// Design: Hazel and Honey

Here's a recent design I finished and installed for the lovely Justyna of Hazel and Honey. This is by far one of my all time favorite designs I've ever done and if you've followed me for a while then you'll see the very obvious inspiration: our photography branding. Even the name is similar! (though I didn't have any hand in that haha) The colors and illustrated elements really have the same vibe and I was almost crossing my fingers she'd hate it so I could use it on my own blog! (Truth be told, a lot of my own blog's design tends to stem from rejected client mocks... I fall in love and then tweak them to my own liking. I may or may not be in the midst of a new layout design for TCGG already...) I feel really lucky that I get to design with a very distinct style that I enjoy, and I love when my clients share a similar aesthetic.

I was able to start and finish Justyna's design pretty quickly considering I was trying to tie up all client projects. I feel like this gig really breathed some new life into my desire to create unique spaces for bloggers, so I'm really looking forward to getting back to the grind after my maternity leave. 

I'm currently booking clients for my return (exact date yet undetermined) but if you'd like to get on the list, please feel free to send me an email! (It may take me a few days to get back with you, but I promise to respond ASAP!) I'm more than happy to discuss payment plans and project timelines with you so everyone wins! Thanks for taking a peek at Justyna's new space.

// Recent Blog Designs - Now Accepting Spring/Summer Clients!

It's been a while since I shared a roundup of some recent blog design work, so what better time than now to get it all out there, right? Some of these are a few months old as I've been working on some larger scale projects that have taken a couple of months to complete, and I have several in the pipeline currently. Hopefully I can get 100% caught up on sharing these before I take a little "maternity leave" this Summer. I'm planning on booking a handful more clients to fill the next 4-6 weeks, then it'll be "go time!" So crazy! Anyway, here's what I've been up to recently...

Curvy Girl Chic

This was hands down one of my favorite projects when it was all said and done. Allison wanted something classy and modern, but still with a lot of personality. I did a custom geometric background and then played up the black and white with gold glitter and peonies. I feel like it totally fits her style and I love all of the graphic elements.

French for Cupcake

Claire is like my long-lost soul sister. I am totally on board with her style and aesthetic, and that's why I enjoyed this project so much! Ranunculus flowers and a soft grey accented with saffron yellow?! That's what I'm talking about! I illustrated a handful of flowers to pop around her name and then just let the rest of her content do the talking. I'm in love with how the header turned out.

Little Little This That

This mom and daughter blog was started from the ground up, hence why you're actually seeing a mock instead of the live preview. Tess and Clara came to me with a solid vision for what they wanted and I loved seeing it all fall together. They have an amazing eye for color and texture so while I may not have chosen these colors myself to start, I am stoked with how they all work together! This design is proof that you don't have to be crazy and decorative with graphics in order to make a loud statement.

Happy Soul Project

Tara came to me wanting a bright, cheerful space to help share her daughter's story of living with Down Syndrome. She had a logo ready to go, but it was up to me to find a way to tie in the fun colorful elements while keeping it very minimal and streamlined. The preview above doesn't even do it justice because there is just so much color happening below the fold! You'll have to pop over and check out the sidebars yourself!

We Ate, We Loved, We Traveled

First off, Cree is an absolute sweetheart! I've made several signs for her family over the past year and I was over the moon when she contacted me about a blog design. I loved all of her ideas and it just took some trial and error to see what would end up working perfectly in the end. She chronicles her life as a military wife and mom (currently) in Germany, and the softness of the color palette totally fits with her kind demeanor.

Ramble Kat Ramble

Kat wanted something bold and loud with a lot of really bright colors and typography! The blog itself is super streamlined and minimal, but the little bits of personality really make it shine. I hand-drew her header and then added in some fun watercolor to balance it out. The purple really helps liven the place up!

Twee Valley High

Kristina really wanted something bright and fun to match her mid-century lovin' aesthetic. She knew she wanted some pink and mint, and she really wanted a fun illustrated portrait, too. I whipped up this adorable little diddy of her and then really played up the 50's + 60's style in the design. We had a lot of back and forth in the emails, trying new things, tweaking stuff for a bit, and nixing things here and there. After installing we both realized it would be a much stronger design if it had only one sidebar instead of two, so we condensed them over on the left and really let her pictures shine. We also skipped out on the scallops that we started with (in the background) because we thought the clean lines helped it flow better. Kristina has an adorable little life in NYC and I think this fits her perfectly!

KelsterJean Designs

This was my most recent installation as it went live just on Friday! Kelly Jean and I have been working on this design for the past several weeks and she really wanted something that would accent her scrapbooking designs without overwhelming them. She chose a really great color palette and we added little "3D" details like stitching on the border and masking tape on the sidebars and post titles. We also played up the typewriter style font to make it really feel DIY'd. I love the subtlety of the colors mixed with the fun patterns!

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Overall I'm really happy with how things are progressing with my freelance blog designs. Both my style and execution have come a long way since the very beginning. I've just gotta remember to share this stuff more often! I get so wrapped up in my actual projects and clients that I forget to publicly show them. (To see past designs shared, click HERE!)

If you're in the market for a full design overhaul for your Blogger blog, or some a la carte pieces (header, business cards, etc) for your business/blog (on any platform), don't hesitate to get in touch! I'm currently running a pretty sweet special to book up the final few spaces before I sign off for a few weeks. I can work with almost any schedule - whether you prefer to have your design up and running in 1 week, or a 4-6 week payment plan to help with your budget! (Each design shown above features the all-inclusive package that I offer which also comes standard with a matching business card design, social media headers, and even my PR + Marketing Ebook for bloggers!)

If you'd like to chat about a possible blog makeover, email me and we'll talk! Now to work on a few other design projects I have lingering about... that way I can share those soon, too! Happy Tuesday! xo

// Happy New Year! New Year - New Name!

Happy 2014, friends! Here we are... The Clueless Girl's Guide! That feels so good to say... I've been itching for a change for quite some time. I've hinted to feeling frustrated and stagnant with my blog. Stuck, even. I knew I wanted to rebrand, I just didn't know how or where to start. Several months ago I finally decided on a name that felt right. It was a keeper. Still, I was stuck on the design. Designing for yourself is by far the hardest thing ever. Seriously. I was so close to hiring out on several occasions, but I knew if I wanted to to be "me" then I needed to stick it out. Mike and I have been working on the design for a couple of months now, and I thought New Years would be the perfect time to launch. Well, that was until December showed up and decided to be super weird. I literally didn't touch the design for 5 or 6 weeks... Yesterday I was wallowing in my own self-pity because I didn't hold up my end of the deal when I decided to put on my "Get it done" britches and do just that... Get it done. Yesterday I spent several hours finishing the design, coding it out and installing it. It was like a sudden burst of adrenaline hit me and before I knew it, it was done. Now here it is. I hope you're as excited as I am!

Some people say a major rebrand is the beginning of the end for blogs... and maybe it is. I don't know! What I do know is that in the few short hours that this design has been live, I've felt more motivated and in touch with my blog than I did for all of 2013. While TCGG will stay pretty similar to LCH in terms of content, I hope to add several new features over the coming weeks and expand my content to really focus in on small business ownership, creative and personal growth, and venturing outside of my own comfort zone. I'm taking the first step out of that comfort zone by launching this new "brand"... I've been so terrified to do this. I've been scared to lose readers (I'll lose them anyway) and I was scared that I'd find myself with another name/look that I didn't love. But what kind of way is that to live? We're throwing caution to the wind and just going for it! Hopefully this attitude will continue through the new year and life in general.

The name (and reason behind it) is just cheesy enough to be perfect for me, I think. I am a clueless girl. 90% of the time I have no clue what I'm doing in life. I'm figuring it out as I go. I want to try new things (and inevitably fail at a lot of them... but hopefully sprinkle 'em with success, too), and I want to push myself to be the kind of girl I can be proud of. I want to live with confidence and make every day a little bit brighter.

LCH served it's purpose for almost 5 years. It saw me grow into a better person, wife, mother, business owner, etc. But not unlike anything else in life, I simply outgrew it. I outgrew the name, the look, the feel. Rather than be sad about what's come to pass, I'm going to embrace 2014 and The Clueless Girl's Guide. I'm going to reach out to folks and showcase all of the cool things they do. And I want you to be part of that! Up top under the "Contact" tab you'll notice a Submissions page... This is for all of those cool links you find or cool posts you write... if you think they'd be a good fit for Things I Love Thursday or even a dedicated guest post, get in touch! This blog will always be partially personal... I'll always share bits and pieces of my family's day and our adventures. But I also realize I have the opportunity to make it into so much more. The chance to share the spotlight with really cool people doing really cool things. And that's just what I plan on doing!

I'm so glad I worked on this like I did yesterday, because I think it's a great way to bring in the new year. I was so frustrated feeling like I was accomplishing "nothing" and rather than wallow for another day, I made it happen. That's what I want 2014 to be about... making it happen!

Don't worry, the former addresses (honeybeeinthecity.blogspot.com and kaelahbee.com) will still continue to function. They simply forward to thecluelessgirl.com. If you've linked to me in the past, your links should still continue to work as they did. There may be a broken link here or there, and if you stumble across one please feel free to let me know! I'm going to do my best to do right by you as a reader, I just may need a little help along the way!

It'll take some time to roll out all of the features I want to try, and some of them may end up being a bust (We'll just nix them and try something else!), but please stick around and see what I plan to bring to the table! Several of the pages will be blank for a bit... I'm working out the kinks and layouts of each and everything page I've added, and I only have 2 hands. I just couldn't wait to share this next chapter with y'all. You are the reason this blog is what it is, so thank you. You are awesome and I wish we could hang out in real life!

Thanks for being part of the LCH TCGG journey! Happy New Year!

// Him + Honey - Nashville Portrait Photography Rebrand

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't totally in love with being a film photographer. There's just something so magical about the look and feel of film. It's so rewarding (and scary!) to ship rolls across the country and then wait ever so patiently for them to be returned. You never know which ones turned out and which ones were flops. Sounds silly to love the unexpected, but it allows us to really focus on the person in front of our camera... not the image on the screen. 

Starting this business with Mike has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. He had his digital photography biz for a while but it just wasn't fulfilling him in the way he had hoped. When he first started getting into film I pitched the idea that we should do it together. It'd be fun to learn the ropes and create something truly wonderful as a team. He was totally sold and so it began! We were racking our brains for a business name for what felt like forever... everything was just meh. I remember driving down to my parents' house from Nashville one night and I said "It's probably really dumb, but what about 'Him + Honey' for our name? It's stupid right? Yeah, okay nevermind, that was silly." I shot down my own idea before I could ever really pitch it. Luckily Mike loved it and talked me out of doubt, and it felt like the most fitting name possible. I love when that happens.

For the past year we're been slowing building steam as a brand. We didn't want to jump in too deep and figuratively drown. We wanted to test the waters, practice what we knew, and learn the ropes that way. Slow and steady. Our initial branding was thrown together (honestly) with little input from anyone except me and my hands on evening. The website was the same way. It was really just a stand-in for where we wanted to go. We put off the rebrand of Him + Honey forever because I was terrified we couldn't  come up with something (especially something that fit both of our aesthetic! Oh boy!) It was kind of amazing when one day we set out to each create a moodboard for the brand we wanted, and then we hashed out our ideas. Our moodboards were pretty varied, and while there was some overlap, I was sure that we were in for a long night. But then something amazing happened... I opened up Illustrator and I just quickly hashed something out with the brush tool... and we both loved it. We loved it so much in fact that the little flowers you now see in our logo are the exact quick, 5 second scribbles that I put on that artboard that day.They were perfect. The colors were spot on, they were just messy enough to have personality, but they matched the look and feel we both wanted for our brand. Fun, lighthearted, and not too serious... Why can't all branding be that simple?

The next few weeks revolved around me writing "him + honey" over and over and over. We finally found a combination that we liked, and we moved on to our website. Mike is super into minimalistic, white websites... I like a little bit more color. At the end of the day we went his route because it really does add a touch of class to the whole thing. Sometimes I have a hard time seeing the "less is more" aspect, ya know? There are still some things I want to change on the website... add, remove, expand upon... but I'm feeling so incredibly passionate about our new branding identity that I just couldn't wait to share! Here it is! The new and improved, Him + Honey 2.0!

We have a bunch of blog posts queued up on the new site so check back often to see the shoots we've recently done. If you want to get in touch about any sort of shoot or event, please don't hesitate to drop us a line! We make it incredibly simple and all you have to do is pop over to the Contact page.

Every single session we book, no matter how big or small, is truly an amazing experience for us. We get to meet these people, share in their stories, capture moments they'll cherish forever, and hopefully stay in touch for years to come. Him + Honey is something we truly believe in, and a lot of that is thanks to you! The blog readers who inquire about shoots, who encourage us. We sincerely thank you! And if ever comes a time where you need a photographer, please feel free to get in touch! We'd love to take you out for coffee and talk about everything! And remember - you don't have to be in Nashville to book a shoot! We're happy to travel... engagement shoots, weddings, family events. We love road trips!

Please visit the new and improved Him + Honey website. Let us know what you think! Please take a moment to "Like" us on Facebook while we overhaul it to match the new look! We can't wait to share the other aspects of our branding with you. Stay tuned! xo

// Kaelah Bee x DENIK

I've been pretty excited to share this news for a while now! A few months ago I designed two notebooks for an online brand called Denik. One of the reasons I was so drawn to this partnership is because Denik takes a portion of each book sale to build schools around the world. This year Denik is building a middle school in Mali, Africa! Check out their current non-profit partner Mali Rising. From Denik: "Our belief is that art can change the world, a mission we wish to accomplish through the betterment of education." 

I chose to do two different styles of notebook in order to appeal to a wider variety of people. The first one I settled on is a hand-drawn layout of a C.S. Lewis quote. I really love this quote because I feel like it can apply to so many situations. I'm a firm believer in looking ahead and moving forward. This little turquoise notebook has become the one spot where I write down all of my goals! I've only had it for a couple of weeks but I love being able to look back at my goals (and intentions!) from the first few days. It's nice to see which goals I met and which ones I'm still working toward (and maybe which ones are no longer a priority.) The color of the notebook is just so dreamy, too!

The second notebook I designed is also hand-drawn. I opted to go slightly less twee with the second one haha. I did a rough illustration of a matchbox and matches with the phrase "May the bridges I burn light the way" - I kind of really dig that sentiment. I think it's a counterproductive to hold onto people and things that hold you back or stand in your way. Now I'm not saying you should blow off everyone and go on a ladder-climbing rampage or anything haha! I just think you should do what you need to do, ya know? A fun little feature on this notebook is that the back cover is a gorgeous orange color! (And there's even a little match on the spine, too)

My favorite feature of the notebooks is their soft, milky cover. It seriously feels like butter. The inside features 200 pages of 75% recycled (blank) paper. It's perfect for jotting down ideas, sketching out plans, or taping in receipts and ticket stubs that you don't want to lose. They're both softcover notebooks and they've even got my little graphic on the back! Fancy! All Denik journals are produced in the US.

Both of the journals I designed for Denik are now available to purchase on their website. Any profit (5%) I earn from the sale of these notebooks will be donated to the Middle Tennessee non-profit no-kill animal shelter Happy Tales Humane. Thanks for letting me share my excitement! Hopefully you'll see a design that you dig (even if it isn't mine!) xo

// Recent Design Work

Here are a few recent design projects that I've worked on. I always forget to round them up and post them here, but I'm hoping I'll get better at it (starting now). Something I've noticed about the work I've taken on lately is that most all of it is very minimalistic and streamlined. I try to pop in as much color as I can, then add a few signature elements, but other than that they're really clean and simple. I'd really like to do more work with textures and 3-D elements... Hint! If you're in the market... *cough* haha Anyway, here's what has kept me busy the past little while.

--- Becky Bedbug ---

Becky came to me a while back after seeing Ashley's blog design, and she knew she wanted pastels and a carnival theme for her new look. I was instantly in love with the color palette she sent over so I felt stoked to tackle her project. There are a lot of different elements to this design, though it's still really simple at it's core. (Excuse the Inception action with a layout inside of a layout haha!) I was really happy with how it turned out, but her reaction was by far the best part of the entire project. I love when I can grasp exactly what a client wants.

--- Zero Style ---

Erin has quickly become one of my favorite bloggers. She has so much charm and personality about her. It was such a treat to design a black and white (and red!) design for her that could show that personality. She wanted to incorporate her signature cat eye glasses and red lipstick, and we did just that! She's such a rad gal.

--- Dear Life, We Need To Talk ---

Johanna wanted clean lines and a bevy of fun colors. I created a custom herringbone background for her, too, and she has the ability to pop it in and take it out when she'd like. Originally it was a 3-column layout (as featured) but she later tweaked it to a 2 column to allow for larger images in her blog.

--- Helloo Bandy ---

Jessica wanted some light peachy/pink colors and a whole lot of white. That's easy enough! We used a slight pop of mustard yellow to bring out the warmth in the tones, too. Her blog allows her the ability to use really large images as the focal point of each post.

--- Simpli Spiritu --

Ahhh. This blog! This blog was a labor of love (and sweat and tears and curse words and thrown objects and and and) haha Amarie came to me a while back and wanted to get something fresh and "boho" for her blog, and her timeframe was short. She sent so many mocks and requests and ideas to me that it was almost hard to manage honestly. So many sampled pieces from various sites and blogs, but we were able to design and code it to make it her own. The floating nav bar was by far the most stress-inducing task, but it got done! The name and all of the graphics are hand drawn, and I love the watercolor. I love using watercolor whenever a client is up for it. Amarie was gone overseas for a few weeks so the project got pushed around a bit, but at the end of the day I'm really happy with what she and I were able to accomplish. Amarie was so kind and considerate during the whole process. I love when clients are just so sweet! I learned quite a bit, too!

--- The Plus Side of Me ---

Rebecca wanted to amp up her Wordpress blog with a simple header featuring a new logo, and a matching business card to boot. She wanted something fun and colorful to match her personality and I'm in love with the final result. The type and flourishes all hand drawn, and the hot pink is by far one of my new favorite colors to design with. Rebecca has impecable taste in clothing and I love seeing the items she puts together.

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I'm still (always) accepting new clients of course. I have a set "all inclusive" Blogger package, as well as an a la carte option available for any platform. Due to our travel schedule for July I'll only be able to take on a small handful of clients for the month. If you're interested in chatting about a new blog design or logo, business cards, etc, please don't hesitate to email me! I'd love to work with you. Happy Sunday! xo

PS; I'm thinking about taking a few past designs that I've done for myself/for fun (including this one) and making them available for purchase as a pre-made template. Would any of you be into that? They'd be significantly cheaper than a custom job, but still well made and installed for you. Let me know if you'd be up for that and I'll try to get some up soon!

// Uniqueness of Being - Blog Redesign

It's not very often that I share a single design project on it's own, but since it's become such a large part of what I do each and every day, I thought I should put more emphasis on sharing it here. This blog overhaul is one that I finished last week and installed for Ashley. She's a super fun, energetic gal with exquisite musical taste (I realized how much we had in common as I installed her blog design! Yes, I'm saying I have excellent taste in music haha I'm a little biased though so...) 

When Ashley first sent in her questionnaire, I'll admit: I was nervous! She took it to heart when I said "Please be as detailed as possible with your answers". Normally I say that because otherwise I get clients who just say "I don't know, just do something" (then they hate it! haha) BUT, Ashley's ability to think out exactly what she liked/didn't like proved so helpful! She shared a private design moodboard with me on Pinterest and I was immediately drawn to a particular image. It had a few of the colors Ashley said she liked, so I just ran with it. She also knew exactly what typefaces she liked so that was a huge help, too. I sent over the first mock and that was it! I can't tell you how rewarding it is to just "get it" right off the bat. Doesn't happen all that often, but I think Ashley and I really clicked on this one. I had so much fun designing this and if I do dare say, I think it's my very favorite design yet. The retro color palette and font choices, the heavy typography in the sidebar's About Me, and the simplistic header and navigation... swoon! I told Mike I wouldn't be the least bit upset if she hated it because I'd totally put it on my blog! (That's how this current LCH design came to be!) 

Here's a peek at the before and after if you're interested. You'll have to visit Ashley's blog to get the full feel for it, but I have a feeling you'll love her and you'll stick around for a while!

If you're interested in a blog overhaul, brand redesign, or a fresh start for your indie biz, feel free to give me a shout! I'd love to work with you! I'm wrapping up some projects now and will have some availability later this week! It'd be fun to showcase the journey from start to finish!