The Purple Monkey

Neglecting My Blog

2011-01-30T12:05:00.000-05:00

I just can't seem to stay in the groove of blogging on a regular basis. I really want to. I just haven't found a way to do it. Maybe if I schedule a certain time every few days to sit down and write I'll finally get in to the routine. So whats new since I last wrote?

Personal life: We had a wonderful holiday break. My 28th birthday was a blast and on XMas day, Aaron proposed to me :) And finally, my son broke his toe...swinging his legs under his desk and accidentally kicked the leg of the table. He's such a train wreck.

Purple Monkey life: The site is undergoing a full renovation. I've been doing extensive research on Google rankings and social media marketing and I have all sorts of cool new ideas to integrate in to the site. I am working on a newsletter explaining all of the new services so please sign up for the newsletter so you're the first to find out when these fun new things are rolling out!

I have lots of new pictures to put up on here but I'm about to leave for lunch so I'll blog again tonight! Yes, twice in ONE DAY!!

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

2010-11-24T12:18:00.000-05:00

REALLY??? I forgot to blog about this?? I'm such a slacker...let's just pretend I wrote this on Oct. 30...deal?

So, our adventure started at the Vienna Metro...which was PACKED

and not just a little packed...but like a whole lot packed..that whole bridge/tunnel thing was FULL

So we decided to take our chances and drive...and it's a good thing we did, cause NOBODY else thought to drive!

The traffic was lighter than on a regular day in DC

And we found a primo parking spot...couldn't have possibly been any easier

Since we got there so early we had some time to stop and enjoy some flowers...since umm..they're purple ;)

We found an interesting lady sitting on the other side of the flowers

Aaaaand we made it!

This guy was super cool...and these kids were super cute

The signs were an endless source of entertainment

More cuteness...

And the tea-bag family

<3 these guys

Tons and tons and tons of people

Interesting people along with their interesting signs

I found Bender!

It was all such an awesome experience

I love photo blogs....I hope you enjoyed it too!

Some Lols for the Holidays!

2010-11-24T11:31:00.000-05:00

I have a list of hilarious websites that I frequent when I need a good chuckle and I got to add a new one today. I love to laugh at Aaron's hilarious texts when the auto-correct turns his words in to something completely off topic...sadly, this no longer happens with his new phone. But now I can laugh at everyone else's auto-correcting mishaps

I know I'm easily amused...but I know a lot of you are too!! ENJOY!!!

http://www.damnyouautocorrect.com

~Kirs

P.S. Sorry for being MIA for so long...I'll be posting more now :) Promise!

Love This One :)

2010-10-10T13:30:00.000-04:00

Even thought these invites were never printed due to time constraints, the design is still one of my absolute favorites :) I'm hoping to put together a few Christmas designs in the next month or two so I can offer custom XMas cards on my site. Either way, birthday invites are always fun!

I can always switch the 1 for a 2 and use these for Mia next year!!!

What Better Day

2010-10-10T13:13:00.001-04:00

For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you already know that I have decided to write a book. I have not disclosed what this book is going to be about but this is going to be a pretty extensive project. So my big announcement, I will begin writing today! That will be my big 10/10/10 celebration! I won't have much time to write during the week because I have a few new clients on the horizon and one that I'm finishing up pretty soon. I'll be sure to post pics of all of my new projects soon! Be sure to follow me on Twitter for book updates @misskirs :) I'm excited!!!

My Latest Creation!

2010-10-01T01:48:00.000-04:00

I've been working on a project for Dan Sperry (best magician on the planet...youtube him...you're welcome) and I've always loved working with gothy images so when Dan announced a call for images to be used on his new site, I was super psyched. I'm working on my own website project for him so I get to use all my gothy stuff for that BUT I threw together this image to submit to his little image contest. Hereeee she is!

Now, this is a story behind this one. It is a well known fact that I LOATHE spiders. Even tiny ones are out to kill me and last summer I had to go to the ER for a spider bite that made my whole arm swell up HUGE. So, you might be wondering why in the world I would pick a spider to use for this project. Well, several months ago I had a very vivid, crazy, creepy dream that really stuck with me. The most memorable part of the dream that I could always picture in my head JUST as I saw it in the dream was this spider with an eyeball on its body. Despite my hatred for spiders, I thought this eye-spider was totally awesome and I knew I was eventually going to have to make it on photoshop. So the Dan Sperry thing gave me motivation to finally put it together. I found the perfect image of the spider and then I set up my camera on the tripod with my super duper macro lens. The eye in the picture is none other than Chance's eye. The same eye that I have used in two other images that I love. One of which was actually picked to be in a gallery:

And this one I just made for fun (this was even before I watched Pans Labyrinth):

He makes a great eye and hand model :) and he even complains when our "photo shoots" are over. He's loves loves loves anything to do with photography....I'm so proud :)

~Kirs

Bringin back and oldie but goodie.....Favorite YouTube Moment #1

2010-09-30T00:37:00.000-04:00

First of all, I am going to address the fact that I am blogging at precisely 12:17am. Aaron works late and doesn't get home until 11:30 most nights so after dinner and watching all of our DVRed shows from that evening, I don't end up falling asleep until well after 2. Aaron is out of town so I was very excited that I got to go to bed at a normal hour (10). I fell right asleep but woke right back up at 11:30...I guess my body considered it a nap? I had two choices...lay there and try to go back to sleep, or get up and do some work. After about 5 minutes of weighing the pros and cons of each choice, the winning factor was, if I get out of bed, I could eat a Swiss Roll. That was the deciding factor...and that, my friends, is why I'm blogging at this hour.

Now back to the real reason I'm writing. Years ago, when you actually had to qualify to be a member of Facebook (ok, maybe not that long ago, but awhile ago!)I compiled a list of my absolute favorite YouTube videos and posted two lists of them on YouTube and titled them "My Favorite YouTube Moment Part 1 (and Part 2)". Due to the fact that these lists are over three years old, many of the links don't work anymore. The videos no longer exist or they have been moved to a different URL. Anyway, what I'm getting at, is this is another fun Blogging project for me to resurrect the old YouTube funnies and throw in some new ones! There is one disclaimer, some of the videos are NOT YouTube videos....but just like all facial tissue is not Kleenex, I am using "YouTube" to describe all internet videos. So sometimes my favorite YouTube moment might be from MetaCafe....you're just going to have to deal with that....because "Kirstin's Favorite Internet Video Moment" just doesn't sound as cool. Again, like my favorite sites, these YouTube videos are in no particular order however this first one might very well be my absolute favorite video of all time.

SO HERE GOES! My Favorite YouTube Moment #1. This was a commercial that I saw on TV with Chance. With the help of DVR we got to rewind it and watch it over and over and over....and over again. We were laughing so hard that my landlord who lives two floors up from us actually came down to check on us to make sure we were ok. I suggest watching this 10-20 times because it keeps getting better each time. I'll stop rambling and let you have it...

I need some funnies....QUICK... Funny Website Of The Day #1: Cake Wrecks

2010-09-28T12:34:00.000-04:00

So today was my big Electromyography Nerve Conduction Test...aka sticking needles in my arm and electrocuting the crap out of it. It definitely wasn't the most fun I've had but I survived :) So today seems like a good day to start my funny/favorite website blogging. Now, keep in mind that my "Funny/Favorite Website Of The Day' (FWOTD) is in no particular order in terms of entertainment value. It's more based on my mood that day.

Todays FWOTD is Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong. This website is a blog documenting "professionally" made cakes that turn out to be absolute disasters. Personally, I have spent hours upon hours reading through this blog and it never, ever gets old. The author of this blog, Jen, is hilarious and witty with all of her comments on these awful cakes. If you need a good chuckle, be sure to spend some time with this one!

I earned a day off...but here's what I came up with!

2010-09-26T16:45:00.000-04:00

So I figured that since I blogged twice in one day that I could take a day off, right? Made sense to me :) Anywho, I've been coming up with all sorts of ideas to blog about and here are the projects that I have come up with.

Photo Flashbacks: I have tons of pictures that I would love to share but they were taken months or even years ago. I always felt that I could only blog about recent events but now I've decided I'll write some photo blogs about past events.

Kirstin's Favorite Sites: There are so many fun sites that I frequent and I always tell people about how funny or amazing they are. I always promise them I'll send the links and since my memory is shot, I always forget to. So I thought of doing Kirstin's Favorite Link Of The Day for a month or so...but I don't think I want to commit to doing that every day and I'm sure there will be other things that I want to blog about along the way. So every once in awhile I'll do a write up about one of my favorite websites or web stores.

And of course, I'll always blog about the latest and greatest that is going down at Purple Monkey Designs.

But for today....I'll be watching the Redskins break my heart yet again

Super Happy Weekend

2010-09-23T13:20:00.000-04:00

This past weekend my beautiful cousin Jesse married the love of her life and the newest addition to our big, crazy family, Kimmy :)

The weekend started off with a stay at an "interesting" motel. Lots of laughs and creepy people but the view of New York City was AMAZING!

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and found panties in the bushes...good times with the family!

My little man...who is now 9 (scary), had a great time climbing on the rocks.

And once we finally found the right beach, it was time for the ceremony!

The proud parents...

Kimmy's twin brother and little Gabe <3

The LOVELY couple!

So much fun packed in to just two days...creepy motels, random panties, our first White Castle burgers, an amazing wedding, and great time with the family. I wish we could have stayed longer.

Love you Jesse and Kimmy! <3

I LOVE making blog headers!

2010-09-23T12:47:00.000-04:00

And even more than that, I love making blog headers for people I love! Last night I threw together a quick header for my second mommy using a base image from shabbyblogs.com.

You can see her whole blog here: My Own Style.
I love that she loves it :)

Writing.....still one of my biggest enemies

2010-09-22T18:24:00.000-04:00

I managed to crank out our first edition of the Purple Monkey newsletter but I don't feel too great about my writing. I want to be able to confidently write more content and have that content be valuable and not just my usual ramblings. So to turn things around I have started making a list of topics that I would like to blog about. My hope is that the more I write the easier it will get.

But there is yet another problem when it comes to my inability to write. Several months ago I had a very vivid dream with a detailed story line that would make an amazing book (if written well). The following night I had an equally vivid dream which was part 2 to the original dream. So now I have in my head the plots for two books and because I am terrified of writing, I'm scared that these stories are going to go to waste. Maybe after I start blogging on a regular basis I will be confident enough to attempt writing an actual book.

So now is the time for my to quit making excuses for not writing and not blogging. Writing this blog took just a couple minutes, so no more saying "I don't have time!" I am officially vowing to write at least once every other day. Let's see how this turns out :)

~Kirs

It's about time I get over my fear of writing!

2010-08-31T20:01:00.000-04:00

We have reached over 200 people signed up for our newsletter so it's time for Issue #1 to come together! Writing about all the fun stuff that we do at Purple Monkey Designs is easy but I have a serious issue writing about myself and about WHAT Purple Monkey Designs is. I can only stare at a blank page for so long before I realize that I'm just not good at writing up even just a few sentences about who I am. So now is the time for me to learn how to write about myself and not feel like I'm being pompous if I say something nice about myself. I'm really pleased with how the rest of the newsletter is coming together. My goal is to be completely finished, proofread, and sent out by tomorrow.

The Proof Is In The Pudding...Or Website Hits!!!

2010-08-27T13:55:00.001-04:00

In my last blog entry I mentioned two authors that I gained a ton of social media information from. I did some brain storming to try and find a way to really get my name out there in the gigantic cyber world. When I finally decided on the direction I wanted to take, I had no IDEA that the results would be as massive as they were. Prior to August 26th, my record for most hits in one day was 22. I always thought that was a lot for a tiny business like mine. I created a survey to gather information on what people want out of a design/marketing company and offered two free stickers for anyone who took this survey. Now, free surveys through surveymonkey.com put a limit of 100 on the number of responses I could get. I didn't think I'd get anywhere near 100, so no worries. I submitted my offer to a freebie site that immediately put it on their Twitter page. As the survey count got up in to the 60s, I got a little nervous about reaching the limit so I made a copy of the survey and put that link directly on my website. Over the next couple hours, I watch the numbers go up and they eventually both reached 100 and I shut them down after that (I only have but so many stickers!). So after this little marketing campaign this is what I came up with:

Completed surveys with full addresses: 148
Requests to be on my Newsletter mailing list direct from my website: before campaign, 0....after, 41
Website Hits: before campaign, 22.....after, 2126!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am blown away by the results of this simple idea and just wanted to share my story. I've got to get back to replying to emails and writing up contracts for new clients!

~ @misskirs

Two Authors Of Note...

2010-08-24T20:15:00.001-04:00

I've been spending my summer working on launching my internet marketing section of Purple Monkey Designs. As the total nerd that I am, I checked out every book at the library on every kind of internet marketing topic I could find. Two of these books really blew me away so I thought I'd share.

In Social Media 101 by Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), he went over every type of social media you could ever imagine. He focused a lot on the power of blogging which has really inspired me to stick to this blogging thing and not keep pushing it aside like I have been. He explained how to engage your readers and not run them off with boring, insignificant posts. I really could go on and on about everything that I got out of the book but I would suggest just reading the book cause he explains it a heck of a lot better than I ever could!

Twitter Power 2.0 by Joel Comm (@joelcomm) really shocked me. I really couldn't figure out how someone could write an entire book on Twitter which seems like the simplest form of social networking that exists. You type in your 140 characters and poof you're done. Not the case after I read this book :) There's so much more that goes in to writing VALUABLE posts that people will actually be interested in. He explains the best ways to attract followers (because without followers, you're just basically talking to yourself) and he explains the easiest ways to scare off the followers that you do have. Again, there's so much valuable information in this book I can't even begin to explain it all. I would stay up until 2am reading this book using the light from my cellphone screen cause I just could NOT put it down.

Anyone interested in improving your social networking skills DEFINITELY need to read these two books. I really can't say enough. These guys just make everything make sense!

Any you can always follow my uneventful (yet educated) ramblings on twitter @misskirs

Relaunch!!!!

2010-06-24T21:00:00.001-04:00

The Purple Monkey Designs website has been going through a MAJOR makeover and it is finally time to go public with it! I still have a ton of work to do on many of the pages but it is up and ready for some feedback. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of it!

In Memory...

2010-05-07T11:14:00.000-04:00

This was a bittersweet project I did awhile back and there is an event coming up that needs some promotion. So here goes :)

Greg Walker, otherwise known as "Bam-Bam", died Friday morning, September 11, 2009.

Please come out and join "Team BamBam" in our efforts to help find a cure and raise awareness for diabetes.

The National Capital Tour de Cure
Sunday June 20, 2010
Reston Town Center
Registration Opens: 6:00am - 10:30
(depending on the route you're registering for)
Event Starts: 7:30 - 11:30am
Distance: 6 different route lengths, 100, 63, 33, 20, 17, 1-12 miles
Event Details

Please visit his site: Remembering Greg Walker

Thanks Ya'll!!!

My Blog Idol

2010-05-06T18:32:00.000-04:00

This blog was originally created for two reasons...one was to share my designs and photos with the masses and the other was because my dear friend Miss Katy is a fantastic blogger and she definitely inspired me to become a fellow blogger. With that said, you can only imagine how honored I felt when she asked me to design the header for not one, but two of her amazing blogs.

First, I designed a header for her personal blog, documenting her adventures in moving from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to great big New York City. She is totally the bravest chick I know --> Katy Was Here

The next header I had the privilege to design was a very special blog. One of Katy's absolute favorite things in life is the Olympics. Every two years, for those couple weeks, she's the happiest girl on the planet. She came up with a great idea to share with her friends, her choice of the "Hot Olympian Of The Day". This turned from an e-mail mailing list in to an amazing blog that she started at the beginning of the Olympics in Vancouver. You'll have to read the blog to get a better explanation than that --> Katy's Hot Olympian of the Day

Thanks for the blogging motivation Miss Katy :)

A Special Day

2010-04-23T13:50:00.000-04:00

I have been meaning to post on here and what better day to start than today.

6 years ago a dear friend of mine left us with no explanation why. It feels like it was yesterday. This poem was given to me by its author who told me that one day it would mean a lot to me. And now it does.

WORDS AND FLOWERS
by Lawrence D. Sauvage

Flowers after,
Like words
When not said,
Are not flowers
And, are not words.

Give flowers, and
Your best words,
Before they become
No flowers,
And not words

Your friend
Should have been
Given them both
When they
Would have appreciated
Their worth
And the value
You gave
To that friendship.

My friend,
Forgive me,
For the flowers
Not sent,
And the words
Not given.

2010....What A Start (Written 01.06.10)

2010-02-13T22:37:00.000-05:00

I was planning on writing an entry about my New Years Resolution but 2010 started off with an interesting twist that has made me come up with an additional resolution…No more crashing cars…thats my #1 NYR.

That’s right…on Jan. 3rd I wrecked my boyfriends car. I had to be taken out of the car by EMTs and strapped to the board with the neck brace and the whole dramatic scene. But after xrays, nothing is broken, just a couple scratches and a whooole lot of soreness. Here are a few pics of the damage I caused by taking my eyes off the road for 2 seconds…

What a way to start the year…I INTENDED for my first entry of the year to be more like this:

YAY! It’s finally 2010! Time for a fresh start and a fresh outlook on life! Normally, I would come up with some smartass statement like “I don’t need any silly New Years Resolutions because I’m pretty much perfect”…but obviously (especially now), that is not the case.

Of course I want to find a steadier supply of work and income….but for my mental health, my main NYR is to travel more and take more pictures. Photography is what makes me happy and I never go out just to take pictures anymore. That needs to change. I want to go on little day trips, maybe weekend trips, to pretty places and just take a whole mess of pictures.

Shortly before the start of the new year, I got to take some pictures of some family and friends ice skating at a nearby ice rink. Here are some of the highlights:

It felt so great to be out taking pictures. I’ve started making lists of places I want to go to in the area to just wander around and snap some shots. This will be where I report back with my pictures :) Stay tuned to see where 2010 will take me!

Inspiration (Written 12.03.09)

2010-02-13T21:55:00.000-05:00

Nooo, I haven’t forgotten about my blog…yet. I have a short term memory problem so if I don’t write down “update blog”…it probably won’t happen. I had it written down twice and I’m just now remembering to do it.

ANYWAY, moving on…Every time someone hears the name “Purple Monkey Designs”, I get that funny look like people don’t have a clue how I came up with a name like that. So I’m going to take the time to explain how it all went down.

It all started about a year ago, when I decided to start my own design business. I’m good with images, photos, anything visual….TERRIBLE with words. So, of course, I turn to my friends to help brainstorming ideas for business names. For anyone that knows me well, I’m very difficult, very indecisive, and very picky. Pretty much all my friends told me they wouldn’t help me because I would shoot down every idea they came up with…I’m sooo sorry that I had a list of criteria that the business name needed to meet. Here’s an idea of what I put them through:

Nothing with my name or initials in it
Nothing too silly, somewhat professional…..but NOT boring and bland
Easy to spell
Easy to remember
Unique and hip without using any whacky letters like “Dezignz” (refer back to easy to spell)
Something that represents me, as a person, but no inside jokes

I know there were more rules….but that’s all I can come up with right now. So a year goes by and only ONE friend stuck by me and continued to try to come up with new ideas…huge, crazy, mack daddy props go to Bussells for putting up with all my crap.

We figured that purple needed to be involved, because anyone who knows me, knows that I live and breathe purple. If it’s purple, I’ll buy it. If it’s purple…I have to have it. If everything in life was purple, I’d be a happy girl. So “Purple” had to be part of it, but PurpleDesigns….bleh. So we needed another word to go along with it. We originally went with “DeepPurple”….me being a youngin’ didn’t think about the band…nor did I know the band existed. So every time I tell someone older than myself about DeepPurpleDesigns, they’re immediate reaction was “…like the band?”. So that idea got scratched. Back to just Purple….

Now, ever since I was about 15, my nickname was Monkey. My son, ever since he was about 3, has been known as MonkeyBoy (Monkey B, for short). So needless to say, we love monkeys. Any time there’s a monkey on TV, my son goes “THERE’S ME!!!!” Yea…we’re not normal. Anyway….COMBINING two of my favorite things in life…Bussells suggests, “How about PurpleMonkeyDesigns?” Genious on so many levels, I loved it. It still confuses people, but I don’t care. That name is totally ME!

But the story doesn’t end here. My son, Chance/Boogie/MonkeyB didn’t know about all this business stuff going on because he would have zero interest in it. He had no idea about the whole Purple Monkey debacle, so I was ESPECIALLY amused when he came home from school one day, all excited, saying he got to pick out of the prize box that day and that he picked something for me…

My mind was blown….It was a sign! So it was decided and I got to work designing my site. So I hope that clears up all the questions people have about “PurpleMonkeyDesigns”!

So ever since the little purple monkey came in to my life, this is where he lives…

And I’m sure he’ll turn up in some of my future photographic adventures!

I Have Arrived!!

2010-02-12T18:12:00.000-05:00

I started a blog using Tumblr but, sadly, was not satisfied with the way things were set up over there...so I'm moving here!! I'll start off by copying my two big blog entries over to here and then keep things rolling (I must, must, MUST learn to keep my blog up to date!) :)