From Behind the Silence~

It's funny where life takes us sometimes ~ looking ahead from this time last year I knew my life would be different. With my youngest finally venturing off to college in September it was inevitable that life would bring many changes.  While I could feel the waves of change pulling me in new directions, I never imagined exactly how different my life would be and how very grateful my heart would feel.

"War Reenactments" by Kendra Binney

Life had grown quite stagnant, personally speaking, and those who know me best knew this to be a sad reality.  There's flight in these wings, with room to soar and carry others as well, so being spiritually grounded for so many years had become a huge burden to bare.  I adored my art and this lovely business of creating beauty and helping others, but as we all know there are many sides to a faceted diamond that need light in order to shine.

skeleton print by Kendra Binney

My approach was to take the tides as they came and remain open to where they would lead me.  It's tough to go with the flow, let go, and not question. I think we all know that, but I must admit that whenever I do, it tends to take me in directions I could barely have dreamed.

"This Can't Go Another Way" by Kendra Binney

Where I might have envisioned a lovely island filled with delicious fruits and flowers ~ life would more likely deliver a chain of islands filled with beautiful white sands, lush greens, and tropical songbirds, all living among those envisioned fruits and flowers, and nestled snugly between gorgeous blue seas and sky.  It's simply a case of this little human not having the sight of the gods.

yellow bird by Kendra Binney

And so, where is it this journey wound up for me? Well, here I sit ~ in a new state, with a new job, in a new home, with a new life. And happy? Oh my...
It's been a very long time since I could say I feel peace in my heart.  Where the slow steady rhythm of tranquility and gratitude strum a gentle melody through my days and nights.

tiger print by Kendra Binney

It took nearly a year to get here, really a lifetime, but here I stand ~ joyfully, courageously. The best part is that even though this life is interwoven with others, many of whom were crucial in helping me gain this freedom, at the core is the spirit of independence. For the first time in my life I stand on my own two feet ~ solely and squarely and happily.

While my "To-Do" list is miles long and I still feel the pull of many tasks on my wings, I finally have a calm heart, the necessary fuel to soar highest in this life and catch the best dreams.

"Rose City Till I Die" by Kendra Binney

So where does this leave my little plumrose dream? As with all good dreams, they never truly die and so neither will this fruit of my heart.

Scaling back from a team effort to a solo woman biz, I've got big plans in the works ~ with finishing up the website, creating an in-depth blogger video library, adding more prefab graphics, and offering a bigger selection of trinkets and treasures.

"Hummingbird Mansion" by Kendra Binney

And so this is me... peaking out from behind the silence and this veil of fruity pinkness to say "hey, I'm still here"... better than ever.  Thanks to all of you who've helped me get to where I am ~ gratitude doesn't even begin to express my heart, but thank you will have to do.  Thanks for sticking by, for waiting and wanting, and now.. off we go ~ let's fly!

This post features the beautiful artwork of one of my favorite artists, Kendra Binney. For more information and to purchase visit:
www.kendra-binney.com and www.kendrabinney.etsy.com

Blogger Changes Html

It seems Blogger has once again changed things up ~ this time they've completely revamped their Html interface, so if you've been trying  use my tutorial How to: Setup and Adjust the Picture Window Template, or just working in the Html area of your blog, then you've notice things looking... well... entirely different...

new view

It's kind of like going to sleep with this...

photo credit - Leandro Cavinatto stock.xchng 

and waking up with this...

photo credit - Ehsan Namavar stock.xchng 

I get that change is nice but is it really necessary??

Ok, so my example is  a bit over-the-top but let's face it... after the fiasco of Blogger's "updates" last year and all the recent glitchiness with their interface, it's enough to make any Blogger want to packup and move to Wordpress.

Blogger seems quite proud of their revamp and boast it's newly improved functionality in this posting from Blogger Buzz. Here's the direct link: http://buzz.blogger.com/2013/04/improvements-to-blogger-template-html.html  And while these changes may be the cat's meow down the road, for now it means a boatload of unexpected work while I revamp the set of tutorials I just finished rewriting. *le sigh*

Sooooo... I'm currently working on some rewrites and will make an announcement once the changes have been published.

Best~

The Brighter Side

I see the gremlins at Blogger are up to no good again.... seems images and settings are randomly changing and disappearing at will.  Take my A-Z Blog Themes List ~ there one minute and gone the next. Yikes!  It seems the more I work on getting this new website up and running, the more need there is for it. There's certainly nothing wrong with our efforts paying off so at least there's a brighter side to some of this darker weather we've seen in blogland lately.

On another note, I've just finished a new tutorial ~ How to: Install a Blog Badge (or add an html sidebar gadget) and you can find that by clicking the title.  With the creation of this final tutorial I've now completely rewritten the "Basics" section of my Decorative Themes & Add-ons category, whoot!  It's been a long time coming and although this only completes one part of my tutorials library I'm still really happy to have it done. Heaven knows I can't imagine what this year will be like once I'm finished with all this techie stuff but me thinks it will have something to do with sunshine and lolly pops! *smile*

Best~

Revamp Update ~ Prefab Blog Buttons

Just popping in to announce that the new prefab Blog Button page is now live.  The direct link for that is: http://www.prl-images.com/blog_buttons.html

If you are currently using any of my prefab sidebar buttons for holidays, comments, or inspirational messages you'll want to switch those out for the new codes before the old ones disappear.

This is in follow up to my earlier posting, The Bucket.  I'll pop back in just as soon as I have more updates to share.

Best,

The Bucket

Gee I wish that title had something to do with an exciting "list" but sadly it doesn't.  No instead it's related to a certain online storage site that's quickly climbed to the top of my loathing list. It's not a very big list and it takes an awful lot to get there.

For the past 3 years I, along with many other theme designers, have been using Photobucket for our online storage. Paying for a Pro account was affordable and most importantly they offered the ability to store large size images for easy online use.  Much to my surprize and apparently a sea of others, Photobucket is discontinuing this feature. Whether permanently or not, it's a tough blow to many, and for some of us it's down right disastrous.  As I explained it to one colleague  it's like watching a tidal wave approach but not knowing exactly when it will hit.

Not being the sort to curl up in a ball and cry (that was yesterday) I've now taken on the immense task of creating a new website. It's something I had planned on doing but certainly not under these circumstances.  So if by some horrible chance you suddenly see your Plumrose Lane background disappear please know that I'm working around the clock to try and remedy the situation as quickly as possible. I will keep you posted as updates happen and remember you can always follow along on my Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/plumroselane  I'm going to try adding more frequent updates there as well.  So here's to drier seas ahead for all of us in the very near future.

Best,

Google Friends Connect ~ going, going, gone...

You many have heard lately that a few features are being phased out from the Google repertoire. Being that Blogger is owned by Google many of the blogs I follow have become increasingly concerned with the March 1st ending of a little add-on called "Google Friends Connect" and if you're like me you've been receiving a slew of email notices from worried bloggers, concerned they may soon be loosing 'you' from their blogging audience.

To delve a bit deeper, here is the exact wording for this change from the Official Google Blog and their November 22nd posting of last year...

Google Friend Connect—Friend Connect allows webmasters to add social features to their sites by embedding a few snippets of code. We're retiring the service for all non-Blogger sites on March 1, 2012. We encourage affected sites to create a Google+ page and place a Google+ badge on their site so they can bring their community of followers to Google+ and use new features like Circles and Hangouts to keep in touch.

Now while this may sound like a catastrophe for all of us using the "Followers" feature on our blogs, the two are clearly not the same and I believe the key words here are "We're retiring the service for all non-Blogger sites..."

What this means to me is that if you're using the built-in "Followers" gadget that comes along with your Blogger blog then you're safe ~ no need to worry. The wording clearly states that this change only affects those who have this as an add-on for their non Blogger sites.

I hope this helps put some of the recent tension to ease and remember, if you want to follow along with what Google is up to these days you can always visit their own blog found here: Official Google Blog

Enjoy~

A Sign of Things to Come

I thought I would give you all a view into the future today ~ a look at what the future Blogger Dashboard area will look like. If you're anything like me, change isn't something you cherish... you get used to things; the way they function, where they are, all your tutorials set up correctly (oh wait, that's just me ~ sigh!) but like taxes and other looming dooms in life, change is inevitable.

To combat its on come, I always take the proactive approach and personally feel that if I can acknowledge the change then the initial "blow" isn't quite so bad ~ so this post is for that, to view the change, rant a little, examine it a bit, and then move on to happier things.

So without further adieu, here is a screen shot of the future look for the Dashboard area of our blogs...

click to view a larger version ~ this is a snapshot from my own dashboard

To help you recognize what you're looking at, here is what the Dashboard currently looks like...

click to view a larger version ~ this is a snapshot from my own dashboard

This is the area where you can update & view your profile info, view a list of blogs you run, and find updated postings from blogs you follow. I found this new look by visiting the "draft" section of my blog, something we all have. To find your own draft area simply log into your blog and then visit this link ~ http://draft.blogger.com/home it will automatically go to your own Draft page.

Enjoy~