Last week while I was at WebManiacs I decided I wanted to go with a different theme for my blog.  The GlossyBlue one was nice, but a lot of people are using it and I wanted to be a bit more unique.  I searched around and found a couple free WordPress themes and decided to port one over.  I must say skinning Mango is not as easy as I would like, but it isnt rocket science either.  I created a new skin in about 3 days, working via the plane, hotel room at night and this morning. I am not a CSS wizard so it could probably be done a lot faster if I had some more skillz.  I plan on skinning a couple more themes, which I will share.  This one however "BlueMoon" wont be shared until I decide to switch to a different one (sorry).

Laura did a pretty good job with the MangoBlog engine, it really has a lot of potential.  My only fuss is the docs need some love, I learned a lot about the MangoBlog engine by skinning my own.  There is still a lot I don't fully understand, in time hopefully I will. The Mate Docs (Flex Framework by AsFusion) are put together really well, maybe Mango Docs will aspire to them ;)

Oh quick note,  Mark Aplet also skinned a really nice theme.  He has the CSS talent I lack :)  Nice job Mark, you can download his skin here.

I know, I just started this blog and thought I was set on the skin I was using but.... Laura the creator of Mango Blog recently ported over a new skin called "GlossyBlue" by N. Design Studio and well I just really like it so I figured what the heck, might as well use it as my blog skin right?  So enjoy!  I hope you like it as much as I do ~.^

I was reviewing some of the AIR applications that are available on Adobe Labs and came across Kuler.  Have you ever just had trouble finding a color palette for a new site or application your designing?  I know I have  and I like to call this designers block.  Sometimes I find myself fumbling through the web trying to be inspired and occassionaly I do.  Sometimes this is great, other times it's such a time consumer.  With all the push to become more efficient that's the last thing I want to do.

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The carbon theme I submitted in late September ended up being the winner for the first round of FillColors.  Unfortunately I was the only submitter, I urge anyone who likes CSS, Flex and has a couple hours of free time to mess around with it and submit something.  Heck you cant beat a free license of Flex Builder 2, plus the recognition you get.  AsFusion has quite a following :)

Thanks again for the opportunity AsFusion and I wish you guys luck with future FillColors projects!

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AsFusion started a new project called FillColors, "Fill Colors is the embodiment of the separation between style and layout in Flex and a demonstration of what's possible in terms of skinning a Flex application. Fill Colors invites designers to show their Flex "skinning" skills and to learn from others by looking at the current styles in the gallery." You can read more at FillColors.com.

I entered a skin for the contest, which is a Flex 2 Builder License :)  I basically reversed engineered the RainBow theme and the Aqua theme to see how the application takes a skin and applies it.  Once I figured that out, I started playing with the carbon theme.   

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