On Vacation!

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

I am on vacation from now through June 25th. I have my email set on vacation mode which will include instructions for requesting blog work. I may or may not reply to emails while I am gone.

If you are having an issue with your blog you can check my tutorials list at my Blogger Tutorial site.  You can also check to see if blogger has any known issues here or check blogger help here. I also recommend googling to help find a solution to a blogging problem!

New Year & New Look

What do you think of the new look here at Custom Blog Designs? I updated the site to this more modern design to help with site navigation. I still have a few tweaks to take care of, but I am very pleased with how it's turned out.

Besides the look & layout, the other changes include the addition of freebies and changes to the blog makeover packages. My prices have not changed (except for all premades being reduced!), but I've gone back to just 3 makeover packages. Options on these packages have been updated to reflect current demand. If one of these packages does not suit your needs then I will create a custom package for you.

If you don't already subscribe, please sign up to get email updates (located at the bottom of the blog) so that you can be informed of new freebies and other news from Custom Blog Designs. My first social media icon set (snowflakes) is linked in the post below. I have something with a Valentines theme out in a few weeks!

Teacher Blog Makeover Packages

Attention Teachers! Are you considering a custom look for your blog? I have just unveiled my special Teacher Blog Makeover Packages. These 3 package were developed with a teacher's needs in mind. They range from basic to all the bells & whistles. My experience as both a blog design & certified teacher helps me to understand what teachers need. An individualized look that is just yours is important for marketing yourself and your Teachers Pay Teachers and Teacher's Notebook shops. It's time to brand yourself and stand out from the crowd. Check out the new packages below. You can link the teacher tab above to get started in the process! I am happy to give you a quote if one of the packaged outlined doesn't meet your needs.

Facebook Timeline Covers Offered

Custom Blog Designs now offers Custom Facebook Timeline Cover - Banners. The cost is $25 + the cost of design elements. Details will be coming soon. In the meantime you can see the pre-made Facebook Timeline Covers I have for sale here. You can enter to win one here on my personal blog. Facebook Timeline Covers are for personal Facebook profiles only. They do not work on groups or pages.

End of Summer Sale!

To celebrate the last week before my kids return to school, I have decided to have a summer sale! I am offering five $10 off coupons on a first come first serve basis. These coupons may only be used toward one of my custom blog makeover packages. These are available to brand new or repeat clients. They are not available to people who have already filled out a questionnaire but never followed through on the service. In addition, I am offering $5 each of my One of a Kind Pre-Made Designs. I only service Blogger blogs!

The $10 off coupons must be redeemed (services ordered & paid for) within a week of issuance. Pre-Made Designs must be ordered & paid for within 24 hours of contact! No holds or rain checks!

Don't delay! The $10 coupons are only being offered to the first 5 contacts or 8/22 (whichever comes first, names will be posted on my wait list to the right) and the $5 off the pre-made designs is only valid through 8/22, which is my kid's first day of school.

Services Adjusted

I've made a few changes to my Extreme and Ultimate Blog Makeover Packages. Custom font installation for post & sidebar titles is now included in each package *IF* the client picks a Google Web Font. The coding for these is done within the template therefore no extra charge is needed. I will continue to charge $15 extra for special fonts such as those from Kevin & Amanda. Details of my blog makeover packages can be found here.

I've lowered the price of my Ultimate Package

I've decided to lower the price of my Ultimate Package to $110. Not a huge change in price BUT with the choice of extras it's still a great value! You can check out all my blog makeover packages here. I've been really cranking out the work lately so my wait list has shortened! That means as you don't need to pick Top of the Wait List as an extra choice with my Ultimate Package, so you are getting even more bang for your buck!!

New Look & Changes

As you can see Custom Blog Designs has a new look! I've made some changes to the site, mostly with organization and clarification. There is now a step by step process to order a custom blog design as well as some other changes. I think these changes will make it easier for everyone to navigate the site. I have not raised my prices, but I have made some changes/clarifications to the makeover packages. My goal was to launch the new look & changes by July 1 and I am nearly a week early! I've got some tweaks and graphics to update, but for the most part the site is in order. What do you think?

Custom Blog Designs is back!

I am resuming work today. The wait list is long so it's going to take me several weeks to get through it all. I've started out by doing several small adjustments for repeat clients, then I plan on going down the wait list in order. If I don't hear from someone right away after individual contact, I will skip ahead. You can see the wait list/design queue over on my middle sidebar to get an idea of how long the wait is. (scroll down below Followers) I am usually able to complete 4-6 makeovers a week depending on which packages are picked and how quickly emails are returned. Simple adjustments and things like blog buttons are done sooner.

In the meantime you can review the changes I've made to my services: http://cbd-services.blogspot.com/ I've removed a few makeover packages and added some others. I will be adding Wordpress and Multi-Site packages SOON! I've also updated my FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Thanks for your patience. I will try to get through the wait list and respond to emails as soon as possible. My family's schedule is pretty light over the next few weeks, so hopefully I can get a lot done.

I'm Home!!

We got home from our Alaska trip a few days ago. I've unpacked the motorhome and now have piles/baskets of stuff all over the house. I need a few more days to get completely unpacked and get my bearings. I do plan on returning to work on Monday.

My email will remain on vacation settings until I resume work. If you want some custom work done and you haven't contacted me, please fill out my contact form to get added to my list.

Blogger has changed things around a little and I will be making some changes with my makeover packages, so please bear with me as I get back to speed with my work. Next week we will get getting some upgrades done to my hubby's computer and then we will switch computers. I look forward to being able to run things more efficiently.

Me standing on Matanuska Glacier

The Countdown has Begun!!

Our family is taking a HUGE trip this summer and I will be taking part of June and all of July off work. I am going to slow down my work load over the next few weeks so that I have time to prepare for our trip. Take a look at my design queue and you will see that there are 8 open slots between now and when we leave. If you are considering any custom work please contact me as soon as possible to get your name added to my design queue. I anticipate the slots filling up within the next week. See my vacation ticker above!

Wait List, etc.

I was SOOO busy the beginning of this month and could barely keep up. Then last week came along and things seem to come to a halt. A few clients said they had taxes to pay and just couldn't afford a design right now. Several others just haven't gotten back to me about what they want. I took Friday through Sunday off to go out of town. My driving time game me some time to think.

First off, I wiped my wait list clean this morning. I started a new one that lists the person and the service they are getting. I am going to schedule clients a week at a time. So if you take a look at my list you will see that I am lining up clients for the week of April 26 through May 2 now. I think this will help me to stay on top of things and give clients a good idea of how long they have to wait. I also have a box at the top right sidebar that lists the current work status. I will change that daily.

If your name was on my list last week and you don't see yourself there now, please contact me right away and I'll get you added back in.

BUSY!

Back in January I decided to brand my look and came up with the design you see here. I plan on keeping it for at least a year. I also came up with my new Ultimate package. One of the options with the Ultimate package is moving to the top of my queue/wait list. I thought that I would get maybe 1 or 2 Ultimate requests a month. I had no idea how popular it would be. I am getting 2+ Ultimate requests a week. The problem with that is that it pushes the people waiting for other makeover packages back. The current wait to begin a new design is running at least 14 days. I don't like to have people wait that long.

I have decided to stop taking Ultimate/Top of the Queue clients for several days. I need to get my wait list caught up a little and take some time to answer emails. I anticipate opening it back up around Tuesday or so. I will be out of town the following weekend, so it might actually be the 19th before I open it up again. I will continue to accept new clients and add names to the end of my wait list.

If you have emailed me recently and haven't heard back, I apologize for not getting back to you. I am barely keeping my head above water this week, but I hope to get that cleared up SOON!

FYI~ I will be taking the better part of 2 months off this summer for a family trip to Alaska. I am anticipating closing my wait list around the end of May. We will be gone mid-June through late July, so I probably won't get back to work until around the first of August. We are driving an RV so our internet access will be sporadic. I don't want to tell a client that I will "try" to do something when I have access, so I just plan on not working at all.

THANK YOU for your patience and understanding!

Slight Changes to the Ultimate Package

I've had a few questions about my Ultimate Package which prompted me to change the package slightly. It's basically the same as it was, but I moved the custom font titles to one of the optional choices. So there are now 3 choices, instead of 2. I also added the final choice of a custom service that we agree upon. Examples of this would be an Etsy banner, additional button or graphic, or installation of a special widget.

CBD has a new look!

As you can see, Custom Blog Designs has a new look. It's been something I've had in the works for several weeks...I just haven't had time to install. I plan on keeping this design for at least a year. I feel it's important to give Custom Blog Designs a recognizable look. I know it's not my normal scrappy style, but it's cute! I will change the (black) background from time to time...and I might make some minor tweaks to the overall design, but I am keeping the flowers, tree, birds, and purple! I've created new buttons and uploaded them to replace the old ones, so those of you who had a button up will see the new graphics on your blog.

I've also added a new blog makeover package to my offerings. It's called the Ultimate Blog Makeover. It has everything that the Extreme Package has (custom header, backgrounds to match, custom coloring, custom favicon (URL icon), signature, sidebar tags or graphic, post divider, numbered comments, comment icon, matching blog button, and navigation link bar PLUS

*special font installation for post & sidebar titles
*choice of 2 (stock image, matching Twitter background,
custom graphic, or move to the
top of my design queue)
*$10 design elements allowance

I've been getting more and more makeover requests and the wait to begin a new design is approaching 2 weeks. For those who don't want to wait more than a few days for their makeover, a $10 fee can be paid on top of the makeover fee to jump to the top of my design queue.

In just a few weeks CBD turns 2. To celebrate I will be offering a giveaway each week in February. I also plan on having an online birthday party on February 20th or 21st. If you came to last year's party, you know that it was FUN!! Please come back for more details. You can also subscribe by email (which will be a requirement for all giveaways!)

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So what do you think of the changes to the site??

Designer Showcase at Beautiful Blog Designs

Amanda over at Beautiful Blog Designs featured me in this week's Designer Showcase. Check it out here and leave some love!!


Thanks Amanda! I appreciate you featuring me!!

A Month of Giveaways & More

I am suspending Visitor of the Week for a while and will be doing a giveaway each week in August. Make sure you come back each week to see what will be given away. Each giveaway will begin on Tuesdays in August. I forgot to update my client list this week, but will for next week!

CBD Now Offers Custom Twitter Backgrounds

I have added Custom Twitter Backgrounds to my list of services here at Custom Blog Designs. If you have ordered or had a makeover done by me then the custom background is $12. If you just need the background and haven't ordered a makeover the cost is $17*. These fees include installation and custom colorization to match the background.
*The cost may be higher if graphics need to be purchased for the background.

Here are some twitter backgrounds I've done~

New Choices!

Exciting news!! I spent several hours contacting digital designers today and have added over 20 new designers to my list of approved designs for blog designs. If you've wanted a new look for your blog but haven't see anything out there you like, contact me because I have a big list of possible kits. Lots of fun choices! Here is a peak of just a few~

On Vacation

We are about to head out the door for a long 4th of July weekend away. I will not be working, but I will check my email from time to time. Have a fun and safe weekend!!