Upcoming Changes!

Hello everyone! I am currently in the process of making changes to this blog site, so payment and signing up for a blog layout has currently been disabled. As you may have noticed, I have made most of the changes to this blog's layout itself, but I am still making some changes to the sign-up and layout process. I should have all the changes finished by end of this weekend (if not, sooner), and I will post another update explaining all the changes at that time. In the meantime, enjoy the holiday weekend!

It's a Tie!

Since there is a three-way tie in the poll (with only three votes total lol), I have decided to keep the poll open through the weekend. Before I go to bed on Sunday night, I will close the poll and announce the winner. Soooo....please keep voting!

Cause of the Month Poll for July

The Cause of the Month Poll is now up for July. I apologize for it being two days later than normal. I moved back home on Sunday, started my summer jobs on Monday and somehow completely forgot to post it. Sorry! Here are the three causes I have selected for the poll and a little description:

The Conservation Fund
The Conservation Fund is America's foremost conservation nonprofit that protects America's most important landscapes, waterways and wildlife habitat. The Fund helps local, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations acquire property from willing sellers to protect open space, wildlife habitat, public recreation areas, river corridors and historic places.

The Invisible Children, Inc.
The Invisible Children, Inc. is a non-profit organization that establishes revenue generating programs to impact the lives of those in need in both America and Northern Uruguay. Donations are the main force behind this organization. Invisible Children, Inc. also focuses on educating and empowering the rest of the world to take action and drive change.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
A Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 confirmed what aid workers have seen in the worst places on earth: Doctors Without Borders fearlessly delivers emergency and long-term medical care in regions devastated by natural or man-made disasters. The organization's critical initiatives include focusing the world's attention on humanitarian violations and providing mental health care alongside physical care. It also demands medicines for diseases prevalent only in developing countries. (Drug companies sometimes halt production of such drugs when it's not profitable, or make drugs too expensive for developing countries.)

I have put a new poll on the top of the right sidebar, so please vote and please tell other people about the poll too! The poll will close on Tuesday at 11:59pm EST and I will announce our Cause of the Month for July shortly after.

June's Cause of the Month is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital!

Receiving 100% of the voes, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is our Cause of the Month for June! For the whole month of June, I will donate $5 for every blog layout ordered to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Let's see how much money we can raise! If you don't want to order a blog layout but would still like to donate to the Cause of the Month for June, you can click on the PayPal donate button on the right sidebar (underneath the poll results).

We didn't raise as much money for the Cause of the Month for May (the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) as I would have liked, but we did raise some money. I think we can all agree that raising some money is better than raising no money, thought! Thanks to everyone who contributed to raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

I am now starting to take suggestions for the Cause of the Month for July and will continue to do so through June 14th. You can either leave a suggestion in the comments section in this post, or you can e-mail me at hilary.keegan@gmail.com. On June 15th, I will put up the poll for July. I haven't received any suggestions in awhile and, while I am still receiving a few votes in my polls, votes are dwindling also. Don't get me wrong...I still very much appreciate all the votes and if I receive any suggestions those will be appreciated too, but I sort of feel like I am choosing these organizations/foundations by myself. You all are the main contributors of the money we raise for the Cause of the Month, so I think it is only fair that you all have a say in where the money goes. That's the reason why I am open to suggestions and I put up a poll every month. If you all think that it would be better for me to just choose a Cause of the Month every month, then that's fine. However, I do like giving you all choices and as long as I receive feedback/suggestions and people are participating in the poll, I will continue to determine the Cause of the Month the way I have been. So, feel free to make a suggestion and keep those votes coming!

In case you haven't seen, I put up a post yesterday with several new ideas. Which ideas do you like? What do you think about them? Are there any you don't like? If so, why not? As always, feedback is very much appreciated!

New Ideas

I have a few new ideas, but I would like some feedback before I decide to make any changes. I would really appreciate it if you would tell me which ideas you like or don't like and why. You don't necessarily need to have purchased one of my blog layouts before or purchase one in the future...really, I would just like some feedback! I will probably decide which ideas to institute based on the feedback I receive here, so please let me know what you think.

• I often receive e-mails from people who have seen a cool feature or a neat trick on a blog and would like to know how to replicate it on their own blog. I am thinking about doing a weekly post series on tips and tricks for bloggers. If enough people would participate, I may even start a blog carnival where people can post their own tips or tricks on their blogs. They don't even need to be related to blogs....anythings, really! What do you think? Would you enjoy seeing weekly posts about blog tips and tricks? Would you participate in this blog carnival? What do you think the blog carnival should be called?
  
• Have you ever seen a blog that uses a unique font in the title or text of their posts and wondered how you could get that on your blog? If you're not sure what I'm talking about, you can visit this blog and see an example by looking at the post titles. I have been thinking about offering this as an add-on. What do you think? Would you like to have a unique font for your post titles and/or the entire text? Or are you perfectly content using one of Blogger's default fonts?
• Another add-on I am considering offering is a navigation bar below the blog header image on blog layouts. The navigation bar can be a simple one with just text that link to various posts or websites, or they can be several images that also link to posts or websites. A navigation bar with images would cost more than a navigation bar with just text. To see an example of a navigation bar with images, just look above this post below my header image. The images with Sign Up, Portfolio, FAQs, Kits, and Payment Page is the navigation bar that I am talking about. What do you think? Would you use this add-on? If so, would you want a simple text navigation bar or one with images?

Like I said, I would really appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks in advance! Oh, and just a reminder: there is only one day left to vote in the Cause of the Month for June poll in my right sidebar, so please vote!

June's Cause of the Month Poll Is Up!

It's that time of the month again...let's start voting for our Cause of the Month for June! Here are the three causes I have selected and a little description. If you would like to find out more about them, you can click on the title of the cause.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. St. Jude is the first and only pediatric cancer center to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tenn., St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family's inability to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fundraising organization.

Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with God and people everywhere, from all walks of life, to develop communities with people in need by building and renovating houses so that there are decent houses in decent communities in which every person can experience God's love and can live and grow into all that God intends

Women for Women International
Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies. Women for Women International envisions a world where no one is abused, poor, illiterate or marginalized; where members of communities have full and equal participation in the processes that ensure their health, well-being and economic independence; and where everyone has the freedom to define the scope of their life, their future and strive to achieve their full potential.

I have put a new poll on the top of the right sidebar, so please vote and please tell other people about the poll too! The poll will close on Sunday, May 31 at 11:59pm EST and I will announce our Cause of the Month for June shortly after. We are doing a great job raising money for our Cause of the Month for May, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Keep up the good work!

Cause of the Month: May... The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!

The Cause of the Month for May is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! For the entire month of April, I will donate $5 for every blog layout ordered. You can also contribute to the total amount we raise by clicking on the PayPal Donate button in the right sidebar. Of course, you can always donate directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation also. Let's see how much we can raise!

I really appreciate everyone who voted in the poll...it was a very close with only one vote deciding the cause. I am now going to start taking suggestions for a cause to donate to for the month of June and will continue to take suggestions until the night of May 14. You can comment on this poll with your suggestion or you can e-mail me at hilary.keegan@gmail.com. While I don't mind choosing causes for the poll on my own if I don't get enough suggestions, I really would like to know which causes you would like to see us donate to, so please feel free to suggest something. If I get more than three suggestions, I will choose the top three. If I have less than three suggestions, I will give one or two of my own suggested causes. On May 15, I will put up a poll with three causes and you all will have until the night of May 31. Thanks!