kristybear DESIGNS: June 2014

Pardon my Dust!

Hi Everyone!!! I am in the process of making over my blog and changing my name! Yikes. Scary stuff. You may see lots of things come and go in the meantime. The new name has been chosen! It will be KristyBear Designs. I can't wait until it is all complete. Stay Tuned!

Monday Meet Me!

Time for some more linky fun thanks to The Teaching Tribune. Check these little known facts. :)

Group Giveaway! Hosted by First Grade Stampede

Check out all of these super cute things you can win! Congrats to First Grade Stampede for her 1 year Blogiversary! Head over to her site to enter the giveaway!

What's in a Name?

I am once again reaching out to all of my amazing readers for some help! I am looking to change the name of my blog and TpT store. There are a few reasons why "On the way to Mrs. Bearfield's Class" no longer works. The first reason is that it is really looooooong. When I originally chose the name I was hardheartedly planning to become a teacher. In fact, I just completed my Associates Degree in Elementary Education. Unfortunately, times have change and I am no longer majoring in Education. (I promise to give a more detailed post on this soon.) I feel that the current name could be a bit misleading. I don't currently have a class, never have and probably never will. At least I don't think teaching 1 rambunctious 4 year old counts as a "class"? lol

In looking for a new name, I wanted something that was a bit more generic. I offer blog designs, clip art and a few other things in my TpT store. I started tossing around a few ideas.

1. Designs by Kristy - My issue with this one is that there is another AMAZING blog designer in the TpT world who goes by Designs by Christi. See the trouble there?

2. Designs by Kris - Not too bad, but I don't really use that as a nickname.

3. Designs by K - The blogspot URL is already taken. Not the end of the world per-say...

4. Kristy's Designs - I don't like the apostrophe. It just gets in the way.

5. This is where you come in. What do you think? Does it matter what the name is? I have been using this one for about 7 months. Is it too late to change?

I frequently use KristyBear for things since my last name is Bearfield, it works. Kind of.

For anyone who takes the time to leave me some constructive feedback on the topic, I will give you 1 of my five mini doodle frames packs. See below for options. Thanks for your help.

2 for Tuesday! Week 3!

UPDATE! This morning before work, I was rushing to get this post up and forgot to change the price on one of the products below. Both products will now be 50% off for an additional day! Sorry!

I am so excited to be linking up with The Teaching Tribune's Two for Tuesday sale!

I absolutely LOVE dinosaurs so when I started making digital frames I knew I had to create something inspired by dinosaurs. I created these digital frames and digital papers in my "A Very Scaly Bundle" to fit my need. I just love how they turned out and hope you will too. Right now you can grab the whole bundle for just $2.50! If you bought each item separately you would pay $6.50! Check out the images below for more details.

I know some of you are getting ready to work on fall products for back to school, so I thought I would put my fall themed clipart package on sale as well. Check it out!

This set includes clip art, digital papers, 1 border and 1 frame! You can also grab my Forever Freebie Fall Chevrons here!

FREE Font Friday!

I am so excited to finally have the motivation to jump into the font world! I made a few fonts but they have just been sitting on my computer. Thanks to the Teaching Tribune's FREE Font Friday Linky; here is my first font! This font is special to me because it is my daughters handwriting!! At the time of creation she was just 4 years old.

This font may be used personally and commercially and in keeping with my Truly Hassle Free TOU, no credit is required. Click the image below to download.

All About Linky Parties

What is a Linky Party?

A linky party is simply a group of website links, most often with thumbnails, that have been submitted by a variety of people or one person. Here is an example of a "link only" linky party. The purpose of this ongoing party is to showcase what state you are blogging from. I encourage you to link up. Here is another example that uses images to showcase the product that is going to be discussed in the blog post.

Why Should I Join a Linky Party?

I am sure you have seen a linky party before, but you may not be sure why you would want to join one. For the people who are linking up, the parties can help with marketing in a number of ways. Other users may be interested in what you are linking, that could cause them to click the link and go to your blog or product. Basically, it is a way of getting more traffic to your website.

I personally use these parties as motivation for coming up with blog post. Sometimes when I have not posted anything in a while, I will search the internet for current and relevant linky parties. I gain an idea of what to blog about for my normal readers and then hopefully I will gain some new readers from the hosting blog.

Why Should I Host a Linky Party?
The idea behind hosting a linky party is that it will bring more traffic to your blog. Other bloggers will want to link up with you to hopefully gain more traffic to their store as well. Seems like a win win situation. Unfortunately, hosting a linky party does not garuntee that people will link up and even if they do they may not decide to follow your blog.

Some linky party host will have rules that require the linker to add links or images into their blog post before linking up. Other host have rules that require you to follow them on social media before you can link up.

Once you decide to host a linky party you need to think about what kind of party you will have. There are tons of things you can do with a linky party. I have seen people link up giveaways that they are hosting, favorite products, blog post, facebooks, Weird Wednesday days, Throwback Thursdays, and many others. Get creative!

Tools for Hosting a Linky Party.

There are a few linky tools available and most of them offer some sort of FREE option. If you want to have linkys with thumbnails it will cost you. Most of the subscriptions are $2 a month. With the amount of traffic a linky party could bring, it may be well worth it. Each of these services have great how to's on getting your link set up. Be sure to check out their videos and forums for help.
Here are the only Linky services I am aware of:

I have not tried a paid subscription, so I do not have a favorite for the hosting side of things. On linker side of things I prefer simply linked or inlinkz. Both of these are much more user friendly than the others.

Have you used a linky tool before? Do you have a paid subscription? I would love to hear what you think about them.

Two for Tuesday!

I will admit I am a little late to the game but I made it! :) I am trying to make a come back. I have been neglecting my store, my blog and all things TpT! This is not COOL! So here is the mini announcement of me coming back.

Over the next few weeks I will posting all sorts of tutorials and I will finally have specific pricing for my Blog Designs!!! Stay tuned. In the mean time, I thought I would like up with The Teaching Tribune for their Two for Tuesday. Check out these 2 products that will be HALF OFF until the end of the day! Enjoy!

This bundle of Summer Beach Clipart is on sale for just $1.50!

I have also put this wonderful bundle of frames on sale for just $2.00!

~Mrs. Bearfield~