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May 20, 2013

Take-A-Look Tuesday

it's a CO-HOST party!!  here at the normal spot, but also over at Apples by Ashley - fun, right?!

Can't wait to see what everyone's been up to -  - and who will be the most viewed link - maybe you?
- - just a run down- -
  • Link to a Specific Post, not your whole blog - no more than a couple of posts please
  • Please don't link up anything you've already linked before (like something posted on a previous week)
  • Try to visit a few other people at the party  - everyone loves visits and encouraging comments!  
If you're reading this on the main page of my blog, find that "click to read more" button and it'll take you to the full post that contains the link party...
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Scentations!!

(this is a sponsored post)

Have you heard of Scentations?!  If not, let me introduce you - -



They are scented, handmade, soy-blended candles and more - um yeah, sounds awesome, right?

More information from Scentations:
For over 28 years, our goal from inception has been to provide you with innovative home fragrance products of the highest quality, and to bring our small town values of friendliness and caring to you, our customers. Scentations manufactures high-quality Decorative Potpourri, Scented Candles, Room Sprays, Refresher Oils, Fragrant Reed Diffusers, Fragrant Sachets and Wax Fragrance Melts.

Our wish is that you enjoy our products, accept our heartfelt thanks, and our pledge to continue to strive to be the best in both the products that we offer and the service that you deserve.
 
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us via email or phone.
customerservice@scentations.com or 800.748.7648 extension 100.


They have a new line of Vintage Mason Jar Candles - I know everyone is going to love these!  The vintage look of a Major Jar filled with soy blended waxes will create a decorative and chic piece for any decor.  The added bonus it that you can reuse the nostalgic jar - I know you crafty type (like me!) love that.
Be sure to order now!

Also, they are having a Memorial Day Giveaway that you can check out for the chance to win - -
https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs146/1106889123890/img/25.jpg

I hope you will check out Scentations site and be sure to like their Facebook Page for lots of fun things over there.

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Instafonts for Android

Do you love Instagram?  I do!  Are you on Android - I am!  It seems like there are tons of posts out there all about the best apps for instagram - and they're all for iPhones.  So I've been testing a few things out for all you Android users and I'm here to share!  I am HOOKED on adding some embellishments and text (via insta fonts) to my instagram pictures - it just steps it up a notch if you have a few minutes.  If you're on iPhone, I'll point you in the right direction...
Some samples of what I've been posting lately...

Okay, here we go -- the three things I'll be talking about, you'll need these for what we're about to do:
--Instagram App (free - best social media out there - love it!)
--Phonto App (free) - how you'll put text on pictures (to be extra fun, you'll want Instafonts from Rhonna Designs that run about $10 and/or dingbat fonts that you can find for free)
--Pixlr-o-matic (free) - for tons of overlays (bokeh, sunflare, whatever)
--You will also need a computer.

There are other ways to do this, but this is the way I figured it out to work for me.

Very first, you'll need to download Instafonts or Free Dingbat fonts (they're fonts that use an image instead of each letter).  And "extract all files" after you download them.

You'll need to connect your phone to your computer as a media device.  This is when you plug your charger cord thing into the USB port, and at the top it says "connected as a media device"
For awhile my phone was only charging when plugged in to the computer - it wasn't connecting as a device.  But I switched cords (to the one that came with the phone) and that worked for me.  Also maybe try using different USB ports and maybe one will work.

Once your phone is connected to your computer, you can use the computer to access everything on your phone.  See, mine is listed as "SCH-1535" and when I open that I can see all the program files on my phone

Now, open the "Phonto" folder and then under that open the "fonts" folder - this is where you can put any fonts you want.  Then open your dingbats, doodle fonts, fun fonts, etc and copy and paste them into the Phonto Folder:

You can see I've dropped a few in (and I've added several more since - you know there are free dingbat fonts that do frames, and speech bubbles, and pow signs, and arrows - it's endless!!)


There are lots of ways to use your fonts and apps - - some examples:

Just an insta-stamp from Rhonna Designs:

Built-in Texts from Phonto:

Overlays via Pixlr-o-matic:

Combining several features - - using Rhonna Designs Instafonts, Pixlr-o-matic, Photo fonts, and of course Instagram!



Let me walk you through using them and how to combine several features - it may sound like a lot, but once you get the hang of it and switching between apps, it just takes a few minutes...

To start, I like to use Instagram to make the image a square - other apps do this too, but anyways.  Open your picture, crop it, leave it with no filter, and hit the "next" arrow in the upper right.
It will briefly say "processing" and then take you to the screen where you can type info - but don't do that.  During the processing, your phone saved a square version of your picture (iPhones don't do it - they have to use "airplane mode").

Now go back to your home screen and open up your Phonto app.  Pick the little picture image thing at the top right to pull in a picture - and upload one from your device (phone).  Then you'll have bunches of choices  - your phone has several folders and a folder for each app - - so if you look in the "instagram" folder, your image should be there, square and ready.  Use that one. (the image will also be in your "camera" folder, but that's the old version, before you made it square)

Now, to add text, click that pencil icon then touch your image where you want to add the text.  The way instafonts and doodles and dingbats work is that each design works as a letter - normally capital letters.  So if I type a "B" it will put up a design (maybe a heart, or whatever) and if you type a "C" it'll be something else.  It's like trial and error.

So type a letter - - and if it just comes out as a regular letter, you're probably using a regular font.  After typing it and entering it, you'll have options to change it - so pick "font" (see picture above - other options are "text" where you can retype things, "size", etc) and it's probably set to "all" which are all the fonts that Phonto comes with - and there are some pretty cool ones.
But if you want to use the Instafonts or the dingbats or whatever you put on there, switch to "my font" and they'll be listed there.  So you can see I was using an Instafont, and I typed in one capital letter ( I can't remember which one) and got this - then you can drag the size thing to make it bigger.
Then I clicked on the pencil icon again and wrote in a different spot and used a dingbat font to do that swirly sun.  After that hit your info button thing (next to the home button at the bottom) and choose save from the list - that will save the image with the text on it in your Phonto folder.

Now let's put an overlay on it.  Go home on your phone and open up your Pixlr-o-matic App - open a picture from a file, and this time grab it out of the "Phonto" folder so that it has the text on it.

Then, click that "light bulb" icon at the bottom and scroll through all your overlay options - for this I picked "bubble".  After you found one you liked, click that "save" icon and save it - this time it will save in your PixlrOMatic folder.

Still with me?!  Back to home on your phone, and open up Instagram.  Pick a picture from a file, and grab it out of the PixlrOMatic file - it'll have the text and overlay on it, ready to roll!  Then you can add an Instagram filter if you want and proceed like you normally would through Instagram, publishing it to your feed.

Voila! you can do this!  try it - -

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May 18, 2013

SNAP for Saturday

Saturday was another full day - and the last day of SNAP.  I wanted to get into some classes that were smaller, so I could chat more and get to know other people.   All the classes I took on Saturday were good ones, and all were in smaller rooms, so it was a win-win.

Breakfast in the hotel was always filled with bloggers - how fun!


--Succulents and Terrariums
I really loved this class - maybe because it was a topic that I knew absolutely nothing about.  But I was in awe - seriously, check out this wreath!
 And in an old dump truck - loved that!
-Succulents are a cross between a houseplant and a floral arrangement - can last a couple of weeks or a couple of months.
-Moist environments (lids) - condensation on lid is good, condensation on the sides, it's too wet
-Cut at an angle
-The Living Wreath Book
-the key to succeeding with succulents is to neglect them near to death :)
And we got to make the CUTEST succulent necklace:

--How To Make Google Love Your Blog
This was an excellent class as well - very direct and informative.  One of my favorites.  Court really knows his stuff and how to present it so that it's learnable and doable.
-Google isn't complicate - the math is on how it affects your blog is A+B+C=Love.  Which is High Quality Score + Effective Key Word Integration + Getting Links and Shares.
-High Quality Score - fix site errors (broken links and 404s - this is on my to-do!) and don't link to bad sites (like sketchy paid links). Also have a good user experience (link to yourself, keep people on site) and solid link structure.
-Key Word Integration - key words in post title and post itself (no need to overdo it).  Very specific descriptions. Keywords in image names.  Relevant tagging.
-Getting Links and Share - **this is 90% of what matters**.  It's a global popularity contest.  Each blog post is an INDIVIDUAL SEO project.  Maximize what you can do to promote links is what matters (not social shares).  Edit old posts to include links of a new post.

--Ready Set Create with Lowe's
Over lunch there was a contest where we were divided up and challenged to make something.  Our team cranked out an awesome Kid's Art Station.  The downside was that there weren't drills or nails available so the whole thing is held together with hot glue - true story.
My awesome team was myself and
Sarah from Craft Quickies
Jamielyn from I Heart Naptime
Courtney from Sweet C's Designs
Natalie from A Turtle's Life for Me
and big thanks to Kristen Duke Capturing Joy for grabbing my phone and snapping a few pictures of us in action

Must be doing some hard thinking in this one:


 And a couple of in-action ones from Ariean of One Krieger Chick - - thanks!

 alright, back to classes...

--Working with Virtual Assistants
 This was great and I am on-board with hiring a virtual assistant - coming out of the class, I just thought, why would I NOT hire one - it's a no brainer.
-read the book Hire Blog Help
-you can go deep or go wide, but you can't do both
-make a list of all your "hats" and look at what you want to do versus what just takes up your time that you don't like to do
-know what you need help with - emails, giveaways, social media, etc.
-you can't see the bigger picture if you're stuck in the day-to-day grind

--Pattern Drafting
 This class was super fun because it was hands-on and appealed to something I love.  Can't wait to sew up a skirt using the pattern I created.  I didn't take any notes because the whole class was hands-on, taught by the Simple Simon and Co girls - who gave out these cute favors to everyone (taking pictures of their stuff instead of them, since they like to hide)
 Working hard (thanks to Kari of U-Create for the pic)

 --Keynote and Closing Party
 I didn't remember to bring my notebook to the closing keynote speaker.  She was more of an inspirational speaker, and I think I relate more with a humerous take on presentations, but she had some great things to say.  After her was the Closing Party - - too bad I went down with a killer headache during the middle of the speaker, so I just stayed for a few photo booths and then drug myself back to the room where I tried to sleep it off.  And missed all the fun.

 Heading Home - -
technically this was Sunday but I didn't think it was worth it's own post...
 Packed to the max.  Wearing layers and big shoes that wouldn't fit in my suitcases.  Carrying umbrellas, etc.
photo (9)

And I was welcomed home to my own welcoming crew of awesomeness:

For more about my experience at the SNAP Creative Bloggers Conference, see this post.

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