See that blog header? It’s ugly isn’t it. That’s because out of the many skills I posses graphic design is nowhere to be found. I design like those American Idol auditionees sing. Except I think you know I think my little wig girl is kind of pretty.

But YOU guys have those skills! Or at least some of you do.

So I’ve decided to have a contest to see which reader can design the best header. (International readers, please email me before entering so we can calculate what shipping would be for the prize. I’m a poor newlywed you know?)

What DESIGNERS have to do:

1. Design me a new header featuring the current text and the wig icon (feel free to design a new wig icon, but there must be a similar wig icon present).

2. Send me the finished file as either a PSD file with all the layers, or an AI vector file. I want to be able to isolate the elements for things like my favicon, etc.

3. Be willing to let me own the file. I’ll always credit you for the design, but I will own it.

4. Email me to receive the wig file, specifying if you want it as a PSD (smart object) or a completely editable AI file.

5. Use your fantastic design skills to choose fonts, colors (there are subtle touches of green throughout the current theme my blog has and I really like it), and additional design elements that fit That Wife’s personality.

What WE ALL will do:

1. Vote for a winner! I’ll write a post with all of the options (creators will be anonymous to prevent voters from voting based on who is their friend or favorite blogger!) and everyone will vote on their favorite.

2. That Husband will have the final decision over the winner. He has agreed to take the vote into consideration in his choice. (This is a failsafe to prevent someone from voting multiple times on their own design so they automatically win.)

What the WINNING DESIGNER will get:

1. A gift basket containing but not limited to: a household item I use and love to keep an organized look in our bedroom, homemade treats, and a few other miscellaneous (read: surprise!) items.

2. A banner photo (this can be your blog header, etc) in the top corner of the left sidebar that will run for one month. Above the banner will be text announcing who you are and encouragement for visitors to click over and visit your site.

3. A profile post, highlighting who you are, what you do, and a few other random questions I come up with. This last one is completely optional, but I figured that other bloggers like me, or anyone who happens to run an online store might be interested in a little extra publicity.

Contest Deadline: February 2nd, 2009, 11:59 pm.

Please feel free to spread the word to those you know with graphic design skills who might be able to win.

Email me at that wife @ gmail dot com with any additional questions.

If you are interested in my blog stats (in case you are wondering if this contest will be worth your time), please email me for details.

One of the things I love most about blogging is the ability to generate discussion on a wide range of topics. I just installed a feature that allows you to reply directly to a comment instead of just commenting on the bottom. I’m hoping this encourages commenters to respond not just to my thoughts, but to the opinions of others.

One of the coolest parts of this new feature is that you can choose to have follow-up comments sent to you by email. I always forget to go back to blogs and see what people said in response, and this will allow you to choose to be notified when others respond to your comment directly (don’t worry, I’ll let you choose whether you want this to happen or not).

I’ll try not to overwhelm you with “feature announcements” like this, but when they affect you as readers directly I think it’s nice for you to see it in action so you can decide if you want to utilize it yourself. Happy commenting!

Welcome to the new home of That Wife. I’m still in nesting stage, so you are going to see a lot of changes in the coming weeks, but I just couldn’t wait until it was finished to share it with all of you!

There are many major design tweaks that need to happen, as well as some coding to help things display properly in all browsers, so I would appreciate your feedback about how things look to you.

Want to see why I love this new layout so much? The HUGE pictures I can display!

My sister Shaylene Rene’ took this one:

I took this one:

And the lovely Kelli Nicole took this one:

Isn’t the wider layout gorgeous? Please let me know if you are having any trouble viewing things in your browser (information about your browser would be appreciated).

Not just for the country, but for the space of That Wife as well!

I’m working on figuring out the domain thing, and the Wordpress.org migration thing, and the building up an empire of bloggers that begin with “That” thing (you know, like That Husband, because he definitely needs a blog).

But every great empire must be built on a solid foundation, and it’s time to break some ground with some design tweaks.

Go ahead and give me some header feedback. Do you like it? Should I change it? What should I change it to? The little 60’s hairdo girl isn’t up for debate cuz I think she’s hot and you can’t ever make me think anything different.

Do you like any of the Kitchenaid icons below better than the one I currently have?

[polldaddy poll=1294508]

I just have to be patient. Krakow wasn’t built in a day, you know?