{GuestPost} Design by Shaylee Ann

Hello, lovelies! I'm so thrilled to be guest-posting for Sabine today! She's so sweet to have me do this! :)

Alright, so introductions! I'm Shaylee Ann. I'm nineteen. I'm single. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I blog at Mother {at} Heart. I'm short, quietly loud, and a lover of all things mommy and baby. And that pretty much sums me up!

Today I'm going to tell you all about something of a passion that I have: DESIGN.

I have an immense love for fonts, colour schemes, and HTML tags. When I was about sixteen, I started my first blog. Amo Vita was simple, bright, and boring. I used backgrounds from sites like The Cutest Blog on the Block. Their backgrounds are darling, but the border around the header was ugly, and the lack of personality gave me no desire to ever post. How could I post when it looked so . . . horrid?

So, I rolled up my sleeves and googled everything I could about blog design. I began by using MS PowerPoint as I made the transition from Amo Vita to Simple Elegance,  

I created my own header with my own images and cute fonts, and hello, I was in heaven. After a while I learned how to create my own headers, sidebar titles, post dividers, favicons, and signatures.

They weren't adorable by any means, but they were a step towards becoming a self-proclaimed designer. Once I realized that I could personalize my blog even more, I taught myself how to read basic HTML by watching tutorials on YouTube. I practiced, and practiced, and practiced some more. I gave my blog more makeovers than I can count. Then, once I felt comfortable enough to share my new skills with others, I began Simple {&} Elegant Designs. I designed half a blog before finding the need to close shop, due to a busy life and not enough time to spend designing. I continued to design my personal blog, transitioned from Simple {&} Elegance to Mother {at} Heart,

and by Spring of this year, my designing was taking off. I started out simple, with just fonts and colours, then moved on to create my own graphics and tweak every bit of code I could get my hands on. I went back to using at program that I have tried out before, but hadn't really been converted to, yet - Paint.Net. Three blogs later, I was on my way to starting up my own designing business - Dream 65 Designs - this time sticking with it, and going all out.

Now, I create email stationary from scratch;

I design blogs for friends and fellow bloggers, and I offer my newly-acquired design knowledge to anyone who asks. I love what I do, and I love that I can earn money from doing what I love.

Because I love Sabine’s readers, YOU, I'm offering the first person to read this post, to become a follower of Mother {at} Heart via GFC, and to email me, a free custom email stationary!

Would you like that?

I thought so. ;)

Thanks again, Sabine!! :)