IMPORTANT: A number of changes…

Hey guys. I know it’s been a long time since I posted, that’s actually one of the many things in the works to change here soon. I do have a number of important announcements though that will be affecting both existing and future clients…

Availability: As of recently, my availability has changed and I will no longer be able to take on the volume or scale of projects that I used to. I have recently begun a new ongoing contract that will take up the majority of my time indefinitely, and will not permit me the time to take on anything larger than smaller sized projects and maintenance work (needing something fixed, adjusted, added etc). Even then I may have to occasionally turn down inquiries for smaller projects, as I will only have the available time to take on so many, and with the number of clients I have I may not be able to fit you all in in a given timeframe. I will however always do my best to be here for you guys if at all possible, and you are welcome to inquire about any needs. Just please bear in mind that should you need anything of fair size, I will not be able to offer turnaround times as I did previously, as my available time to work on your project will be much more limited.(Clients that had existing projects booked, rest assured I am temporarily pulling extra hours to get you completed as soon as possible.)

Hours: I have recently been working harder to reign in my hours and get on a more set schedule, which can be very difficult in design. There’s always 20 more things in your inbox that weren’t there when you started work for the day that need tended to, just one more thing you want to try and get finished before logging off, and those times you just push and push because something hasn’t quite come together right yet and you know a client is waiting on you to bring it on home. It can be a vicious cycle that if you don’t draw set lines with, can suck you in from the time you get up til the time you go to bed.

As much as I adore all of my clients and want to be there for them 24/7, I have to draw stricter lines for not only my sanity, but my family and health as well. Recently another designer friend of mine was diagnosed with high blood pressure and sleep deprivation from their hours, and sadly my first thought after concern for them was thank god, it’s not just me. Sometimes as designer’s I think we push too hard, feeling the expectations of our clients and wanting so badly not to disappoint them, but the weight of those expectations can often leave us burning the candle at both ends and missing out on our own lives. It isn’t their fault in any way, but my own for not setting better boundaries between my work life and home life.  I need to learn to actually walk away from work, and your understanding and help with that would go a long way.

So starting now I am more strictly implementing my hours and will not be available after 5 PM EST  or on weekends, except for emergencies. Come 5 pm, I will be shutting everything down cold. Should you have an emergency that absolutely has to be tended to in my off hours, please be aware that there will now be a $25 fee for after hours service.  I have never been one to implement fees, however if there is something that absolutely cannot wait until the next day and requires me missing dinner or homework time with my family, or requires me to leave a family movie to come and tend to, I do ask for a small fee to compensate for the personal time lost to come back to the computer, boot it up, start my programs and locate any necessary files,  and tend to the task.

Any inquiries that come in after 5pm, if they are not labeled as an emergency, will be answered on the next business day. Please bear in mind as well that even with emergencies, I still might not be able to tend to you at that time if I am not home.

Niteflirt Coding Changes: As I am sure you are all aware, Niteflirt is implementing the new restrictions on what code they will and will not allow. For many of you, this means you will likely end up with broken listings, as all listings I designed were compliant with their standards at the time and prior to any mention from Niteflirt of the change. As much as I would like to help out and fix things up for you guys, I do have to ask for a small fee if you would like your listing converted, as I could not have foreseen Niteflirt changing and breaking designs and this change was both beyond my control and not my fault in any way. So please keep that in mind when you email me about any Niteflirt related issues with your designs. I will always fix anything that was a genuine mistake of mine at no charge, but if I provided a product that was correct at the time, and it is no longer working due to a third party’s changes, that is beyond my control and I do have to ask for compensation for the time and labor to fix an issue that someone else created.If you do need conversion done, let me know and I will do my absolute best to work you in as soon as possible.

Freebies and sale items: Depending on how things go with my new schedule and availabity, I plan to set aside more time now that my schedule will be more under control to releasing more freebies on a regular bases and putting up some items for sale (templates and other items.) There are also some services I have in the works that should be coming along before too long, so keep an eye out for those as well.

So I think that about wraps up the announcements. Sorry to hit you guys with so much at once, but it’s been a big month between my shedule changing, Niteflirt going all to hell with code changes, and all kinds of craziness. Hopefully I will still be able to help most of you out with your needs, and for what I lack in availability now, I plan to try and make up for in freebies and other items of interest.

If you have any questions about anything above, please do not hesitate to email me and inquire. I will be happy to address any concerns you might have.

Aside from that, hope you are all well and making great money. =)

XOXOLlara

Important Notice: Hotlinking

Just a quick notice that unfortunately the time has come for me to implement some hotlinking measures. Over the years I’ve had issues here or there with girl’s not respecting the freebie rules and linking their freebies from the site instead of hosting them somewhere else. Up until now, it’s been a fairly minor issue, and one I’ve adressed personally, but the time has come when I need to implement other measures.

For anyone unaware, hotlinking is when you take a freebie and use the direct URL to it from my site on your wepage or listing, instead of downloading or saving the images and uploading them to host somewhere else. When you do this, your use of the image and page loads cost me bandwidth, which I pay for. I love doing freebies for you guys and will keep doing them, but all I do ask is that you host them somewhere on your own (your own server or a free image host like PSOHosting.com) and not cost me bandwidth to use them.

So if for any reason you are hotlinking freebies from here, please know that as of Sunday night, your images will no longer show. You are still welcome to use them, but you will need to download and host the images somewhere else, because your direct links will no longer work.  I’m posting this and will wait until Sunday give anyone a chance to replace their links without having any broken images on their listings or sites.

A new design for the new year…

Just a quick note about a few changes to the site for the new year. As you can see, the site has a sleek new look to start things off. There is also a new Tips & Tutorials section, that will hopefully be filling up soon.  Some more changes may be coming along as well, so bear with me if things go out of whack a bit.

Hope you all are having a great year so far, and stay tuned for more changes and freebies in the works!