I recently finished working on this blog design with Ali – a very talented illustrator, mom and wife, and self-described tea enthusiast. =) This is the third time we’ve worked together, and I have to say I love it every time! Ali is one of those incredibly sweet people that is super fun to work with due to her creativity and enthusiasm. (Plus, it’s fun to brainstorm with someone who loves the same sort of style that you do!)

This time we went with a deep gold and navy blue color scheme, with some light grays in there to balance out the richness of the rest of the colors. (See the mood board here) Ali loves the embossed look, so I thought I would try hand lettering the header title and embossing it…because the real thing is better than a good Photoshop imitation, right? ;) So I tried a few things for the lettering, we settled on the final design, and then I embossed it, scanned it to my computer, and was able to use it in the header! I really love how it turned out – especially against that deep blue background. It just makes me happy. =) To round out the design, Ali drew a beautiful wreath to frame her photo in the sidebar, as well as a string of light bulbs that are at the very bottom of the blog.

Be sure to check out Orli and follow it! Ali has some great posts already, and there will be many more additions in the way of DIY posts, recipes, and more!