Before

I was thrilled when Nikki asked me to makeover her blog this spring, and she surprised me by saying I could do whatever I wanted.  I must tell you, I love it when clients give me a general direction but let me use my creativity to guide the design. Some of my best work comes out when I have the freedom to explore my own inspirations.

After

Seriously, I want this design on my own blog! I think the bold colors paired with sweet feminine touches compliment Nikki’s personality perfectly. Thank you Nikki for your confidence, encouragement, and friendship. Give PJ a squeeze for me!

Christina from Flowers, Ribbons and Pearls is a card-making queen. She loves everything pink, pastel & pretty and wanted a blog to match her card-making style. Although a little outside of my usual, I pulled out all the stops & made a true girly-girl blog, exactly what Christina asked for.

We added a photo slideshow, pretty blockquotes, and a custom Facebook Fan Page Cover. The outer-wrapper is using lace from Clementine Digitals, and the font in the header is Peoni Pro from Emily Lime. Thank you Christina, for the kind words. I’m so glad you are delighted with your blog makeover!

Amanda was looking for a blog makeover that incorporated a great color scheme with easy navigation. We went with bold colors and a very simple menu bar. You’ll have to go visit her blog Maggiano Takes Austin to check out some of the little details like the full welcome image, shooting arrows on the fancy social networking icons, and pretty post signature & post-footer area.

Thank you, Amanda, for all the encouragement along the way!

Congratulations to Emmy June (born in May) for winning the Facebook Timeline Cover!

I look forward to working with you, Emmy, on a re-design this week.

On March 30th, all business & fan-pages will go live with the new timeline covers.

Do you have yours ready?

See Services & Pricing

]]> http://pricelessdesignstudio.com/facebook-timeline-cover-winner-emmy-june/feed/ 1 http://pricelessdesignstudio.com/new-facebook-timeline-covers-for-business-fan-pages/ http://pricelessdesignstudio.com/new-facebook-timeline-covers-for-business-fan-pages/#comments Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:21:58 +0000 katie http://www.pricelessdesignstudio.net/?p=752 read more »]]> I’m teaming up with Jillian fromGeek Chic Social Media this week to giveaway a free Facebook Timeline Cover. Did you know that all business or fan Facebook pages will be switched over to the new timeline on March 30th? That gives you about 2 weeks to get yours in order.

Please don’t fall into the trap of cropping your blog header to squeeze into the cover! Use the generous space to showcase some awesome things about your blog. Maybe have a “what’s new” area or update pictures of your recent Pinterest projects. Take advantage of the free advertising space that FB is giving you & create something unique to you.

Jillian has you set, with a simple how-to article here. And I have some additional tips for you too:

• The best size to create a cover is 851×315 pixels. If you have a photo-editing program, set your document settings to 300 DPI in CMYK mode. 
• If you don’t use a photo, use a colored background, not white. It will help your words stand out more clearly.
• Use an easy to read font & make it large.
• Save the photo at the highest possible quality! Use a .png file name for anything with type on it. 

Check out my PDS fan page and Mrs. Alana’s Miscellany’s fan page to see good examples.

OR if you aren’t a D.I.Y.er, you can enter the giveaway here, and we will work together to create something perfect for you!

I’m so excited to share this blog with everyone! Meet Clare, my island bestie. Somehow I convinced her to switch from wordpress.com to blogger.com, and in the process was able to work with her on a re-design of her blog: C Squared W.

First of all, the title of the blog is über fitting because her name is Catherine Clare Wilkinson (C²W) but she is also married to Charlie Wilkinson, so together they are also C²W. Clare comes from Virginia, where I’m learning there is a lot of southern tradition & manners. She had a flash of inspiration to use her monogram on the header, along with big bold stripes.

I couldn’t be more pleased with the result, and am so happy to introduce you to my fabulous friend who is a wonderful writer and awesome artist. Go check her new blog out!

]]> http://pricelessdesignstudio.com/c-squared-w/feed/ 1 http://pricelessdesignstudio.com/keep-you-sunnyside-up/ http://pricelessdesignstudio.com/keep-you-sunnyside-up/#comments Sat, 17 Mar 2012 03:44:55 +0000 katie http://www.pricelessdesignstudio.net/?p=737 read more »]]>

Leah from Keep Your Sunnyside Up asked for a blog with a touch of yellow, beachy feel and of course a sun (that I drew myself!). The color palette we choose shows up in the social networking icons, and I love how the yellows and blues work together. We even put a real picture of a sunset on top of the word Sunnyside. Thank you Leah, this design was a blast to work on!

When Tess from Human Sparkler contact me, she was having trouble figuring out how to bring the “sparkle” into her blog in a professional, fun way. I suggested glitter, of course! We decided that the style of her blog should be be crisp, bold, with a touch of pizzaz.

Blog design inspiration can come from anywhere, not just other blogs. In this case, it came from a photograph of uniquely used paint chips. I have been loving the ombre look recently, and used this photo from Colour Lovers as inspiration for her custom design:

If you get a chance, you should check out Tess’s blog to see the hover images on the social networking icons and menu bar. There are also some other goodies tucked away beyond the fold. Plus, she is awesome & you might just find a new person to follow!

Over the last few months I have discovered that I really enjoy completing full blog makeovers. It is satisfying to see every last element fall into place. For that reason, I will now only be offering the Custom Blogger Makeover package. It will include all the essential (& a few non-essential) Blog Elements.

For the blogger who wants all the bells & whistles, I have listed several Extra Elements that are available to purchase as add-ons to a Custom Blogger Makeover package. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but is a good starting point if you are looking to add some special flair to your blog like drop-down sidebar menus or sidebar widgets, individual page styling, or animated social networking icons.

I am also happy to announce that I will be offering À La Carte services here at PDS. You can now purchase a Media Kit or Blog Button package without purchasing a design. Facebook timeline covers for both personal and fan-pages are available à la carte or as an add-on to a design package.

Thank you, once again, to everyone following along. I look forward to sharing my designs, tips, and tutorials with you this year.

Now, go check out my new Services & Pricing!

Once I saw Lindsay’s Pinterest inspiration board, I knew that we were going to create something special. Lindsay wanted an eye-catching outer wrapper with geometric leaves for her blog, You are the Roots. Incorporating the fresh colors with various textures made this design unique.

The sweetest thing about this design is that Lindsay’s husband purchased it for her as a birthday gift! Thanks Lindsay for having such encouraging words along the way, and for putting together such great inspiration for the design. Happy Birthday!