Jose - Soccer Banner

Jose has a blog about U.S. major league soccer for Spanish speakers. Wanting to give it a look that was more his own, he came to me for a custom banner.

The thing I love most about this banner is the crowd in the background. Previously in my design there was just blue sky, but it was Jose's suggestion to have the fans included since fans are who would visit his blog for information on Major League Soccer. I purchased a stock photo of a crowd of fans, tweaked it and dropped it in. It really gives this banner an extra sense of life!

I love working on stamping banners, but this was a fun divergence from the usual.

Belinda's duo banners

This was supposed to have gone up in September, but it didn't, and I got distracted from checking!

These banners were done for Belinda's two blogs, My Stampin' Pad and The Stampin' Buzz.

You can see that they look like the viewer has just moved to the left a little allowing for more of the pond scene to be shown. This allows the blogs to look similar, but have their own personality.

Belinda also ordered a watermark and a couple custom signatures one with the frog on the lilypad and one with well, a lily on the lily pad.

I'm sorry I don't have a copy of the watermark right now. I'm not at home with my files handy, but this gives you the idea of her overall project. This was a really fun project and Belinda was lovely to work with! Be sure to check out her blog(s). :)

Milk is the New Prada - new banner

Chinwe has a personal blog that she wanted to make hers through a design statement. She wanted the design to include images representing herself and her two boys.

As it turns out, "creating" people ... not so much my strong point. Enter stock imagery. The woman is from one image, the older boy is from another, and the baby is a copy/hybrid of the older boy's image and some digital drawing. The bottles are my design. Phew! This is a challenge I enjoyed.

She also has a clothing store and needed a watermark for her images.

I love the clean simplicity of this image. :)

Stampin with Steph - new banner/watermark/signatures

Steph was one of the patient people to wait for me to catch up on my life. She was super easy to work with and I'm pleased to show you her materials that I've created.

This is her new banner (you can click for a bigger look) for her blog.

For her watermarks, I created light and dark versions through 2008 and 2009 for the Stampin' Up! information so that her watermarks have an extended life past the end of this year.

And finally, here's her digital signature to coordinate and tie in with everything!

Back at work

I'm back to design work, and while the momentum is slow to build, it is indeed coming back.


I had several customers take me up on my offer to work with them upon my return from Convention/vacation. I am now working my way through that group. If you're someone I contacted by email with my offer, please know that I'll check in with you again soon as I wrap up projects.


By way of celebrating upcoming design work, I have pulled out an unused design that I created for a customer. I converted it to my own use! :)
Thanks for looking!

Self-Imposed Summer Vacation

I want to thank you for considering me for your design work. Unfortunately, I cannot undertake any new projects until after August 1.

I take my design work and my customers' needs seriously. However, I am currently experiencing several circumstances in my personal life that are simply not making it possible to give the attention I would like to new projects. The major downside of these issues is that my creativity has been severely curtailed. I don't feel that you would be getting my best work.

Please understand that I would LOVE to work with you, but I understand that once you're ready for design work, you're excited to get going and any delay is likely to be a disappointment. If you are willing to wait for me to return to the business in August, I would like to offer you 10% off of any service over $15 or a free digital signature to coordinate with your design work. If you are interested in working with me in August, please send me an email and let me know whether you'd like the percentage off or the free signature image.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding and I hope to hear from you.

Blog banner - a summer edition

I had the pleasure of working with Jackie Pedro again to design a "summer style" banner for her blog. She has wonderful stamping projects that she shares and is just a nice person to be in contact with. :)

Joanne B. is going green

In addition to the regular treat of sharing her stamping creations, Joanne B. is starting a Sunday segment on things to do to be green.

I'm in favor of getting the word out there, so I made up a little banner to use for those posts and Joanne graciously accepted it. :)

Chrissy's Stampin Attic - new watermark and signature

Chrissy came for me to get a watermark (in light and dark versions like all my watermark customers). The name of her blog is Chrissy's Stampin' Attic, so when I started playing around, I came up with her design immediately - some designs just work that way!

For her digital signature, she liked Tara's signature from a few posts below, but wanted a primitive element included and suggested a button. So she got a cute little button with twine.

Simone Gabriel

This design has actually been complete for about 2 weeks, but I've been so busy, I'm just now getting to posting it! Simone in Germany has an online store and wanted a custom look. She sent me a sample of what she wanted it to look like and was so helpful about interacting with me so that I could get the right look for her!

She ordered a store banner, images to run down the side of the pages, a design team icon and watermarks. Phew! It was a big order, but we worked together and pulled it out. :)

Inkspired Treasures

This is Connie Babbert's new banner! I made a couple of versions for her to check out until we were able to finally create just what she was looking for. And we were in time for her new website launch!

Pressed Down and Shaken Together

This is a new banner for Angela's family blog. The title of her blog comes from a favorite Bible verse.

She had a photo of brown sugar in a measuring cup that she wanted to feature, and we were able to work it in. What a treat (pun intended) to work with such a yummy picture. :)

Fireflies and Flutterbyes

Tara wanted a new look for her blog, and came to me for help. We were able to whip up a design in no time! I love the look of the evening sky in this design - a necessary element for the fireflies to show up.

She'll be able to further personalize her blog entries or emails with her personal graphic signature! This is the first signature I've done for a customer, and you'll see that it's also an option for purchase from the "menu" on the upper left.

The final item is a watermark for her to use on her photos.

Thanks for working with me, Tara! It was a pleasure.

Encourage a Child - new banner

Merri has a new website and needed a fun banner. I LOVE these little stick kids that I bought a file of online. I just think they're so cute. Once I found them, the banner came together in a flash.

Thank you for choosing to work with me, Merri!

Stamping Kim has a new banner and watermark

Kim wanted a banner in blues, and that's what she got! I think this is a quietly elegant banner, without being too imposing (sort of sounds like a wine review, huh?).

I don't think her blog is live yet, so I'm not including a link, but Kim, if I'm wrong, and you want a link, please email me, or comment, and I'll update as needed!

Name frames by Jeanine

My friend, Jeanine, is selling Name Frames in a boutique near her home. Looking to personalize a blog with samples, she asked if I'd help her by making a banner for her. I really like how this turned out, and love the fabrics that I used to make up the "designer paper" backgrounds on each letter's mat.

Elaine (from Scotland!) has a new banner and watermark

This lovely cow is a resident of the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and her photo was taken by Elaine. I was worried about how I'd work it out when she wanted swirls with the cow, but once I thought of the swirls as more "misty" that helped considerably!

We also worked up a watermark for Elaine.

Thanks, Elaine, for choosing me for your design!

Wellness Creative has a new banner

I'm busy filling a card order (in between banner/watermark designs) so I won't go on too much, but this is Stacey's new banner that I wanted to show you! We had to try several times, but we've finally made it! :)

Stacey picked these pictures and asked me to lay them out, and that's just what we did. Thanks for choosing to work with me, Stacey.

New look for Kulesa Design for spring

You may have noticed that I posted a new banner for myself today. This banner took hardly any work because, well, it was one of my customer's rejects. :)

See some similarity between mine and Cassie's? Yep, these branches started out for her. While we went cleaner for her doodles, I loved the bright scallops and the crab apple blossoms for spring, so I just dropped my text on top (only took about 15 minutes to rework this banner for MY use) and copied the branches so they'd be on both sides of the banner.

Happy spring!

Cassie has a fabulous new banner

Crafter Cassie has a new hand-drawn banner in place on her brand new blog. I didn't draw the words, but everything else on there was created just for Cassie. The bird was a specific request, and I probably drew 7 birds before settling on this one to use on her banner. When I showed it to her, it was love at first sight! :) She was so great too about sending me photos of fabric samples as examples of styles or colors until we got to just what she wanted.

Kate McKinley - photography banner

This is for photographer Kate McKinley's blog. She wanted something fresh and clean, and I think that's just what she got! :)

Laurie's Inspired Designs

New look for a new blog! Laurie has a new blog that she wanted to make her own, and she came to me for help. She even hung in there with me while I had a major creativity lag (due to other life circumstances that have been going on).

I love the monochromatic look to this banner, and the subtle floral background. We also did a coordinating watermark for her work.

Thanks, Laurie!

The Scalloped Edge has a new look!

Jackie's blog, The Scalloped Edge, has a new look to go with her incredible stamped creations. Based on Jackie's answers to my questions at the start of the process, I wanted to create a soft banner with a boho angle. I was thrilled when in response to her first preview, Jackie told me I'd created exactly what she didn't know she wanted.

We also worked together to pick new colors for her blog from her banner to create a complete look. Thanks, Jackie, it was a pleasure!

Inky Chatter - A new banner for a new blog!

I'm so pleased to provide Martha with a new banner for her new blog. It's all dressed up and ready to show off! You can see her blog at Inky Chatter.

To go along with her banner, she also has a new watermark.

Posting your custom banner on Typepad

This is not meant to be a comprehensive instruction guide, but I hope this brief tutorial is a help. If you have questions, please email me (using the link on the left/top) or leave it as a comment on this post.

Log in to your Typepad account. You'll see your welcome screen and the name of your blog. Click on either the name of your blog.

From the tabs at the top, click on the Design tab.


Then choose the Change Theme option.

You want to set your theme to "Custom Theme" (rather than "Pre-Defined") on the next page.

The second option down is Page Banner. Click the "Edit this Element" button. This opens a new window with Style Options.

Click the box next to the text that reads "use this banner image instead of a text title. Use the browse button to navigate to your banner image as you have saved it on your computer.
Click the "Save Changes" button. This will take you back to the "Customize Your Theme" page with all your options for editing your template.

On the "General Page Settings" page you can choose different colors for your page elements

• General Settings:
Background color
Border location and style
Border color
• Left Column width
Background color
Border location and style
Border color
• Main Content Column width
Background color
Border location and style
Border color
• Right Column width
Background color
Border location and style
Border color
• Link colors

from either a preselected pallette by clicking on any of the boxes in the rainbow spectrum, or you can enter a 6-digit/6-letter hex code which is a web color code that can be customized to match your banner. If you know your hex code(s), enter it in the box next to the element that you want to use that color on. Enter the codes for each element that you want to adjust and then click the "Save Changes" button.


Any time you click the "Save Changes" button it will close the color pallette box and you can choose to then preview your blog's new look by clicking the "Preview" button at the bottom of the "Customize Your Theme" page. Once you like the new color scheme, click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the "Customize Your Theme" page and your new theme/colors will be published and go live.

Ink, Stamp and Scrap has a new banner and watermark

Linda wanted a geometric design that popped for her Ink, Stamp and Scrap blog. I think we achieved that for her! I also created a coordinating watermark to protect her work.

Linda's ideas were great, and an integral part to getting the design she wanted. Stop in and check out her blog and her projects!

Kraftin' with Kathy has a new banner and watermark

This banner is for Kathy's new blog where she's off to a great start! This was one design that came together QUICKLY! Some just do, and there doesn't seem to be a reason why.

This design just seems so peaceful to me. I really enjoyed the colors and overall feeling of it. I used a similar swirl for her watermark.

Thanks, Kathy, for choosing to work with me. It was a real pleasure!