surprise! my new blog design

Sooo...what do you think? I've been working with Kate at 17th Avenue Design on a new blog design.

I told her I wanted something simple, fresh and clean (lots of white).

Then I sent her these  color boards I created.

I'm a very visual person, so they were as much for my benefit as Kate's.

I researched the affects of different colors, their use in logos, etc. etc. etc., and finally just went with the colors I gravitate to most often. I know, super scientific. :) I love color. And I love happy colors. I would have normally chosen lighter versions of both the green and the pink, but wanted them to show up well, and  Kate assured me that with lots of white, they would tone down a bit.

I may be simple, but I can also be a little picky. Seriously, stop laughing Marci and Jen (and L and P and K and T and D and S and...) Moving on. So here's what I think contributed to this being a successful experience for me:

1. I started with a designer who already had my style down, so there was no "getting on the same page."
2. Kate is a very busy girl, so I had a couple of months to look around and really decide what I wanted and also didn't want. It was well worth the wait.
3. I played show and tell--like with my color boards--to show Kate what I was thinking.
4. You know I'm going to say it--keeping it simple, left me with very few decisions to make in the end.

Thanks, Kate. I love it all. It's definitely me.

I have a bit of work left to do on my end--like updating pages, adding a photo of moi and a couple of other things I want to play with.