Wednesday, December 10, 2014

How far I've come with some blog tips mixed in

Today I'm going to be taking a small trip down memory lane..... How far my photography has come and blogging in general has come in just one short year. (I recently celebrated my 1st blogaversay!)

Here is my first blog header, it isn't the most terrible thing in the world, just pretty generic, and dark, and hard to read. Yeah, I guess it was pretty bad:)


{First Post}

 Here is my current blog header. A lot better definitely! Not exactly where I want to be, but better. The other major change I made at this point was to change my background color to plain white. I highly recommend this! The other background would never load and white gives your blog a less distracting feel.
 This was originally in my sidebar and there are a lot of problems with it! You can barely read it because the font is too small and it looks pretty cheap.
 Recently I switched to a picture of me with a short paragraph under it. I like this much better because it feels a lot more crisp and clean, plus it adds a more personal touch because it includes a picture.
  My first DIY post included a picture like this:

{Cherry Crisp}
 And this: Thank goodness that I've improved! The photos are grainy and I don't really like to instructions on the picture anymore. I remember being super proud of this post though... probably because it was only my 3rd:)


This is a little later and the photography is MUCH better, plus I realized you don't always need a picture for every step :)


{3 Step Mousepad DIY}




I started with this in my sidebar: 

And then switched to this. The rectangular shape is much better for sidebars, the words fit nicer, and it is a little "cleaner", if you know what I mean. I recently decided to move it to my footheader and I like it there a lot better. 

This was my original "sign off". It wasn't made that blurry, just making it this big makes it look blurry.

 Love this one so much better! The fonts, colors, clarity. Everything! 
The next few pictures show how my photography and design has improved:

Blurry, plus the colors don't mix well and the background is too distracting.

{Acorn of honest Inquiry}

I still really like this one. I feel like it is pretty simple, but still cute.
{I'm Grateful for ...in Pics}  



I also really like the following three. These are some of the first times I combined my graphic design with my photos.

{You measure up... A Lesson in comparison}


{Life is Beautiful}

{Shine}
These are some of my favorite photos.

{I'm proud to be an American}


{Seeing the Beauty}


I was trying to change things up by using a journal entry and taking an artistic picture of it and using that instead of taking the time to make a whole other "title picture" for my post or even worse leaving it pictureless. (gasp!:)
{And the people came running}

Recently I made a blog instagram account- my first social media outlet for my blog! (Hint-you should follow me:)
{We are on Instagram!}



This isn't meant to make anyone feel bad, it's mostly for my fun and to give you hope:). If you are doing some of the things I used to and now think are not my best moments, that's ok. Everyone's style is different and everyone is in a completely different place. So even if you aren't happy with where you are right now, just know there is hope for your future:) Some people say you have to take expensive courses or whatnot to be a good blogger. I 100% disagree with this, will it speed you up? Maybe. But it is totally possible to learn without paying a lot of money. I have never taken a class, but I have read many free tutorials online. A lot of my pictures are edited and/or taken on my phone because that's what I have with me. I still make hundreds of mistakes and we all know I'm not the most consistent blogger:)

2 comments:

  1. This is so fun! I have always loved your blog and design. You are very talented! Happy birthday to your blog!

    Hugs!
    Sarah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the awesome compliment! I don't know- I think your blog and design are pretty amazing.....

      Delete

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