blog secrets

in the las few days i have had a few people email me or leave me comments asking how i get my blog to look the way that it does. instead of emailing these people back i thought i would just leave a few useful tips here for everyone to see. now keep in mind that i'm in no way a pro at this (i know my html pretty well being a former web design student and all), and im no good at writeing out tutorials (i'm more of a "play around with it till i get it" type of person) there are plenty of people out there with cuter blogs, and that know a lot more than i do. so besides my few tips...if you blog lurk enough you will find other people with good tips as well.

header:

• to make my headers i use photoshop (it's my favorite, but i'm sure any digital scrapbooking software will work too), and digi scrapbooking kits, pages, embelishments, and fonts (i use the free ones that i get from here, here, and other places that i find by googling or blog lurking).
• i start out with a blank 12x12 page and then bring in papers that i want for a background to my header (if you don't aren't familiar with photoshop try googling "photoshop tutorials" and try to get familiar with the tools and functions because i'm not about to go into all of that detail).don't use the whole page...crop or resize everything down to header size.
• next i bring in letters, or word art and resize them till they fit where i want them.
• then i start bringing in embelishments. i resize them and try putting them in different places till i find the look i like.
• double check to make sure everything is in the right place and spelled correctly (be sure everything is exactly how you want it cuz after this next step there's no going back)
• flatten or merge your creation down so that its all one image
• save as a jpeg
• go to your blog and at the top of the page you should see a link (or a tab) that says "customize". click there
• now you should be at a page that has all of your blog elements and at the top will be the header...click "edit"
• this is where you add the header you just made. FIRST be sure to click the checkbox that says "shrink to fit" (otherwise your header will be HUGE)
• then click the little button to the side of where it says "add image from computer" then click the "browse" button.
• find where you saved your header and double click
• then hit save.
• now go to view blog to see your new header!

it seems like a lot of work (and it is until you get the hang of it), and a ton of steps but it's not too bad. i create the titles to my sidebar items the same way (just smaller than i make a header), and then add them as pictures to my sidebar. super easy!

i'm mostly a header type of gal...i don't like to clutter up my blog with a crazy background, but sometimes its fun to have that little extra so i found a few links to some good tutorials on how to make your own background here and here.

and this is the link to how to make a 3 column template

a lot of this stuff requires that you know a little bit about photoshop, html, and how to really navigate through your blog elements. so familiarize yourself with that kind of stuff first and then just dive in. the best thing about creating your own backgrounds and headers is that you can always start over or click the undo button if you mess up. and the only way to really know how to do this stuff is to try....and mess up....so just have fun! like i said, i'm no expert, but if you have any questions (i'm sure there are plenty because i'm terrible at explaining step by step stuff clearly) please don't hesitate to ask....i'll try to help in any way that i can. HAVE FUN!