House on Payne - Website and content solutions for your business
Family Christmas card design
On 07, Oct 2012 | No Comments | In Design | By Cindy
I designed our family Christmas card this year on a lark after receiving a holiday card discount offer from Moo.com, and I think it’s indicative of the kind of family we are.
Back to reality after An Event Apart
On 14, Jul 2012 | No Comments | In It's a Dirty Job... | By Cindy
This past week I had the incredible opportunity to attend a web design conference here in Austin: An Event Apart. The conference is focused on website design, but I don’t just mean layout. I mean the entire planning process, from conception through front-end development.
Favorite links: April 29-May 5 edition
On 06, May 2012 | No Comments | In Nuts & Bolts | By Cindy
In case you missed it
Ballet, brews and bosses were just a few topics I shared this past week over Twitter.
I rounded up my top six for this week’s favorite links.
Favorite links: April 22-28 edition
On 29, Apr 2012 | No Comments | In It's a Dirty Job... | By Cindy
Giant Google map pins, doggie wi-fi, recharging motivation, and more!
Think the web is nothing but a bunch of tubes? Think again! I found so much great stuff this week! Here’s what I was passing on.
What I’m reading: April 15-21
On 21, Apr 2012 | No Comments | In It's a Dirty Job... | By Cindy
My to-do list my be about five miles long, but I always make time to read up on the latest in social media, web design, and development.
I share a lot of what I read with my followers on Twitter. In case you missed any (have you considered following me?), here’s some of the most interesting articles.
How to solve a problem: Step away
On 20, Apr 2012 | No Comments | In How To | By Cindy
I tend to be the kind of person that will work non-stop until I solve an issue.
It must come from my days as a news producer. When I worked in the newsroom, deadlines were tight. There was no choice but to work, and work and work. Breaks were annoyances. We had a show to prepare, and there was not question about whether we would make slot. It had to be ready. Period. End of discussion.
Gosh, I can’t believe it’s been nearly 10 years. Old habits die hard I guess.
Occasionally, I still find myself in that news producer mode where I want to work and work until I finish my task. But I finally learned an important lesson: you THINK better when you walk away.
Houston, we are go for launch
On 07, Apr 2012 | No Comments | In It's a Dirty Job... | By Cindy
One of the things that frightens me most is launching a website.
You would think that being a professional, it wouldn’t worry me so much, but it always does. I mean, a website launch is HUGE!
Is the content in place? Has it been checked for spelling, grammar and punctuation? Do all of the links work? Will visitors and search engines find the site? Will users understand how it works? The worries go on and on.
And then there are my worries about whether I rushed the launch? Or maybe I didn’t go fast enough? Will the server handle the additional traffic? How will the site perform? Did I follow the right pre-alunch checklist?
Go forth and create awesomeness
On 18, Mar 2012 | No Comments | In It's a Dirty Job... | By Cindy
South by Southwest: I came, I saw, I learned a lot, ya’ll!
I was thrilled to be in the thick of the Interactive festival. It was five intense days of workshops, panels, product demonstrations, meet-and-greets, and more. Even though I live in Austin, I feel like I left my whole life for SXSW, and when I came back, I hit the ground running again.
I’m still decompressing from all of the action.
Learning curve
On 24, Feb 2012 | No Comments | In It's a Dirty Job... | By Cindy
It’s so frustrating to work on something for hours and not have it figured out by the time to leave work for the day.
That’s how I’ve felt the past two days. I knew I needed to leave. My eyes hurt. My head was swimming. And my brain felt like it was about to explode. But it felt like I was so close to figuring out the issue that I didn’t want to leave.
I’m working on a custom-post template display for my current project. It’s the most complicated piece of development I’ve ever done. The custom-post is a biography, and it collects all kinds of information about each of the providers. The page displays a photo of the provider and pertinent information about their experience, background, and current practice.
A visit to San Saba
On 30, Jan 2012 | No Comments | In It's a Dirty Job... | By Cindy
One of the best parts of my work is getting to know my clients.
Today I got to spend time with my newest clients — Lynn and Mike McHenry of San Saba Wine Cellars.
I took Andy and the kids up to San Saba, TX for the day. It’s about 2 hours northwest of Austin in the Hill Country, just north of the Highland Lakes. I’m such a city girl, but Mike and Lynn took us to an awesome pit barbeque joint, toured us around downtown, took us to various natural wonders, visited an old mill near a farm where my son collected fresh eggs, and then we tasted wines at one of the wineries Mike supplies grapes to.
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