Free set of Number Flash Cards!

Does your tot know his/her numbers yet?  I know when my little one was learning her numbers that she responded very well to flash cards.  Very well is putting it mildly too.  She used to walk around everywhere with them asking me over and over again "What's this mama"?  I loved her enthusiasm for wanting to learn.  Of course Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss helped tremendously.  Their flash cards were by far the cutest I have ever seen! 

FREE set of 5 digital Polaroids & Frames!

While the hubby was cleaning out the trunk of his car, he came across some old photos of when he was younger.  I couldn't wait to get my hands on them to be reminded of just how adorable he was.  As I was looking through them I was delighted to find some great Polaroids and bordered photographs in his collection.  They were distressed and discolored and I absolutely loved them!  I couldn't help myself, my brain immediately switched into art mode.  I chose my favorite Polaroids and bordered images and scanned them to my computer.  I opened them in Photoshop, made a few adjustments, and created digital templates.  I am so happy with how they turned out but even more excited to present this NEW set of Vintage Polaroids and Frames to all of you!  I hope you'll love them as much as I do!  Oh, and did I mention they are FREE?  That's right.  So go ahead and download the entire set!  All I ask in return is, if used on your website, credit with a link back to my site would be absolutely fabulous and much appreciated!

Am I a horrible person for finding beauty in Boston?

I was in Boston on Saturday for a hair appointment.  It's not often I get into the city so it's easy to forget how beautiful it can be especially on a warm and sunny Spring day!  For the first time since last year, I got to sport my open toe sandals and pretty pedicured toes!  It was a good day.  A much needed "ME" day and I looked forward to the next two hours I would have to relax in a chair and have someone make me pretty!  With that said, I walked the streets of Boston with a smile on my face.  That is of course, until I got to Boylston Street.

Diane Von Furstenberg at The Gap (and my Spot the Differences game for Friday)!

I’ve gotten a lot of feedback on my Spot the Differences game and it’s been a great help!  THANK YOU to everyone who has been participating and leaving comments!  For today’s game, there are eight differences (instead of 7) so I hope you are up for the challenge!  Going forward, I will be displaying the images side by side to keep you from having to scroll up and down a million times.  I think this will also make it easier to identify the differences.  Of course, now they are side by side, you will notice I had to make the images smaller to fit the width of my posting area.  With that said, I highly recommend using the link that will open a new window for you to view at it’s original (much LARGER) size. If it becomes too large for your screen, just go to VIEW on your toolbar at the top of your web browser screen and zoom out!  This should do the trick. 

Wordless, who me?

Not completely wordless, but close. 

Looking over at my little one makes me think of how great it is to be a kid.  When all it takes are little things like a pink hat or animal print sneakers to make you smile, to make you happy, to make you love life!  There is no confusion, fuss, chaos, stress, worry, responsibility.  Just SIMPLICITY!  I wish it could always be like this for her. 

How to increase your blog traffic and make new friends!

Hope you don’t mind if I get right down to the nitty gritty!  Feel free to grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and make yourself comfortable.  I have some good tips for you today!

INCREASE YOUR BLOG TRAFFIC WITH THESE 11 TIPS

1. LINK UP TO BLOG HOPS but participate with CAUTION!  Before you move on, please read Blog Hops and Facebook (have you read Facebook’s terms)?  I can’t stress this one enough!  They are the best tool out there for bloggers to meet new people with similar interests.  Most blog hops require you to follow the hosts and co-hosts, then you’re on your own.  You are able to follow the sites you like and in return they’ll follow you back.  It’s that simple!  It’s a great way to drive traffic to your blog, increase your following and social media contacts.  Feel free to visit my Link Ups Page for a list of active Blog Hops!

My Top 15 Men’s Gift Recommendations

With the hubby’s birthday coming up soon, it got me thinking about men’s gifts.  I almost love shopping for the hubby more than myself!  Almost.  With Father’s Day around the corner too, I thought this would be an excellent time to publish a post on my top choices for men’s gifts!  Ladies, we can’t forget about the men in our lives.  They deserve a little spoiling too right?!  I know Mother’s Day hasn’t even passed, but I like to get a head start on my shopping!  I’m not very good under pressure.  I’d hate to think of what it would be like shopping for a gift at the last minute.  It gives me anxiety just thinking about it!

Shopping early also gives me the opportunity to take my time and do it stress free!  I am able to put a lot of thought into finding the perfect gift!  So today, I’m excited to share a list of the Top 15 items I would recommend for men!  If you are looking for something affordable, I have you covered.  Want to splurge a little?  No worries, I have you folks covered too!  You’ll find everything from electronics, tech toys, and clothing, to jewelry, accessories, and gaming tools, etc. so I hope you are ready to do some clicking!

Blogging resources, tools, widgets, html etc. you should check out!

If you can believe it, this post has been sitting in my drafts folder for at least a month.  It’s a good thing I checked it!  I’d hate to deprive you all of the adorableness!  I love these pictures of Livi in her room.  I took them the same day I photographed her BIG girl bed.  If you missed this post, feel free to check it out!

What are you pinning? (check out my list of most current & favorite pins)!

First, if you missed my previous post Blog Hops & Facebook (have you read Facebook’s terms)?, feel free to catch up!  It’s a must read for blog hoppers!

On a different note, I’ve been pinning repinning a lot lately.  I try to do it on a daily basis as it inspires me greatly!   Today, I thought I’d share some of my most recent and favorite pins with you!  Get ready, ‘cause I have some good and fun things for you!

4 Free Customizable Photo Bookmarks (to print)!

I’ve got a little something different for you today!  Customizable photo bookmarks!  The template is a .psd file and can be opened in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.  It is an 8.5 x 11 inch wide template and includes 4 different designs.  Each bookmark contains frames for 3 images to be inserted into.  The images of my samples were printed on HP 8.5 x 11 premium soft gloss photo paper.  I recommend using photo paper for best results as you want them to be thicker and more durable than your standard paper.  

Button Swap Anyone!

It’s that time again and I just have to ask…

 

Do you want to swap bloggy buttons?  You know, I’ll post your button in my sidebar and you do the same for me!  A little like scratching each others back I guess!  If you are interested, feel free to drop me a comment and we can discuss.  My buttons are readily available on my buttons page in a variety of sizes.  If, however, you need a different size just let me know and I’d be happy to customize it for your site.  Just be sure to contact me first so that I can grab your button as well!  

 

HTML to insert images into your posts!

You know when my bloggy life changed?  The day I realized I should be using html to insert my images into posts. 

I was having some major issues with the insertion of images into my posts.  Whether I used my hosting server (Blogger) or blogging tool (Windows Live Writer), the image quality always suffered.  It used to drive me absolutely bonkers!  There is nothing worse than spending the time to process a beautiful image just to have it be compressed during insertion.  The scary thing?  I was even resizing my images and saving them as maximum quality .jpgs thinking it would make a difference!  You would think resizing them would negate the servers necessity to decrease the image file.  Unfortunately this is not the case and they were still being compressed.  Do you know what happens to an image during compression?  Pixellization (I promise, it’s a word).  In a larger image, the pixels are difficult to see since there are more of them and they are smaller.  With compression, you start to lose pixels and they become larger (and more visible).  This usually results in a block type appearance which can be confused as an out of focus image.  And let’s face it, there is nothing worse than a blurry/fuzzy image especially when your subject is a person.  Is it too much to ask that my blog readers see the beautiful, crisp, un-pixelated (okay, I’m not sure if this one’s a word) images I see in my photo editing software?  I don’t think so.