Monday, January 26, 2009

Gloggy Giveaways - Premade Template by Delicious Design Studio

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival Button


The Bloggy Giveaways Carnival starts today and I am giving away a premade blog template by Delicious Design Studio, worth up to $40! Here are some samples of their premade templates:




Why a premade template and not a custom design? Well, because I think these templates are gorgeous and the blogger who wins gets immediate gratification. Custom designs often take weeks, as many designers already have several clients ahead of them in their queue.

The winner will be contacted after the carnival ends and they get to choose from the many premade templates for sale at Delicious Designs Studio. The template and instructions on how to install it are emailed to them within 24 hours.


How do you enter the drawing for the premade template? Simply leave a pleasant comment here. If you don't have a blog, leave your email so I can contact you if you win.

Would you like to hear about designer's giveaways and sales throughout the year? When they post new free templates and buttons? Simply subscribe to Beautiful Blog Designs and I will post when they happen (as I did here).

Now, head back to Bloggy Giveaways to see what else there is!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.


Shared by Amanda at Monday, January 26, 2009 124 comments
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Sunday, January 25, 2009

Sherbet Blossom Designs

SherbetBlossomDesigns

I just love the name "Sherbet Blossom Designs!" It's original, catchy and creates a lovely vision in your mind without ever seeing the product. However, you are equally delighted when you see the beautiful blogs, websites and banners produced there.

The owner, Hannah, is a work-at-home mom who is a graphic designer for a publishing company which designs magazines. While she still works for them, her passion is Sherbet Blossom Designs and creating custom designs to fit the individual tastes and needs of each client.

In addition to blog and website designs, she also makes custom prints, such as wedding invitations, birth announcements and Christmas cards.

Here are some examples of blogs she has designed:





I highly recommend heading over to Sherbet Blossom Designs and taking a look at her work. You can get a custom design for as little as $45, including installation, which is an excellent value!

If you have time, also stop by Hannah's personal blog. It is not only beautiful, but full of good recipes, great links, incredible pictures and more!

Shared by Amanda at Sunday, January 25, 2009 0 comments
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Saturday, January 24, 2009

Blogging Help

For more helpful posts on blogging, click on "blogging help" in the label cloud in the sidebar. 

For tutorials on various blogging topics, go to my Tutorials page.

Here are some other places to get answers to your blogging questions.

Shared by Amanda at Saturday, January 24, 2009
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Custom Blog Design Giveaways

I am excited that right at the launch of this blog there are three giveaways available to share with you! If ever you wanted to a free makeover for your blog, now is the time to try.



Blogs by Danielle is giving away a free makeover. To enter you simply go to her site, become a follower (great for hearing about giveaways, freebies and new designs), post about the giveaway on your own blog and then leave a comment for her. Winner will be announces January 30th.

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April Showers is giving away quite a few things. Two winners will be chosen in each category.
  1. Totally Awesomely Amazingly Wonderful Customized Blog Layout! Of course this is going to be the numero uno prize silly head! The winners get one of everything under the Blog TLC link above.
  2. A $40 gift basket filled with TONS of customized mark. and Bath and Body Works products! Luxurious shower gels, yummy lotions, makeup, hair styling products, accessories, jewelry and more! Click on the link -----> on the right sidebar to go to my online store and pre-browse!
  3. Custom Illustration! How cute would you look as a cartoon? Adorable!!! Full body, half, or headshot available. You can use it as your avatar, incorporate it into a header, or even print it out and put it on cards or embellishments. Great for Etsy stuff!
  4. 10 winners will get 50% off any blog TLC items of their choice!

Wow! With so many things being given away, you have a really good chance! To be entered in the drawing, you must add her giveaway button to your side bar (she explains how), post about the drawing on your blog and leave a comment on her blog.

Be sure to read through the ways to get additional entries. Deadline for entries is February 1st.

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In honor of their grand opening, That Blog Place is giving away 10 free headers. Simply leave a comment on their blog and you are entered. Giveaway ends February 1st.

I have entered all of them already and if I win something, I am going to give it away here in February!

Shared by Amanda at Saturday, January 24, 2009 1 comments
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Friday, January 23, 2009

Web Store Designers

The following are women-owned businesses which design web stores.

Shared by Amanda at Friday, January 23, 2009
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Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates


If you want a huge selection of gorgeous FREE templates go to Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates. The designer there is Lena Toews and she has shared many, many incredible templates for you to use, 100% free of charge. You simply browse through the categories and pick out the one you want. She has also provided a wonderful tutorial on how to change your own templates.


After looking out on the Internet for quality blogger templates, she decided to start making her own templates in her free time. Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates has a simple goal: to create beautiful, stylish, free and functional templates for those using the new blogger beta. If you are after a more original design, she also makes inexpensive custom blogger designs.

When I wanted to change from my plain Blogger template, her site was the one I went to. There were so many beautiful templates, it was hard to choose just one. Following her excellent directions I had the template loaded in less than 5 minutes.

Here as some examples of her free templates:




If you are looking to upgrade your template, but don't have the money right now for a custom one, shoot over to Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates. Lena is sure to have one that is just right for you.

Shared by Amanda at Friday, January 23, 2009 1 comments
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Thursday, January 22, 2009

About Beautiful Blog Designs

Please read this post to see the changes made recently for bloggers and designers.


What is Beautiful Blog Designs?


Beautiful Blog Designs is a blog dedicated to helping bloggers find free and premade blog templates, as well as showcase the many talented female blog designers. Most of the designers listed here are work-at-home moms who design blogs as a way to bring in extra income for their family. Beautiful Blog Designs is more than just a list of designers, though. Read this post to see all the BBD has to offer.

I do not receive any compensation from any designers or bloggers for featuring their blogs or advertising sales and giveaways. Nor do I receive free designs for this blog or my personal blog, Moving Forward. When I recommend a designer in a post or by use of their button in my sidebar it is because I think they are talented and have a great service to offer.

Giveaways offered here are almost always purchased by me, out of my own pocket. Why? Because they are fun and I truly enjoy helping others. Occasionally a designer will ask me to host a giveaway, and I am always clear that it is coming from them, not me.

How did Beautiful Blog Designs get started?

My name is Amanda and I have been blogging since August, 2008. I was quite satisfied with my generic Blogger template for the first few months until I really started visiting other blogs. I was amazed by the beautiful blog templates and wanted one for myself. After much searching, I discovered Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates and gave my personal blog, Moving Forward, a free facelift. After a while I upgraded to a custom design by Designs by Summer.

Each time I visited a blog, I was very intrigued by their blog design, checking out the designer who created it. Sometimes I found free templates provided by the designer, sometimes premade. I was bookmarking so many, I thought I would start a blog to help other new bloggers find a way to beautify their blog, either with a free template or by purchasing a premade or custom design. Thus Beautiful Blog Designs was born (with a free template from Made by Madeline).

As for the design of BBD, the current design was created by Designer Blogs. Previously I have worked with Designs by Summer for header and custom navigation bar. I highly recommend both designers!

Who is Amanda?

I am a homeschooling, work-at-home mom of four children, ages 11 to 4. I live in rural SC and take pictures of my kids and cows. For the past three and a half years I have been a consultant and supervisor for Usborne Books. How I find time to blog, I do not know.

I enjoy helping others and that is what BBD is all about.






Let others know about BBD with this button:

If you benefit from this blog by finding a free or premade design you like, or find a designer you want to work with, please let others know how you found it by using the button below for a few days after installation. Or, if you think this site is just too darn neat and want to shout if from the roof tops, add this button to your sidebar.



















Get your own free Blogoversary button!

Shared by Amanda at Thursday, January 22, 2009 12 comments
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Free Buttons, Graphics and More

The following are sites that I have found which contain all different sorts of things (buttons, graphics, ideas) which may aid you in your blogging or help you add fun and spice to your blog. They are just "extra."

Free Premade Buttons
Free digital scrapbook kits (for making your own blog design):

Free Twitter Buttons

Shared by Amanda at Thursday, January 22, 2009
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Tutorials


The following are questions/issues I have dealt with over the past year as I learned all about blogging. Most of these tutorials are written by Sneaky Momma Blog Design.


Wordpress specific tutorials:

Facebook Tutorials

For great video tutorials:

Here are some sites that provide additional help.


Stumble Upon Toolbar

Shared by Amanda at Thursday, January 22, 2009
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Premade Templates For Sale


The following designers have premade templates for sale. Instructions on how to install the template is provided when purchased. Premade templates have a more custom feel without the wait time custom designs often entail.

Premade Wordpress Templates:

Shared by Amanda at Thursday, January 22, 2009
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Free Backgrounds

The following are designers who offer free blog backgrounds (sometimes called skins). Instructions on how to load them are provided by the designer.

Shared by Amanda at Thursday, January 22, 2009
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Free Templates

The following designers have free templates available for download. Many of them have helpful tutorials on how to load the template to your blog.

Please note that I have found some of the templates do not work. If you repeatedly have trouble, I recommend finding a different one instead of fighting to make that one work.

Free Blogger Templates:


Free Wordpress Themes:

Shared by Amanda at Thursday, January 22, 2009
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Blog Designers


Wordpress designers are listed at the bottom.

Blogger Designers



    Wordpress Designers

    Typepad Designers


      Shared by Amanda at Wednesday, January 21, 2009
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      First Blog Designer Review - Designs by Summer

      I have to start somewhere and I decided to start with Designs by Summer. I came across her site when I was reading someone's blog (honestly I cannot remember which one). After reviewing her portfolio, I was impressed by both the quality of her designs and the price for her services. The phrase she uses is "Beautiful Designs, Wallet Friendly Price," and she is spot on.

      Summer is a self taught designer, who had her start with digital scrapbooking first, which turned into blog design after teaching herself about HTML and CSS. Examples of her work can be seen by going to iMommy, or Org Junkie's Product Reviews.






      Prices for new blog design are set by package and range from $35 to $100. She also can make headers (ex: Inspired Mama Musings above), buttons, signatures, awards, Etsy banners and avatars for $3 to $15.

      My personal blog, Moving Forward, needed a face lift in a major way. The template I am using is a free one, and beautiful, but it does not fit my personality. Last week I contacted Summer to design a new template just for me. I will share the new site (and button) once the template is up and running.

      Shared by Amanda at Wednesday, January 21, 2009 3 comments
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      Welcome to Beautiful Blog Designs

      Hi there! I am glad you have stopped by. This blog is in its infancy, but I hope you find it beneficial anyway.

      The purpose of this blog to show case the many women who design blogs either as a hobby or as a part time business from home. I started blogging about six months ago, and really only started following other blogs about two months ago. I was so amazed by the beauty and style of some of the blogs and wanted that for my own. Many hours have I spent looking at blog after blog to see who they were designed by, then going to that designer's site.

      Through my researching, I found many, many incredible designers and I thought I would pass that information along to those who may be interested in updating their blog's look. Several of the sites offer free templates, some simple, some more elaborate. Many designers offer premade templates, which can be purchased for a small fee.

      Please be patient as I find the right feel and design for this blog. I have dozens more designers to add, and I sure the lists will continue to grow as I discover new ones.

      Next week I will be giving away a premade template from a fantastic designer, with the winner choosing the template, so make sure to check back in!

      Shared by Amanda at Wednesday, January 21, 2009 0 comments
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