This is what you do when you’re stuck in a hotel room on a rainy day. You mess around with your blog banner. Obsessively. Yesterday, I had to run out the door because I was playing around in PicMonkey and suddenly realized I had to be at rehearsal in 15 minutes.
I’ve been wanting to change the look of my header from the usual photo collage to something different. Last week I read this great post about how to make a banner/collage in PicMonkeyusing white space. (Thank you Bunny for writing to tell me about it!) And I got all excited about overlays and what I might be able to do. This is what I came up with when I first started playing around:
It’s not what I ultimately wanted because the flowers and button were PicMonkey’s and had nothing to do with my blog, but it was fun to do. You can add your own overlay in PicMonkey, so I thought about my McCoy Singing Bird and my little lamb with the hat, both of which have become familiar sights to readers of my blog. Perhaps they could become overlays? I wanted something that floated on a white background.
What next? I tried to figure out how to erase the background of a photo so that just the main image remained. I spent several days painstakingly trying to erase my backgrounds in Pixlrand got very frustrated. Yesterday, I finally did it! Then I added the images to the white space using PicMonkey’s overlay feature.
This was my first try (and what I was doing when I realized it was time to go to rehearsal.) It was just a test. I was unhappy with the color of the birds as they were too green when they are really aqua. So I uploaded them again and changed the color. I also played around with different fonts, but this (called Playball) is still my favorite so I went back to it. I made a new banner, using the recolored birds in a different configuration, along with my little lamb.
For now, it’s making me happy, so it will stay. I’m sure I’ll keep tweaking it. I never say never and who knows? I may end up going back to my photo collage banner. But not for a while.
Heck, that’s what is fun about having this little playground I call my blog. I can change things up when I want to. If I can figure out how to write a tutorial about all of this, including erasing the background in a photo, I will.
I’m sharing all of this with you because I encourage you to get in there and try new things. I almost always start with googling a question, like “how do I erase a background in Pixlr?” and go from there. It’s sort of like detective work. Then, once you find some sort of answer, go for it. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose. I play around with html on my blog a lot, too. There are all sorts of tutorials out there and, believe me, I’ve never not found an answer to a question. I’m not a blog designer. I don’t know a whole lot about coding, but I’ve learned enough to get by. The great thing about Blogger is that you can go into your template, change the html and preview. If you don’t like the results, all you have to do is hit delete edits and everything goes back to the way it was. I do that all the time.
Try playing around with your blog design. Or your banner design. It’s empowering! Every time I figure out how to do something, I feel great. You don’t have to rely on a designer. Play with PicMonkey, or iPiccy, or any one of a number of photo editing programs, some of which have much more available on their sites than just photo editing. Have fun!
Nothing better than working on the blog with Pandora playing Gershwin in the background!
The winner of a copy of The Paper Garden is Jen Kershner! Congratulations, Jen. I’ll drop you an email.
Personally, I *love* the one you chose. I think it’s so clever with the aqua bird repeat and toward the end to have the lamb in there…but then another bird. Isn’t it fun to monkey around with the photo and then that feeling of ‘it’s just right.’ :-)
I feel empowered too when I learn something new or solve a problem. Since Picnik is gone I have not tried any new photo editing sites. I know how one can completely loose track of time playing around on those sites. One day when I have some free time I will give some of the other sites a try. Until then, I’ll just have to stick with my old banner. I do admire your creativity! Have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
All the new banners look good. You are daring also. I am half afraid to click anything these days. I have had so many weird problems. Enjoy your weekend. Smiles, Susie
Thanks for these tips, Claudia. (And for the encouragement to experiment!) I think the new banner is so cheery. Looking at that PicMonkey one you tried with flowers and buttons, what if you did something similar with your crocheted flowers? Then it would be entirely yours! (Although I do love those pie-birds — are they pie bird? — they just make me smile.) Have a lovely weekend and take care.
I love the new banner, too. It’s great inspiration because I’ll feeling the urge to change. Is it Spring or ??
I love the blue bird banner
The new banner is adorable. Love all the colors and glad you included the lamb. I am bored with mine but too chicken to change it. Funny that you had to run out to be at work on time. I do that all the time. But mine is to pick up someone at school. I give myself so much time to get there but it doesn’t include all the last minute things I need to do before I get in the car. Hope your week-end is a fun one.
Love your new banner, Claudia. I love picmonkey, but haven’t really had the time to play around with all of their features. One of these days :)
Reading of John’s murder was heartbreaking. It is so true that when someone is sick and you know that at some point they will be gone, it is a bit easier to handle than when someone is taken suddenly, and especially so when it is under such tragic circumstances. Hope you have a safe trip back home. Happy planting! Tammy
Love the banner! I need to try Picmonkey just haven’t made it there yet. Thanks for the info!
Hugs, Lisa
HI Claudia, I just discovered picmonkey and am happy we have it to use…i like your banner, and your adding the lamb in the mix is great! iI was always changing my collage header and finally just got tired of it, and went completely image free…and I have never missed it! Making banners is great for lots of things…not just headers and it is a fun thing to do to use on FB and Etsy too.
Hi Claudia, I had sent an email to Amanda (my little artist!) with a link to your blog post because the book you wrote about sounded like something she would absolutely love! I got an email back from her this morning that she just now saw the email (obviously too late to comment to win) – but – telling me that one of her two roommates already HAS that book and that Molly Peacock is one her her idols! Small world, huh? Amanda said she will definitely be reading the book!
I love your new banner… Your sheep is just too cute in that flock of birds!
Donna
I also like the different banners you have been trying but then I liked what you had up before. When I look at the birds with the lamb, I wonder how it would look if the last bird, on the right side of the lamb, were turned to face the lamb. Enjoy your blog no matter what the banner!