myscrapworks: when art meets heart

Blog "Embelly" : DigiScrapping Your Blog Header

(Click any of the images to enlarge)

Alby Laran

I am not a writer. I was never comfortable with the written word. I tried keeping a diary when I was younger but I could never keep it up. A few pages and I’d give up. Before I started this column, I’ve never written anything that’s been published. That is, unless you consider my Market Research reports. Straight forward reporting, mainly interpretation of data gathered through interviews, pages of data tables and charts – that’s how I write. Boring stuff. Not exactly the light, engaging reading material you’d look forward to reading and re-reading on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Then came this column.

When I started Photo Rx, I thought I should practice to improve my writing skills. First I thought I’d just write about random stuff in my computer – think of a topic and just write about it. Then a thought hit me. Why don’t I start a blog? After all, a lot of people are now into it. Next thing I know, I’m writing almost on a daily basis, mainly about my scrapping hobby and our travels, and I’m loving it! It was easy to get started.

Even a non-“techie” person like me was able to figure out how things worked on a blog. I'd spend hours fixing the layout – placement of photos, font style, color and size, layout format, etc. I also started reading other people’s blogs and got ideas on how to improve my own. I’d ask people how they added certain elements into their blog and I’d do the same. For instance, I added a photo slider in my travel blog to feature some of my travel photos. I also added a Pacman game on the side panel ( I got that one from the MSW blog!). It has become a hobby (separate from my scrapping) and a creative outlet for me - not exactly the purpose I had in mind when I first started to blog.

One important element that every blog should have is a header. Aside from the name of the blog, a header gives people an idea of what the blog is all about (as well as the blogger’s personality!). Fortunately, creating a header is just a few clicks away - with a digital scrapping kit, a photo or two and a FREE photo-editing software like Photo Filtre (downloadable on this page!). Here’s how to create simple and eye-catching banner:

Open the file of your desired background. In this case, I used one of the papers in the Festival Kit downloaded from www.shabbyprincess.com - SPcom_Festival_Paper_Floral.jpg.

Click any of the images below to zoom

Header 1

Header 2

Header 3

Header 4

Header 5

Download the wonderful and absolutely FREE Photo Filter software here.

Hot Stuff: Free DigiScrap Blog Header
Click the image for a zoom view

Click here to go to the digital scrap artist's blog to download. Please dont forget to leave a note of thanks there.

Want more links to freebies? Visit the DigiScrap link and subscribe!

Click IMAGE – CANVAS SIZE. Set WIDTH to 8.5 inches and HEIGHT to 3.0 inches. Click OK. Save the file under a new file name. This is now your working file. See Header 1.jpg.
Open a new file of paper, to be used as a photo mat. I used the plain paper also from the Festival Kit - SPcom_Festival_Paper_Sack.jpg. You should have two open files now.
Click IMAGE – CANVAS SIZE. Set WIDTH and HEIGHT to 2.8 inches. Click SELECTION – SELECT ALL. Then click EDIT – COPY.
Switch to your working file. Click EDIT – PASTE. Move the pasted image to your desired position. You can only do this while the running line is still visible. I positioned it to the extreme left side of the base banner. See Header 2.jpg. Close the other file (the paper cropped into a square) without saving. This will minimize your open files and prevent confusion.
Open a picture that will best represent what your blog is all about. Crop it so that it is smaller than the photo mat created earlier. Click IMAGE – CANVAS SIZE. Set WIDTH and HEIGHT to 2.6 inches. Click SELECTION – SELECT ALL. Click EDIT – COPY.
Switch back to your working file. Click EDIT – PASTE. Again, move the newly pasted object into your desired position. Close the other file without saving (or save under a different file name so you get to keep the original). At this point, you should have just your working file open. You should have a 3x8.5 patterned paper, a 2.8x2.8 photo mat and a 2.6x2.6 photo. See Header 3.jpg.
Open another paper file - SPcom_Festival_Paper_Stripes.jpg. Click IMAGE – CANVAS SIZE. Set WIDTH to 3 inches and HEIGHT to .5 inches. Click IMAGE – ROTATE – ROTATE 90 CW. Click SELECTION – SELECT ALL. Click EDIT – COPY.
Switch back to your working file. Click EDIT – PASTE. Drag the strip of paper to the right end of the layout. See Header 4.jpg.
Click the TEXT tool (it’s the big T in the toolbar at the top portion of the page). Select the FONT of your choice (I chose Monotype Corsiva). You can ignore the font size as you can easily resize by dragging the text box later. Check BOLD and set COLOR to red. Click the EFFECTS tab (located at the upper portion of the text). Set OPACITY to 85%. Check DROP SHADOW. Set X and Y to 7. Set to desired COLOR of shadow (I chose grey). Click OK.
Repeat step 10 for additional text. I added a description of the blog. See Header 5.jpg.

There you go. A blog header that describes what readers can expect to find in your blog. It also adds interest - an open invition for people to visit your blog regularly and read it. You can create several headers and post a new one on a regular basis – depending on your mood! Enjoy!