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!

Just Give Me Stamps blog has a new banner and watermarks

I have admired Laurie's stamping for quite a while on her Just Give Me Stamps blog. She simply has an amazing stamping style. I was so pleased to be able to create a banner and watermarks for her, particularly after all the inspiration she's put out there for others.

Her colors were chosen not so much by any one company's colors, although she listed SU colors for reference, but additionally I went and looked at vintage paint samples for inspiration. I sent her a basic banner to preview, and then we pushed it further using her suggestion of tone-on-tone swirls and stepping up to a new font. This is the first time I've used this font (although I kept trying to work it in on other banners), and I think it looks great!

Because Laurie and I both liked the font so much, I wanted to feature it on her watermarks. She has two designs to choose from, one that's Stampin' Up! specific, and on that is for use with other company's designs.


I really enjoyed these projects. If you haven't already visited her blog, definitely stop in for a look.

Laurie thank you so much for choosing to work with me!

Changing your colors to match your banner on Blogger

If you really want to customize your blog, try changing your colors to match! For complete customization, you'll need to know your hex color codes (these are colors that are coded so that any website can recognize them).

If I've designed a banner for you previously, check with me and I can help you figure out codes. Otherwise, you can just click on close color matches from the color palette shown in the Fonts and Colors Tab. When I reference entering a hex code below, that's where you'd click on a color that you'd like used for each element.

1. Log in to Blogger.
2. Under Template, click on the Fonts and Colors Tab.
3. Down the left side, there will be a box with a vertical scroll bar listing all the things that you can pick a color for. You'll need to change the color of the hex code for each item using the following code and entering it in the box to the right that is labeled as "Edit color hex code" with a # and a six digit code. You'll follow the same steps for each item (Main Background Color, Text Color, Link Color, etc.).
4. Click and highlight Main Background Color. From your custom list of hex codes, copy the #______ code to match with each item on the list. Go to the box under Edit color hex code, double-click and highlight what's there and then paste in the new code copied from this email list. Scroll down through each item on the list of items and update the colors. After each time you enter the hex code, you need to hit the Enter key, and for what it's worth, when I used the Enter key on the number key pad, it didn't seem to work. You'll know it's taken the change if you see the sample color in the scroll list on the left change to what you were expecting. You'll still want to save using the Save Changes button, but without hitting Enter, it doesn't seem to "get it."

Good luck!

My first logo design

This is a logo that I've designed for a friend of a friend. She's starting a new business, and I'm excited to help her create her image! I think this turned out as a very dynamic presentation and I'm so pleased that she liked it too.