Digital Scrapbooking

As you notice, the blog is updated! A lot of my friends have updated their blogs using various templates or designed their own. I was thinking more and more that I would like to personalize our blog, and stop changing default templates on Blogger.

I did some searching online trying to find something that would incorporate colors I liked and the ability to add in my own photos...I was overwhelmed with choices! When I finally thought I found something, my usual perfectionist self would find something that just HAD to be changed, and I was on to the next choice. Of course, I decided this was a complete waste of my time after about 10 minutes!

Ok, so I could do it myself, right? How hard could it be to design something for my page? I started out trying to research the coding, and pulled up a blank file on Photoshop. Too complicated. Too many choices. Too hard. Too much time! Maybe another time I would consider this option again, but for now I was moving on to other things on my to-do list. (Catching up on reading blogs).

It was a good idea! I noticed my friend's blog was updated with an amazing new header. It was perfect, and it reflected her blog exactly...and the kicker? She did it herself! I was inspired to start my search anew.

In case you were wondering what the process of design entailed...

1) Downloaded a free digital scrapbooking kit (just like the real ones!) with "papers" (backgrounds) and elements. It was a trick at first to figure out which sites had free ones that were the correct format. I also had to narrow down the search to find a theme and color palette I liked.

2) Open Photoshop Elements and get to work! This involved a little more research to determine the correct size for a website header on Blogger. Ok, not really...I just downloaded a free banner, cleared it out, and started designing mine in it's place.

2b) Spend constructive time learning the ins and outs of Photoshop. Maybe this isn't a necessary step for everyone, but I'm going to consider this project a very productive lesson in using my program. Everything I learned can be directly applied to photo editing. The best way to learn something is just do it!

2c) Rearrange elements and photos to your heart's content. The best part of digital scrapbooking is I can size and resize everything! No more wondering what it would have looked like if I had left the paper bigger, or that I would accidentally cut or rip something. And, the cat can't knock over what I'm doing right in the middle of it. Did I mention I am also saving trees? Wow, this really has its perks!

For those of you wondering even more how this process works, each element and background is its own file. You choose which graphics you want to use, and resize them, layer them, rotate them, etc. until you achieve the desired look. The main difference between this and using physical materials is you can size them any way you like, and are not confined by the designer's ideas of how to use the elements. For example, if they provided a "frame" element that was portrait orientation, it could easily be stretched as a landscape. The backgrounds are also able to be used as a full size, or partial size. There are so many more options. I didn't even scratch the surface either! Even more layering can be achieved using opacity settings. Ok, I digress...

3) Upload photos to the blog, and set coding. Because I did my "research" ahead of time, all this involved was cut/pasting my code into my blog's layout for the sidebar, and directly uploading to Blogger for the banner. Wow, that was so easy! I think the hardest part was deciding on which photos to use! (Does this really surprise you?). :)

Maybe my steps need a little work here, but you get the idea. What do you think?

I hope you enjoy the final product. I think it's safe to say I'll be leaving the blog alone for a while now (the design portion at least)! Perhaps I'll be too busy digital scrapbooking! :)