Blogging Tips

Turning 10, Blossoming & Things In The Works

16 May posted by Fawn

Theresa Huse 2011 -00703 cherry blossoms

Dear Creatives, Yesterday was Sammie’s 10th birthday, turning double digits is a big thing. As a girl you are starting your journey to your own. Who you are, what you love to do, thoughts of where you want to go, the seeds seem to be getting planted.

This is a super busy week for us, with her performances at the end of it. Yesterday & today big, full run through s….At the end of the day Sammie had sadness about no big celebration on her actual birthday. Ah, ten is full of emotion. But a favorite meal & a trip to Cold Stone made things better, along with a little love.

One thing for sure turning double digits is a time of blossoming & although I wish I could stop time on some years it is a blessing to be able to see someone grow.

birthday wishes by msartist on polyvore.com

Not much crafting here this week, maybe a recipe & some creative inspirations I’ll be sharing. Here is a birthday card I made her on Polyvore. Tomorrow I hope to be linking to some fun projects that I found that I liked & you might enjoy too!

Things I am doing:

Preparing goodies for the bake sale at her performance
Getting ready for company through the weekend
Re-doing & creating some pages for my site
Working on tomorrows post (so I can be ready, unlike today!)
Planning a new link up
Finishing a book review

What things are you doing this week?

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Filed Under: Blogging, Photography

Blogging & Blogging Introduction to Just Jenni Style

22 Mar posted by Fawn

Dear Creatives, A little honesty here….Do you ever have times when everything you have almost ready to post just isn’t quite right for the day? Where you had a week you just wanted to sweep under the rug? I gave myself a time out yesterday having had a migraine. I took some medicine, helped the kiddo with some homework & laid on the sofa. Little did I know that I would fall asleep, be fixing her dinner at 7pm then tucking her in & cleaning up just to jump into bed again. (the Mr. at band practice after work) A whole afternoon ca-putz! No finishing blog posts, editing photographs no being prepared for today. I have used up my pre-written posts from having the flu zip through my house. Enough said!

I wanted to share pretty with you! I also wanted to share crafty with you! I wanted to create something new this week other than my digital scrapbook pages for my giveaway. (which by the way is easy to enter & in the previous post) But, alas it is what it is! Its nice to pretend that we are invincible at times when it comes to life & blogging. Then there are times when we aren’t & we can’t push ourselves any further. Our bodies along with mind says slow down or I am stopping you dead in your tracks! You should of listened! I think as women, mom’s & bloggers that is just what we do push ourselves! Have you ever encountered any blogging hiccups?

So today although late with my blogging post, I will just share a few things I had been working on that are coming up along with an introduction!

A movie post
An easy diy post
A recipe post ( & some news along with it)
An award post
& of course Feature Friday tomorrow (there is still time to submit if you like to! Link -up)

Of course I am not leaving you without some inspiration to breath in! & the introduction…..

Claire & Sam Photography / Hair & Make-up Jenni Huse

{Photography by Cheryl Hugger Mazak}

{Jenni is on the far right these are the ladies from the Powder Room}

One of my older daughters is a Stylist / Cosmetologist & just started a blog where she will be sharing beauty, hair along with wedding hair & make-up tips. I am sure she would love a visit & comment since being a new to the blogging world you can find her at Just Jenni Style. She recently shared some great red lip makeup tips! She will also be sharing images from photo shoots where she is hired for styling for hair & make-up which will include magazine, fashion photography & weddings.

I can’t wait to see her portfolio set up so I – you can see it! And of course if you love photography & would also like to see more of Jenni’s work you can visit Claire & Sam Photographers & Claire & Sam blog where Jenni has done anywhere from Senior styling s to Boudoir, Fashion to Wedding & more…(please note it should say who did the hair & make-up on their site, as they use other stylists too)

I am anxious for her to start her portfolio page along with a Professional Facebook page so I & if you like can stay tuned to the amazing work she does along with the photographers. If you would like to look at some of *Jenni’s professional Boudoir hair & make-up styling s {*link to page with her work} you can also see of the work here at Delicious Boudoir, stunning photography & work. She even did a little hair & make-up on herself & modeled. (nothing to worry mom over, lol) All tastefully done.

Photography by Claire & Sam Make-up & hair Jenni Huse

Senior Photo Shoot

Welcome to the blogging world Jenni! Everyone sure to enter the giveaway before you go & link up your posts then head over to Just Jenni Style for some tips! & stay tuned for more of her posts. PS. she is new to twitter @justjenni See you tomorrow! & hopefully not late! I guess you can say it’s official that I am a proud mom & not just of Jenni but, all my kids! I needed to toss in that little disclaimer, although it is true!

Have you ever had professional hair & make-up done? Professional photographs taken? & for what occasion?

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Filed Under: Beauty, Blogging Tips, Photography

Reviewers Retreat 2012 #RevRet12

29 Feb posted by Fawn

Dear Creatives, When it comes to blogging & learning about blogging to take it to the next level going to conferences is something that we all dream of doing. If you haven’t thought of going to a conference you should. There is one in particular that I am really wanting to attend & that is the Reviewer’s Retreat hosted by the Double Duty Divas & Great Wolf Lodge.

The Reviewers Retreat Title Sponsor is Pampers. I am writing this in the hopes to gain Presidential Scholarship to the Reviewers Retreat 2012 & to answer some questions to why I would like to go:

What do I hope to learn? (from the Reviewer’s Retreat) & How will attending Review U help my blog?

Well Double Duty Diva’s as you mention when you started there is not enough time in the day & I agree. Being a mom with only one left in the nest doesn’t mean I have all the time in the world to grow my blog into a business. I need key knowledge! ( How did you do it with F/T jobs & kids? ) I think banding together & learning from those more experienced about everything there is to learn in this niche field to become more successful is key. Your agenda for advanced SEO, FTC .., Growing your audience, featuring product videos, a sponsor speedway & more are topics, along with meets are all things that I could truly learn from. I am especially interested in beyond reviews- ambassadorships & paid gigs. Who wouldn’t be? I know there is so much to learn from the not so simple page rank hurdles, engaging with other bloggers seasoned & others learning, traveling to a place I have never been along with wrapping it up in a package full of new skills to bring home with me would be like a present.

I feel the in depth knowledge that I could learn would be so beneficial to my blog & me as a blogger!! (Also to me being able to grow my blog & work from home while helping support my family.) I feel that the Review U & Retreat would open the door to more possibilities along with bringing me together with like minded bloggers while learning to create proposals, inside tips to catch sponsors eyes, finding sponsors to fit my niche. But mostly it would mean a chance to attend a learning conference that I would value & benefit in every aspect being able to come back home with a new set of skills allowing me to be a better blogger and reviewer.This sponsorship would be the chance I have longed for when it comes to learning more along with growing & continuing my journey as a blogger.

(To those that read my application my sincere thank – you for the opportunity to apply! )

To my readers who have the means to attend & live close by grab your chances along with your tickets. If you would like attend you can find more here about the Reviewers Retreat Conference. Reviewers Retreat will be taking place June 3-5 at Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte, NC. Wish me luck! & If I don’t win, best of luck to the wonderful person who does!

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Filed Under: Blogging Tips, Inspired Living

Google Friend Connect Ways to Deal With Changes

1 Feb posted by Fawn

Dear Creatives, As I am sure many of you have heard as of March Google is no longer having Google Friend Connect for non Blogger Accounts. I have listed a how to send a newsletter to your readers so you can share alternative ways for them to stay connected with you, along with some great articles that will help you with the transition & explain more about Google +.

I wanted to share what I sent to my GFC readers, I hope everyone is aware of the changes & why I have made them here by removing my GFC widget. In the letter you will see my Google Friend Connect Alternatives & links on how to sign up for the site. Below the letter are articles that will help you & a how to send a newsletter from GFC.

Dear Readers,

As you know in March Google is no longer having Google Friend Connect. I wanted to share with you some of the ways you can stay in touch with Dear Creatives that you signed up for via GFC. I have taken down the GFC widget as they keep disconnecting it. I wanted to thank you for your readership & hope you stay connected from any of these 5 ways:

Subscribe to Rss feed & read in a reader

Bloglovin

Hello Cotton

Networked Blogs

Join me in the Blog Frog Network *easy to join & participate in Dear Creatives Community

Facebook Fan Page (new)

Google+

(& I am sure Google wants us to go to Google+ but I haven’t figured out if you can add in your Rss Feed so unless I am updating consistantly, you won’t see the blog posts daily! But, it is a great way to stay connected! )

Again, Thank you dear readers your comments & visits have meant so much to me. I hope you don’t lose touch! (when I sent my letter I forgot to mention Blog Frog & Google +) but here they are linked for signing up for you.

How To Create a Google Friend Connect Newsletter:

If you haven’t disconnected your widget & are going to you can also send out a newsletter. Let me share how for those who don’t know how to.

sign into your email that you started your GFC Widget with
Go to GFC Admin site
You should see your site on the side bar click on site you want to send letter to
Click on send a newsletter
compose letter, check boxes that apply, send to readers, preview & send. Its very simple to use.

One thing I will miss is the analytical data you can view from GFC I had put a survey for when people signed up on what interests you had. I will have to place a poll or questioner at some point to continue to know your interests. This was the data I received from you my readers:

Sewing 17%

Diy 17%

Holiday Tutorials 11%

Crafts 29%

Other 3%

As you see this could be quite helpful. There is/was other data too.Now I don’t know that any of the other networks do that. I will have to check into it. Here is a link of articles to read about the changes, so if you blog you might like to plan your changes prior to March & let your readers know to make the changes prior to the big day.

Tips & Articles to help with Changes:

Google + Search Plus article from the official Google Blog (located on side bar are many categorized articles you may also find helpful)

Google+ Google ( keeping current)

MomMadeItLookSoEasy tutorial for GFC alternatives ( this shows images & also how Blogger readers can add your site right into their dashboard for reading! another alternative)

How to move your readers from GFCvia Mom Comm

Google + 10 Tips via Mashable

Google+ Article from Hub Spot on business pages

Google+ Direct Connect

Google Announcement of Changes & suggestions (article from the announcement of changes coming)

Google + 4 ways to build a community page

Create your Google+ page

I hope this helps you with the transition!

As of April Picnik (A photo editing site ) & that site will no longer be available. They have already purchased Picnik & it has been in the works to be closed. If you are a member you have probably been notified of these changes. * more about Picnik in another post. Subscribe to Rss feed to not miss a thing.

How are you connecting with your readers & dealing the change? Are you giving them options?