I‘m guessing that roughly 1/3 of you have blogs, but let’s find out for sure with this poll:
[poll id=”13″]
Whether you’re already cranking out posts for fun or profit or are just curious about blogging, you’re likely interested in the topic of today’s post: blog wear.
Blog wear generally includes pre-designed headers, backgrounds and other graphics that can be used on a Blogger, Typepad or WordPress blog. Most importantly, it is made using the digital supplies you love!
“Can’t I just make my own blog header?” you ask. Unfortunately, probably not. For the most part, designers do not allow the use of their digital products in blog design without specific permission to do so. Some will charge a licensing fee and others will just say no. When in any doubt, check the terms of you or just ask!
This is where blog wear comes in! Blog wear is an easy, low cost answer to beautify your personal blog. Here are some great examples:
Click by Courtney Wilson and Kelley Mickus
Heart Sweet Heart by Dianne Rigdon
Smooches by Pixel Geek Designs
Tutti Frutti by Zoe Pearn
My Little Garden by Jennifer Fox
Here are some of my favorite shops that sell blog wear:
- The Digi Chick
- Elemental Scraps
- Funky Playground Designs
- Gotta Pixel
- Inspiration Lane
- Plain Digital Wrapper
- Scrap Artist
- Scrap Orchard
- Scrappity-Doo-Dah
- Sweet Shoppe Designs
- Polka Dot Plum
So, what is your blog wearing?
I just launched a new blog last week. It is, regrettably, pretty naked! Thanks for the nudge!
My Blog Design & Code created by PixelGeek Designs
Digital Scrapbook Graphics created by Ziggle Designs & Krystal Hartley. I also just found and love Kandy Kane Creations blogwear http://www.elementalscraps.com/shoppe/product.php?productid=23499&cat=0&page=1.
Just launched my blog and I went for a very simple look (rotating images and a title in Arial font). I find that, quite frankly, a blog header with lots of clutter is not very attractive. As well, anything other than a white background is hard on the eyes. I was inspired by blogs such as Zen Habits.
I find that, especially in the digi scrapbooking realm, there is a lot of clutter on blogs.
Just my 2 cents…
You have a solid point Elisabeth. The clustered looks we may enjoy on scrapbook layouts may not always translate well to blog design.
I have so far gone with the options from WordPress but can see the benefits of using a more scrapbooky (is that a word) look…thanks for the nudge. This is my blog right now…http://myscrapping.wordpress.com/
I’d be happy to have you take a look and tell me what you think!!
Patricia, I really like how your blog is not cluttered at all – very simple and easy to get around. I do have two comments for you though:
1.) Whether you use any digiscrap products for your design or not, I’d consider a custom header. It doesn’t have to be fancy – the Simple Scrapper header uses Century Gothic and Bell MT – two standard fonts.
2. ) I’d consider a fixed width layout vs. 100%. There are a lot of options for that within the standard WP themes. My desktop machines both have really wide monitors, so your text is about 14 inches wide for me. Just for a usability perspective, it’s best to not have your main content more than 550 pixels wide.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jennifer, I had sort of wondered about the width thing…I’ll change that asap…I like the full width but it is a little harder to read. One of my brothers children just got a diagnosis about her school work that she can’t follow from the end of one line to the beginning of the next when they’re too long…good catch…hadn’t converted that to my blog in those terms till just now.
I have an iWeb blog, and as far as I know, can’t use anyone’s blogwear. No matter: I like the clean design iWeb handed me.
That is a lovely design Laura – thanks for sharing!
You can find some free blog header templates and tutorials at the Coffeeshop blog. http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/2009/02/coffeeshop-blog-headers-pack-1.html This link is under “Brushes, Frames, Patterns, etc.” on the home page.
Look around…it’s a very fun blog!
Thanks for sharing the info in your post.
Rita’s blog is definitely a good source, as is shabbyblogs.com – the free resources for blog design are quite endless.
My blog is wearing Fall 4 U by Julie. It is. Julie’s TOU allows you to use her scrapping kits to make your own blog wear so my last few makeovers have been with her kits.
I’m partial to white backgrounds, and currently have three columns on my blog (although I’m thinking about changing that)… each month I use photos of my kids for my blog header – this year I’m planning to play a bit with monthly themes for their photos, and scrap them, of course!