Interview with Pugly Pixel: Bling Up Your Blog!

Hi you guys, and happy Friday! I have a very special treat for your today: an interview with Katrina from Pugly Pixel on how she uses blog bling! Some of you have asked me about where I got a photo overlay or some other piece of bling — well, Katrina is usually the source.

I can’t remember when I first started reading her blog, it feels like she’s my long lost sister and I’ve known her forever. She’s a computer nerd (like me), who loves all things Japanese, including washi tape, (sound familiar?), felt, doilies, papers, (oh yeah!), pastries of any kind (donuts! cupcakes!), and cameras — both real ones and iPhone apps.

So what’s blog bling, you ask? Well, here’s just a little sampler of some that Katrina has made (yes, she made them, gah!):

Okay, now that you know what I mean by the bling, let’s see how Katrina adds that lovely bit o’ goodness to her photos! You ain’t got a thing if you ain’t got that bling, doo wap doo wap doo — sorry, just couldn’t help myself — okay okay here we go! :)

Lisa: How do you start? Is it the color, a pattern, or…?

Katrina: I really don’t know what I’m doing most of the time! This may sound funny, but I rely on my “feelings” when I create anything in Photoshop and what I mean by that is, I gauge everything I add or remove to a layout by what “feels right”. So, I start with a photo as a base and then I play with it by experimenting a lot, adding and removing layers of “blog bling” and textures as needed. I have a lot of fun doing what I do, but as you can imagine, trial and error can sometimes take a looooong time to get to a place that “feels” right. Someday I hope to really understand the principles of basic graphic design!

(Don’t these cookie sandwiches look super yummy? Read all about them plus the blog bling resources Katrina used, including the nifty pin from Danielle at Thompson Family Life. Mmmmm.)

Lisa: How do you match the font to the bling and the photo? (You do this so well!)

Katrina: Thanks, Lisa! I use the process of elimination. I pretty much try all the fonts in my library, take note of the ones that look the most suitable and then choose the best from that set. Sometimes, none of my fonts work and I have to go out and buy one that looks great. My favorite place to shop is myfonts.com.

(One of Katrina’s fave fonts from Font Squirrel — check out her post for more. Love this one so much!)

Lisa: Do you have any other tips that you’d like to share?

Katrina: Don’t be afraid to experiment and browse through many Japanese design books, Japanese craft books, and especially Japanese teeny bopper fashion magazines. :) On a different note, I’m currently reading White Space is Not Your Enemy by Golombisky and Hagen — it’s graphic design 101 for non-designers and it’s really awesome.

(Katrina’s collection of Japanese craft books really made me drool! (I have a few of the same ones, gotta do a post on my collection soon. Love how Katrina added the scallop graph paper circle to her photo, don’t you?)

Katrina has loads of free blog bling over at Pugly Pixel. She also has a premium membership with even more goodies. (I’m a premium member — it’s like getting one of those monthly subscriptions to a super tasty shop — you don’t know what you’re going to get, but you just know you’re going to love it!)

(Love how Katrina used sequin brushes, the label, and the font to style this photo. Love the bow, too!)

She also has lotsa tips and tutorials (including awesome videos!) over at Pugly Pixel and her tutorial blog, Powered by Pastries. (What a great name!) And for those of you on blogger, Katrina even has some great templates that you can use. (Strawberry Shortcake? Yes, please!)

Thanks so much for the interview, Katrina! Huge hugs for all that you do! (You’re one of my heros.)

Happy weekend, all! Hope you enjoyed the interview. Do you feel like blinging up your blog now? :)