Oh Bright Star

I was contacted to do a layout for Oh Bright Star. She wanted a design based on the beautiful poem Bright Star by John Keats. The background reminds me of twinkling stars. I also used the other elements to give it a vintage and classic feel. And as always, I think I have a new favorite layout....

All About Elijah

I just completed a design for Jodie from All About Elijah. She has an amazing blog with a amazing story. She lost one of her twins to Spina Bifida in 2009, but has used his story in an inspiring way. But really it is not my story to tell, and I couldn't do it justice. So make sure you go and read it for yourself.

Jodie contacted me a few days ago and wanted a blog makeover in red, black, and white (they are precious in his sight LOL). This is my first design using pictures. But she sent me these two adorable pictures (aren't the sock monkeys to die for). I was nervous about using pictures for the first time, but I really love how it turned out. It may be my all time-favorite blog design so far, but I think I say that all the time. So lets just say it is my current favorite. Until the next one comes around.

Tk's Bowtique

I just finished up a design for a wonderful client Tara from Tk's Bowtique who found me on Etsy. She has a ribbon and bows business, and she is getting her blog ready for an upcoming neighborhood bizarre (doesn't that sound fun?). We have a similar design aesthetic and she loves girly and colorful too. So I got to bring back the pink (with the green)! 

I used some ribbons and flowers to give it a crafty look, and just thought the butterflies would be a nice touch. I created her post divider on my own , as oposed to just finding a matching divider. And I love it. I also made little pink buttons for her navigation bar.

Be sure to go and check out Tara's blog!

Adam & Brittany

I created Adam & Brittany in conjunction with my personal blog, only because I wanted a way for my family and friends outside of California to keep up with us. And I do a lot of ranting and raving on my personal blog, and while it is not bad, I don't want all of my family to read my personal rants. Plus on Diary of B I just tell the funny stories in my life narrative style, and Adam and Brittany is more of just a way to scrapbook what is going on in our married life.

This blog design started out being Pink. Surprise, Surprise. But then I thought Adam wouldn't appreciate the pink, and I needed to break out of my pink comfort zone (which is hard, I LOVE PINK!) So I decided to do a brown theme. I love the brown paper wrapper feel of it as well. In the banner, I used a lot of homey elements like bird houses, white picket fences, and weather veins.(And I had to mention something about our dog Sarah!) 

I made a custom navigation bar with pages to info about us, our wedding, and our honeymoon (yeah, yeah gag you with a spoon, I KNOW. Our love sickens me too). And I used fun little paper strips for my side bar elements.

Some reason internet explorer is cutting my paper strips off and making them square, this makes me kind of sad. So view it in firefox people!

Jana K.

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I did this make-over for one of my best friends and former college roommate, Jana. Being that we are so close and I know her so well, figuring out what she wanted was super easy. She is obsessed with the 80's. She loves the music, fashion, and color schemes. So she told me that she wanted zebra print and bright colors!  So I gave her what else but zebra print and bright colors!

I made her blog title Jana K using my previously made and featured Autumn alpha by recoloring it. I found a really, really great blue and green design kit for the elements. I colored her background with a nice light blue and added a pink border. This layout is pretty simple but really, really fun. 

So go check out Jana's blog, she is the best friend a girl could have. Love you chickadee!

Hoo Loves You-Diary of B

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I finally found sometime to make-over my personal blog, Diary of B. I originally wasn't going to touch my layout because I paid to have my layout designed just a few months ago, and I'm cheap and wanted to get my money's worth. But I was learning so many new things, that I just couldn't resist any longer.  I love owls. Don't you? Owls just happen to be my alma mater's mascot. So I thought they would make for a great layout.

I used a clipping mask to make the the letters in "Diary of B" match the green border, and I used one of my favorite fonts, My Own Topher, for my subtitle.  I also used My Own Topher for the Date and Post Titles.  I threw together some custom label  images for all my sidebar titles  (aren't they cute? I think they look like luggage tags). But by far my favorite thing is how I used the images and font for my page titles (navigation bar), I just think it adds something special.

My Art and The Mom in Me

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Kristin from My Art and the Mom in Me has been one of my blog friends for a while now. All she asked for was a fun and colorful make-over. So I used pinks, greens, and yellows (a color combination that I love). Kristin has the cutest shop on etsy and since the first part of her title is "My Art" I wanted to add some artsy elements. I used an alpha that looks a little bit like art canvases and added ribbons, ribbon flowers, and buttons in her design. I used two different colored textured backgrounds for her post area and side bars, and I really love that effect. I also love this design because it shows how great a simple two-column layout can be! So everyone go check out Kristin's blog!

Bloggishness

Lydia was my second guinea pig and took me up on my free blog design offer. Lydia loves black, green, and pink and gave me free reign over most of her design. I gave her a three-columned design. I "separated" the sidebars from the main posting area and colored them white and added borders. Also, Lydia told me she loves shoes, so I incorporated a little zebra print shoe in her signature.

I also found out that Lydia lives in the same town in Texas where all my family lives, and we even got married at the same place. It is a small world after all!

Click on the picture above to check out Lydia's blog, Bloggishness.

Joie of Life

Joie took me up on my offer for a free blog design, so she got to be my first project! Joie is a girl after my own heart. She loves all things girly, and her two favourite colors are pink and green. So this is what I designed for her, and she loved it. Click the image above to check out Joie's site.

P.S.-Have you gotten your free design yet? If not, e-mail me here!