Digital Scrapbooking has been a passion of mine for a while. Perusing the internet and finding all the kits and other components for scrapbooking, one can find a myriad of designs. The community is HUGE! A majority of the scrappers have blogs, where they offer the goodies they have made in trade for some kind words. These folks, mostly ladies, but, a few guys, are talented. Google
"scrapbooking" and see what comes up.
Since so many do have blogs it was only natural for the kits, with all the components such as background papers and embellishments, to become designs for the blogs. I've used a kit from Brenda Mascari at
Millstream Cottage, "East Meets West". Take a minute and go see what her blog is about and to see her designs.
It is really very simple to use a kit for a blog design. With Blogger, the basic Minima template allows for personalising. Set up your Blogger page with this template. (There are other templates and options, but, a little trickier than these. Also, before you make any changes, you should 'save background' by clicking on this button above the code.) Once you download the kit you wish to use, open your program, like Photoshop, PSP, Image Ready, etc. Scrapbook kit papers are 3600x3600 and the elements are usually around 1000px. This is humongous for a blog layout, so, you might want to start by scaling each component down you wish to use. I use "transform" and pull the corner down to where it fills about 1/4 it's original size.
Here is a basic background template for a two-column Blogger layout. I fashioned it from a background that fit nicely on my particular blog. You may need to experiment - widening, or narrowing, the center to fit your blog page.
Right click and copy, then, open in program and follow the pattern for the background and the center top layer where the type shows. (The rust-colored layer is one I placed in between the top and the bottom of the template layers for a more in-depth looking background. It is not necessary, but, may be added here.)
Add the embellishments, paying attention to placement. The middle type section should be left clear in order to see the type print on the blog. You could fade the top layer or, like I often do, in a new layer, create a white 'sheet' and drop the opacity down low, around 33-50, depending on how well it covers with the design still showing through. Center it over the middle section. This will leave the middle with a lighter backing for your type.
When you are satisfied with your layout, save it to file. You need to also save it to Photobucket, or another image hosting service. Open Blogger. Go to the "Layout" section and "Add a Gadgett". Choose the HTML/Java Script feature. In the pop-up box place this code:
(right click, drag over above , click "copy"; "paste" into code)Wow! This is just my list! LOL!
Make certain to follow copyrights when using someone else's designs, backgrounds, etc; some require links back.
