Free Custom Signitures

**Sorry, but no more orders will be taken**

If you would like a free custom made siggy for your blog. I would love to make you one. Send me an email with the following information -

• Your name
• What image you would like
• Any particular font (head over to Dafont for great range)
• Colors that you would like
• Your blog address so I can make it to match your blog

I am able to make animated ones and glittery ones.

Here are a couple I have completed -

Changing your font

I am was getting soo sick of the fonts on blogger. But today I discovered how to change it to one other than the six provided. 

Here is the list of fonts that will work with this. You could try others but they may come up different depending on your browser. I have chosen Century Gothic. 

Make sure you back-up your template by clicking 'Download Full Template' 

• What you'll need to do is go to your HTML code. Which is Layout > Edit HTML. 
  
• Copy the whole code and paste it into a Word or Notepad document. 
  
• If you press ' control + f ' or Edit > Find. A window will come up. 
  
• In the ' Find: ' box type - Trebuchet
  
• And in the ' Replace With: ' box type the font from this list that you want to replace it with. 
  
• Click ' Replace All ' 
• Repeat with these 4 other fonts 

arial 

verdana

sans-serif

georgia

• Copy your code. Then paste it back in the HTML box on Blogger. (make sure you delete the existing code in the box) 
• Click preview. If everything is fine click save. 

Let me know if you have any problems. 

Lauren xx

Blogger in Draft

Just letting you all know of Blogger in Draft. Blogger in Draft has heaps of cool new features when it comes to writing up your posts. Adding pictures is sooo much easier, and so is creating links.
Go check it out for yourself .
http://draft.blogger.com
As usual email me if your need help
Lauren x

Random LInks:

I've decide to post interesting links I have found for random things to do with computers and blogger etc. So here are my most recent finds.... 

Email Icon Generator

Creating your own blinkie 

Creating Glitter in GIMP Tutorial

Color Combo Tester 

Color Scheme Gallery

Blog University

I'll be back with more as I find them....

Numbering Your Comments

Today I found a really good tutorial to number each comment. This is really good for blog candy.

Here is the tutorial:

http://blog.randomnessf1.com/2008/08/translation-numbering-comments.html

As usual if you need help let me know. It is quite a complex code.

Lauren xx

How to use Stamp Sphere

Here is a tutorial for Jennie. 

You can download Stamp Sphere from here - http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/28424

Please Note: This is a program only for Mac's 

Stamp Sphere is a watermarking program. Here is how to watermark a photo: 

Load Picture > Along the bottom line there is a T in a box. Click it. > Type what you want in the text box such as 'Handmade by Lauren' > Choose your font and size (the size will depend on how big your photo is - so you may need to change it for each photo) > Along the bottom click the square in a box to get back to the main page > Drag your text to where you want it on your picture > When your done - Click 'Save Picture' 

Once you get the hang of it its quite easy. 

HTH

Lauren xx

Tiffany's Questions.

Thanks for your questions Tiffany. :) 

1. I can't seem to have my text come before my photos. I've seen it done, but cannot figure out how to do it.  

If you click on the photo and press enter, it will move it down the page. Move the scroll back up and begin typing. Does that make sense? 

2. Do you have to upload your photos in the opposite order that they will show up on your page? 

Yes, I have noticed this. What I usually do is, click 'Add a another image' 5 times so that there is all 5 'Choose File' buttons. Starting from the last one, I choose the photo I want to appear first. Then I go to the one above it and choose the photo I want next, and so on. Having to upload backwards becomes very annoying. Blogger hasn't made it very picture friendly. IMO 

HTH Tiffany

xxx  

Basic Blogger Features

April has asked, "how do I add pictures and the basic things that I need to know?"

Well I thought I might show you what each button does and a couple of other things.  To find out what each one does, check the number directly underneath it then look for that number in the list below....

1. This changes the fonts eg.  Arial, Courier, Georgia, Lucinda Grande, Times, Trebuchet, Veranda, Webdings

2.  Changes the size of your writing eg.  Smallest, Small, Normal, Large, Largest 

3. Makes your text Bold. 

4.  Makes your text Italic 

5. Changes the colour of your text eg. red, blue, pink 

6.  Creates a hyperlink/ link - Highlight your text > Click on it > Paste your URL/ web address > Click OK 

eg. This is a link   (click the back button to get back to this page) 

7.  Text Placement eg. center, left, right 

8.   Numbered List eg. 

1. Hello 
2. Hi
3. Hello Again 

9.  Bullet List eg. 

• Hello 
• Hi 
• Hello Again 

10. Quote - Indents your text eg. 

Every Minute you spend upset is one minute of happiness you will never get back ~Author Unknown~

11. Spell Check 

12.  Upload a picture - I'll add a tutorial at the bottom of this post. 

13. Upload a Movie 

14.  Labels - add keywords like card, pink, not a card etc this will create a list on your sidebar of each post with these labels. This helps people navigate your blog eg.  (from my own blog)

• Splitcoast (1)
• Spoonful of Sugar (1)
• Stamp Something (6)
• Stampin' Up (1)
• Stamping (33)
• Tagged (1)
• Tags (4)
• 
  

15.  Title - name your post

16. Publish Post - Publish your post to your blog 

17. Save Your Post - Incase it is not finished. Or you don't want to post it yet. Blogger automatically saves your post when your typing, so you want loose any of your work. 

Upload a Photo. 

It is best to upload your photos before adding your text. 

Click Number 12 (The picture of a picture)  > Click Choose File > Find Your Photo > Click Choose > Click 'Add Another Image' if you want more pictures > Choose the placement > Choose the Size (Medium is best) > Click 'Upload Image' (This may take a while, depending on your image size) If it doesn't work try again. 

Layout 

This is the layout of your blog. Each 'gadget' is movable, just click and drag it to where you want it. Click 'Add a Gadget' to add a new element. 

Followers 

A new blogger feature. People who like your blog may 'follow' your blog. They will then receive a notification of when you post something new. It is best to add your follower list to your sidebar. This makes it easier for people to 'follow' you, and so people can see who follows you.  All the blogs you follow will show up on your profile page unless you follow anonymously, this means no one will know that you follow a certain blog. 

Hope that helps, if you would like to know anything specific, please don't hesitate to ask . 

Lauren xx 

Create Your Own Animated Text in Gimp

Found this awesome tutorial on how to create text like this today, using GIMP.
Click Here For The Tutorial 

You can have text like this is any style and colour! Its quite easy to follow, if it doesn't make sense send me an email and I'll work on a simpler tutorial for you. 

Mine is set to only play once, so reload if you would like to see it again.

If GIMP or computers are not your thing, but you want a siggy like mine, send me an email, I will happily do it for you free of charge. It only takes about 15 minutes. :)

xxx

Adding A Watermark

Jennie from Stampin' Away the Day, has asked me - I have a eMac and would like to add a watermark to my cards and don't know how to do it or if my computer will.  I have the standard iPhoto (if that means anything). 

Unfortunately you can't use iPhoto to add watermarks (annoying I know) but you can quite simply add a watermark online. 

Using Either of these two sites - 

http://picmarkr.com/ - This one works hand in hand with Flickr.  I find it easier and there are more options. Plus you can resize your images - the smaller the images the quicker it is. 

http://www.watermarktool.com/

Here is a great program for Mac users and is completely FREE - Email me to request a tutorial. 

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/28424

Or you could use Pages or Word to add text to your photo and take a screenshot. (This is what I do) 

HTH 

Lauren xx

Adding Snowfall Effect

Click Here to get it.

I suggest once added move the gadget to the bottom of your page as it has a rather annoying picture.

Enjoy!

xx

Fixing Your Favicon

OK in regard to this post. People  have  been having trouble. I had a little bit of a play around and I found the solution. *I Hope*

If your sick of the little ugly orange blogger icon in your webpage address. Like This.....

And want something more like this.....

 

Or This.....

Change it! Its that simple! and its absolutely FREE! 

• Sign in to your blogger account
• Click 'Layout' 
• Click 'Edit HTML' 
• Visit IconJ.com  
• Click Choose File/Browse 
• Find your Picture (The smaller the better)
• Click Upload Now 
• Go Back to the HTML page for your blog 
• Up the top of the code there should be this text

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

<html expr:dir='data:blog.languageDirection' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml' xmlns:b='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/b' xmlns:data='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/data' xmlns:expr='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/expr'>

  <head>

    <b:include data='blog' name='all-head-content'/>

    <title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>

PASTE YOUR CODE HERE

    <b:skin><![CDATA[/* 

• Copy This text....

<link href='YOUR ICONJ URL GOES HERE' rel='shortcut icon' type='image/vnd.microsoft.icon'/>

• And paste it where it says 'Paste your code here' 
• Back to IconJ - Copy the URL that is in the box that says Host it a IconJ.com: (Direct Link) It will look something like this - 

<link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.iconj.com/ico/f/6/f6lh96kfnc.ico" />

• Your URL is the bit that is red. Copy that and paste it where it says 'YOUR ICONJ URL GOES HERE'
• It is important after playing with your HTML to click 'Preview'
  
• If all is fine Click Save

And there you have it! A nice pweety picture, instead of the ugly orange thing. 

Please let me know if this doesn't work and if I can't find the solution or I'll add your IconJ myself, just Email Me. 

Enjoy! 

Lauren xx

Adding A Custom Signature.

Many people are using the My Live Signature thing at the moment, but I think it looks far more effective when you do your own. You could even scan your own signature that you have drawn. 

If you have an animated one, make sure that it is saved as a .gif 

OK to start.

• Upload your image to photobucket.  (when you upload it make sure its the size you want it to appear, and have the upload set to '1 megabyte file size')
• Copy the URL of the image 
• And paste it in the code below 

<img src="YOUR URL HERE">

• Add your URL where it says 'YOUR URL HERE' 
• Back to your blog, Click 'Settings'
• Click 'Formatting'
• At the bottom there should be a text box that says 'Post Template' 
• Paste your code in there
• Click 'Save' 
• And Your Done! 

*Please note - Your signature will only appear on new posts

Enjoy! 

Lauren xx

Creating A Drop Down Menu

This is handy for saving space on your blog for things like a blogroll or anything really. 

Such as this one for my three blogs. 

My BlogsBlogger Help - By LaurenCupcake Craft ChallengesLauren's Cards Etc

The original tutorial here is pretty easy to understand, let me know if you would like me to explain it. You can add it to posts as well. 

For more links copy the <option value="Links 2">Blog Name 2</option> and paste it underneath the other ones. 

Add you URL where it says URL, the Link Title where it says Link Title and the name of the menu where it says 'Drop Down Menu Name' eg. My Favourite Blogs. 

<select onChange="document.location.href=this.options[this.selectedIndex].value;">

<option value="0" selected>Drop Down Menu Name</option>

<option value="URL">Link Title</option>

<option value="URL">Link Title</option>

<option value="URL">Link Title</option>

</select>

Enjoy! 

xx

Add Animated Smileys

I found this great feature from Blogger Tip N Trick today - telling you how to get Smileys like the ones shown HERE. So basically you can get smileys like this :) and this :O and this :z  by just typing the characters that are shown on this page. 

So find ]]></b:skin> in your blogger template and add 

<script src='http://kendhin.890m.com/smile/smile.js' type='text/javascript'/>

Below it - Like I have done in the screenshot below. 

I suggest you bookmark the page with the smileys for future reference on the codes to get each one. 

Lauren xx

More 'Add a Page Elements'

I learnt this from Blogger Tricks, but have translated it into 'english'

At the moment you only have a few options for places to add gadgets/page elements. This tutorial will show you how to add two more. One above the header and one below. These are handy for adding a menu/quick links bar to your blog. Like the one I have on my cardmaking blog Lauren's Cards Etc

• Sign In To Your Blogger Account 
• Click 'Layout'
• Click 'Edit HTML'
• Find this text in your HTML code, its down the bottom somewhere. 

   <div id='header-wrapper'>

      <b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='1' showaddelement='no'>

<b:widget id='Text1' locked='false' title='' type='Text'/>

<b:widget id='Header1' locked='true' title='Test Blog (Header)' type='Header'/>

</b:section>

    </div>

 

    <div id='content-wrapper'>

      <div id='crosscol-wrapper' style='text-align:center'>

        <b:section class='crosscol' id='crosscol' showaddelement='no'>

<b:widget id='Text2' locked='false' title='' type='Text'/>

</b:section>

      </div>

      <div id='main-wrapper'>

        <b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'>

<b:widget id='Text4' locked='false' title='' type='Text'/>

<b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'/>

<b:widget id='Text3' locked='false' title='' type='Text'/>

</b:section>

      </div>

• Notice that it says showaddelement='no' In three places. Change each one to showaddelement='yes'. 

• Also Change the bit where it says maxwidgets='1' to maxwidgets='' . In other words remove the 1. 

  
  

• Click 'Preview' if your blog is not corrupt in any way...
• Click 'Save' 

Now you will have these extra options. The two red ones are the new options. 

Adding a Custom Favicon

This is no longer correct - click HERE for the better instructions

Taken from my cardmaking blog Lauren's Cards Etc

If your sick of the little ugly orange blogger icon in your webpage address. Like This.....

And want something more like this.....

 

Or This.....

Change it! Its that simple! and its absolutely FREE! 

• Sign in to your blogger account
• Click 'Layout' 
• Click 'Edit HTML' 
• Visit IconJ.com  
• Click Choose File/Browse 
• Find your Picture (The smaller the better)
• Click Upload Now 
• Copy the text in the ' Host It at IconJ.com: Direct Link' 
• Go Back to the HTML page for your blog 
• Up the top of the code there should be <  head  > (see pic)

• Now paste your Direct Link code you copied earlier from IconJ.com in front of the <  head  >

Its should look something like this.....

• Click preview template, if it all looks fine and the icon is there - click save.

And there you have it! A nice pweety picture, instead of the ugly orange thing. 

Welcome

Hi Though I might create a blog that I can share with you the tips and tricks of blogger. If you would like help with anything blogging or computer related feel free to email me. 

I own both a mac and windows and have a fair knowledge of both. Most of the time I will be using my mac rather than my windows laptop because I find it easier. So things might look just a little different, but things are basically the same. 

Thank You and I hope you like this new blog. 

Lauren xxx