[HappyHippy]

Another shameless wee plug - sorry guys 
But please check it out if you have the time / inclination.
Thanks, Karen
http://happyhippydesigns.webs.com/

[doganjo]

Super site, Karen.  Had a  quick look just now as short of time this morning.  But looks really good.

[sandy]

What an fantastic original design, looks great, are you doing it yourself?

[Snoopy]

Hiya Karen - feedback on website

Love the book idea
love the colours
Great thought went into the content
Nice and easy to use
All pages look great

How long did it take to do it - I assume from the ads it was free software, and maybe I should look to
doing a gallery for my artwork with a shop from the same place -as my site is outdated and difficult to
change - plus costs me 50 euro per year to host -albeit ad free.

Think your interior design skills and personality shines through - lovely.

Now go and have a rest!

Julie

[Hilarysmum]

Its really good, and very concise which I like.  I also loved the colours. 

[HappyHippy]

Rest - what's rest ?  
Oh, that must be what I do when I'm not running about like a mad woman
Like sitting down to eat or feed/bath/play with the kids - is that what you mean ?  

It's taken me probably about 6 hours all together, but it tends to be in 30 minute blocks so feels like forever ! It seems fairly straightforward & simple to use but since this is my first go at it I'm not sure how it compares to others.
It's done through webs - Rustyme's suggestion.  
It's free as it is and has free hosting, but there are limitations on storage and features -for example adds are displayed and I'm only able to sell 5 items in shop, (but if you need more or want a custom domain name you can 'upgrade' - at a cost, I'm not sure how much though) They have loads of templates (which I used) or you can use your own and upload it them.
Thank you Doganjo, Sandy, Julie and Hilarysmum for your lovely comments - keep checking back though because there WILL be lots more coming soon - I'm hoping to get craft tutorials, receipes and the forum added to soon - it's all about getting the TIME !

[sandy]

Another forum!! I will never get work done

[cameldairy]

Oooo, when I tried to check it out, I got a message saying the link was broken I'll keep trying...

[doganjo]

Worked fine for me just now - copy the link and paste it into your web browser instead of just clicking from here.  See if that helps.

[cameldairy]

I got it. Great website!!!

[sellickbhoy]

So Happy Hippy

love the slate signs - i have about 60 big roof slates in my garden (left over from the extension)

i'm using a couple as "messages" boards - one in the kitchen for shopping and stuff and one on the guests bedroom for whoever comes to visit.

However, i was wanting to put some in my raised beds - to show what was planted and when etc - but the problem is chalk washes off. So, what do you use to paint the signs? just normal paint?

good luck with the venture

[marigold]

The website looks really good.
As the others said I like the feel of the site and your vision is clear.
The photos in the gallery loaded quite slowly for me - we have a slow broadband connection here but I wondered about lower resolution images so that they load more quickly
And the other picky detail - if you want a critical eye - is that there is quite a lots of dense text on the home page and the shop page.
I commission web pages at work and my OH makes websites and the received wisdom (which i didn't like at first) is that the optimal time for absorbing one page is measured in seconds rather than a printed page which is read in minutes.
The way that designers seem to do this is by condensing info into bullet points or using headers for paragraphs that are in a bigger type face so that a page can be scanned quickly by the reader to give the required info instantly.
Personally I think that your website looks great and it does depend on how you expect to use it. If you are using it as an info back up to personal contact rather than a main communication tool with the wider world then I wouldn't bother about the rest of it.
If you are wanting to hone the finer detail then this might be the next set of research.
For basic stuff I could ask Simon for a few tips if you like?
It does sound as though you have your hands full and I really admire what you are doing.

[HappyHippy]

I'm glad everyone likes it 

Marigold, thanks for the tip about lower resolution piccies - might get onto that when I get a minute 
I am just really using it as a back up to personal contact at the moment, somewhere people who are thinking about buying can see examples (save me having to lug loads of stuff round with me) Every order I get does get posted with a wee business card (now that I've got them done) and I'm hoping that the recipient will  tell folks who ask where they got it and pass on my details.
In time I hope to have more information about recycling, living sustainably and just general eco living tips.
I also want to expand on the crafty stuff and have tutorials so folks can have a go themselves.
I suppose I just want it to be all aout me 
Who I am, what I do and how I do it and hopefully it'll insipre people to have a go themselves, provide a bit of information (and hummor at all my mistakes) and maybe, just maybe make a wee bit of money to allow me to work less (end of maternity leave is fast approaching, and I really don't want to go back!)
I have a friend who's a web designer and he keeps badgering me to let him have a go - he says he'll get me top of the search results, high ratings, maximum visability and sales. But I keep turning him down. Why ? I do wonder sometimes, but the truth is I like doing things myself (control freak tendancies perhaps ) I feel if he takes it over it'll lose my personality maybe (and I know what you mean about bullet points and condensing - but that's never been my style - I like waffle  ) The other reason he's not getting his hands on it is that I don't want to be top of the rankings and have loads of orders (I know how mad that sounds, let me explain) It's just me, doing the orders, in between looking after the kids and everything else that I do  , if I had loads of work coming from the site I'd have less time to spend with the kids (or less time sleeping LOL) - I don't want that at the moment, once they're older maybe, but at the moment I want them to be top priority.
Watch this space..............................
Karen x

[Troubled Waters]

Your stuff looks so great HH. I hope it really takes off for you - in a way that is manageable with the kiddiwinks. I so admire people that follow their dreams. I'm learning but its slow to shake off the feelings of expectations of conformity.
Keep it up!

[sandy]