Blogging...it takes a village

Soo....lets take a little walk down memory lane shall we...well you probably don't remember some of this stuff...but don't worry...I will fill you in...these are my memories...but I wanted to share them with you....are you ready...ok...let's go!


I made my first decorated cookies during the big snowstorm of 2011...do you remember it?  I do...just look at this

23 inches of snow!  In my front yard!

This is how much snow we got in just over a day...It was crazy...so what do you do to pass the time, when EVERYTHING is closed...you bake of course....so that is what I did...but that is a post for another day...today..I am talking my logo and blogging.

So I baked and decorated my first cookie in February of 2011....and by November of 2011...I decided that I was totally hooked...great...now what...people are asking to buy cookies...asking for business cards...what is the name of my business.....crap....I don't have a business name...or a business card...or a clue as to what the heck I am doing.

Enter stage left, Lindsay!

Now...Lindsay is like my fairy godmother...except she is way younger then me.....and way cooler then me...and way more artistic them me.  Lindsay is my hair dresser!   When I first started going to Lindsay...my hair was past my shoulders.....now, well, it is a super short pixie cut.

Now, many will say...big deal.....well, I am hear to tell you it is a BIG DEAL...I have SUPER THICK hair...and normally,   THICK HAIR + PIXIE CUT = NOT SO PRETTY!

But Lindsay....she has magic siccorrs...magic I am telling you...pure magic!  Thanks to her, I can do my hair in like 2 seconds (well, maybe more like 2 minutes) but the point is I LOVE IT...and her!

Great Kim....get to the point!

OK here is it ...I finally decided that I needed a logo...so I begged, well not begged...but begged sound way cooler then asked...but I asked Lindsay to create me a logo.  I told her my name   The Cookie Puzzle...it had to have puzzle pieces in it (duh) and it had to have four colors...blue, green, red and yellow...true colors...no shading...remember shading is a no no for Collin!

So...a few days later, she handed me these!

Cute right?   So I decided to go with the first one....now that I did not like the second one, it is cute, but I just loved the first one!

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Lindsay is super creative...I mean...really creative...she does amazing hair and color...so if you need a hair stylist...and you are in Columbia Missouri, give me a holler...I will let her out of my basement, cause I keep her chained up and bring her out every 5 weeks to cut my hair , JOKING OF COURSE, I  can put you in contact with her!

So great, now I have a logo....I logo drawn on paper, in colored pencil!

A super computer savvy person would totally scan the picture, adjust the colors...and do a bunch of other totally cool, computery stuff with it.  NOT ME!  I have no idea how to scan a picture (don't judge), I tried, but I got confused...and well...I just didn't scan it.  OK...deal with it!

So..I have a logo...and I need business card...so I did what any "I know NOTHING about anything graphic"  I cut out the picture, placed it on a cake board, and took a picture of it...yep..that is what I did.  I took  a picture with my digital camera, uploaded it to a site and ordered business cards...yep..."I am big time now" I thought.

And you no what....it worked!  I had business cards with my name, my logo and all the other important information on it.

Then...I decided that I wanted my logo "cleaned" up a bit...and I wanted "The Cookie Puzzle" on it...again....I have no idea HOW TO DO THAT!

Enter stage left, Erica!

Oh Erica....not sure what to say, other then she is AMAZING!  Don't believe me....check out her site here!  I work at the same company as Erica!  Now...she is very creative and computery and all that way cool stuff...me....well, again...not so much...I sit at a desk all day and research books (don't get me wrong...I totally love my job....I am just not all that creative and computery) .  Erica ordered some cookies from me.  She wanted some heart cookies for her birthday...but she took a picture of one of my cookies, did her little "computery magic" thing to it, changed the colors...and said "Can you do cookies in This Color?"  WOW...how cool is that...I wonder if she has some super fancy smancy program that could do computery stuff?  THEN.....I looked at her signature....

Erica Martin

http://ericaswebstudio.com/

LIGHT BULB!     I wonder if Erica would be willing to "fix" my logo....so I sent her an email....and she sent me an email...and I sent her a email...well, you get the picture...then one day...she sent me this

HOW COOL IS THAT?  Erica did an AMAZING job on my logo...it is the same...but better!  I can not tell you how much I LOVE IT!  Thank You so much Erica!  If you need graphic computery stuff done...contact Erica...she was able to take the vision in my head and make it a reality!    I really think she has some super fancy computery program thing, were she can make her seld teeny tiny and climbs in your ear and reads your mind and makes it a reality,,,ya think..I am not sure , I will have to ask her!   I know she could do it for you also!

 

OK...lets review...I now have a great looking logo....now...how about a BLOG!

Enter stage left, Cristin!

I am a total blog stalker...really...It is major problem of mine...but in my defense...people post some really great stuff on their blogs, they want you to stalk them...right?

I have made some really great wonderful people through blogs...and one of my all time favorites is Cristin of Cristin's Cookies.  Cristin does AMAZING cookies...and she also just happens to be one of the sweetest persons you will ever meet.  Well, I have not actually "met" her Per Se...as she is in California, and I am in Missouri, but we run in the same "cookie circle"  and are a part of a wonderful group together,and she is a "glaze gal" like me and I consider her a friend..and over time, she is not just a "cookie friend"...she is a friend friend!

Have you seen Cristin's Blog?     OH MY....it is wonderful..really..you have to check it out...I could spend hours looking at her cookies!  And her blog....My girl, Cristin  knows some super secret "code" and makes a custom background for her blog for each cookie set she posts!  GET OUT! (doing my best Elaine impression from Seinfeld)  WOW!

SO anywho...I started my blog...and dear Cristin, showed me how to center my logo, which I did, all by myself, thankyouverymuch, and told me how to create a "button" for my blog...which I have not done yet, but will.  My blog is still a work in progress...but it looks better then it did a couple of days ago

Cristin has been such a cheerleader  for me, THANK YOU CRISTIN!  If you are looking for information about what a blog SHOULD look like...head to Cristin's blog  Cristin's Cookies, it looks pretty, it is well organized, it is informative, it is funny...well...it is just everything a blog SHOULD BE!  And Cristin, is just tooo toooo sweet...and she has pink hair...you have to love a gal with pink hair!

OH...and remember Erica...well.....she also did my "header" for me.  Is that what it is called...you know the picture at the top of my blog...well, when I started it...I just had my little The Cookie Puzzle logo in the left top corner of my blog...all by it's self...it was SAD...Erica, in like 20 minutes did this for me

 

How cool is that....pretty darn cool if you ask me!

So there you go...I Have a blog..and it did take a village...a village of three amazing ladies...thank you Lindsay,   Erica, and  Cristin!  I could have not have done this without you all!

Tune in for the next post...you will see the evolution of The Cookie Puzzle cookies...you will see pictures of some of my first cookies...but please don't laugh!