Oh Make Me Over

I've been spending more time in the world of blog-land, and am so jealous of all of the super lovely (professional, put-together, appealing) blogs out there and figured "I'm computer savvy - how hard could it be?"  After a week of obsessively scouring vector graphic databases, reviewing blogger tutorial forums, and struggling with HTML caos, I've decided it's pretty tough.

I'm such a perfectionist, and have an addictive personality when it comes to overcoming a challenge.  It's an asset when it means being committed to success (which explains why my twins are still getting breast milk despite two months of challenges), but that drive is also detrimental when it becomes an inability to "leave well enough alone."  My blogging goals aren't to monetize and make tons of cash, nor do I expect to be a famous blogging celebrity someday.  I don't even have the ego that needs fed by having 1000 subscribers.  I just like to reflect, and think that recording my thoughts through this journey will be fun to look back on.  It might entertain family and friends, or encourage another twin mom in her journey.  So I have no need to spend our limited budget on a blog designer.

I have done my little blog make-over myself.  And while it's certainly not perfect, I wanted to provide credit where credit is due.  I did find it pretty difficult to find the information I needed to get the job done.  Most tutorials I found were either so basic (as in "here's how to start a new post with blogger") or so advanced that there were completely unhelpful.  The few places that were helpful were amazing though, so perhaps these links will help someone else who finds themselves in the same predicament I did.

Banner and Widget Title Graphics: http://dryicons.com/free-graphics/category/frames-banners/
Customized myself in Adobe Illustrator (boy did I learn a thing or two playing around!)

Social Media Icons: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/04/24-free-exclusive-vector-icons-handy/ found http://bestdesignoptions.com/?p=13779
Created the matching Pinterest Icon since that wasn't included in the set.  Not too bad if I do say so myself!

Coding, Spacing, Etc: http://www.projectalicia.com/2011/01/idiots-guide-to-adding-social-media.html
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=5ec0a6e5c8b8c95f&hl=en
http://www.geekytricks.com/2011/08/how-to-increase-or-reduce-space-between-widgets.html

Still a few little tweaks I can make, but hoping I can let go of my perfection obsession long enough to enjoy my accomplishment in the meantime.