Blog Design {Karen's Sewing Room}

Here is my most recent design.  It is fairly simple, and based on the colors of Vintage Modern by Bonnie & Camille for Moda.  Here are the colors I picked:

This design was actually part of my giveaway from Plum and June, but the winner of that giveaway had a blog design and just had me do a few customizations.  So, instead of letting this design sit idle, I put it to use.

The background chevrons and the background of the sewing machine were purchased from Katie's Wish, and the sewing machine silhouette is one I made from a picture of a vintage sewing machine.  I really like how this one turned out!

Blog Design {Little Bunny Quilts}

Remember my blog design giveaway...well, I am slow to deliver, but I finally finished Alison's blog, Little Bunny Quilts!  She wanted citrus and wine colors, I had a difficult time choosing, but with a little help, we decided on these!

I also experimented with the sidebar title images {tutorial coming soon} and the dashed line around the menu buttons {it took a ridiculous amount of effort to get those little lines, but I love them!}.

Design Stats:

Template: Blogger Simple White with some edits
Fonts: Stitch and Janda Romantic
Graphics: Bunny

Blog Design :: Bee-Inspired

I've been doing a couple blog designs lately, and one of them is finally launched, Bee-Inspired.  Gabi wanted a clean, cheerful blog with teals and coral, and this is what I came up with.  Our inspiration color palette was this:

Source: blog.photocardboutique.com via Jennie & Clara on Pinterest

Design stats:


Template: Blogger Simple White with some edits
Fonts: Sketch Rockwell, Pea Stacy's Doodle Script, & Rockwell {already on my PC}
Colors: See above
Graphics: Dotted lines from Delicious Scraps and by me, Bee from Pea Betsy's Doodles, background from Junelily, and the rest by me.

Blog Design :: GraceParfait Creations

I did a header for a friend of mine's blog not too long ago, and I wanted to share it.  This is the color palette that we used for inpsiration:

Design Stats:

Template: Wordpress Twenty Ten
Fonts: Special Elite & Pea Hart
Colors: See above
Graphics: Buntings by me using overlays from Delicious Scraps

Etsy Shop :: Damsels & Dragons

Shop Banner

I did an Etsy shop set for a friend of mine{a real life friend at that!} over the last few weeks, so I thought I'd share it with you {if you visit,  you'll notice this is where Norah gets some of her headbands!}.

Avatar

Custom Order Graphic

Business Card Back

I am also going to do some matching stickers...once I figure it out!

this and that

I did my first photography session of kids other than my own a couple weeks ago!  My friend mentioned to me {not knowing that I am looking for photography practice} that she still hadn't taken her son in to get his pictures done since he turned 4.  I offered to take a few for her, since I need the practice.

We got out of the house early, hoping to get some nice light {it is usually overcast in the mornings, it figures the sun was nice and bright the day we chose!}, so some of the photos were more washed out than I had wanted.  But, overall, I think they turned out pretty good for a first-time.  This is one of my favorites!

I also designed this button after some of the Farmer's Wife quilt blocks for a blogging friend of mine's new series: Farmer's Wife in Your Life  Once I looked more closely at the blocks, I realized how easy they would be to turn into graphics!

And, I've been behind in posting the results of the giveaway, but the winner is:

Alison of Little Bunny Quilts!  I will be designing a new blog for her {and I may draw another winner or two in the next couple of weeks...we'll see how busy I am!}, how fun!

Blog Design {Life is a Breeze}

Here's the new blog I designed for my sister! She love cute things and this made me think of cupcakes. We started with this as a color palette and then went forward from here:

Design Stats:

Template: My Basic Template
Fonts: Pea Hanna Chocolate Swirls & Lucida Bright Semi-Bold
Colors: See above
Graphics: Doodle Tag & Heart Overlay

Blog Design {Bacon Then Eggs}

Here is the latest blog design I've finished for Duff of Bacon Then Eggs.  She came up with the heart idea and I designed the graphics from there.

Design Stats:

Template:  My Basic Template
Fonts: Pea Hart & Garmond
Colors: Red (#c61212) & Black (#000000)
Graphics: Heart & the rest my own design

Next, my sister's blog makeover!

My Camera & Lenses

Well, if I'm going to blog about photography, let me start by telling you about my camera.  I have a Nikon D3000 {which, unfortunately for me, has been upgraded to the even better D3100}.  For any out-and-about photography, I usually take my camera equipped with the 18-55mm kit lens, which is fabulous.

55-200mm VR Lens; 105mm; f/5.0; 1/125s; ISO 100

In addition, I have a Nikon 55-200mm VR Zoom Lens that I use for far-away pictures. This lens is perfect for trips to the zoo, or Mt. Rushmore, etc.  However, I find I don't use it that often, as I am then committed to not getting a shot wider than 55mm, and I really like my wide angle shots!

My most recent lens purchase was Nikon's 50mm f/1.8 and it has been love!  All of Norah's photos were taken with this lens, and so many other photos you'll see around here too.

Well, that about covers it for now, but I'll be back later with more details on some of my other equipment {although, I'm a really simple kind of girl, so I don't have tons!}

free blog makeover {a giveaway}

Well, I hadn't initially planned to update Clover & Violet so soon...but while I was surfing the web I found a great tutorial here...and I had to try it! But I needed a compatible header first, and the next thing I knew, I spent most of Saturday designing new graphics.  But, I think it was worth it, and I love the new look!

Now, for the fun giveaway...how would you like a blog makeover?  Yep!  I'm going to give away a free makeover, just leave a comment to tell me why your blog needs a new look.  And, for an extra entry, let me know that you're a follower {please leave a second comment for a second entry}.  Giveaway closes Thursday, February 2nd, and the winner will be announced shortly after that!

First Custom Blog

Here's the blog design I did for my bloggy friend Kathy.  She's been blogging for a while, and I actually found her blog through a cloth diaper chat.  It's a personal blog, so I'm not giving the link here, but she just had her second baby girl, so I thought a blog makeover would be a great gift!  She chose the pink and navy, and said she loved Damask...I took it from there!  What fun.

Design Stats:

Template: Picture Window
Fonts: Vladimir Script & Georgia
Colors: Navy (#2b3856), Light Navy (#5e5a80), & Pink (#faafba)
Graphics: Ornate Wallpaper by Insurrectionx & Layered Tag Template by Delicious Scraps

Up next, a new header for Clover & Violet!