It’s the first of the month and that means it is time to go Blogtipping! For those of you who are not familiar with blogtipping, it is was started by Easton at Business Blogwire as a way of sharing new blogs with your readers, giving kudos to another blogger, and having fun.
If you do blogtipping in it’s purest form, you name three blogs, tell why you like them and give a constructive tip to the blogger. But, feel free to put your own spin on it!
This month I have been introduced to an extremely talented blogger/designer named Lara. She has (at least) three blogs so I am going to tip each one of them - they definitely deserve the attention. And did I mention that Lara is just finishing up her senior year of high school? This girl has got a very bright future.
Blog What? Design
Lara and Christian have such a sleek looking site for their blog design business - Blog What? Design! Everything is clean, well organized and very creative. Their portfolio speaks for itself, too!
Crunchy Mustard
Crunchy Mustard is very witty group blog made up of Lara and three of her blogging buddies. Another super fresh and creative design! The topics are a bid more open ended, but this group of young adults are years ahead of their peers in maturity.
The Desired
Even Lara’s personal blog The Desired is cooler than cool!
On this one I love the colors, the soft navigation bar and the about information front and center.
So, have you gone blogtipping yet? You should try it - it’s fun. Easton will even let you use his cool blogtipping sign graphic (just right click and save to your own server though). And, as an added bonus - Easton is pretty good about giving out link love to all the participants.
where I share my favorite tips, tools, reviews and commentary on web design, marketing, blogging, new media and related topics. For more about this site and the voice behind it, check out my 
10 Comments»
Randa Clay
1. June 2007 | 10:41 hWow! I knew Lara was young, but I was thinking college! I have admired her work too- really creative.
Erik Karey
1. June 2007 | 15:00 hNice list of designers with some really nice portfolios. I might contact a few about some work.
Char
1. June 2007 | 15:08 hRanda - I think she is going to college in the fall, but she is so talented.
Erik - thanks for visiting today! Take a look around this blog there are plenty of very talented designers who stop in regularly.
Lara
1. June 2007 | 16:04 hI’m speechless! Thanks so much Char! I’ve got such a huge smile on my face right now.
Christian will be a sophomore at Fordham University next year, and I’ll be heading off to Barnard College at Columbia as a freshman. So there are some answers to you questions
I love creating websites and blogs, and enjoy picking up creative new angles in my designs. You’ll see that Crunchy Mustard is rather unique with only a few varying colors, while The Desired (that design is about a year old) picks up my love of everything flowery and “summery!”
Haha, making the Blog What Design site was a blast. Christian and I found these great graphics by Simon Oxley, and he now uses our site as a promotional item in his portfolio and advertising. More of his stuff at idokungfoo.com. Funky stuff.
Wow, thanks again Char! What a treat. I’ll have to do some blog tipping myself!
The Desired » Blog Archive » Love for Essential Keystrokes!
1. June 2007 | 16:16 h[...] lovely Char at Essential Keystrokes put up a post today that sent the hugest smile to my face [...]
Char
4. June 2007 | 22:01 hLara - I love all of Simon Oxley’s stuff. Thanks for all the link love.
Online Marketing Should Be Fun! » Blogtipping anyone?
5. June 2007 | 09:31 h[...] this today, and it shows what a neophyte I am to the old, old world of blogging - blogtipping. As Char said, “.. it is was started by Easton at Business Blogwire as a way of sharing new blogs with your [...]
Dawud Miracle
5. June 2007 | 16:35 hLara’s work is great. I think she’s got another fan in me. The great thing is I’ve seen a couple of these designs around and really stopped to pay attention. Nice to find a bit more about the person behind the design. Thanks Char.
Char
5. June 2007 | 16:41 hDawud - You are welcome! I just love Lara’s creativity and smart style.
JO
6. June 2007 | 14:24 hThanks for providing such an interesting blog. Being new to blogging it has helped me a lot. I am off to view these blogs now!