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 happens to float your boat, feel free to download Space No. 1 at the bottom of this post and check out the customization screencasts at Style.
Read More
While Winter Whispers
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.
Read More
My First
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).
Read More
Links Loved
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...
Read More
Flora Love No. 1
It's been raining a lot, so it feels liberating to go out the last couple of days without my rain gear. Talk about a strange Winter --- one day it's freezing and the next it's humid and dry and the next, very wet, and it stays wet and soggy for what seems like weeks. If it's confusing to me, it's also confusing Mother Nature. What I mean is that the plants are behaving like it's already Spring. Some of the flowers in my yard are blooming and there are all sorts of mysterious plants and grasses I've never seen before and all of this is happening in my yard. So bizarre! Don't get me wrong, the rain has been great for our plants and the young trees we planted last month --- one is a crape myrtle and the other is a paperbark maple.
Read More