To start off part two of my recap on how I rebranded my blog, check out part one of this series, if you haven't gotten a chance to read it. After I slimmed down my private blog inspiration Pinterest board I had only 26 images to take inspiration from. Adhering to Lyssa's instructions, I came up with three words that I wanted to adequately describe my little space on the internet, and described those images. Mine were

classic, simple, and crisp

I wanted to create a place that I would be proud of, and a place that best represents my relatively minimalistic aesthetic. When I think of clean, simple, and crisp, I think of organization, clean lines, and crisp colors. I thought of cotton and black and white with pops of bright greens, pinks, and blues. I tried to find photos that were simple with a little twist, like the white plate with un even edges, or the girl in a french style blouse. Even now, months after my redesign, I am in love with these photos! 

all images via pinterest

Once you have narrowed down your inspiration photos and gotten those three words together, it's so easy to put together a style guide. Can't wait to show y'all mine next time!

How to Brand Your Blog, part 1

One thing that I've found through my constant internet stalking, blog reading, and marketing and advertising classes, is that I can't get enough of studying branding. I talk about fonts and typography (two completely different things!) like a lot of people talk about politics or current events - VERY important. When I chose to revamp this blog last summer from Pretty Shiny Mine into Cooper & Thames I already knew what kind of "brand" I wanted to create for myself, but I wasn't quite sure how to get there. After hours-long chats with my friend Alexa, who I met through blogging, and who shares my love for branding, and several unsuccessful attempts at finding a designer to recreate my blog for me, I decided to give it a go myself. That included re-branding, my favorite part, and HTML/CSS coding, my least favorite part.

Lucky for me, I found Lyssa's blog series on how to brand your own blog, which is by far the most helpful guide online. Check out her blog for amazing style, coding, and design tips. Her's is definitely one of my go-to blogs for inspiration!

For the first step toward finding my own brand, I followed Lyssa's advice and created a private pinboard of images that I liked. I found that I was drawn to natural patterns and textures with pops of green, coral, and sea foam colors.

This was the fun part of the process, for sure. The hardest part was narrowing the pins down. When I finished finding photos that really inspired me, I had over 130 because I had simply repinned everything from my own pinboards that I truly liked. Ultimately, after serious deliberation with Alexa, and a bit of discouragement, I was able to trim my board down to a svelte 26 images. Really think about the ones that define your style, not just in clothes, but in design. Do you like having bright colors on a website? What about clean lines or fonts?

Next up I'll share how I came up with a general "theme" of my blog according to Lyssa's guidelines!

Is anyone thinking of re-branding their own blog spaces?

While the process could be super annoying for me, it was also one of the most rewarding experiences!

Calling Font Fanatics

If you're like me, and weirdly obsessed with fonts, please check this out. I found it on Pinterest, it made me chuckle.