of your damages and possible actions against the offender if he/she does not comply.

**Under no circumstances you are to take my post as legal advice. This is merely a resource to better determine whether a possible infringement was done. You should always contact an attorney and seek legal counsel.

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Friday Gratitude Post

Boy I LOVE FRIDAYS!!!! I am so happy I am gushy! So much to be thankful for, so unfair my postings can`t cover all the magnificent people and things that have touch my life. Here are a few!

• ? Kindness is a quality I love. In a rough and tumble world, you need to count of the softness and kindness of friends. Christine Spencer from Girl Time Coaching is by far the kindest person I know, and I can only hope I will be like her when I grow up (and she is not that much older than me!)She offers life coaching as well as business coaching. What a diva! Check her out at girltimecoaching.net.
• ?Have you ever asked yourself, what would you do if you had stage 4 cancer? Would you blow all your money? Rob a bank? Or live out the rest of your days the most positive way you can? Geeta is the most energetic and sweet girl I know. She`s got a family, a jewelry business, Designs by Geeta and does karate and exercises regularly. She also writes beautifully! She lives life happily and sweetly, all with the knowledge that she`s got stage 4 cancer. She is so inspirational and so are her pieces!

Thankfully yours,
Elaine

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The Miseducation of Elaine

After years of experimenting, learning and relearning, agreeing to do a thing because that is what it was asked, I am finally breaking out from that.

I feel I have evolved to loving every style I can render and not have the need to stick with one, because everyone wants me to produce that. I no longer feel the need to be like everyone else and follow every trend.

I almost had to reteach me all I know and then some. I recently felt challenged by someone who thought that because an opinion was had, this someone could design. Even I was impressed when I knew was right and showed why. It really wasn`t about the conflict as it ended quickly, but a self realization about feeling like my current site look was not representing who I had grown to be.

I love sophistication and pretty patterns. I love learning new techniques and I will never stop. I will always keep up with what`s new but I will set my own trends. I no longer fear that I will not be liked. I know I am liked and have a following. This isn`t about me exalting myself. Every girl second guesses herself.

I recently conversed with a client who was afraid to succeed and afraid to fail. I really don`t know what`s worst, as I have felt both. I knew where she was at. I knew what she felt. That was me in 2003. How did I overcome it? A little something my mom and dad could not pay for in college, EXPERIENCE!

How do you get the experience? You try. Even when you fail, you get up, and try again. Experience is what you gain when you succeed. Failure is no longer in my vocabulary. Gained knowledge is. I have never failed. I have gained knowledge and experience.

The confidence that brings, no one can take away. Your experience is waiting! Go get it!!!

Lots of love,
Elaine

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No thank you!

I received an email invitation, about 3 days ago to cast for a particular show which I will not mention its name, but they SWAP parental units with another family. The theme this year is prissy girly moms and their daughters.

Thanks, but no thanks. I may be girly, even prissy in the lightest sense of the word. I think of myself more like Lois from Malcolm in the Middle. My favorite episode? Lois suspends Christmas. and What if they boys were girls? Her best phrase(which I use!): “I have had it!”

Yes I do have a girl, but I also have four boys whose latest fight involved the measuring of a very male body part and its consequent quantification compared (okay they compared each other!)

How do I keep girly? I go out without them and shop at the girliest, prissiest boutique I can find. I get my nails, hair and feet done with my 5 year old girl-she has had this done since she was three. I remember going with my mother to the salon and buying cute little dresses in expensive boutiques.

By the time I was 16, I used to get a hair cut every six weeks. Spoiled? Sadly yes. But not the unappreciative kind of spoiled. Appreciation had to be shown by doing chores. I made sure I always said thank you to my mother as we left the shop. Her face would light up like she just fed starving kids in Africa.

Appreciation! What an underrated concept! We all want it, but how often do we do this? I don`t need to be swapped to appreciate how awesome is my life. Thanks! But no thank you!!

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Friday Gratitude Post

I love Fridays! I really do work for the weekend. I used to wear a tiara on Fridays but it broke. So my AH! ring is my tiara!

• I am so thankful for Divapreneur.org! I have met so many wonderful women, they are so incredibly supportive and sweet. I love the web designers there. I recently met three fantastic designers. Margaret Rose is so talented. This designer has made some pretty impressive sites. She is so attentive and sweet. Then I met Jill Lynn. Those who know me well know I don`t brag about other designer`s work, but she rocks. I joked with Paul I had penis envy! Her work has been featured in books and she is not a snob! So down to earth! The other designer is Stephanie at Sweet Boutique Designs. What a sweet chick!! Her designs are super cute and affordable. If you need someone affordable Sweet Boutique Design is the way to go!
• This next lady oozes classic taste. She blogs about style constantly and is unlike other blogs that are pretentious and fake the funk. Lady Language`s Michelle is a super Divapreneur with her own boutique and readership has truly set herself up as a fashion guru. She is very warm and sweet! You will love her!
• Last but not least, in Divapreneur, I have not failed to feel appreciated. It was truly a different pace and atmosphere. However, atmosphere is created by people. This lady has been a kindred spirit and I have gotten to know her very well. She greets everyone and is so willing to help others. I am glad to call her a diva friend! Raquel owns Hija4.com and blogs here as well. Her pieces are so cute and nicely priced!!

As always I will be thanking more of the people I am grateful for being in my life. Besides my family and friends, thank you for being a friend!
Lots of love,
Elaine

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M.I.A.?? Well… It was truly Divine!

Kinda. Still felt a bit weak from the strep throat (still have a kid sick!) but I managed to get some work done! I should be done by tomorrow-Thank goodness!

For my hard work, I treated this good girl to the AH! ring (Attached and Happy) from divinediamonds.com. Recently featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, on the O List, as well as the Oprah.com website (and many other places I can`t recall, but I recently interviewed the fabulous Ruta at Divapreneur).

I don`t have to tell you that Ruta is super amazing! She`s a former writer for Vanity Fair and many other fantastic publications. She also owned a magazine which she later sold to Fairchild Publications. I was extremely humbled when she mentioned she enjoyed my writing! (I always thought I write with an accent!! I will take that feather for my cap.) Thank you Ruta! I am flattered!

The ring was shipped so quickly! The best part is how this gorgeous pinkie ring just sparkles. I was on the phone with Paul and I could not help gushing over it. The cut of the diamond and the mount of the ring really complement each other. I believe Teri Hatcher and Selma Blair are among the famous owners of this decadent ring.

The ring wasn`t too expensive, just $330. I felt so special to have it. I often try to treat myself and I felt like a princess to have it sparkle on my finger. It was the perfect way to say “I love me.” Now if I can just find my prince, I can finally kiss him!

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