The source of inspiration for the layout of the site is the colored boxes tutorial at maxdesign. This is simply the best web standards layout tutorial that I’ve seen on the web.
The entire site is coded by hand using XHTML 1.0 Transitional and cascading style sheets. The site has been tested on both the Internet Explorer 6 and Mozilla Firefox browsers. The code is intended to be forward-compatible. Compensating for older browsers currently exceeds my knowledge level and coding skills.
The script typeface used for the site’s title, greeting and some graphics is Cherish by Rob Leuschke set between 12pt and 21pt. His typefaces can be viewed at Alphabytes.
The tag line is displayed in Myriad set at 3.68pt.
Headers are displayed in Georgia, Times, Times New Roman or a basic serif typeface depending on which typefaces are installed on your computer. If you want to see the headers displayed in the most attractive typeface, you will need Georgia. It is included in most Microsoft software applications.
Links and body copy appear in Arial, Helvetica or a basic sans-serif typeface, again, depending on which typefaces are installed on your computer.
All images were created in Adobe Photoshop CS.
The little guy in the header graphic is me ... a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
The site’s background image, column separators and dark border at the bottom of the header graphic were created using the herringbone pattern that is included in Adobe Photoshop CS.
The diamond-patterned wallpaper used in several of the graphics is a pixel pattern I created in ... you guessed it ... Photoshop. Easy and fun!
The flowers are a portion of a black and white TIF graphic from Zedcor’s Desk Gallery clipart Mega-Bundle which is now out of print. I converted the file to RGB mode in PSD format, selected the portion I wanted to use, colored the flowers, resized them, placed them in position and added drop shadows.
The site uses relatively few images, many of which are loaded through cascading style sheets. This method eliminates repetitive image downloads, saving bandwidth for everyone involved. Cool!
Most of the blessings originated as e-mails to a friend. They have been edited minimally to include a broader audience. All other entries, including prayers, are the result of my personal study times, personal writings, bulletin articles, camp lessons, sermons (not my forté), discussions with friends and lessons learned through many years of listening. As is true with all writers, I receive inspiration from a plethora of sources, and that information is filtered, dissected, merged, massaged and eventually expressed in a form unique to my life experience. I respect the copyrights of others just as I do my own, and credit is given in all cases in which I am aware of the originator.
Wow! If you’ve read this far, I’m impressed!