Flora Love No.2

April 17, 2014

Overcast and cloudy, or rather, "Mostly Cloudy," is the forecast that I pray for as I squint into my iPhone weather app at 5:30 every morning. But, just my luck, I usually get "Sunny" or "Partly Cloudy", which usually turns out to be "Mostly Sunny". Oh, but not so today, my friends. Today I got "Rain" --- glorious afternoon rain! Ok, ok, the perfect day would have been a day without precipitation, but I'll take what I can get. Why? Rain means clouds and an overcast sky means that there won't be any directional light and that's exactly what I was hoping for. I spent all morning snapping these shots around town. Up hill and down hill, through the historic part of town and back, a snap here and a snap there, and this collection of 18 photos (after the jump) is what I got, and I'm really happy with the way they turned out. :D

space no. 1 samples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (child theme example)

Space No. 1 Wordpress Theme

March 26, 2014

Hey everyone! As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I've been working on a Wordpress theme. It's called Space No. 1, and it's finally ready to go! As a special thank you to my fellow web design enthusiasts, I'm offering it as part of a Style Member perk until April 30, 2014. If you currently use Wordpress on a self-hosted site, you're a Style Member, and this theme floats your boat, feel free to download Space No. 1 at the bottom of this post and check out the customization screencasts at Style.

While Winter Whispers

March 4, 2014

Lullatone recently released a new album called While Winter Whispers. Isn't this CD sleeve great! They commissioned Anna Kovecses to design it. In fact, it was through the Lullatone website that I learned about her work. I'm taking the time to write about Lullatone today because Stef compiled a nice list of online noise providers. It's worth checking out, especially since studies have shown that modern ambient noise is good for our brains. I'm intrigued by Rainy Mood, which made me think of Lullatone, who also has an album (and an iphone app!) devoted to the tip tap pitter patter sounds of raindrops.

My First

March 2, 2014

I've been going through the exercises in Jesse Friedman's Web Designer's Guide to Wordpress. I went through the book 2x. The first time, I followed the exercises verbatim. The second time, I built my theme from scratch. It was challenging at times -- as first ventures usually are -- but it was also fun and even exhilarating. Do you remember how you felt after you built your first webpage? Wait a second! Let's go back a bit further. Do you remember the magic of creating your first link, connecting your lone page, for the very first time, to the World Wide Web? Building this theme was a big deal for me, totally up there with my first time clubbing at Club X (Modern Rock Wednesdays; Just Like Heaven was playing as I went in) and the awesome and unequaled headrush from my first cigarette (I quit 10 years ago!). My first website and hyperlink changed me forever -- I felt that same thrill to see my static page come to life as a dynamic Wordpress site. I kid you not, and this may sound corny and all, but I had a tear in my eye. So here it is, Spaces No. 01 (beta).

Links Loved

February 20, 2014

I'm making a Wordpress blog from scratch. It's actually a pretty old project that I started in the Summer and I've been working on it in my spare time. I began by making a Photoshop mockup, and last month, I finally got around to converting it to HTML and CSS. Then, with the help of Jesse Friedman's Web Designer's Guide to WordPress, I created my first Wordpress theme from scratch (not a child theme, yay!). I'm not finished, but I'm getting close. I still have to code the archives page and that should be about it. It's so much fun. The hardest part was just getting started. Ok, onto my links loved...