What better way to start renew our Beautiful Blog Series here at our new home at WordPress.org than by featuring a WP.org blog! 😉
The blog we are featuring this week is Just Thauna, a blog that covers the “thoughts, musings, passions, protests, journeys, discoveries and other stuff” that makes her Thauna.
I came across Just Thauna because she wrote a post about one of my Photoshop Elements actions and shared the link with me. When I visited her site, I just fell in love! And, honestly, it’s no wonder her blog is so beautiful, turns out she runs a blog design business, Design by Thauna!
What I love about Just Thauna:
Simple yet unique and engaging design.
Wonderful tagline that helps you know right off what the blog is about.
Great use of a navbar and menus; very helpful to readers.
Organized, tidy sidebars and footer.
Content broken into bite sized chunks and use of easy to read fonts.
Contact information provided and easy to locate.
Thauna, you have created a gorgeous blog and it is definitely is a good advertisement for your design business!
February’s featured designer is Lindsay at Happy Potamus Designs!
Hi! I’m Lindsay, a graphic designer and owner of Happy Potamus Designs. I’m also a stay-at-home-mom to a wonderful daughter and am so happy that I get to stay home with her and still do what I love. At Happy Potamus, I specialize in custom blog designs, invitations, announcements, and more. Creating custom designs for each unique client and bringing their ideas to life is one of my favorite things about my business. In my “free” time (which is usually called nap time for the little one), I love making all kinds of crafty things as another creative outlet and sharing my projects on my blog, Artsy-Fartsy Mama.
I am so grateful to be featured at The Blog Designer Network, and I wouldn’t be here without my fantastic clients!
Here is what some of her former clients had to say in their nominations.
When I decided to get a new blog design, I didn’t give a second thought to the blog designer I was going to use! I had seen some the other fabulous designs by Lindsay at Happy Potamus Designs and knew she was extremely talented, but she really outdid herself when she created my blog design! I gave her a few very random ideas about what I wanted on my new design, but I really wasn’t sure what I wanted exactly. Well, somehow, she did! It was PERFECT the very first time! I knew she would do a great job, but I had no idea it would turn out this fabulous! She is super-sweet and so easy to work with! Her rates are also extremely reasonable! Lindsay is definitely who I am going to continue to use for any other design work I need in the future! — Crystal, Homemaker In Heels
I chose to hire Lindsay to redesign my blog after seeing all the amazing things she’s done for other’s blogs! She has been really great in working with me to come up with something that really embodied my personality, as well as my two girls, who inspired my blog, “vanilla bean girls.” She has been a complete joy to work with, and I absolutely love my new blog design, and my readers have been going nuts over it! Lindsay also just participated in my birthday bash giveaway in which she’s giving away a new blog design to our lucky winner! I can’t believe what a generous and talented lady she is!! — Ellie Perez, Vanilla Bean Girls
She did such a great job achieving my vision for my photography site. She is creative, kind, and easy to work with. — Angela McAllister, Angela McAllister Photography
Here are some examples of Lindsay’s work!
You can follow Happy Potamus Designs on Facebook and be sure to check out her design site too!
If you are interested in the nomination process, or would like to nominate your blog designer – please read this post and fill out the corresponding form. Thank you!
Below is a list of current blog design giveaways and sales from around the web! If you’re a blog designer, feel free to add your information in a comment!
Criteria:
1. Paste the URL of the perma-link where people can find your sale in the comment form. 2. Include details of what you are giving away. (Fine print not necessary.) 3. Include dates that the sale is valid. (2 weeks or less.)
4. Cannot be a promo code or ongoing promotion. (Click “Get Listed” for details on how to get permanently listed.)
The BDN accepts no responsibility for the validity of promos. Get full details on provided links!
The Blog Designer Network is so excited to announce that we are planning to hold our first conference in late Fall 2013! We want this conference to be beneficial for new & experienced designers, as well as anyone interested in learning more about design, development, business management, social media, and so much more. To aid […]
October 16, 2012 By The Blog Designer Network
Sour Apple Studio has developed a brilliant way to design your own blog with just a few clicks! As a blogger, have you ever wished to have full control of how your design looks? Choose your background, header, fonts, and more with this handy tool that lets YOU perfect your design. Here is what Lindsay, […]
October 12, 2012 By The Blog Designer Network
We just quickly wanted to announce that this will be the last opportunity to take the live four-week workshop that teaches you how to build your own design business from the ground up! Many students have graduated from our workshop, and we have seen them go on to form businesses and develop their talents in […]
September 12, 2012 By The Blog Designer Network
The art of designing blogs and websites is a relatively new and booming business. Every month several people graduate our Blog & Web Designer Workshop, and other talented individuals all over the web are launching online-based design shops. As a blogger, you may be looking for a designer using our directory, or are searching independently […]
June 1, 2012 By The Blog Designer Network
May’s featured designer is Lynne at Visual Serendipity! Here is what some of her former clients had to say in their nominations. I am nominating Lynne because not only did she create a beautiful blog for me, but she has gone above and beyond with her customer service. She makes sure that everything is perfect […]
May 1, 2012 By The Blog Designer Network
May’s featured designer is Amber at Zany Dezines! Zany Dezines started with Amber and her mission to provide fellow bloggers with new and creative designs that were both fun and affordable. After falling in love with web design in high school, she’s taken her love of making things pretty to the blogosphere! Determined to master […]
April 10, 2012 By The Blog Designer Network
This is a guest post by April Patel. If I have said it once, I have said it 100 times… “I’m going to go kill some time on Pinterest. If I’m not back in an hour, send reinforcements!” Chances are you might not know about Pinterest yet. But then again, it is the fastest growing […]
March 2, 2012 By The Blog Designer Network
We have brand new sponsorship opportunities available! You can download the PDF here, or view the image below! Spots fill up VERY fast, so be sure to contact us if you’re interested.
February 29, 2012 By The Blog Designer Network
Today Facebook announced that business pages will be getting the “Timeline” layout by March 30th, and we have some excellent tips to help you design and utilize this new layout to your advantage. You may already be familiar with the Timeline layout on your personal page, but now your business page will have cover photo […]
February 27, 2012 By The Blog Designer Network
February’s featured designer is Lindsay at Happy Potamus Designs! Hi! I’m Lindsay, a graphic designer and owner of Happy Potamus Designs. I’m also a stay-at-home-mom to a wonderful daughter and am so happy that I get to stay home with her and still do what I love. At Happy Potamus, I specialize in custom blog designs, […]
Before I get into today’s post, I want to thank all my sweet followers! In the past 14 months, 501 lovely ladies have decided, for whatever reason, that BBD is worth following. I appreciate all of you and hope that BBD is a useful, user friendly resource for you to use over and over. To celebrate, I have some giveaways coming up this week, so stay tuned.
Okay, today I wanted to talk about blog conferences. There are several out there just for woman, but not always the easiest to find, so I’m compiling a list (what can I say, I like to make lists – that should be evident here at BBD). The locations vary, but hopefully there will be one near you.
Why attend? Basically, to connect with other bloggers, to network and to hopefully just learn how to blog better. I am excited to be attending my first blog conference, the Type-A Mom conference, in September, in Asheville, NC.
Thank you to Tamara, who writes about blog conferences at Blog Conference Newbie, for letting me know about her great site. Blog Conference Newbie lists lots of blog conferences and provides tips and tricks when attending a blog conference. If you’re at all interested in attending a blog conference, her site will prove very useful.
If you know of an all-woman conference that isn’t on the list, please let me know.
Whipperberry is fairly new to the blogging block but these girls really know how to pull off one beautiful blog! A collaborative blog of super talented friends who created Whipperberry as a place where they can come together in one spot, and share their creations and treasures with the world!
I don’t remember how I first ran into their site, but it was love at first click.
The things I love most about this design are:
the colors – fresh and current
the feminine feel with out being to “fru- fru”
it is clean, and very pleasing, soothing
the uncluttered sidebars
an about section in the tool bar, titled “chicks”
a search bar near the top, again simple not too cluttered
a good use of color, even though most is gray, it’s not “boring”
how the scroll is consistent in the header and sidebars and well as between post, yet doesn’t feel “over done”
connect icon buttons in the sidebar fit the whole design and are easy to find
Congratulations, to Heather, creator of Whipperberry on having such a beautiful blog, and thank you for being a part of Beautiful Blog Designs.
I want to share a neat place to find beautiful and creative free backgrounds for Blogger blogs. Delightful Dots is a wonderful resource for those who like to change their backgrounds often. She has them tagged well so you can search by theme (seasons, colors, etc.) plus offers them in both two and three column layouts.
For the next two weeks she is offering custom design templates for a $25 donation to help Rex Stuart, a young boy with brain cancer (which my dad died of last year). If you love her design style and would like to help with wonderful cause, head over there now and get on her list.
Also, I want to thank her because she has Beautiful Blog Designs listed on her site and it refers lots of traffic my way and I am grateful.
If you’ve been curious about design and taking the plunge into starting your own business, this week begins the next installment of the Blog Designer Workshop. Click here for more information and to register. This workshop is great for both intermediate and novice designers and coders, and covers Blogger coding, WordPress coding, and design in the software of your choice.
The designer I am showcasing today is April Durham of April Showers. She is a very talented lady who kind of stumbled into blog design after several people liked the drawings she had done for her own blog.
After a little nudging from friends and clever marketing by her, the April Showers design studio was off and running! She works full time for a NBC affiliate and designs custom blog templates, headers and buttons in her spare time. Her blog and header designs are beautiful and unique, and are a great value!
Here are just a few examples from her gallery:
She also designs adorable buttons for your sidebar and even offers some for free. If you use a button from her, please leave a comment for her so she can pop over to see how great it looks on your blog. Here are a few of the FREE buttons you can find at April Showers:
I also wanted to add that she has a darn funny blog to follow. April is very insightful and witty and it has been very enjoyable to read her posts daily. So, even if you aren’t in need of a new blog design, shoot over there and give her blog a read – but don’t forget to leave a comment.
