Blog header design

Today I would like to write about my blog header design. :) When I decided to start blogging I gave the layout a lot of thought. It was my very wish to design and draw everything by myself. :)

It was very hard to decide which kind of header to make. Sketches or clear outlines? Color or b/w? Colored by hand or on the computer?

So at first I started drawing various objects which came to my mind, when I thought about the name of my blog and things I like the most: a baobab trunk with various kinds of leafs, origami animals and objects, crocheted objects, books, snowflakes and jars, flowers producing soap bubbles and so on.

Not every one of them made it into the final header. :) This one just didn't fit into the entire image, even though I kind of like the bubbles and the origami flowers. ;)

I left out this "self portrait" too, since I had the feeling that it's too style defining. It reminds me of my drawings when I was younger and liked mangas a lot. ;) I still like to draw little funny figures, but I just didn't want it in the header of my blog. :)

So after matching everything to a final image, which took reaaaaaaaaally long by the way, I "colored" it on the computer with watercolor brushes. I was too self-conscious to color it by hand. (But watercoloring is something I MUST try out soon!)

I'm still not sure, if I'm content with my header, but I think I got kind of used to it. :) So I guess I'll leave it like this...at least for a while. ;)
What about you? I would love to hear about your experiences while designing your blog layout! :)