Blog Overhaul: The Reveal, And a Few Other Fun Things
It's been a little while since I posted, but I have a very good reason, I promise. I've been working very hard on redesigning my blog. It happens every few years when I get tired of the old look, and want a new look. So here it is! I made the graphics myself, but I'm extremely grateful to Judah for teaching himself some basic HTML just so he could help me with everything else.
So let me give you a little tour, and share with you some of the fun programs I found. Above, you'll see my watercolor header. I really wanted watercolor, but I didn't want to have to buy watercolors, paint something, and then digitize it in Photoshop, as most bloggers and designers suggest. Way too complex for me. Also I didn't want to spend money. So I spent hours searching for ways that I could paint digitally (for free) and have it not look like something I made in Paint in 3rd grade. Here are some of the fun programs I found, just in case you want to waste time over your lunch break, or put off folding the laundry.
Harmony - This is a really simple program that allows you to do some simple sketching, but has several different "pencils" you can choose from. Some of them look very geometric, but some have a much more hand-drawn look. I'm not super great at drawing, so the best I could do was make some upside-down V's and call them mountains.
Flame Painter Free - This program is pretty much what it sounds like. You can paint things that look like flames, except you can do it in all different colors. It's pretty easy, but also a teeny bit mesmerizing.
Viscosity - Viscosity is a "modern art generator." I haven't figured out a way to make anything that looks remotely interesting, so I would browse other people's artwork if I were you. But it's fun to play around with. You start with a "palette" of colors and then just mush the colors around, if that makes any sense.
However, none of these programs really satisfied my need for watercolor. Fortunately, I found these watercolor brushes to use with Photoshop. This is only an option if you already have Photoshop, which I do. Once I found them and figured out how to use them, creating a watercolor header was super easy.
Let me share a few more fun resources with you. While those listed above were fun time-wasters, the following programs are ones that I actually used for this blog.
PicMonkey - Isn't that photo editing? you say. Why do you need PicMonkey when you have Photoshop? Because it's a lot easier. PicMonkey can't do things as advanced as Photoshop, but it can do simple things very easily. For example, the circular picture of me in the sidebar (on the right) took me less than a minute to make.
Canva - This is the coolest thing ever. Canva allows you to make your own graphics, and it's really easy. You just drag and drop whatever elements you want to add to your design, and it's free! You can make pretty much anything you want, from motivational mountain posters to infographics, or in my case, sidebar labels.
So there you have it. There's my newly designed blog, and several resources for your art-making pleasure. Have fun!
So let me give you a little tour, and share with you some of the fun programs I found. Above, you'll see my watercolor header. I really wanted watercolor, but I didn't want to have to buy watercolors, paint something, and then digitize it in Photoshop, as most bloggers and designers suggest. Way too complex for me. Also I didn't want to spend money. So I spent hours searching for ways that I could paint digitally (for free) and have it not look like something I made in Paint in 3rd grade. Here are some of the fun programs I found, just in case you want to waste time over your lunch break, or put off folding the laundry.
Harmony - This is a really simple program that allows you to do some simple sketching, but has several different "pencils" you can choose from. Some of them look very geometric, but some have a much more hand-drawn look. I'm not super great at drawing, so the best I could do was make some upside-down V's and call them mountains.
Flame Painter Free - This program is pretty much what it sounds like. You can paint things that look like flames, except you can do it in all different colors. It's pretty easy, but also a teeny bit mesmerizing.
Viscosity - Viscosity is a "modern art generator." I haven't figured out a way to make anything that looks remotely interesting, so I would browse other people's artwork if I were you. But it's fun to play around with. You start with a "palette" of colors and then just mush the colors around, if that makes any sense.
However, none of these programs really satisfied my need for watercolor. Fortunately, I found these watercolor brushes to use with Photoshop. This is only an option if you already have Photoshop, which I do. Once I found them and figured out how to use them, creating a watercolor header was super easy.
Let me share a few more fun resources with you. While those listed above were fun time-wasters, the following programs are ones that I actually used for this blog.
PicMonkey - Isn't that photo editing? you say. Why do you need PicMonkey when you have Photoshop? Because it's a lot easier. PicMonkey can't do things as advanced as Photoshop, but it can do simple things very easily. For example, the circular picture of me in the sidebar (on the right) took me less than a minute to make.
Canva - This is the coolest thing ever. Canva allows you to make your own graphics, and it's really easy. You just drag and drop whatever elements you want to add to your design, and it's free! You can make pretty much anything you want, from motivational mountain posters to infographics, or in my case, sidebar labels.
So there you have it. There's my newly designed blog, and several resources for your art-making pleasure. Have fun!
I love the watercolor heading, it is so fun!
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