Randa Clay is a very talented designer that I have been fortunate to get to know over the past six months or so. She is one of the strongest voices in favor of the do-follow movement, she has launched two very nice WordPress themes of her own, and now she wants to offer you a new logo or blog header if you pimp her blog. Really!

Now, even if you have a logo, or a header for your blog, Randa can make it sing even more!!! She’s that good.  Get all the details straight from the source! Stop in at Randa Clay Design and find out what you need to do to win a new do for your blog.

Do you have some free time this weekend and want some thoughtful reads? Here are a few that I managed to miss this week and am glad I have some time this morning to enjoy them.

• Creativity in Action: From Boring to Magical – Inspiration Bit has a great discussion on the creativity of children and attributing sources in your work.
• Lorelle VanFossen asks “Is your blog a conversation blog or an answer blog” at the BlogHerald. Very interesting post as so many of us get caught up in the conversation aspect of blogging that sometimes you forget that not all posts (or blogs) really require a response.
• SEOmoz published the ultimate glossary for SEO terms and jargon this week. Bookmark it, use it!
• BlogHer is going on this weekend in Chicago and I wish I were there mixing it up with some of my blogging buds! Anyhow, eMoms at Home, Techmamas and Practical Blogging have some updates/live blogging posts from Blogher.
• DoshDosh shares some great articles and resources on Facebook Marketing. Facebook is now the 7th most visited web site with over 30 million visitors. How are you using Facebook to market your blog or business? I’m there – Facebook me!

Have a great weekend!

Apologies for the disappearing act this week, but real life intervened! My youngest child was hospitalized earlier this week for a kidney infection, but thanks to modern medicine and a tough little body, they cleared it up quick and we came home today.

Even though my husband was kind enough to bring my laptop and a wireless PC card to the hospital so I could work while my daughter rested, I couldn’t manage to focus my thinking skills long enough to do much other than visit some of my daily reads and leave a few comments. As a result, the Essential Tools feature will return next week.

Just in case you missed it:

• Wendy at eMoms at Home held her second group research project and there are more than 28 Internet Marketing and Home Business How To contributions ranging from How-To Start a Company and Family at the Same Time by Ben Yoskovitz to How to Cross-Market Your Blog and Your Business by SEO Aware and one from me, The Ultimate Guide to Where the Moms Are Online.
• Randa makes some really good points about the I Follow Movement. While it really irks me that so many people have chosen to abuse the generosity of others, I am still at the point where I feel that it will not hurt me to continue Do Follow. Although spammers and others looking for a quick link, beware – I do not hesitate to hit delete if I do not like the looks of the site you linked to!
• Dosh Dosh offers up 19 Ways to Optimize Your Site for Google Images and Get More Traffic – nice list and a few I must say I have missed!
• David teaches us how to Customize the Word Press Login screen. I never even thought to do that, but now that I know it can be done, I can see how it could be a really nice touch for a site that will be maintained by the client.

There are a few of you who have not received your blogging birthday gifts yet – I have not forgotten you – I have just been a little unavailable this week. Thanks for your patience.