Down The Rabbit Hole

I'm  not very good at blogging,

As you may have surmised by now.

I like to write, but

I tend to write like I talk

Short Bursts

(that doesn't mean I'm not long winded, cuz I am)

It's more like prose I think

not that it rhymes

or is in any way lyrical, 

but because I love to use language

in as many non-traditional ways

that I can think of....

Like spelling words the way I think they look cool

instead of spelling them correctly

I only really use punctuation if it helps emphasize what has been written

& it looks cool.!?":';.

Always Liking The Cool

I'm completely addicted to the ellipsis........

My Very First Ever Animated Gif
& Still One of My Faves

So it's quite possible that my blog

isn't every one's cup of tea

&

of course it doesn't help

that I am consistently inconsistent

in keeping up with it.

The oddity about all this is

that for over the past 18 months or so

I have found myself designing blogs.

Yeah,

Sure,

I had put together a few blogs for friends & myself before then,

 but I had always used graphics & artwork I had purchased.

Or

even better using freebies

 from sites like the wonderful

 Graphics Fairy

(who I still visit often.....hee hee)

and many others the like.

BUT in January of 2012

a Newly Found Sista, Geanie Finley, 

asked me to create a blog for her

WHAT??

No Way

NO NO NO

Not

for someone who doesn't already know & love me

despite my eccentricities

&

 This bog would need to be very different

Geanie had told me she had always wanted a blog.

She wanted it to be an expression of herself,

Of Her Gypsy Soul

This girl was definite about what she liked

&

what she liked

was anything but 

stock graphics & neutral colors

"I don't know," I told her, "I can try."

OMG!!!!

 I'd never done any original work before

at least not for anyone but myself....

I was feeling completely screwed at this point.

I didn't even know...

How am I going to....

I mean I.......

(eyes watering, heart racing, dry mouth)

PANIC!!!!

I didn't have any computer programs for that kind of thing

&

even if I did

I wouldn't know how to use them to create

 any part of the ideas I had in my head.

So I...

Googled

Googled

Googled

Googled

until my googler

was pooped.

I downloaded

GIMP

&

Photoscape

&

bookmarked endless pages on how to use: 

Layers

Masks

Filters

Scripts

yada

yada

yada

all of this 

just to create the artwork only.

My second attempt at animated gifs. This one was for the JuJu blog.
Gif's have become quite the addiction for me...

Then I was back to bookmarking pages again.

This time I wanted to find out

how to write "code" for Blogger

so I could make the artwork

I had designed

Fit & Perform 

As I envisioned..

&

of course, there was always

trial & error, trial & error, trial & error

It took me FOREVER..

well almost forever

4 months actually

but

it was original.

JuJu is Geanie Finley's Beloved Business.
This is her blog Header.

Why am I telling you all this?

Well,

Because My Friends

I Just Finished

 My 4th 

"Original Design" blog

&

with every new one I create

I get a little better

 & 

a little more knowledgeable

The Blog of Brenda Braun An Artist & Owner of Decadence
My second blog creation...

Original Graphic for the Link to Brenda's Etsy Shop
This girl makes GORGEOUS jewelry!

My Latest Client,

the sweetest & kindest & most PATIENT

Person on the Face of the Planet

Ms. Jackie McMullen of 

Jaidyn Pearl Diaries

had to wait almost as long as Geanie.

However Folks......

Geanie's Blog.

My First Blog.

"ONE PAGE"

that's it.

This Time

 Jackies Blog

"8 PAGES"

Woooo Hoooo People!! 

Jaidyn Pearl Diaries

Most of Jackies Blog Pages Have

Backgrounds & Graphics

Completely Different from the Home Page (above)

Each with their Own Individual Look.

All My Designs are Still created in GIMP & Photoscape

(Although I have recently acquired 

Photo Shop Creative Suite 5 & am eager to start learning how to use it)

Everything I designed for this blog

needed to speak about  Jackie

while speaking to her readers as well. 

She is a multi-talented girl

working her artistry in several different mediums,

writing, photography, painting furniture, cooking  

& the sculpting of her family.

A true artistic life

Jax's Blog Button

I wrote 8 pages of CSS code

&

This Time Around 

I started teaching myself to write Java Script.

(scary stuff, forget a semi-colon or bracket & nothing will work.

For someone easily distracted like me with my A.D.D. ,

{yes it's true, I'm a real diagnosed space-shot,} it's definitely scary stuff.)

I know that to some of you

what I'm describing sounds

A Lot Like Greek, 

 and it is.

kinda

Cuz it's definitely a foreign language,

one that I didn't know how to read

much less write 18 months ago.

I'm pretty sure that I don't do things the correct & proper way

&

I'm Okay With That

I am Basically a Digital Collage Artist

NOT a traditional graphic artist...

Wouldn't really know how to be a traditional anything

Never Have

So I know that

"once again"

I won't be everyone's cup of tea

& I still have miles to go before I sleep....

So This Is My Thank You Note

to ALL of my clients.

Whether you had a blog designed & built,

 business cards or labels designed,

Facebook Covers or Etsy Banners created

Photo Editing, Videos, Marketing,

 any & all work that I may have 

done for you in the last year & a half,

Thank You 

Thank You

Thank You

Thank You

 for not running in the other direction

when I told you I was self taught,

Thank You 

for accepting that my learning curve

would be a part of my scheduling

&

Thank You 

for actually paying me well 

(despite my lack of credentials or artistic education)

for working at something I love to do.

I Feel Suitably Blessed!!

xoxoxo

"Unthinkably good things can happen, even late in the game.

It's such a surprise." ~Under the Tuscan Sun

PS~

If you make a visit to my business blog

please excuse the mess...

no time lately to work on my own space.

But that's kind of a good thing.

Right?