..and when I'm not melting glass...

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I'm promoting it! In the process of building up my little business I've built a site in Front Page ( a couple of times..you'd think I'd know more!) and created hundreds..it certainly seems like it..of e-bay auctions. Like most of us, I've taught myself just enough html code to sneak by, relying heavily on other's experiences, of course. There are always a few generous souls out there to share the love. Here are one or two good sites that have landed in my bookmarks..
http://www.gotoandlearn.com/
http://www.pagetutor.com/index.html
http://www.dafont.com/mellowfonts1.font
http://www.killersites.com/
Lots of really good information in those pages...Be careful, you may find yourself chained to your computer desk long beyond what you planned...ask me how I know this!

I've also collected a few backgrounds taken from some of my bead photos. If you'd like to scoop one or all..feel free.
Sweetwater Designs ~background images
Although once you see how easy these seamless backgrounds are to make you're going to want to make your own to customize your own site. The following instructions are for Photoshop, but I'm sure if you've become familiar with your own imaging software you'll find your way.
Start by selecting the part of your macro shot that will make a good background and crop (always a good idea to be working on a duplicate image) to 200x200 px. Go to filters/Other/Offset. Set both the horizontal and vertical to read 100 (half of your original dimensions) and select Wrap Around. You now have a square that has been turned with the outsides to the inside if that makes sense..you'll have 4 images within your image. You want to eliminate those lines as best as you can using irregular strokes with the eraser, the clone tool or the smudge tool. When you've done this, turn the tile right side out again by repeating the offset command. Sometimes there are still lines you'll need to smudge out. Flatten your image (this command is found in Layers) and re-size to the desired background size. See? Very easy...I leave mine at 200x200 for border purposes but play with this to find what is going to work for you. Operative word here is PLAY...have fun! ♥

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