Witches Tea Party ~ Under a Halloween Moon

It seems the fairies and elves were replaced by mischievous trolls and goblins this past weekend ~ I had a fabulous posting all set to air on Saturday but come to find out it disappeared! Not at all what you want or expect when someone as lovely as Anna of Frosted Petunias throws such a smashing bash as the Witches Tea Party ~ Under a Halloween Moon. Anna is an absolute delight and one of the talented artists who inspire me the most!

So since my helpers and I have been left out in the dark, our friend the jack-o-lantern has so graciously joined us to light the way and wish you all a very....

Of course it wouldn't be Halloween without a fun little treat so here's a freebie download for all of you to keep ~

simply click on the image to download

Enjoy!

New Backgrounds

"It's about time" always seem to be the first words that pop into my head when I begin to write a posting about a new theme or design elements. The truth is I have so many ideas swirling around in my brain it's overwhelming sometimes ~ there's the kitchen theme, the painters (artistic) theme, the old curio theme with dancing bottles, keys, and frogs, and the list goes on. Sadly I don't have such delectable delights for you today but I do have a new selection of basic backgrounds ~I know, I know... it's just not the same but hey, there are those out there who love them and use 'em and they're sort of like trying on a new sweater ~ you know, the pretty little ones with sparkling beads and embroidery that go with anything, who doesn't love one of those!?! ;-)

So to view the complete selection of my blog backgrounds simply click on any of the images above or follow this link. They will be permanently listed in the Just Backgrounds section of my site.

Enjoy~

Visitors

We had some visitors yesterday ~ our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson came to visit. We hadn't seen them since we moved last Spring and the last time we saw the baby he was just home from the hospital, little more than a week or so old.

Technology has helped us keep up on milestones like sitting up and crawling but nothing replaces the warmth of a small hand grasping yours.

In hind sight I shouldn't have been surprised when tears came pouring from my eyes last night as I hugged my son and his darling family goodbye, but we all promised to do it again real soon and that helped.

I have midterms this week with my classes so I'm scurrying to get my assignments completed but I still plan on having a few new goodies posted this week so you can look for those. If you're looking for my Fanciful Twist Halloween post please click here.

Here's wishing you all a wonderful week!

Enjoy~

A Fanciful Twist's Halloween Party

Today marks another gala event by Vanessa of A Fanciful Twist ~ it's her annual Halloween Party! She always throws the most AmAzInG parties, I'm forever in awe of her talent and creative eye! While I fall short in the whimsical story telling abilities she possesses I do like to participate, if for no other reason than to venture through blogland finding more creative souls to discover and befriend.

The other fun part is I get to offer a little giveaway for all the party goers so for those of you who are participating in the Fanciful Twist's Halloween Party~

please be sure to leave a comment and you'll be entered for a chance to win this fun festive pack; a set of my new festive bookmarks, a set of my vintage label/tags, and a $10 gift certificate for my shop! The giveaway will end on October 31st and the winner will be announced in a follow-up posting!

Enjoy~

What's Your Rating??

Ok, this is really cool! My husband was listening to a marketing class the other night and stumbled upon this website that analyzes your site. It uses algorithms and links and whatnots and... oh, it could have been little trolls on bikes for all I cared...

The point is you visit http://www.websitegrader.com, type in your website (or blog) and voila! you get an instant grade on your page ~ how it ranks with other sites, how well it's laid out, how many visitors and links you have, etc., etc...

It's a really fabulous tool because it not only helps you see how your site ranks but it also helps you improve your grade ~ case in point... I was missing a bunch of meta tags, who knew?? So I popped a few in using another nifty site (www.bloggertricks.com) and cha-ching ~ my grade went up a point, woohoo!

Personally the timing couldn't be better, what with the new corners my little business is turning ~ offering Sponsors and other fabulous goodies I'll be announcing shortly ~ and I couldn't be happier with that grade of 97%! *thud* Yep... that was me hitting the floor when I first saw it, but... I really started doin' the happy dance when I saw that my Alexa rank was in the top 6.37% of all websites ~ holly molly!!

So, give it a go, see what your own business, blog, or website comes up with and remember, you can always increase your score by improving little tweeks here and there. The most important thing is... have fun!

Enjoy~

Giveaway Winner Update

I'm delighted to post this update announcing that Betty Benton of BeeBee Stamps! was the giveaway winner for the challenge I sponsored last week at Sugar Creek Hallow.

Betty has won a $10 gift certificate for my Etsy shop ~ a big CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS to Betty!

I've also got some more really exciting news coming soon about a fabulous new giveaway I'll be sponsoring for an outside source, so keep your ears on for that in the near future and as always...

Enjoy~

Sharing Some Homework

I thought it was about time I share some of the projects I've been working on with my classes. It's not that I've neglected sharing this part of my life, it's simply a matter of not wanting to bore you all. While this semester's classes are interesting ~ Graphic Arts 102 and Illustration 133, in truth they've been extremely heady and quite technical.

Much of our time has been spent learning the ins-and-outs of using a digital camera and InDesign, a powerhouse of a program that's mostly used for publishing and print work. And so I've mostly been drowning in a whirlpool of technical jargon and techniques ~ blech! But just this week we moved into Photoshop and Illustrator and finally got to work on some fun projects.

The first is the image above and the project was to clone ourselves in Photoshop. This was SO much fun!! That isn't the image I turned in for my project since I discovered I needed a facelift and a diet in that one, but I was was thrilled when the instructor said that he couldn't tell which was the original image and which was the insert!

The second project was to create a collage portrait in the style of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. We were given a selection of black & white image sheets to use which included old mechanical devises, food, and other miscellaneous items. I decided to to give a try at recreating an image of Marlene Dietrich and although it was super tedious I really like the way it came out.

Even though I work with Photoshop everyday, because I'm self taught I'm learning tons of new tools and shortcuts which will not only help me work faster but leave me with a whole new world of tools to use on my customer's projects, whoot! So I hope you've enjoyed a little peak into my current studies and hopefully I'll have more fun projects to show you in the near future.

Enjoy~

Sponsorship Followup

I wanted to give a quick follow up to the Sponsorship I hosted this past week on Sugar Creek Hollow. I can't tell you how much fun it was viewing all the fabulous cards everyone created! Creativity is such an amazing thing ~ we can each be given the same tools and come up with totally one-of-a-kind creations. That's always SO inspiring to me!

Here is sampling of what was submitted~

It appears there were even more that enjoyed set of freebie images I gave away too since the downloads topped over 168 ~ Wow! Who doesn't love a freebie, right?

These same ghoulish delights can now be found in my Etsy shop for all of those looking to have some Halloween fun ~ they're great for kids too since the set comes with print your own cards. What fun that would be at a Halloween party!!

So a huge thanks to Patti from Patti's Paper Creations for suggesting I sponsor this event and I can't wait to hear who the giveaway winner will be! I'll be sure to let you know when I do.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Enjoy~

New Tutorials Page Item

Recently I've received alot of questions and inquiries about how templates and backgrounds work and what the differences are. While this subject is tough to understand and even harder to explain, it's a real stumbling point especially for new bloggers and so it's one that needs to be addressed.

Since I found myself rewriting the same explanations over and over again I figured it was about time to put it all down in one convenient Q & A format. It's handier for my Followers and saves me time, whoot! I've also made it in PDF format so it's easy to download and keep on your own computer. So here's the direct link: Understanding Basic Blog Design Issues for Blogger and you'll also find it listed on the main tutorials page of my site.

I hope this helps to make things just a bit clearer for those of you who are struggling to understand the differences and allows you more time to do what you love ~ blog of course.

Enjoy~

New! Now Accepting Sponsors

In keeping with my recent posting about sponsoring, I'm happy to announce a new section on my sidebar for Sponsors. This area will be reserved for fellow independent artisans looking to gain more exposure for their own indie businesses.

With over 3,100 visitors here each month and over 5,200 page views*,it's a wonderful opportunity to advertise your own small business and gain more exposure for your blog or website.

So if you're interested in participating simply leave a comment with your contact info or click here to contact me.

Enjoy~

*Update: recent numbers have increased to over 3,500 monthly visits and 6,400 page views.

Sponsoring - Sugar Creek Hollow Weekly Challenge

I'm super excited to announce that I'm sponsoring the Sugar Creek Hollow blog challenge this week! Not long ago my sweet customer/friend Patti contacted me about sponsoring one of their weekly challenges and how could I say no? There was a big learning curve since I'd never participated in anything like this before. I put on my thinking cap and came up with something which I hope will be fun for everyone who participates and you're all invited to join in!

There's a selection of temporary freebies (normally for sale in my shop) which include a seasonal collage sheet and a few print-your-own cards so even if you have nothing more than paper, glue, and scissors you can join in, have some fun, and even enter to win the giveaway!

Here is a sampling of what the Sugar Creek Hollow Design Team members have made for this challenge...

So stop by Sugar Creek Hollow to get all the info and free download link ~ I can't wait to see what everyone creates!

Enjoy~

Monthly Giveaway - October

It's time once again for another monthly giveaway and what a multifaceted month it is! Here in the states we celebrate the seasonal change of colors and Halloween festivities while our friends in the south are welcoming more wonderful spring weather. It's a month filled with pink too as awareness and support is shared about breast cancer. It's no wonder then that I found this month's badge a little more challenging to create as I wanted to capture alot of what we all share this time of year.
So here are the goods on this month's giveaway ~ good luck to everyone!

To Enter:
Three is a magic number around here...
❀To enter once ~ leave a comment on this post
❀To enter twice ~ Follow my Facebook or Twitter pages (click the titles to go to mypages)
❀To enter thrice ~ post the badge below on your own blog linking back to mine - see the code below (if you posted last month's badge you'll need to switch it out for this month's)

~Be sure to leave a comment here each time so all 3 of your entries are counted~

Here's the badge to use for this month's giveaway ~ simply copy the code below the image:

If you need help adding this code to your blog click here for easy step-by-step instructions.

The Prize:

One lucky winner will be chosen to receive a $10 gift certificate good toward the purchase of anything in my Etsy shop. That includes ~ blog banners and extras, digital goodies, business extras such as business cards and tags, and any of the other fabulous creations you'll find in my shop ~ I'm always dreaming up new goodies !

This posting will remain up until the end of this month and the winner will be announced at the beginning of November. Here's wishing you all a wonderful October and as always...
Enjoy~

Freebies and More

While making my rounds I recently stumbled upon two fabulous freebies that I just had to share with all of you...

The first is a wonderful pink offering from Better Homes & Gardens who is giving away free copies of Healthy for Life a 32 page cookbook to everyone who participates. The best part is... for every book downloaded they will donate $1 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research ~ pretty sweet! To grab your free copy just click here.

The next fabulous freebie is a wonderfully creative ebook titled Wired Up. All you have to do to get a copy is sign-up for chance to win a fabulous Encaustic Mixed Media Prize ~ I know... pull my arm, right?!

It's a wonderful collection of artistic goodies and the website alone looks like one to get lost in for hours. So click here to enter the giveaway where you'll find find a link to the download the free book on the entry confirmation page.

Enjoy~