Going rates were anywhere from 100 to 150 for the custom headers and blog buttons. My co-worker mentioned to me that I am always making things, that she was surprised I wasn't doing it myself. I thought, "Hmm, why AREN'T I doing this myself?"
With that, I promptly began looking up how to deign your own blog header. In my search, I stumbled across a wonderful article by Something Swanky.
After reading the article and following her instructions, I joined picmonkey and was on my way to design my new header.
I knew I wanted something bright, colorful, and that had arrows. After playing around with the sodtware for a few hours (and I mean until 3 in the morning), I created an image that I was happy with.
After creating the image, the next challenge was creating the image maps to create the correct links to my work. Before this, I had never heard of image maps and the process of linking bits of an image to an actual link address.
Once you get the hang of it, this was too easy. The key thing to remember is to know the pixels of your image. I ran into trouble when I adjusted the widths at the top of my blog and the links wouldn't go to the correct page.
After much trial and error, (at 3 am, mind you) I finally had the header and blog that I was proud of. While I have no problem paying people for their talents, I really appreciated learning how to do this for myself and adding a new skill to my toolkit. I might go ahead have the professional design later down the line, but right now, I'm happy :)
If you aren't so happy with your blog designs, head on over to Something Swanky to learn how put those images together.
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