Blog Renovations

So the whole idea of SheSpeaks coming up so soon got me thinking about getting ready. I've been working on the piece I want to submit to my peer-editing group, thinking about what I'm going to wear (Hey! I'm a girl! I think about these things), and trying to decide whether it would be pretentious or professional to have "business" cards.

Can they be called "business cards" if you don't have a business?

I think I've finally decided it would be a good idea to have at least a few. Which leads to the whole question of "What is it going to look like?" followed closely by "Where do I order them?" and "What's it going to cost?"

The most fun question, of course, is about the look. My blog is a basic Blogger template since I haven't gotten around to shelling out the money for a custom template. A basic Blogger template doesn't lend itself well to "branding". That's a marketing term for having a standard look and feel to all of your company's output so that customers build recognition. Like how you can recognize a Target or Apple commercial without ever seeing the company name. Of course, I don't exactly have a company, product, or commercials, but it simply makes sense that my card would match my blog.

This afternoon I took the girls to paint some pottery and ended up painting a bowl with a pattern I loved and decided would make a fabulous "brand" for my blog. The best part? I could make a banner using that idea all by myself. A few minutes with the laptop and I put my idea into electronic format. Then came the hard part, so I called in the big guns.

"Dear? Do you think you could make this into a banner for my blog?"

Happily, Mr. at Home was so incredibly accommodating and got the graphic up as a banner. I love that man.

Then we went out with some other couples for dinner, during which one of the guys there complemented my "website", so that little affirmation kept me thinking about what else I could do. So I came home and redid the graphic so that I loved it even more.

"Dear? Do you think you could change my banner to this version?"

Between my endless love of change and Mr. at Home's L33T technical skills, the look of this blog will probably be in flux for a day or two. Keep checking back and let me know what you think.