ON BLOGGING ~ All You Have To Do Is Ask...

Image courtesy Doodlepress.

A few Fridays ago, I lamented our lack of a pretty blog header to greet you when you arrive.  Something to give us an identity.  I knew exactly what I wanted - I could picture it in my mind.  But I didn't know how to implement it.  So I did what all resourceful Bumbles do - I begged.

I tried to guilt our readers into creating one for us in honor of my birthday.  That was my way of saying I am too cheap to pay for one and too lazy to figure out how to do it myself so if anyone would like to just do it for me, that would be really cool.  I did not expect anyone to take the bait.  I did think that maybe someone would direct me to a program or website for when I had the time to do it myself.  But you know what?  Sometimes when you just ask, you get what you need.

I first met Cardiogirl (aka CG) in a ProBlogger forum during the 30 Days To Build A Better Blog workshop shortly after I started blogging.  We were tasked with a cross posting project and I liked the cut of her jib so I thought of asking if she wanted to pair up.  What's the worst that could happen?  She says that she'd rather not because our blog has a lame header?  I asked.  And she said, "sounds fun chica!"  And so we came up with some ideas, picked one and put it out there.  We swapped readers between our blogs and enjoyed the process of creative partnership.

Because she is so wickedly funny and a talented writer I continue to visit her blog - even though my work server blocks direct access to her website.  We have decided that the server thinks I am cruising for "hot girls" or some such thing.  She pops in to visit us whenever she's out cruising for clumsy Bumbles.  And so she happened to visit during my thinly veiled plea for free header design.

CG is like me - she doesn't like to part with her pennies.  So she can relate to my desire for free stuff, even if it gives her anxiety to get it.  Seriously, she gave herself a panic attack over using a free bagel coupon.  But not only does CG respect frugality, she apparently knows how to create headers.  And with her daughters back in school and her sanity intact she decided to use some of that free time and brainpower to create a header just for us!!!

I have no idea what software or program she used.  I didn't ask.  And now that I think of it, that would probably make for a much better blog tip post.  Sorry about that.  But you see, I was just so delighted to open my e-mail upon returning from vacation to find a link from her to a free customized header.  I then got picky and asked her to re-design it using a photo of my own so as not to infringe upon any copyright crazies.  I know - the nerve, asking for free work to be improved upon.  But since my asking had gotten me this far I decided to keep asking.

CG loves a challenge.  And when she gets something in her head - be it uncovering the identity of the man behind the noisy tic in church or why the color red was so significant in The Sixth Sense - she dives right in until her fixation has been resolved.  And so she was jacked to get to re-tooling our header per my demands.  I took a slew of photos of the little guy until I had one that looked just right and e-mailed it over to her.  Shortly thereafter she e-mailed me a link to the header you see above you today.

The blog tip in all of my gushing here is that you cannot be proficient in everything.  There just isn't the time.  Or often times even the desire.  And that is okay.  Because one thing this blogosphere is great for is help.  I don't know squat about creating a header - CG does and so she made one for us.  I do know squat about other things though.  Which is why I share those tidbits here for you guys on Fridays.  Never feel that what you know is too basic to share.  And never feel that what you need is too silly to ask about.

What do you want to ask?