Resources for customizing your blog's look

Did you notice the new design?! If you are reading this in your feed reader, come on over and check it out!

One of the reasons I chose to switch to blogger last month was because the customization seemed more intuitive for someone like me--someone who is just stumbling from one idea to the next. I had previously assumed that if you wanted to have any control over your blog design you would need some kind of specialized degree I don't even know what it's called! or you would need to pay someone with said degree to take control of the blog for you.  That is all fine and well for some folks, but I like to do things  the hard way my way. Plus I can't really justify spending the money on a blog design when I'm not even making money right  now! ha!

Between this blog and the Quest for Real Food, I have spent hours trying to figure out how the heck I could make my blogs look the way I wanted them too.  The worst part is that I could search for the same thing on different days and come up with completely different answers.  So I wanted to share a few of the resources I have found to be most helpful. 

Blogger in Draft

If you have a Blogger account, you can sign in through draft.blogspot.com and use their templates to choose your background, layout, font sizes and colors, etc. Because these are free templates, you are not going to have an entirely one-of-a-kind blog, but it is still free! If you have not been to this site yet, GO NOW!  I wish I had found this from the beginning.

Installing customized fonts 

There is a great tutorial by Kevin and Amanda that teaches how to incorporate custom fonts into your blog posts.  I am working on this on Quest for Real Food but haven't quite made the change over here yet.

Finding fonts
Scrapvillage is a great resource for downloading fonts.  I think it only works with PCs though...if anyone has a good link for Mac-compatible fonts please post it in the comments.

Picnik

Picnik offers free and fee-based photo editing options with loads of features.  All of those photo collages I make are done on Picnik.  The yearly fee for a premium account is something around $25, and it is worth it! I made the new blog header and shop button by uploading a "picture" of a white square that I made on Word and then adding all of the elements seen there.  If you would like to use it on your blog, please email me at irenedesign @ ymail . com for permissions.

Photobucket
I will be honest with you here; I really don't know all that photobucket does.  I just use it to store images like my shop button, blog button, and blog header so that I can use the html codes for each.


I hope some of these resources will help you out a bit!  If you have any to share, feel free to leave them in the comments or email me.  If you have any questions, be sure to leave your email in the comments so I can get back to you directly, or send me an email if you would prefer.

Buttons

Fabric

Pillows are a great way to decorate a room with little commitment from your wallet.  We have some pillows in Adeline's room and our living room that are ready to be replaced, so I've been scouring the internet for ideas.  The fabric and button combination about are already a favorite and would add a modern touch to Adeline's nursery. 

To go more with the nursery feel, I found this fabric "set" and love it for Adeline.  I am still undecided as to whether it fits the theme in her room, but I think it is cute none the less.

Our living room is a whole other beast.  It has (beautiful) tall ceilings, rich tan and orange colors with (oooold) cream walls, and loads of furniture because it doubles as an office and triples as a dining room.  I am toying with sticking to the orange and reds or possibly branching out with some blues and greens.  Here are some ideas

Blue Flowers

Grey and White Ikea

Brown and red/yellow

Still deciding, but I think this is a good start!  What kind of pillows do you have?

"Purging: I had to start somewhere" or "Just Say No."

{image source}

I have recently decided that there is such a thing as too much inspiration.  If you saw my Google Reader, my mental To-Do list, and the piles of fabric in my sewing room we are talking about serious piles, you would whole-heartedly agree. 

I recently purged about 1/3 of the subscriptions on my Reader. That's pretty good, don't you think?!  The one that hurt the worst was my "Sewing" feed.  I received a daily dose of sewing tutorial roundups from around the web.  There are so many great ideas for new projects that are just dying to get on that mental To-Do list let's just call it my mTDl., but that mTDl was causing me to lose my sanity.  

So I cut the poison at it's source.  Of course the page is still bookmarked, but I actually have to go look for it if I want project ideas.  But I don't.


I do not want any more project ideas.  Right now I have more projects than I will be able to finish in a year.  At the top of my mTDl that is so much easier, right? are Adeline's quilt, my dress for the wedding, and more clothes for Adeline.  At some point I should also include cleaning my sewing room and listing the items I have already made in my shop yes, I said I was going to do that in April, and clearly it did not happen.  I can't sell what I don't have listed though! 

Along with my sewing feed, I got rid of some "bargain" subscriptions because I rarely needed what they were telling me about and I facebook-like them, so I can still get the info if I want to, some subscriptions of folks who haven't updated in who knows how long, and a food blog that did nothing but make me drool.  Really, I don't need that sort of thing happening too often.  

Now that I am feeling so inspired toward productivity and purging I need to keep my eyes out for some form of storage for my serious piles of fabric.  Perhaps I will make some fabric buckets and hit two birds with one stone! did you notice I didn't say "kill"?  I really don't feel like killing anything.  Is there about way to say that?

THIS is the crafty inspiration I need.

image sources

one

two

three

four

Make a Decision: Check.

While I was not able to cross off everything from my To-Do list this weekend, I did make a decision about the dress.  I found this fabric on sale sorry for the photo quality; I used my iPhone..., and the pattern will be on sale later in the week (for $1.99!) so I figured it is at least worth trying.  If I do not like the dress the originals will hopefully be on sale by the time I am finished.  If I do like the dress, I will have spent less than $20 and the dress will have pockets!

I settled on the Butterick 5455 pattern, partially because of the sale price, but also because I like that the middle band is slightly smaller than in the Vogue pattern I was looking at.

By the way, thanks to my younger sister for helping me with fabric selection and thanks to Amanda for asking me about it today!

Fabric Shops

Ok Friends.  I need your help!  After some encouragement from friends I am seriously considering sewing my dress for the wedding.  This is a big deal.  I "do not" sew clothes for myself.  However, I think I should, and I think I would like it.  {image source}

What does that have to do with you?  I need some suggestions on where to buy fabrics for making a dress (online please...unless you know of some great well-kept secret like "Baers never really went out of business; they are just hiding." ugh.) What types of apparel fabric do you like?  


I looked last night and after scanning about 1200 "swatches" of fabric I came up with one print I love, but it is jersey, one I really like, but it is polyester, and a third that I also really like that is thankfully shirting fabric.  I am going to use one of the patterns in my last post, so it needs to have some structure to it (hence the reason I don't want to use jersey).


Finally, what the  heck is "lawn" fabric??  I know all the basics like cotton weight quilting fabric, fleece, minkee, and all those crafting fabrics, but apparel fabric appears to be a whole other beast.


Thanks in advance for all the help! I am off to work on one of the many "later" piles in my sewing room!

To sew or not to sew

This seems to be the question that plagues me most days.  Last month I tossed around the idea of sewing a dress for a very formal event, but I ended up not attending, so that decision never had to be made.  Now I am shopping for dresses for my brother in law's wedding in July, and of course the ones that I like the best are $150 (or more!).  Too bad we live on one and half incomes and my hubby is in school ;)

SO, do I want to try to make a version of one of these dresses or hold off until one goes on sale and hope they still have my size?

OH, you want to see the dresses?  Sorry about that!  Here ya go!

l'un

Anthropologie

la robe de remplacement

Vogue V8555
p.s. this one has pockets!  I used to think that was silly, but now a dress with pockets seems brilliant.  Definite plus.

L'autre

Suzi Chin for Nordstrom

la robe de remplacement

Butterick B5455
Again, pockets.

I am going to hold off for a couple of weeks at least.  That way I am not making a rushed decision (because most of those are still sitting in piles in my sewing room).  I am also really hoping one of the already-made-dresses goes on sale ASAP so I don't have to make this choice. If I find some fabric that really inspires me then I may jump in with both feet, but for now I'll sit on the edge of indecision with one foot on each side.

Art for Babies

I know there is nothing novel about this, but Brandon and I really desire that Adeline grow up with an appreciation for creativity and literacy. I told you, I know that is not new!  There is a great little independent book store within walking distance of our house, and we like to go up there to get books for her.  I recently came across Flowers by Matthew Porter and was instantly drawn to the aesthetic of the book. 

Fitting for a baby, the book is fairly simple: each two-page spread has a single color with the word written in white, and the opposite side has a beautifully drawn flower in shades of that particular color.  Adeline really enjoys looking through each page as much as an 8-month old can!, and of course she likes it when I get animated about the different colors.  As an added bonus, this is a board book so she is not going to accidentally rip the pages or ruin them with frequent taste tests!

It is fun to explore art in an entirely new way with Adeline.  I have been appreciating more simple forms of beauty lately while trying to see things through her eyes.