that’s right.. buy one headband from the shop and get another headband for FREE.

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Hi Lovely Poppy readers, my name’s Jessica and I design blogs. Matter-of-fact, I designed the one you’re reading right now. Like? I do! Nicole’s design has GOT to be my favorite so far.

I run a personal blog over at Freckles & Dirt and my business is Southtown Creative where I blog about designs I’ve done, display my latest creations (you’ll see The Lovely Poppy featured right now) and create some awesomeness.

Nicole asked me to do a list Q&A guest post for her today about the design process since you guys are awesome and she wants to keep you in the loop!

Here goes…

What are the advantages of WordPress over Blogger and vise versa?
Well, there are tons!

• From a creative standpoint, WordPress is like an open canvas while Blogger is like, um, a color-by-numbers painting. Blogger can definitely be customized, don’t get me wrong, but it can’t be customized to the level that WordPress can, Blogger is fairly limiting in the “creative” section especially if what you’re wanting falls outside the pre-designed perimeters.
• The biggest thing for those that “own” blogs is that Blogger actually owns your blog, you don’t, I mean, you may think you do, but you don’t, it’s theirs. If Blogger wanted to flee the Country right now and take all of the content from all of the blogs and post it up in Africa, they could, it’s their right. Blogger owns all of your pictures that you upload, all of your content, even if it’s private, it’s theirs. With WordPress, you.own.everything. You own your domain (you may purchase a domain and run your Blogger content through it but it’s still their content) which is hosted on hosting that you purchase and everything on it is yours, all yours. WordPress (or anyone else for that matters) cannot flee the Country with your blog content.
• As a blogger, WordPress is just easier. When you first switch, it’ll be a bit overwhelming, for sure because you’re used to Blogger and all of it’s jazz but once you learn what you’re doing, you’ll be hooked and never turn back. There are things called “plugins” in WordPress that can practically do anything, they’re like super heros, ya know, sorta. There are so many more reasons but these are probably the biggest ones I can come up with right now.

How did you get into design?
I really started to answer this by singing Lady Gaga’s “I was born this way” but I thought that might be a little strange, especially since I can’t sing, you would have ran screaming into another room. Anywho, I have always been creative and have always wanted to make things look pretty on the computer. I was one of the anal-retentive children who spent hours on the actual look of a Power Point presentation and about 10 minutes on the content (yeah, I usually made bad grades because these weren’t ‘design’ classes). Fast forward a few years and I was sitting in my first design class at Appalachian State University and I was introduced to Adobe Photoshop, I was in love, oh my. I started designing freelance the second I knew how to even half-way work Photoshop, I did things like Invitations and well, invitations. I have always designed by own Christmas cards, invitations and anything that involved a graphic and others started to ask me to design for them. Ok, I’m rambling, let’s get to it. I dabbled in photography a few years ago and needed a site for myself and could not afford to pay to have one designed so I taught myself CSS and HTML and sat down with my little friend Dreamweaver and made me a site. I wasn’t good at it and Dreamweaver’s visual editor was limiting and being self-taught I wasn’t very good at the coding but it worked. Fast forward a little (yep, again) and I was staying at home with my baby boy, stalking blogs that were just awesome and I decided to start a blog but I knew it had to be cute. So, I started Freckles & Dirt, designed it myself using one of the Genesis Child Themes (not the first time I’d used them but the first time I’d actually customized them) and I have since changed the design like 40 million times. I knew it was what i wanted to do, I knew I had to do it, our little family needed the money and I knew I’d be good at it so I jumped in feet-first one day back in September and literally haven’t looked back, it’s been great!

Random fact about me: I ramble, it’s worse when I talk, be glad I’m just typing.

What is your favorite part of designing?
Hm, everything. Seriously, I love it all. I love watching an idea grow from a little teeny tiny seed that the client gives me to this big awesome looking blog (or logo, invitation or whatever else). I think though if I have to pick, it’s probably the clients. I’m not just saying that. I have loved every.single.one of my clients so far and they’ve all wanted to help me get the word out about my business, they’ve all been amazeballs (oh yeah, just used that word)! I look forward to new clients and getting to meet new people, I form new friendships and relationships with each one and it’s so much fun. I met my best blogging buddy through designing for her. Awesome!

What is your favorite type of design?
Hm, web/blog probably. I love to make logos too though. Like I said above, I just love watching a little idea turn big, it’s a rush…I’m a dork.

What are your favorite themes to work with?
Oooh, I don’t have a favorite because I can make any of them look like I want them to look, teehee. If you don’t know, I work with the Genesis Framework and there are TONS of child themes to choose from (www.studiopress.com). Each child theme comes with it’s own built-in features and areas of emphasis but each theme can be customized to look, literally, any way you/I want. My Freckles & Dirt blog is built using Pretty Young Thing and my design blog is built using Blissful and this blog, ya know the one I’m boring you to death on right now?, is built using Blissful as well. Those two themes are probably my favorite, mainly just because the demos are girly and pink, ha!

I have been so blessed to have found this line of work and such great clients (ehem, Nicole) that trust me and know that I want to create their design just as much as they do. I have been able to contribute to our family’s income quite a bit WHILE staying at home with my 15 months old, I don’t get a ton of sleep (it’s 12:30 AM right now) because I mainly work after bedtime but it’s all totally worth it, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I hope this was helpful for you guys and if you have any questions, feel free to head over and check out my site! If you want to get a facelift (nope, sorry, a blog facelift, I couldn’t have made it through medical school), fill out the New Project Form and I’ll get you a quote!

Thanks for entertaining my rambling y’all. CHOW!