new design inspiration

Hey hey hey, well look at that! Mama's got a new party dress and a pair of shoes to match!

So how do we like the new look? Personally, I'm already a fan, if you couldn't already tell.

And this time, I actually paid for it...

So why after boasting that the designs I had were "all me", did I go off and grab up a pre-made template? Well, there's a couple of reasons...

1. Simplicity and for the sanity of it all.

You see, for the past six-ish months, I haven't really had the drive to blog. I've had the drive to redecorate. Alot. And my obsession is apparent by all the Photoshop folders on my desktop taking up massive space. Space that could be used for pictures or maybe a video blog... but I haven't had the drive to actually sit down and blog.

2. Professionalism

I have thought alot about where I want to go with the whole blogging thing... and I have made a list of all the changes I hope to implement in the next 3 months. And finished design was number one for me. Why? Because, for some reason, every time I tried to design my own stuff, it always came out weird. And I use that term loosley. Basically, it just never looked right to me. So I turned to Etsy... and found this lovely.

3. To ignite my blogging fire.

A new look is always a good way to ignite the fires again! The template that I chose combines my love for gold and easy stuff! I have a feeling that I am going to be blogging a whole lot more now.

4. Price

Most blog designs and templates are expensive, and honestly I really didn't like the notion of spending over ten bucks on a good design. I know that a custom design takes alot of work, and I credit blog designers who have a hobby and love of blog designing, but personally, it's not really my forte. And I really didn't have the money to spend on anything. At just under $4, my design allows for me to customize my header, change different things in the form of HTML gadgets, and gives me the ease of a professional looking blog.

I have yet to master everything that I want to do with the new look... ie change the labels so that they're aren't like 20 billion of them... so I will be changing some little things over the next few weeks.

ps. if you like the above photo... Ashley Ella Design gave bloggers 10 free stock photos and they are amazing!