This is just a quick update for you —we’ll be back to posting very soon.  As you know Quinn is moving on to new pastures and we’ve been very busy with the transition of this blog, but looking forward to get in touch.

We have a few surprises in the works, but still our main goal and desire is to showcase talented women from all over! So, if you’d like to be a contributor or know an awesome blogger, please let us know! And, of course, feel free to post your ideas and suggestions!

We also have a new Facebook Page. Please go there and ‘like’ us so we can get a real URL name.

Life has gotten busier and busier until I’ve gotten to the point where I can no longer hope to maintain this blog.  It’s been such a delightful journey and I’ve LOVED working on it.  However, my food photography business is keeping me so busy and to keep things moving forward, I need to give it my full attention.  I’ve decided to only blog at my TheArtisticMom.com blogsite.  I’d LOVE you to stop by and say “hello” from time-to-time!  I will miss my CreatedByChicks.com readers so much!!!

And since I really believe that CreatedByChicks.com is a truly great site, I hate to see it just evaporate into thin air.  The readership is good and was continually building.  The Facebook group has lots of fabulous, creative people within it.  And – if you don’t mind me saying so – I really love the graphic design for this blog.  If you or anyone you know would be interested in taking over CreatedByChicks.com, I’d LOVE it!  Send me an email (quinn {at} limelightfoodphotography {dot} com) and we can talk specifics of working out a transfer.

Thank you SOOOOO much for your readership and support of CreatedByChicks.com!!!  I’ve resisted making this change for awhile because I knew I would miss CreatedByChicks.com so much if I stopped.  But, alas, missing it or not, I must move on.  All my love to you in your creative pursuits!!! xoxo

I’m sooooo excited to tell you about this completely fabulous design blog some friends of CreatedByChicks.com have started.  It’s called the Good Look Cookbook and it’s going to be all about DIY Graphic Design “recipes.”  They’ve just put up their first awesome post which is all about taking the inspiration of Ukranian eggs:

And using that (and some outlined “ingredients) to create a unique, custom stationary set:

I love what these girls are “cooking up!”  Such a fun site and I’m thrilled to help spread the word about it.  Go check it out and get inspired!

Been a fun, busy weekend and I wanted to toss this out to let y’all know about this super-rad teleconference the Casual Blogger Conference ladies are putting together for this Thursday night:

As you know, the Casual Blogger Conference is bound to be absolutely amazing!  The purpose of this teleconference is let everyone know a bit more about Casual Blogger Conference in May while meeting some of the speakers and learning some more about these cool topics: Is it too late to cash in on that Cash-Cow of blogging?  How to make your online business/blog more profitable. Blogging: Man vs Woman. Who has more power? Your life is not a bed of roses – Why you should be authentic on your blog.  The train wreck of blog-haters. Why do you keep blogging? and much more.

Sounds like a blast to me!  What else will these fab ladies come up with next? 

Oy veh. I had such good intentions for today’s Design Monday post! I’ve been thinking about it for the past week and had SUCH a great idea, but when push came to shove… I ran out of time, energy and pizazz.  Forgive me (pretty please) for no post today.  Wishing you a much more successful Monday than what I’ve had!

*drum roll, please*  Unveiled my big news in full on my mom-blog, TheArtisticMom.com, so check it out if you want all the details.

Here’s the most exciting of the news, though:

As I mentioned previously, I may not be posting as regularly as I’d like to for awhile, primarily due to the two crazy things I’ve got going on right now, happening right alongside normal motherhood, household and wifely responsibilities… woot.  I’ve been posting clues on my mom blog “The Artistic Mom” every day for the past 4 days and will unveil the “what’s going on with Quinn?” answers tomorrow.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the clues:

For those of you that follow my mom-blog, too – I completely ADORE you – I apologize that this post is a bit redundant.  Tomorrow’s the unveiling of the answers!  Go ahead and post a guess in the comments.  The funnier your guess is, the better it makes me feel.  Thank you for your love and support!

Well, I’m so sorry to say that due to situations beyond my control, I may not be consistently posting on this site for a little while.  I apologize in breaking your hearts this way and hope you’ll remain my lovely, fabulous readers through this trying time for myself and my family.  To make things a little more fun, I have some little daily clues I’m posting on my mom-blog, TheArtisticMom.com, for everyone to guess what two crazy things are going on right now to pique the absolute madness.  Feel free to join in the fun!  Missing you… xoxo

Since I’m at a bit of a crossroads with what to do with my Monday posts (since I’m no longer doing design work and thus don’t want to do “Design Monday” posts) I thought I’d put it out there to my fabulous readership to ask what you’d like to see here on Mondays.

Here’s a few ideas, but if you have an original idea that you think would be awesome, by all means, tell me!  I’d really love to hear your input:

• More fun products featured from creative chicks
• Guest posts from creative chicks
• Design Monday, with a focus on featuring design blogs (rather than blogs I’ve designed)
• Creative inspiration or a creative project idea

Hmmm.. actually, it looks like I don’t have too many ideas.  How about you let me know in the comments what’s working for you here on CBC and what you’d like to see more of.  I have the BEST readers in the blogosphere, so I’m certain your ideas will rock the house!

I’m hoping for a miracle for my family… many of you know I’ve been hoping for this miracle for over a year now.  Now, however, we’re at the point where the miracle, well maybe a series of 3 miracles to be exact, has got to happen (or at very least start to happen) within the next week or things will get disasterous.  Yesterday I was pretty discouraged and upset by the lack of miracles, but today I’ve had a change of heart.  I’m changing my perspective to focus on the things I can control and being truly grateful for the abundance of beauties in my life.  If the worst happens (as I’ve been almost paralyzed with fear for the past few days, wondering if it will), so what.  It will happen whether I spend my time worrying about it or not.  In the meantime, though, I’d rather have a lot of happy days with my children and my sweetheart.  I once heard that our reality is defined only by our perspective of what our reality is.  So, I’m changing my perspective: my life is full of abundance.. come what may.

For today’s feature I thought I’d do an Etsy search with the word “miracle” and see what fun things popped up.  There were a lot of great choices, but I was completely enraptured with a particular creative chick’s designs I found in the search.  Meet Cameron, the artist behind, “Create Beauty Daily: Custom Jewelry from my Heart to Yours.”  I loved her description of herself, found on her fabulous blog, “Create Beauty Daily:”

“I am an artist because I make art (and only recently embraced that definition). I create beauty daily, although I am very loosey-goosey about it; my daily beauty could be a new handmade necklace or a yummy meal from scratch or a photograph or a handmade book or a sweet moment of interaction with someone or a scrapbook page or a pair of earrings or…”

And now, with no further ado, take a peek at a few of Cameron’s fabulous creations… and I couldn’t resist including parts of the product descriptions also since they made the handmade jewelry pieces all the more magical (click on pics to be redirected to her store):

Reject Fear Necklace – $45.00

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?  If, like for so many of us, what holds you back is fear, then this pendant urges you to Reject that Fear; look it in the eyes and deny it and PROCEED ANYWAY. Scary, yes; but oh-so-necessary for most of us in this life! I’ve chosen a light blue crystal to hang in the center of the disc, because blue represents commitment, calm, and aided intuition.

Three Little Birds Necklace – $48.00 (my favorite!!)

Rise up this mornin’
Smile with the risin’ sun
Three little birds
Perch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true
Singin’, This is my message to you-ou-ou
Sayin’, Don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little thing
Is gonna be all right
–Bob Marley, Three Little Birds

The moment I was introduced to this song I grasped “three little birds” as a symbol for letting my worries go… even for just a moment! I’m still a worrier by nature, which is why I need these three little birds to remind me! This necklace would be a perfect gift for someone going through a struggle right now, or for someone like me who just needs to remember to take a deep breath and have faith that things will all work out.

Be the Miracle Necklace – $38.00

We’ve all heard Ghandi’s wise words, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” But what if we want more than change? What if we’re hoping for a change so great it would be more like a miracle? Be the miracle you wish to see in the world. Be somebody’s miracle. Be an everyday miracle. Strive.

And I could just keep posting more and more of her lovely, inspiring jewelry creations… but then it would take everyone ten-billion years to load this post, lol.  Aren’t they beautiful little treasures, though?!  Ahhh.. it’s always so inspiring to come across female artists who truly are creating as an outward expression of an inward passion.  I just adore Cameron’s handmade jewelry… thank you for your creativity, Cameron!