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Dawn
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| Posted: July 13 2006 at 6:10am | IP Logged
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It must be that 4 month itch,  but my blog seems a bit well, uninspired to me lately. I've been checking out some new blogs (new for me) and am amazed at how much people are able to do with their blogs - falling snowflakes, classical music, starry animated cursors, quizzes and other neat sidebar items and images. Where do I look for those things? Are there websites for blog "doo-hickeys" or do you have to buy special software?
One page I did find, thanks to Higher Up and Further In is this Complete HTML True Color Chart. I haven't tried it but I wonder if this would allow me to tweak my colors a bit?
Where do these people find their blog "bling"? 
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 13 2006 at 6:46am | IP Logged
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Dawn wrote:
| It must be that 4 month itch, but my blog seems a bit well, uninspired to me lately. I've been checking out some new blogs (new for me) and am amazed at how much people are able to do with their blogs - falling snowflakes, classical music, starry animated cursors, quizzes and other neat sidebar items and images. Where do I look for those things? Are there websites for blog "doo-hickeys" or do you have to buy special software? |
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Dawn, don't do it. Your bling are your posts and pictures. Your blog is "Elegant Simplicity" to take from Donna Marie.  The extra bells and whistles are busy stuff and a turn-off to me. I don't need the embellishments. And frankly, if a person is using Bloglines, they don't SEE the blog home page that much. They are reading your posts and seeing the pictures. Which, IMHO, you don't need to tweak a thing. 
And, just in case my opinion doesn't convince you, in my former working days I found that professional website people don't like those bells and whistles (cursors, music, etc.). It detracts!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 13 2006 at 6:51am | IP Logged
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And another thing...what colors are you tweaking? I'd like to lodge a complaint for all those blogs that don't do simple colored text on white. I can't read ones on black or other colored background. Hurts my eyes. I have to highlight or cut and paste before I can read it. But that's where Bloglines helps me. I can read all the blogs in uniform text.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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Dawn
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| Posted: July 13 2006 at 8:03am | IP Logged
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Jenn, thank you for your kind words about my blog.  I didn't mean to sound like I was fishing for compliments, just that I have noticed so many neat things on other blogs (never all at once - that would indeed be distracting!) and wondered if it might add some interest to mine. I just love those falling snowflakes! But your opinion means a lot to me, and I will take it to heart.
JennGM wrote:
| And another thing...what colors are you tweaking? |
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Well, back when Elizabeth started her blog I was so inspired by her colors - they are so soothing and pretty (and nicely complement her book cover). I wondered how to create such unique soft shades. I have the Pro account at Typepad but so far have been limited to using their pre-set colors. At one point I was really shooting for a soft pale yellow but couldn't find or create it.
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By Sun and Candlelight
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Rebecca
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Dawn wrote:
| It must be that 4 month itch, but my blog seems a bit well, uninspired to me lately. |
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Dawn, I think that your blog is lovely, just as Jenn said. It is simple, elegant and uncluttered.
I have been feeling the same way about mine--uninspired that is. I am ready for a new header. I can't seem to find one that will "represent us". Also, I don't seem to have anything to say (to post) lately because everything I feel like saying has already been said, much more eloquently, somewhere else.
My vote is against the floating things and music, I always mute mine if someone has music, even if it is music I like because I often check my blogs while the little ones are in bed nearby.
Just my $.02 FWIW !
Love,
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: July 13 2006 at 8:13am | IP Logged
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Rebecca wrote:
My vote is against the floating things and music, I always mute mine if someone has music, even if it is music I like because I often check my blogs while the little ones are in bed nearby.
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Ditto. Music is like an office whistle-blower that lets your children know that you've snuck off to check your blogs real quick . Seriously, I mute mine too because I usually am reading really early or after they are in bed.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: July 13 2006 at 8:24am | IP Logged
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Dawn wrote:
Well, back when Elizabeth started her blog I was so inspired by her colors - they are so soothing and pretty (and nicely complement her book cover). I wondered how to create such unique soft shades. I have the Pro account at Typepad but so far have been limited to using their pre-set colors. At one point I was really shooting for a soft pale yellow but couldn't find or create it. |
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Lissa did "my" colors and she did it with the book cover in mind. So, I can heartily join you in the applause  . She did a beautiful job and I love it. I think I'll probably change things up a bit in the fall, but it's just how I want it to look for spring and summer.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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marihalojen
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| Posted: July 13 2006 at 8:32am | IP Logged
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I agree with the no music comments already posted, but I have to say, if adding falling snowflakes keeps your interest high, and therefore keeps you posting, try it!
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The Mari Hal-O-Jen
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Dawn
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| Posted: July 13 2006 at 12:30pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for your thoughts, everyone. I guess I'll keep things status quo for the time being. I can probably chalk this "itch" up to that old frumpiness thread. You know how sometimes you are attracted to another person's style, even though it really wouldn't suit you? Like say you see an eye-catching outfit on someone else and then you buy the same thing for yourself and you just look plain silly. (I need to read back over the Elegant Simplicity thread. )
Though I may do those snowflakes at Christmastime!
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Lissa
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| Posted: July 13 2006 at 1:09pm | IP Logged
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Elizabeth wrote:
Dawn wrote:
Well, back when Elizabeth started her blog I was so inspired by her colors - they are so soothing and pretty (and nicely complement her book cover). I wondered how to create such unique soft shades. I have the Pro account at Typepad but so far have been limited to using their pre-set colors. At one point I was really shooting for a soft pale yellow but couldn't find or create it. |
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Lissa did "my" colors and she did it with the book cover in mind. So, I can heartily join you in the applause . She did a beautiful job and I love it. I think I'll probably change things up a bit in the fall, but it's just how I want it to look for spring and summer. |
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Don't give me too much credit! It's just the "Travel" template with some adjustments made. I thought its colors went so beautifully with the banner photo you'd picked out.
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JuliaT
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For me personally, what inspires me are the words that are in the blogs. It is not the music or the fantastic graphics. Mind you, those things are nice but if the posts are inane, I very rarely go back. What draws me to a blog is what is contained in the posts. The bloggers thoughts about God, homeschooling, nature, her/his family or just about life, keep me coming back.
I have been tempted to go the fancy route with my blog but I like the idea of 'elegant simplicity'. I think, for now, I will just concentrate on the words rather than on the fncy extras.
Julia
http://homeschoolblogger.com/Juliainsk/
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Lissa
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Dawn, I don't have access to my bookmarks at the moment so I can't direct you to a specific site, but there are even more color codes to work with than the HTML hex codes. There are some codes that are all numbers, no letters, and I don't know what they're called (CSS hex codes maybe?) but you can get wider range of choices that way.
Sorry to be so vague! We're upside down here today. Scott left for California this morning... 
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Marjorie
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I am just not putting my toes in the blog pond and I wonder if it is going to be too difficult to get everything set up. I signed up for a free blog on blogspot and am trying to figure out how to add links etc. It appears you have to be able to change the coding (java? HMTL?) to do this. Is this common with all the sites? Is their one that is easier than the others? What have your experiences been with setting it up?
Marjorie
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Blog bells and whistles?
