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February 2, 2012 Sometimes, it isn't about what we add to our lives that creates the dream life worth living. Published every Thursday. You are on our list because you signed up and opted in. To change your subscription, please see the link at the end of the email. To subscribe, click here.
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Blue Sun Studio
Creative Clarity Coaching Life's Little Inspirations Behind the Words
Want to avoid repeating history? Ask youself these questions:
Find out what it is, and see what you can do to fix the main problem for next time.
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Hi ! Happy Groundhog Day! Hard to believe we're inching closer to Spring now when it feels like we just left the holiday celebrations yesterday. Time goes by fast and it's easy to whiz by so many of the lessons we learn. This time of the year the movie Groundhog Day always comes to mind. Makes you wonder how you would handle a past situation if you could repeat it, doesn't it? If you look closely enough, you may find that you are repeating the same mistakes or events over and over. Maybe you're reacting to a similar situation in the same way time and again without realizing it? How's that working out for you? Part of our growth depends on learning from the past and breaking away from old habits and thought patterns that hold us back. Ask yourself why you keep doing what you do even when you know it's harmful, you may be surprised at the answer. Love,
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 "Browsing for a new book to occupy my time, I came across this book. At first I was super skeptical. I have a teenage daughter and the last thing I was In the mood for was yet another Twilight wannabe trying to cash in on the vampire/werewolf craze. But the sample was good so I figured "why not?". My doubts were quickly erased as I found myself really getting involved in these characters. The plot that I was SO sure would be predictable had enough twists and turns to be responsible for a late night reading till the pages went blurry. It's so cliche but I truly could not put it down. Can't say enough how glad I am that I took a shot on a couple of unknown authors instead of going straight for my usual suspects. Look forward to hearing more from them (did I see a second book in the series on the way? I hope so!) and picking up where this book left off." -- Lucky Me; Chicago
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Design Critique: Hearts Expanding Allow Love
For her site, Kimberly chose one of Brian Gardner's Genesis child themes. Kimberly will be able to manage and expand her own site easily as time goes on and the site grows. Maintaining control over your own site is extremely important for any site owner. The combination of WordPress and Genesis is a winner. First Impression When we first visited the site both Wendi and I expected a tranquil oasis of soft color. Instead, visitors first experience is a very active background of pinks, greens and bright orbs of light. We understand what Kimberly was going for, she works with the vibration levels of the aura and colors and tried to appeal to the level she felt right, but unfortunately it's a little too busy for the eyes. When we don't have a focal point, when the site doesn't lead the visitor, it's chaos and the messages get lost. The pink is a pretty color though. If she wanted to tone down the background a touch, she could make the bottom half of the background image fade into that soft pink and give the eyes a little rest as the visitor scrolls down the page. Start From The Top The banner is probably the most important part of designing your site. This is where the eye goes first and sets the tone for the visitor. It's your guide on the tour of your site. People will begin here and follow in a zig-zag pattern from left to right all the way down the page. This banner starts with a little bit of a flow from left to right...sort of. Kimberly's image is leaning to the left and the swirls of green go to the right. Immediately there's a back and forth tug going on. We get to the text and we read, and then we're brought up short again by what looks to be a smaller image of the background pasted on there. This banner has our eyes doing a bunch of stops and starts. The "HEAL" is heavy in contrast to the rest of the header and scripty letters rarely look appealing when put in all caps. The green is too close in tone to the blue of the text that there's not enough contrast. The white tagline stands out better than the main title. A softer pink pulled from the background of the site might have been a better choice in the header instead of the green and purple. Or, if green feels like the right choice, using a cooler shade of green would soften it up. The heading needs a bigger, bolder font to stand out from all the activity going on. One suggestion would be get rid of the extra image on the left, enlarge Kimberly's picture and balance out the banner with the text on the right. What we especially like about the banner is Kimberly's portrait image. Kimberly looks friendly and approachable, and her orange outfit works very well with the pink of the site. Navigation Clearly mapped navigation bars are extremely important to your visitors. If they can't find what they want immediately, they're as good as gone. Kimberly's navigation is a good example of a navigation bar that is easy to follow. The titles are clear, not clever, and visitors know exactly what to expect when they click on each one. Content Below the navigation bar we start to lose our direction again. This time, the lack of contrast appears in the headlines and content text. The chosen font for the headlines are fine. They're sans-serif and easy to read. However, the headlines could be a point size or two larger, or done in bold. That would go a long way toward helping them stand out from the content. Kimberly has some key sections laid out for her visitors. She has what looks like a featured post at the top, and her events and packages after that. The links to the pages for those items all have a pink title, which is good, it makes you want to click on them and explore. Sidebar Points for Kimberly for having her optin right at the top there. You want your most important items above the fold at the top of the sidebar. But, like the banner, this sidebar could benefit from some tweaks. First, there's a little block of very pale purple showing above the optin image. It looks like a background block for the title for that widget in the sidebar. We'd suggest putting a title in there or find a way to eliminate that little block from the code so it brings the top of the optin up where it belongs (which is in line with the "Amazon Expedition and Training"). Again, we see the scripty text with all caps. It's too much for such a small space and difficult to read. The "Circle of Reciprocity TM" isn't much better. We had to read it a few times to figure out what it said. The "TM" could also be smaller. Since it looks like this text is embedded into the background image, the designer needs to make that "TM" the proper sub-script size so it sits at the top right corner of the "y" in "Reciprocity". One thing that initially confused us about the optin is the mock video image. There's no reason why an actual video couldn't have been used there. The body text of this optin was laid over the background (you can tell because your cursor changes to a text cursor when you mouse over it), and an actual video can do the same. It's a little disappointing to mouse over the image and not be able to click on the video. As we read further, we find out that image is part of her free offer for subscribing. That changes things, doesn't it? What we discover is the image isn't making it clear this is part of her freebie. What we would suggest is using a different image other than the mock video player. Maybe a still from deeper into the video would work. We've already got this background image repeated in the banner, the background of the site and now here. It doesn't really say anything. Something showing Kimberly would work better and be a lot more interesting. Something else we'd like to see in the sidebar is a way to follow Kimberly on the social networks. The only hint of a Facebook or Twitter is on the interior pages with a small "Like" button above the optin. We know Kimberly has a Facebook fan page and she's missing out on driving traffic there by not having a link on her site. Overall, Kimberly is off to a good start with her site. She has a solid framework as a base and she definitely has a direction in mind. With a few tweaks here and there, the site has the potential to be spectacular. *** About Kimberly:
Kimberly started her long journey of healing childhood emotional scars after walking into a sporting goods store to buy a gun to end her life. Thoughts of her children helped to avert this unnecessary tragedy. Knowing that a healer can only heal others to the extent that they have healed themselves, Kimberly has simultaneously been healing herself as she has been healing others over the years.
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Blue Sun Studio, Inc is a Coaching and Design Studio. Through the process of in-depth consultation and strategic coaching, we help you to define your vision, marketing lifestyle, strategies and communication plan and then assist you in creating the products, brands, logos, images and designs that help creative businesses tell their unique story. Our services include coaching programs for the business, design and writing clients as well as websites, logos, banners, marketing materials, book covers, e-zines, Facebook pages and any other design products you need to share your message with the public. About the Blue Sun Studio Team:
Deb and Wendi are also published authors who coach and assist writers and business owners with fine-tuning their writing skills and messages, both in fiction and marketing, taking them from first draft to a finished book or product they can hold in their hands. Their first novel, Bonds of Blood & Spirit: Loyalties, is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in both hardcover, paperback, Kindle and Nook. Wendi and Deb are hard at work writing the sequel. Contact Us Since Inspired Studio is for you, we would love to hear from you if there's a topic you'd like us to cover, including anything from personal inspiration to coaching, marketing, building your business, the world of writing and publishing or anything else you are curious about. If you are interested in discovering more about being a coaching or design client of Blue Sun Studio, we would love to hear from you! Please contact us here: Blue Sun Studio, Inc. The Blue Sun Network: Please add "info@bluesunstudio-inc.com" to your email whitelist or address book in your email program so you'll keep receiving The Inspired Studio! We'd love to hear your comments and include them here. If you'd like to share your stories and inspirational experiences, send us an email to inspiredcomments@bluesunstudio-inc.com. For more information on how we can help you bring your passions to life, | ||
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New from Blue Sun Studio: The 2012 Winter Pricing and Services Catalog.
This week's design critique subject comes from Kimberly Sherry, owner of 
Kimberly discovered her gift of healing in 1998. First with the ability to kinesthetically feel people's emotions through her hands and then expanding her intuitive abilities through 12 years of training at Aesclepion Intuitive Training.
Wendi Kelly is the International business coach behind Creative Clarity Coaching, a division of Blue Sun Studio. Wendi is devoted to coaching creative entrepreneurs who are ready to take the leap into clarity, happiness and success in business and life. Her creative clients move away from the splatter, chaos and overwhelm of the typical creative entrepreneur by learning a new approach to peaceful, creative and successful productivity.
Through one-on-one coaching, workshops and motivational speaking engagements, Wendi inspires people to take the leap into the life they have always dreamed of.
Deborah Dorchak has been a graphic designer for more than 25 years and an artist since she could hold a crayon. Deb got her start in Illustration, and her passion for telling stories through images hasn't wavered yet. She is the designing force behind Blue Sun's graphics department. As clients gain clarity through Wendi's coaching, Deb has the uncanny ability to intuitively design just the right look for these budding businesses.