I can’t believe it! I started the redesign earlier today and I actually finished it all! On every page! Even the e-cards page! Weeeee!

It’s it wonderful? I’ve been building this obsession for cupcakes lately. Not that I’ve even had any to eat in years. I have no memory of the last time I ate one. Probably in elementary school. And the last time I ever made one? Probably to take into class for my birthday when I was 9 years old. I don’t bake. So it’s not so easy for me to just up and bake cupcakes. It’s not that I don’t want to, but it’s because I know what will happen. I will end up eating them all. And I don’t need a bunch of cupcakes to cancel out all my work at the gym.

But the obsession has become so much that now I’ve made a sweet cupcake design. And, I plan on finally jumping into the world of baking cupcakes next weekend. Watch out world! I’ve got food coloring and I know how to use it!

Anyway, I hope you like the new design. And, as you’ve noticed, I moved the blog to the main page. There was really no point in having a main page with just links to other pages. This makes a LOT more sense.

And now it’s bedtime, because tomorrow is Monday, and I have to pay my bills somehow!

I am currently redesigning all of illoluv.com. I think I’m going to move the blog to the main page too (*DONE!*). There’s no point on having a main page that has JUST links. And then I’ll link on the side to the e-cards and goodies. Those other pages will take some time to update.

So things are going to look a little nutsy for a while. Just bear with me I would like to get it all done today, but I don’t see that happening. I’m sure everything will be done by next weekend sometime. Or… at least… I hope!

No illo for this post because I’ve done PLENTY of drawing tonight. As you should be able to see, from the design. I really loved my last design. But it was time for a change. And I went for some more subtle colors this time. I like it, I think. It looks a bit bare though, but I think that’s because I’m so used to the other design. In fact, if you go to my comic page, you’ll still see the old design. It’s a bit of a shocker when you go from the new colors back to the old, bold colors. You may have to brace yourself… I’m warning you, it’ll knock your eyes to the back of your head.

So what is with this new design anyway? I have no idea, to be honest. I just sat down this afternoon and decided to draw some spacey-looking foliage. And then I decided, yes, this will be part of the new design. No rhyme or reason behind it really. Just spontaneity.

Oh, and the rest of the site is done to match. I’m saving the re-design of the comic page for next weekend. One, because I’m tired, and two, because I’m going to come up with something different for that.

I still might make a few adjustments, but nothing too big that you’ll notice. For one, the font in the titles just doesn’t work for the posts. So I’m trying to find a similar font that looks better. I found a different font that isn’t really similar, but it seems to work OK. I’ll think about it for a while though. Other than that, I think I’m happy with it.

Oh! And I’ve lost 2 kilos. I know that has nothing to do with anything. But it was the highlight of my day when I found out. So why not share?

Of Song Contests…
So! Tonight is Melodifestivalen! For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, which is most of you, I’ll try to explain it as simply as possible.

For over 50 years the countries of Europe (started with some. now it’s most countries) have taken part in a song contest called the Eurovision Song Contest. Each country sends an artist or group of theirs to sing a song. It’s a big show that happens every year in May. People watch and vote for who they want to win (can’t vote for own country). The winning country gets to host the following year’s events. Lather Rinse Repeat.

Some countries see it all as a big joke. Some countries take it very seriously. Sweden is one of these countries. In order to choose who is going to represtn Sweden, we have Melodifestivalen, the contest to choose who will win. Melodifestivalen goes on for 6 Saturdays in Feb and March. Four weeks are spent choosing who will go to the final, and who will go to a “second chance” semi-final. The 5th week is the semi final. The sixth week is the final. And that final is TONIGHT. And it’s a huge thing!

Now, I enjoy Melodifestival and Eurovision because they are fun to watch. The music is mostly based on a style called “schlager.” It’s not really anything anyone living outside of Europe could imagine. But it’s just exciting to watch and I’m a HUGE Melodifestivalen/Eurovision fanatic.

Tonight I will be voting for who I want to represent Sweden. I’m voting for two out of the 10 finalists. BWO, who’ve I’ve drawn in the illustration above. From left to right, Marina Schiptjenko, Martin Rolinski, and Alexander Bard who’s holding a laptop (electro pop stuff). I’m also voting for Charlotte Perrelli. I really like both songs and wouldn’t mind if either won. But I’m leaning more towards BWO (video here) even though I think Perrelli (video here) will win. And then maybe, for once, I could be proud of what Sweden sends to Eurovision!

The only thing that sucks is that when tonight is over, it’s still 2 months until Eurovision. GAH!

UPDATE - This is a spoiler, Leslie: Charlotte Perrelli won!!! SHE WON!!!!! HURRAH! I really wanted BWO to win, but she was my 2nd choice! I REALLY hope Sweden will qualify for Eurovision now! We must! The song is GOOD!

Of Web Habits…

I’ve been reworking my web habits lately. When I started my comic, which is going really well I might add, I decided I needed to rethink my web-related hobbies and get my priorities straight. A lot of the things I was doing weren’t making me happy any more. And my web stuff is my hobby, and hobbies should make people happy. So I shut down a lot of my websites and basically only have this one left. I also stepped back from the web design. It’s a big part of me and it’s something I’ve worked for so many years on, but working with it at the school just burned me out. I need to shake all that off and start fresh, but not without taking a break.

So, the comic is going great and it makes me really happy. Really happy. Because of this, I’ve really decided to put as much energy as possible into it. Closing all my websites helped. Now I’m reanalyzing how I “waste my time” on the web. I use Facebook and am pretty into it. But I’m now allowing it to be my only time waster online. I’ve left some community sites and forums that do me absolutely no good. Today I left a big one which has been a bit of a crutch for me since moving to Sweden. It’s a bit sad to leave it but freeing at the same time.

So illoluv has become my main focus. And I’m excited about it. My comic is taking up a lot of my creativity, and I end up drawing only for that. I need to draw other things. But that’s the purpose of this blog. To illustrate every post in some way. Whether it be for Illustration Friday, or just to illustrate what I write.

It’s a new “me” on the web and I feel really good about it. Because if I don’t make myself be productive in some way often, I start to feel like a big ‘ole NOTHING.

I’m just claiming my blog on Technorati… And here’s my Technorati Profile… I know, I should have probably done this ages ago…

Anyway, skip this and see my Illo Friday post below!

Hello strangers! Yes I know I know… You see, the thing is that I tend to spread myself thin. A lot. Especially when it comes to my projects. But I’ve recently made some decisions, some difficult ones, but decisions nonetheless, which will bring me back to what’s important to me. Like Illoluv. This site is my home. This is where I can do what I love most. And to do it, I’ve canceled a lot of my other projects. So now I can devote more time to this site. Because this is the only project that really matters to me.

So, it’s time to come back to life

Come on, admit it, you’ve missed me!

Wooo! Change! Yup, lots of change. First, I finally moved the blog from MT to WP. It was a long overdue change. Now I’ll stop getting so much spam.

Second, I decided that it would be best to put the blog on a separate page within the site, instead of having it on the main page. The reasons for this being that I just feel it’s better this way. This way Illoluv is more of an Illustrator’s site, who happens to have a blog. Instead of a Blogger who happens to be an illustrator. If you’re confused, don’t worry. I’m not even so sure I understood that.

Third, the design! What do you think? A little toned down from the last one. But I’m very pleased with it. It was time for a change anyway. I think I had the last one up for a year. There are a few things that need adjusting here and there, but that will come within the next week. I need a break right now.

Anyway, I hope you guys like the change. Things are starting to tone down a little at work, so I’m hoping that means more time for illustrating over here. Until then, go get some of the new wallpapers I mentioned in the previous post!