Designing Stuff

Designing Stuff

I’ve been rather busy the past few weeks and I owe many of you many emails.  Please forgive me!  There’s been a lot of upheaval here at Casa de Tempest the past couple of months and I’m just now getting to the point where I can stop panicking.

I’m taking on several web design projects right now and just (mostly) completed one: DenaLandon.com.

I did the last design of Dena’s site (and it was very pretty, if I say so myself) but we both felt it was time for an update.  This time I put her on a WordPress blog so she could make text updates herself and also integrate the blog into the actual site and run away from Blogger forever.  I’m quite proud of this one, as it’s the most I’ve had to modify a WP theme and I pulled it off. WordPress as CMS works out pretty well for sites like this.

I also created the images along the top and in the background.  They’re all based on the cover art, though I had to fuss with it a bit and work around the title and author name a lot.  I haven’t used masks in forever, but rediscovered that function working on this site, nicely paralleling my learning about them for the first time for the original design.

I have three other projects right now and I’m also looking for more design work.  If you need a simple (but pretty) website or want me to set up a WordPress blog and maybe tweak a theme for you, drop me an email.  I’m going to squeeze in a bunch before the month is up and the Write-a-thon is in full swing.

Five Things Make A Post (at wiscon)

1. Due to my Internet troubles some IAFAuctions did not go up on schedule!  Luckily one did.  Cris did a beautiful necklace for Prester John and I got to poke it for the first time yesterday.  It stood up to poking!  The other auction was JoSelle’s piece based on Black Feather, which is so awesome I can’t believe it.  It makes me feel so shivery inside to see these beautiful things that were inspired by some story I wrote.  I need to give JoSelle a big hug when I see her this weekend.  I’m in the midst of running around now, but I will have a blog badge for all the new auctions soon so that people can promote.  In the meantime, take note: Cris’s is the last Prester John piece going up for this auction, so if you want to get a bit of Valente’s magic as interpreted by amazing artists, you should bid on that or JoSelle’s Prester John piece (at $75 now!).  The Black Feather necklace is also the last chance to get something by JoSelle.

2. I finished redesigning my web design portfolio.  It’s a work in progress, as I may want to do something flashier with the header.  But it has all the information organized the way I want, and that was the main thing.  I need to add links to it, yes, but I am trying to decide how I will do so.  Go see in the meantime.

3. Did you know that my writing group the Black Beans has a website now?  You should go look at it and maybe keep an eye on the news section, because some big ass news is going up there soon.  (Not anything concerning me, mind, but something I am very excited about.)

4. I arrived in Madison a few hours ago and am very tired, and yet I’ll be up late tonight just as I will be up late every night. Ah well, tomorrow I can sleep in.

5. WisCon is finally here.  It will be over too soon.  Better savor every second!