The Daily Journey of Creativity

"Whatcha doing?"
"Making a faerie... and a pot bellied pig."
"Weren't you making a mermaid?"
"Yeah, that was yesterday."

And so goes the path of any given chat here at Plumrose Lane.  I have to laugh at the places I go in my day-to-day work. From fantastical creatures to mystical meanings, it's a fun job and one I truly enjoy, most of the time. Of course there are those projects that take a temporary tailspin but the universe usually manages to kick-in at the last minute and save the day.

The work can be challenging at times, especially if I'm venturing into uncharted waters  ~ case in point, this custom project I'm working on for a lovely return customer.  Her beautiful landlubbing lady was created by an artist to represent a certain part of her business and while it fits, she also needed a water fairing version too.  My job was to come up with one that fit well within the artist's original work, to then use in a custom theme.

Working on these type of projects is always a discovery process ~ in part I'm discovering the image hidden within the original work, but at the same time I'm discovering more about my own skills. You see, I honestly haven't a clue whether I can actually accomplish the task and I really don't even question it.  I just go on a sort of blind faith that the skills will kick in when I need them most.  It's a gift I readily accept from the universe and one I treasure immensely. And so it's the delicate path I walk each day in my creativity and although there might be more secure paths to follow, I rather enjoy this one ~ it's laced with uncertainty but filled with the sheer delight of new discovers and bringing happiness to others.

Enjoy~

More Newness

Just like my spring garden, we've got more newness popping up here at Plumrose Lane and that's in the form of some brand new blog themes (crowd goes wild!).*smile* These new themes are bursting with beauty and  gobs of intricate details... I love the darling little blue bird with patina-ed crown in Cotton Butterfly and how about those shells, feathers, and bones in Featherly? ~ sheer bohemian delight!

Cotton Butterfly

Waking Dream

Featherly

To view all the goodies for these newest themes and spruce up your springtime blog, just click the images or linked titles above.

These newest themes are also packed full of color which makes them a perfect submission for Creative Everyday's monthly challenge ~ "Color"!  Participating in Leahs's monthly challenges is my little way of stepping outside my busy custom-work schedule to create something "just for fun".  You can stop by Leah's blog to check out all the wonderful submissions for this month's challenge and be sure to look over her own artwork which always leaves me thoroughly inspired.

Enjoy~

Newness

I've been so busy with custom orders lately that I haven't had time to get in here and post about some recent prefab additions so let me begin by doing a quick shout-out for some new post dividers. I've included a sampling below but you can find the complete set listed on the Post Dividers page (direct link: http://www.prl-images.com/post_dividers.html) or on the individual theme pages.

A Fondness

Emporium

Mother's Treasures

Read All-over

Tattered Garden

Last week's sale was a big hit so a HuGe THaNKs goes out to all of you who stopped by my Etsy shop.  The new Treasuries I created also helped to bring in some new traffic which was great too ~ it's been nearly 6 months since I put one of those together and they're always so much fun to create!

All of these helped bankroll my son's Youth and Government trip this past weekend so I sincerely appreciate it! I missed him while we was away but I know it's good practice to prepare for this fall when he's off to college. *sniffle*

Best~

Etsy Mini Fix

If you're an Etsy seller then you've probably experienced the same issues I have when trying to get an Etsy Mini to show up.  It seems when Etsy made some changes to the code, about a year ago, the gadgets stopped working on Blogger.

Well I'm happy to say I've just stumbled upon a fix ~ Annie over at Anniedep  has come up with some altered code that makes the gadgets work on Blogger ~ whoot!  Here's a link to her posting: http://anniedep.blogspot.com/2012/06/etsy-mini-doesnt-display-in-blogger.html

If you follow the instructions you'll end up with a 2 column, 2 row layout, like the example shown above (only bigger). If you want more inventory to appear you can easily change the numbers in the code.  Here's an example of a 2 column, 4 row layout with the modifications explained below..

Referring to Annie's code ~ change the 2 after "rows=" to 4 and change the 238 after "height=" to 430.

I also figured out how to add the larger gallery version to a blog post or page so we can once again easily offer "galleries" of items for sale on our blogs.  For an average width blog page a 2 column, 4 row layout works best so I've included a screen shot and the code below for that layout.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="833" src="http://www.etsy.com/mini.php?shop_id=NUMERIC_SHOP_ID&image_type=gallery&rows=4&columns=2&featured=1" width="374"></iframe></center>

Remember, be sure to stop by Annie's original post to find out how to install your own Etsy shop number so your inventory will appear.

Enjoy~

Spring Sale

I was so surprised when I went to create the button for this post and saw how long it had been since I last held a sale. I guess that speaks volumes about what a crazy year it's been so far so certainly this is long overdue.

I can't think of a better time to hold a sale ~ Spring is certainly one of my favorite seasons.  I like all of the seasons but seeing new flowers blooming each day holds an extra bit of excitement.  I don't know about you but tend to forget where I've planted my bulbs so it's like mini surprise party each morning when I take a peak at the garden to see what's new!

Spring is always a great time for sprucing up our blogs and there are so many different ways to do it.  You can sport a new background, add a decorative divider or button, or go all out for a new banner.  Spring themes carry us far into summer's warmer temps with more flowers blooming and garden parties filled with friends and laughter.

So whether you're looking for a new festive look for your blog or a lovely new treasure to wear to a Spring fling, stop by my Etsy shop for some wonderful seasonal savings!

Enjoy~

Updated Tutorial

As promised in yesterday's posting I'm writing this quick post to share that the "How to: Setup and Modify the Picture Window Template" has been updated.  The tutorial now includes the new Html user interface as well as loads more step-by-step screenshots so it should be even easier to follow along with ~ provided Blogger can keep from changing things up again. *le sigh*

Wishing you all a wonderful (and trouble free) weekend~
Best,

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~

Beautiful Etiquette

Being raised by a socialite, etiquette always played a key roll in my life.  Knowing when and where to exercise the proper sentiments was a key part of my childhood training.  Fast forward 50 years and the world has changed dramatically from that once proper place my mother dreamed of. While many of us still try our darnedest to squeeze in those "pleases" and "thank yous" there are simply far too few of them these days.

Still I'm all about being the change and so you can often find my visual thank yous around the internet  ~ whether it's expressing gratitude to a social networking friend or leaving feedback for a purchase, I like prettying up the sentiment with my own whimsical imagery.

And so in keeping with this I thought it might be nice to start a new series of images that could be used in this manner. Whether you're looking to include a thank you at the bottom of your blog or just want to say "thanks for your friendship" on a social wall, these images will suit the situation nicely.  You'll find them included in an upcoming "Inspirational" category I have planned for the new website, but in the meantime you can grab some copies below.

<center> <a href="http://www.plumroselane.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="PrL-Cupcake Thank You" src="http://www.prl-images.com/images/prefab/inspirational/PrL-ThankYou_Cupcake.png" /></a></center>

<center> <a href="http://www.plumroselane.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="PrL-Mermaid Thank You" src="http://www.prl-images.com/images/prefab/inspirational/PrL-ThankYou_Mermaid.png" /></a></center>

<center> <a href="http://www.plumroselane.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="PrL-Enchanted Thank You" src="http://www.prl-images.com/images/prefab/inspirational/PrL-ThankYou_Mirror.png" /></a></center>
Using the code below each image you can insert them at the bottom of your blog using this tutorial: http://plumroselane-tutorials.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-install-blog-badge-or-add-html.html  or by right clicking on the image you can save a copy to then post on a friend's wall like on Facebook.  Just remember to play nice ~ these images are subject to my terms of use and are not meant to be altered in any way.

Update: Originally created for the bottom of blogs and social sites, I've now included smaller versions below so these can be used in blog sidebar areas...

200 x 200

<center> <a href="http://www.plumroselane.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="PrL-Cupcake Thank You" src="http://www.prl-images.com/images/prefab/inspirational/PrL-ThankYou_Cupcake-x200.png" /></a></center>
<center> <a href="http://www.plumroselane.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="PrL-Mermaid Thank You" src="http://www.prl-images.com/images/prefab/inspirational/PrL-ThankYou_Mermaid-x200.png" /></a></center>
<center> <a href="http://www.plumroselane.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="PrL-Enchanted Thank You" src="http://www.prl-images.com/images/prefab/inspirational/PrL-ThankYou_Mirror-x200.png" /></a></center>

Since this month's theme over at Leah's Creative Everyday Challenge is "Color" I thought these might also make a nice entry for that too.  So I've submitted this post in this week's challenge posting and plan on visiting the participants to see what delicious creations have been whipped up by this week's entries ~ hope to see you there!

Enjoy~

Easter Family Time ~

It's not often I get to spend time with my kids and grandchildren.  It's been 2 very looong years since I've been out to visit them, they usually make the trek out here, so yesterday was extra special as we made our way out to visit my son and his wife.

Easter 2013

My granddaughter is such a cutie pie ~ always bubbling with happiness.

I was joking that since I spend so much time on the computer for work, I seem to be the only one who isn't glued to an electronic device in my free time.

Tablets seem to be the hot commodity these days and no one's too young to enjoy them.  Can you imagine how different our childhoods would have been with them!?

My son is a tattoo artist by day and a micro-solderer by night so daddy time is precious indeed.

This was exactly how i wanted to spend Easter!

There are always loads of faeries (orbs) in the photos of my kids but they seem extra active in this shot!

My "surrogate" son was there too (my son's best friend from college) and it was great to catch up with him as well.  They all did such a wonderful job of feeding and showering us with love and conversation ~ we simply couldn't have had a better day!

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful and relaxing day as well!

Best~