Welcome to my new website!

I did it! I finally got all of the ideas that have been buzzing around in my head for so long, out of my head, and into the form of a website!

I’ve had an idea of what I would like my website to look like for ages. But I had no clue how to do it. I’ve tried a few different free themes that have been ok but I always knew they weren’t perfect. It wasn’t something I wanted to spend any money on as I didn’t know if it was any good or worth spending any money on.

This year things have changed a bit, in that since I have joined Twitter I have become much more a part of the wonderful blogging community that I had previously shied away from. I wish now that I had got more involved in this community sooner but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Since joining twitter, and discovering Linkys and Blog hops, the traffic to my site has increased and I have received some truly wonderful comments that have boosted my self-confidence no end and made me feel that what I am writing is worthwhile.

Then my lovely hubby offered to pay for a site redesign as my birthday present in April. He had offered before but I’d always turned him down as it seemed a waste of money, but as a birthday present it seemed more reasonable.Β At first, I said yes, then the control freak inside got the better of me. I had such a strong idea of how I wanted it to look that I was scared of never being 100% happy with the way someone else interpreted that idea.

So I started having a play around. I took some photos for a potential header background. I have been getting to grips with PicMonkey and have had lots of fun editing and creating with their free software.

screenshot 2

This turned out better than I thought it would and I got excited, then hubby got excited with me. He is great at web design and used to do a lot of it, but he doesn’t have time in his current role so only dabbles occasionally. But the great thing for me is that he knows how to do it all. He understands CSS and knows the language to use to make things happen. This all just looked like gobbledegook to me before! So we found a very simple theme that wasn’t perfect, but that he assured me we could make into the vision in my head.

Hubby works so hard and has a demanding job so I have felt awful being demanding of him in the evenings too. I’ve also felt frustrated that I can’t do much of it, and impatient that it has been taking so long!

But I have been gradually learning bits of CSS too. I by no means know everything, but I know a few things now. I can download a font from t’internet (somewhere like Font Squirrel) and I know how to embed that in the site and use the font. I know how to change the colours, sizing and line spacing. I understand some of how CSS works now and Β how to find what I want to change and try to change it.

screenshot 1

I’ve really enjoyed the process and wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out – but I am so pleased and so happy with the end result. I hope you like it too!

 

Mother.Wife.Me
Creative Challenge

72 thoughts on “Welcome to my new website!

    • Thank you, to say I’m proud of it is an understatement, I’m pleased as punch! πŸ˜€ I’m really looking forward to your redesign too! Very exciting! xx

  1. It looks really good! I still to this day do not understand CSS and a lot of the basics of how my site works. I just follow online tutorials, play around with code and cross my fingers hard! Well done you x

  2. It looks fantastic and well done on learning how to do it. I have to admit I let the very wonderful Annie take care of me and mine, I ought to make more of an effort to learn.

  3. YAY this is is beautiful well done honey it really is stunning πŸ™‚ (its such a lovely feeling isnt it!)

    Thanks for linking up with #MagicMoments (a year ago i had the same one πŸ˜‰ )

    • Thanks so much honey, it is a great feeling – to know it is finally how I have always wanted it to be! πŸ™‚ Ooh I have to say I love your site, it’s such a great design, I definitely had blog envy when I saw it πŸ™‚ xx

    • Aww thanks so much, loving the positive responses, you never really know if anyone else will like it as much as you do! Thanks so much xxx

  4. I love the new look of your website! Funny how everyone is talking about Twitter. I have been shying away from it as I have to admit it scares me a bit… Still not on there even though I have been blogging for six or seven weeks… Decisions, decisions. Mel #MagicMoments

    • Thank you! I am enjoying being on twitter, it’s a great way of connecting with other mummy bloggers, but it does come with a certain amount of pressure! I can’t believe you’ve only been blogging 6 or 7 weeks! I assumed you had been blogging for ages! xxx

    • Thank you! I can imagine there is a world of difference between the two, I only know wordpress so would have no idea about blogger! xx

  5. I love it! It’s funny before I started reading the post I was looking at your header, and thinking “oh I like that!”. Well done you on learning to do those bits too – my hubs is tech-savvy too so I get him to do things on my blog but I wish I could do more myself.
    #AllAboutYou

    • Yay thank you! Really pleased that people are liking it! Thank you I am pretty proud of mysef but couldn’t have done it without him! xx

  6. Congratulations, the blog looks great!! It’s such a wonderful feeling when all of those plans that have been up ones sleeve finally come together. Also, I find it a real learning curve accepting help and relinquishing some control but if it gets you where you wanna be it’s worth it right? Thanks so much for sharing this post, it’s both practical and inspiring! Stopping by from #AllAboutYou

    • Thank you! It really does feel amazing to have it where I want it to be! And you are right, you have to relinquish control and accept help sometimes to get where you want to be. Thank you πŸ™‚ xx

  7. Well done you! The blog looks great, it’s amazing that you and hubby did it yourselves too – I didn’t even know that was possible! I’ll be giving pic monkey a go myself soon a couple of people have recommended it to me. Once I feel a bit more confident I’d love to do a custom header for myself too : ) x

    • Thank you! I couldn’t have done it without him as some of the css stuff is really tricky but I did enjoy learning about it. PicMonkey is fab too, there is just so much fun you can have on there. You should have a play, you’ll be amazed what you can come up with – I never thought I’d get my header to look how I wanted without studio lighting etc, but I am so pleased with the result! πŸ™‚ xx

  8. Well done you! Looks ace.

    I’m just about to do a re-design myself so applaud you for doing such a good job of it. It’s so difficult I think when in your head you know what you want it to look like, but you can’t quite make it happen! Thanks for sharing x #AllAboutYou

    • Thank you! It really is so hard when you have a clear idea in your head, so I am beyond happy and proud that I managed to achieve it! I’m sure yours will look fantastic and I look forward to seeing it! xx

  9. Pingback: Word of the Week? Trying | Becoming a Stay at Home Mum

  10. Love the new look. I really wish I understood it all enough to redesign my blog. I’m really not happy with it at all, but don’t know where to start to get it to where I want it to be. I think I’m going to have to resort to paying somebody!
    #creativechallenge

  11. Hi Caroline – I have just decided to pay to have my blog re-designed and I’m suddenly feeling a bit scared! I don’t have any web-whizzes in my life although I did once write and edit a commercial website about children’s books back at the turn of the century so somewhere in the back of my mind I know my way around a bit of basic HTML. I don’t know CSS though – is it really difficult? I’m really not clear on what I need to do to transfer what I’ve already got to a self-hosted website – any tips? Sam X

    • Hey lovely, eek exciting!! Good for you!! CSS …. when you know all the rules and nuances it’s not too bad but there some weird rules and things! Have to say I am not sure on that, I will have a quick chat with hubby this eve and give you a shout later with some tips – he’s the technical whizz in our house, I couldn’t have done anything without his knowledge! xx

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