A New Custom Blog Design & a Few FREEBIES!!

Hi Everyone!! I am just going to post a quick little announcement, because I want to show you my latest design!! I hope I don't come off as though I am bragging... ick!! I just spend so much time on the custom blog designs that I get overly excited when it all comes together!!! I feel as attached to my clients and the designs we create together, as I felt with my previous students in my classes while I was teaching.

My last post included a few digital paper freebies with paw prints.... now you will know what the theme of this new blog is....Isn't her blog title just the cutest!!?? Love it!! She is VERY new to blogging... so new in fact, that she is a bit nervous about her first post.... We all know what that moment feels like.. the moment when you feel like you are talking to the world and you want to be casual, yet you feel as though every word must truly count... hahaha... the notorious "whatifs" begin swirling in ones head... hahaha

I would like to share a little bit about the process and show you some of the steps it took to get to the finished design... not all of them, of course..

It started out as a simple vision from an inspired teacher blogger. Deborah gave me a very simple vision to start with.... dogs, dark red and tan colors, and magnifying glasses. It didn't take me long to start brainstorming ideas... and as I expanded my ideas, the design began to take shape....

The first few things I came up with  for the design was a color swatch, some patterns, and a few little sketches to begin with... From this point on, the ideas were over-flowing!!

Here was the very first preview I sent to get approved....

 and here is the FINAL design....

My favorite element in the blog is the one thing that took me the least amount of time... Deborah's post signature!!! 

The entire design, including the custom, hand-drawn art, the patterns all created from a single idea in my head, the colors, code,  special effects,  and communication back and forth, took me three weeks and over 60 hours to complete. Some blog designs take longer and some take me only a week. It just depends on the amount of detail and coding involved and bringing my clients' visions to life... sometimes, that can prove to be tricky, but I always learn something and I always have fun getting through the challenges and completing the final design!!

I hope you all take a few minutes to welcome Deborah as a new teacher blogger!! She is quite amazing and an incredibly lovely woman!!! You can click her new button below to visit her blog.

Although I am taking a mini vacation away from custom blog designs in September, and I am not taking on more designs for this month (I still have two more to complete), I am booking slots for October through November. Those spots are quickly filling, so if you are interested in getting an exclusive custom blog design, please click on my button below, which will take you directly to the custom blog order form.
I have taken the link to this form down from my blog for now, since I will be re-designing my blog (YET AGAIN) and completing my website. I am so excited!! I will also be working on several novel studies that I created a while back, but never had time to finish.... September will be a fun month, but I have a feeling I might miss the income... If you are like me.. every penny counts.. hahaha..

Now for a few freebies...

Here are a few custom blog background patterns that I created. These designs did not get used, so I would like to share a couple with you.

NOW.. don't worry about trying to figure out how to install the background on your blog... I will have a tutorial ready for you by Tuesday morning... You can just save the ones you like and visit again on Tuesday to learn how to install the background.

Please ready my Terms of Use before using any of my designs. If you use one of these backgrounds on your blog, just grab any one of my buttons and place it at the bottom of your sidebar on your blog... no further credit is necessary (-;

Here is one for those of you who dare... hahaha.. it is super cute, so you could use it as a background for your products if it is too bright to look at for too long..hahaha

The chalk style is very HOT right now and this one is super cute!!

For a more subtle background, here is another option...

I will have quite a few more options to choose from in the tutorial I will publish on Tuesday...
Please share, pin, like, and love all week long!!!