Anyways enough of my complaining, I didn't post yesterday because for some reason my getting on a roll with having posts ready in advance went down the drain! But I plan to get it together tomorrow hopefully as I have nothing on the agenda and a list of things I want to do.
I've been giving my blog a lot of thought lately, where I want to go with it and what I would change if I could. You see I am not technically inclined at all and the idea of sitting down and trying to learn coding to be able to do what I want seems incredibly daunting.
When I started this blog it was strictly to avoid writing a million of the same emails. Living away you want to keep family and friends in the loop of whats going on in your life and with the Alaskan time difference talking on the phone wasn't always feasible so I figured what better what to keep everyone up to date then a blog! I picked blogger because it seemed like the most popular template, from what I could tell it was easy to navigate and it was free. Not being very technical I was able to set up my blog with one of their templates and start writing in a matter of a few hours, easy peasy!
I have a crappy memory so truthfully I don't know how much I posted back then, I think a decent amount as I would share tons of photos of all the amazing things we were doing in Alaska and the amazing scenery! I enjoyed keeping people up to date on what was going on and honestly didn't care about what the blog itself looked like I was more anxious about the content and how easy it was for my readers to navigate. I did choose to make it private for awhile but let me tell you that is just a pain in the ass for everyone but there was a part of me that didn't like the idea of my life being out there for all to see. Obviously I meant strangers but on top of that I wasn't too keen on people I knew reading either.. weird maybe? I don't know. I see a lot of bloggers say that they think its weird that people they know read and I can relate although I'm not sure why.. maybe because this blog, its content is a lot more personal and actually means more than I often admit.
I have gone through periods of posting a ton and then when not much is going on in our lives posting a lot less. When we went to Estevan last summer I wanted to bath with the toaster and desperately needed an outlet. I felt that the blog wasn't it on account that I had absolutely nothing to write about as our lives there were beyond BORING and the place sucked, what was there to write about? Its not like I have never considering making the blog more than just our lives journal especially because I love to write but again I didn't know how anyone would feel about it. Would I be writing strictly for myself and if so was that a problem? It was then that I decided that I wanted this blog to be something bigger and better and I was going to write about the things I wanted to write about and if people wanted to read they would and if they didn't they wouldn't, simple right?
It was really at this point I found this amazing world that is the blogsphere! I can't say I really followed any blogs at that point or realized this amazing world there is to be apart of! Being stuck in that awful place this blog and bloggers really helped me survive it. I decided after following blogs and really exploring the blogging world I wanted to do something more with my blog visually if I was going to expand the content but I knew I couldn't do it myself. It was pretty easy once I got looking around who I wanted to design my blog, and it just so happens that my friend Paula had also recently used the great Aubrey Kinch for her blog design so after chatting with her about things I was anxious to get started. I visited Aubrey's design website and saw all that she had available along with her portfolio of designs, I won't lie it seemed overwhelming as I really wasn't sure what I was looking for so I decided to just email Aubrey, explain where I was and what I was looking for in the final product and she was incredible. Aubrey and I stayed in contact via email throughout all the steps, she was gracious and answered all my many many questions with detailed answers. In the end I was really happy with the product she produced and much like having a good space (office) to write having a great platform made the new array of content come quite easily.
I have had this look now for over a year which isn't really a long time but for me I get bored easily and like to have options and sadly because I do not know coding myself I can't exactly change everything on a whim. Don't get me wrong I don't dislike the look of things around here but there is part of me that is ready for a change. I think all the time about transferring my content to Wordpress, changing my template, changing my content.. you know. But its not easy, or cheap!
So what would I change? Definitely the colors, the picture, definitely the blog header, design of the social media buttons, maybe the grab button.. haha everything right? There are so many designers out there now and its hard to decide who I would pick and mostly what I would want. I went in completely blind before and really allowed Aubrey to do what she wanted while I picked colors and design options, in the end what she came up with was a complete surprise, a pleasant surprise! This time I would like to have more of an idea of the end result before I start but I just don't know, if I am going to spend the money again I want to know what its going to look like and make sure I am going to love it.
These are some ideas I have...
I am loving these water color social media icons, I am not sure I would keep them in purple but I really like the artsy look to them, they are different from what I have and fun. I like that it looks like someone painted them rather than something more digital.
Some blogger washi tape? YES PLEASE! I love washi tape, I use to all the time sending cards and letters, how much would I love to dress up some blog posts with some washi tape? A LOT!
I really love these resource buttons, there is the option on my social media set to email me but I think the email me option is important and therefore having a bright stand out icon like this would be something I would be interested in!
I know I would be in the market for some font changes! Although I think it is very important to have an easy to read font, especially for the actual posts I really would like to dress up my header as well as change the font for the post titles. I do believe picking a font may come last because the actual overall design would set the tone.. glam, grunge, artsy, you get it.
Check out those headers.. I mean the options are endless with what these designers can do!
I wonder if I could do it... do I spend the money on design books and countless frustrating hours all to potentially screw up what I have and have to pay someone in the end anyways? Yes, I know I am more optimistic than most!
Anyways that is just a few things I am thinking about in regards to my blog and its design! I know I miss a day of posting here and there but I am really enjoying this blog more and more and its content. I am planning some guest posts which I am really looking forward to and you should too! Who knows where this blog will go and the changes it will undergo but I know one thing, I love this place and don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon!
I won't lie...as I was reading this, I thought you were thinking of stopping your blog, then I'd have to slit my wrists! So glad you're going to keep it up!
ReplyDeleteHaha Cathy, no fear I don't see the blog going anywhere for a long time. I really love my little space here and glad you like reading!
ReplyDelete