Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Blog Revamp

I've been meaning to do this for awhile. Get an actual picture of meaningful things to create my header with. My last header was functional and I loved the new layout, but it just didn't fully convey the proper tone that I wanted my readers to get when they first entered my site.

Hence the new header. It's a special one, as everything that appears in it has some special value.

L-R

Bible - this is the ESV Bible my parents bought for me as a teenager. It's a very nice one and is the one I intend to have for the rest of my life.

CS Lewis's "Till we Have Faces" - Lewis is one of my favorite authors, and I love this book. It is so beautiful and filled with layer upon layer of messages and meaning.

"When Knighthood was in Flower" - first of all it is just beautiful, and secondly it is representative of my lifelong fascination for Tudor England. It's also an antique copy of a story I'd looked for over many years unsuccessfully -- you can read the full story at the bottom of this post.

Sense and Sensibility - I love Austen in general, but S&S has some of the most personal meanings to me.

The flowers - I save and dry most of the flowers and all of the roses I receive. It's getting a little hard to keep track of which is which, but I believe this are birthday flowers from my 19th and possibly 21st birthdays.

The teapot - My friendship with Regina Doman produced a real appreciation of tea. To facilitate this, my sister gave me this gorgeous teapot for Christmas two years ago. I could not have picked a pot that suited me better -- even if I could have had it custom made.

The scarf in the background - a design I love picked out by my mother. It's the sort of scarf that dresses up anything elegantly. (And I just love black and white)

You'll notice I dropped the SOTB quote. Sad to do so, but I wanted to make the focus of the blog visible immediately upon entry. Perhaps I'll figure out how to work the quote in somewhere else.

So... thoughts? Does this work? Could I make anything clearer? Are the tabs organized coherently?

11 comments:

Rose Marchen said...

It looks wonderful.

Maggie D said...

I love it!

Elven Maiden said...

It looks great Elena!

Elven Maiden said...

It looks amazing! So sweet, Elena.

Leah Miren said...

It looks beautiful, Elena!

Elisabeth Grace Foley said...

That header is lovely! Great job.

Andy Hauge said...

Very artfully together-composed.

Anonymous said...

Excellent. It much better conveys the spirit of the blog, I think.

Elizabeth Amy Hajek said...

Thank you all! I'm delighted that the new header meets with such approval! :)

And Autumn, I totally agree. :)

Elarinya said...

Oh, it looks so gorgeous! I love it!

Rebekah H. said...

I like it. The colors are gentle on the eyes, and it all flows toward the title. Granted, it's a bit strange that the title is on the side, but I think it works. IMHO, I don't think you should try to put the quote in there, it'll look too "busy" if you do.

Since you brought up tabs, could you help me out a bit and tell me how you make them in Blogger? I can't figure it out for the life of me.