www.reflectingthedesigner.com

Here’s a brand new theme with some extra goodies thrown in. It is a widget ready theme that includes a top menu and a fun scrolling brick wall background. Click here to download this theme. The first screen shot pictures exactly what the theme looks like. Notice that there is plenty of space in the header for you to add your own png or gif to personalize this WordPress theme to fit you. Please see my post on how to add images or buttons to your header for simple instructions on how to do this. Note: instructions are at the bottom of the post.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here is another Christmas card that was a “spur-of-the-moment” job. I’m posting this one to demonstrate a few simple Photoshop tips that can help you turn around designs quicker for customers just like this one. As the title suggests, there is great advantage in using many layers in Photoshop. I’m just going to focus on the background of this card itself. There are 3 separate layers used just for the green background.

The bottom layer is actually a black and white plaid I found online and turned into a pattern. Need a refresher on creating your own patterns? (NOTE: if you are using Artisteer and want to know how you can make your own textures, this is it!) Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been working to update my Blogger Scrapbook site to make it more visually appealing and easier to navigate, so make sure to check it out! I’m very pleased with the results. I was also able to add a search box and some social icons that I created to the header for further usability. The icons I added simply by the “Add a Gadget” method, but the Google Search Box I added by creating a new div in the Header code.

Here’s how I added a new div to the html: Read the rest of this entry »

This was a project for a family who wanted to send out a family Christmas Card but in a 5×7 size to easily fit into a frame. They also wanted a theme that was more of a wintertime feel rather than strictly Christmas and wanted to include their family picture as well as individual pictures of their kids. And, of course, they wanted the original snapshots edited to remove red eye, the background, touch up the coloring, etc. Try finding a template online to do all of that! However, just using Photoshop, I was able to take all 5 snapshots they sent me and turn them into a fun winter card that can be printed out as a photo or as an actual card. I used some of the elements from the previous Christmas card I made, so the design work was quick and easy to do, and fit all of their specifications.

Let me know if you are interested in a personalized Christmas card that is not just the run of the mill template you see everyday. I can usually turn a project around like this within a day, so shoot me an email to get started!

Yes, I’ve finally gotten another theme up! I’ve been too busy working on other projects to put more out, but here’s a cute, traditional Christmas theme to put you in the holiday spirit!

This is a widget ready, 3 column design with a top menu, footer, and built in rss image in the footer.

Click here to download this free theme!

As always, feel free to contact me if you are interested in a completely personalized and customized WordPress or Blogger theme.

Adding a scrolling “Back to Top” button is a very nice feature for your blog so that people don’t have to keep scrolling to get back to the top of the page. I have already posted on how to do this for your BlogSpot blogs, and you can view that post on Blogger Scrapbook by clicking here.

Adding this button to WordPress takes a few more steps, but is still relatively easy. Now, I got the basic information from a site called instantShift, but they don’t have all of the information you need to actually add a button yourself. But, not to fear, I have been working and tweaking until I figured out exactly what you need to do in the simplest way! So, here goes!

• First of all, create and upload an image you want to use to your WordPress ftp, and save the url to it’s location.
• Secondly, log into your dashboard and click on Editor, then Header.php.
• Look for the following code: </head> <body>
• If the body element already has an id, copy that id name, but if it does not, give it an id by changing it to the following and  save your template: <body id=”top”>
• Now, go to your Footer.php and find the following code <p> class=”art-page-footer”></p> </div>
• Directly after that code, add this code: <div> <a style=”display:scroll;position:fixed;bottom:10px;right:10px;” href=”#top“><img src=”THE URL TO YOUR IMAGE HERE”/></a> </div>
• Change the URL to your actual image url, and you can change the position on the screen by changing the red elements above.
• Make sure, that if your Header.php already had an id associated with the body, that you replace “#top” to that id instead making sure to keep the # and quotation marks.
• Save your template, and you are all done!
• If you also want to add a text link to the bottom of your posts, all you need to do is add the code below to the bottom of each post that you write (just make sure that you are in HTML mode and not Visual): <a href=”#top”>Back to Top</a>

I just did this for my own site, and it works great in IE, Firefox, and Safari. Hint: You can use this same trick to add buttons to your footer that link to your RSS feed, or other items. Simply change the “#top” to the http address where you want the image to link to, and of course, you’ll need to add the correct image and image url as well.

Please leave a comment if this was helpful or if you have any questions, and feel free to contact me if you are interested in any customized graphics or buttons. I do have some free pre-made and hosted back to top buttons available on my Blogger Scrapbook site.

//

Hafa adai from Guam! This tropical paradise WordPress theme was inspired from my time here on the beautiful island of Guam. This is a simple two column theme that makes the most out of Artisteer’s built in textures, as well as the ability Artisteer gives you to add your own background and header glare images in order to create a seamless blend of header and background.

So, enjoy this new theme, and Contact me if you are interested in a completely customized and personalized WordPress or Blogger theme.  Click here to download this theme.

I just finished a landing page and WordPress blog theme design that was so much fun to work on! Good friends of mine are going to be traveling on an evangelistic team beginning this fall, and they will be holding youth rallies on most weekends in churches all around the country. They wanted a fun site where kids who’ve attended or are going to attend theses Coffee Wars rallies can log look at pictures and video from the week, get updates, have access to more Christian resources, and stay in touch. It’s also designed to help out churches or individuals planning to attend a rally by offering necessary information and downloads to prepare for the event. Because they won’t be officially starting until the fall, there is a lot of information, pictures, pages, and video that will continue to be added as time goes on.

I designed the landing page using Sitegrinder, a Photoshop plugin. The elements of the blog theme were also designed in Photoshop and then completed through Artisteer. There are still a few plugins that need to be uploading, but for the most part the setup and design are complete. I will be creating a personalized Twitter background to match the site as well as an image to use for the site’s facebook page as well.

Please contact me if you are interested in a landing page and blog combo or any other design requests, and I’d be happy to discuss pricing and options with you.

Click on this link to visit The Coffee Wars.

Yes, I finally got another blog theme done. This has a little bit of a western, rustic feel to it with the wood background and old linen paper. This would look great personalized with a picture of the author done in a sepia, old photo style as well as the header in a fun Western font.

Please contact me if you are interested in a personalized blog theme design. As always, I include set up with plugins and one week of support for a one time, low flat rate.

Click on the picture to view a larger image of the screen shot.

Click here to download this fresh, new, and free WordPress theme.

A screen shot of this fun, rustic blog theme design

Some good friends of mine were just married in December, and while they had a beautiful pictures taken, Becky wasn’t sure that she wanted to decorate the house with a Christmas theme. So, she asked if I would edit them and change the backgrounds on some of her favorite professional pictures and snapshots. Thankfully she purchased all of the rights to her professional shots. As a note if you are getting married, MAKE SURE TO PURCHASE THE RIGHTS TO YOUR PICTURES!!! That way, you can edit, print, and use them however you like.

Here is a sampling of what I did. I also added full black and white and sepia versions of both edits, too. Please contact me at info@reflectingthedesigner.com if you are interested in professional and affordable photo editing with a quick turn around time.