a bit about blogger, flickr, and photos

I've been blogging for a while now, and even though C&V is only a few years old, there are a lot of new {fabulous} blogs popping up all over the place.  After an e-mail conversation with one such newer, lovely blogger {hi Jenelle!}, there are a few things I wanted to share with you about blogging your pictures on blogger.

• You can post photos from your Flickr to your blog, it's super easy!  However, those pictures must link back to their Flickr page {read more here}.  So, you cannot use Flickr to host images like blog buttons.
• You can host images directly on your blog for buttons!  The easiest way to do this is to start a new blog post, upload the image, then grab the image code from the HTML of that post {the link that follows "img src="}.  Once the image is uploaded it will stay in your Picasa Web Albums until you delete it, even if you delete the blog post.
• Picasa, and therefore your blog, have an upload limit of 1024MB...if you use a newer digital camera, it won't take long to fill this.  However, if you join Google+, you can upload unlimited photos smaller than 2048px x 2048px {more here}.

I hope this helps clear a few things up.  I'll have some more photo tutorials soon, including great free programs to help you enhance your photos!  And, because every post needs a picture, here's my cute Norah:

I made a new watermark to go with the new blog design...would you like a tutorial on that?

Blog Design :: Bee-Inspired

I've been doing a couple blog designs lately, and one of them is finally launched, Bee-Inspired.  Gabi wanted a clean, cheerful blog with teals and coral, and this is what I came up with.  Our inspiration color palette was this:

Source: blog.photocardboutique.com via Jennie & Clara on Pinterest

Design stats:


Template: Blogger Simple White with some edits
Fonts: Sketch Rockwell, Pea Stacy's Doodle Script, & Rockwell {already on my PC}
Colors: See above
Graphics: Dotted lines from Delicious Scraps and by me, Bee from Pea Betsy's Doodles, background from Junelily, and the rest by me.

Fabric Design {Take One}

For my birthday I got a set of watercolor pencils {more on that later}, so I decided to try my hand at fabric design for the Fabric8 contest.  Here you can see the progression of my design:

I even ordered a fat quarter of my fabric, just to see my designs printed.  While I know I still have a long way to go, I hope this is the start of something fun and new!

Blog Design :: GraceParfait Creations

I did a header for a friend of mine's blog not too long ago, and I wanted to share it.  This is the color palette that we used for inpsiration:

Design Stats:

Template: Wordpress Twenty Ten
Fonts: Special Elite & Pea Hart
Colors: See above
Graphics: Buntings by me using overlays from Delicious Scraps

Etsy Shop :: Damsels & Dragons

Shop Banner

I did an Etsy shop set for a friend of mine{a real life friend at that!} over the last few weeks, so I thought I'd share it with you {if you visit,  you'll notice this is where Norah gets some of her headbands!}.

Avatar

Custom Order Graphic

Business Card Back

I am also going to do some matching stickers...once I figure it out!

Thanks Kristy {and a photography tip!}

Wow, I got a comment from Kristy Lou that she's nominated this little blog for the Liebster Award, how sweet.  Kristy mentioned that she nominated this blog because she's inspired to take better photographs {and she mentions a new camera...do tell!}.  So, first I have a photography tip for everyone:

Buy a yard or so of a neutral, textured fabric to take pictures of small items on.  For this picture I used a piece of Moda's Crossweave in Sand:

Kindle Cover Tutorial

This way, you can take pictures of small items wherever the light is good, even if the surface isn't great.  One of my biggest regrets is taking this picture on a black table:

Doll Quilt Swap 10

I wish I'd put something behind it so the contrast wouldn't have been so strong.  And now the quilt lives with its new owner and there isn't a chance to redo it.  Lesson learned.

And now, now, I must confess that on some level, I'm not sure about blog awards...I never know what to think of them...perhaps it is because some people don't like them at all, and I worry about negativity.

However, as this blog is kind of a personal space for me, I'm going to go with it {but, if I nominate you for an award and you're not interested...please know that I feel no offense!}.

So, here we go, I'd like to nominate:

Julia @ Blue-J Cottage

Jenny @ Cut. Sew. Iron. Repeat.

Molly @ Stitch-N-Thyme Designs

Lisa Ann @ Making It Up As I Go

Cindy @ Tops to Treasures

In accepting the Liebster Blog Award you agree to :

1. Thank the person who gave you the award

2. Link back to their blog

3. Copy and paste the Liebster award to your profile

4. Pick 5 blogs that you feel deserve to be in the spotlight (they must have under 200 followers)

5. Blog about it and leave a comment for {or send an e-mail to} your nominations to let them know that you have chosen their blog.

Okay, that is about it for now, but I have a few more things up my sleeve for later this week!

this and that

I did my first photography session of kids other than my own a couple weeks ago!  My friend mentioned to me {not knowing that I am looking for photography practice} that she still hadn't taken her son in to get his pictures done since he turned 4.  I offered to take a few for her, since I need the practice.

We got out of the house early, hoping to get some nice light {it is usually overcast in the mornings, it figures the sun was nice and bright the day we chose!}, so some of the photos were more washed out than I had wanted.  But, overall, I think they turned out pretty good for a first-time.  This is one of my favorites!

I also designed this button after some of the Farmer's Wife quilt blocks for a blogging friend of mine's new series: Farmer's Wife in Your Life  Once I looked more closely at the blocks, I realized how easy they would be to turn into graphics!

And, I've been behind in posting the results of the giveaway, but the winner is:

Alison of Little Bunny Quilts!  I will be designing a new blog for her {and I may draw another winner or two in the next couple of weeks...we'll see how busy I am!}, how fun!