A Few Blog Questions: Part 2!

A few weeks ago, I asked my readers what they thought about my blog (specifically, the design of it).  While most of you seemed to be of the opinion that I should keep the basic design - plenty of you mentioned that it was unique amongst card blogs, the reality is that I'm sort of tired of it.  However, I'm not about to jump blindly into a new blog template (and risk screwing everything up) without a bit of trial.

Here's what I did.  I sent up two "dummy" blogs - each with a different template.  I took many of your ideas and tried to incorporate them where I could with the two new designs.  Now, before you go clicking on the new designs, please make sure you check out my individual notes for each possibility (neither blog is a finished product, think of it as a beta test).

Blog Possibility 1:
(temporary blog #1 here):

This is a template that had the same general color scheme as my current blog (it's obviously a color scheme that I'm partial to).  With this template, I have a few notes:
1.  Where it says "ads here" will actually be picture links to important pages (my want list for sure, maybe the other two will rotate).  I could also use this space for any blog sponsors who want a specific image link.
2.  I don't think the Posts RSS and Comments RSS are working, but I figured it was pointless to try to make them work since I'll have to redo everything if/when I port the template over to my real blog.
3.  The ads seem a bit overwhelming (I think) but I don't think they will be once there are "real" posts on the blog.  Most people said the ads on my current blog don't bother them, so I figure the new ads won't either once you are used to them.  I'm inclined to keep the ads though since there is a small chance that by the end of next year (at the current rate) I may end up with an actual check from Google for the ads...money that could go to baseball cards!
4.  The Edit button will become something else as well - again, it's a temporary blog!

Ok, that's the first option - let me know what you think about that one in the comments below (or vie email if you prefer).  Now on to the second possibility.

Blog Possibility 2:
(temporary blog #2 here):

This is a template with a brand new color scheme.  Once again, a few notes about this one:
1.  The "Home", "Personal", "Money", etc. labels are all temporary.  I'd probably use that space for links to ongoing features, want lists, have lists, etc.
2.  The four ad spots on the right will become picture links to important places on my blog (my want list for sure, others to be decided later on).
3.  The scrolling pictures at the top are all temporary (most of the images came with the template).  That particular feature will be updated with current posts as well as important posts (for instance, I could see a link there for group breaks, etc.)

Once again, any comments/suggestions are appreciated (in regards to both options).  As always, I'll be interested (and curious) to see what you guys and gals think!