Blog Banners for the Last Year

Today I thought I'd share the different blog headers I've created the last year.  Sorry they aren't in Chronological order because I had to find them in different folders.  I hope you enjoy looking at them again. :)  When I look at them it reminds me how much I've learned how to do in Picnik and other graphic programs.

August-Summer

Generic

reposting clipboard post

Today I'm reposting one of the most popular posts from 2010. This is one of the first blogging craft project that I did. I have the finished project, on my wall, by my computer and still love it.

Before.  Go to this link to see the after.

post link to these parties before posting

Most Popular Posts for 2010

I know I'm a week late but I wanted to share the top 10 posts of 2010.  I did a little bit of Blogging between 2008 and 2009 and really got serious this past Spring.  When I joined Blog Frog is when the Blogging Gene, disease, obsession started -----------  I consider that my blogversary.  Anyways, over the last year I've met amazing people, as you all know you are, that were helpful and encouraging.  It's almost like joining a special sorority.  I didn't belong to one I went to college in my late 20's.  I hope to one day go to a blogging event and meet some of my blogging heroes.  One of my top heroes is  Red from Red Headed Ritter.  She has helped me create Headers and many other great things.  In the beginning of my blogging obsession I was lost and wanted to make my blog special like others.  I'm still small but I'm growing as I learn more about myself and continue to write and share about my world.

Here are the Top 10 Blogs from 2010




1)  Office Clipboard:  Before and After, August 13, 2010

This is my first craft project since I started to blog.  I loved what other people had done and wanted to make one for myself.  I recently had my room painted a very soft pink and it looks great against my wall.

2)  Yeah I'm getting more Barbies plus Free Coloring Pages, August 20, 2010

In this post I talk about the Barbies that I won at an Auction at Liquidations.com.  The Barbie pictured before is from the 50th Anniversary Collection, 2009.

3)  What is your Favorite Recipe?  Apple Cake; September, 9, 2010

Check out this recipe for Apple Cake that shared.  It's supper easy and very yummy.

4) History of the Jack O' Lantern; October 3, 2010


Did you know that the Jack O' Lantern was originally turnips with carved faces?  Look at this post for more Halloween trivia.

5)  CSN Stores Give Away; October 7, 2010
CSN gave me the opportunity to give $55 to a lucky reader.  

6) Kat's First Halloween Video Party, October 15, 2010
Natalie and I and a few friends created a Halloween video with paper dolls and fun backgrounds.   We did this for the Halloween Party at "A Fanciful Twist".  Go to this post to see the video.  Vanessa just loved it, I think you will too.

Used this picture for a scene in the video

7)  New Header for the Month of November; November 3, 2010

8)  Chistmas in Pink

9) December 13th is Santa Lucia Day in Sweden


Natalie was Santa Lucia, December 2009, at my mom's Swedish Lodge.  In this article I talk about what Santa Lucia is about and even have a lovely video from a Santa Lucia in Sweden.

10)  Angels in Heaven and on Earth


Let there be peace on Earth.  Happy New Years

Linked to:

Technological Disappointment Causes Pause in Blogging Fun

Have you ever created something and can't wait to show it to your readers?  That is what I've been doing for this past month.  Allison, at HOH,House of Hepleworth, ended the month of September with a recap and I thought that was so clever, but before I wanted to do that, I was having fun being creative and silly for Halloween.  Toward the end, I had great plans I wanted to show everyone and link it to the end of the month craft posts...etc....  Well first my camera was ruined last summer, then my old camera worked for a short time.  We took pictures with my daughter's video camera (it takes photos and does pictures).  I was so excited how the pictures looked in the viewer.  Last Wednesday or Thursday night I was finishing the pictures for a post on Friday.  Well when it was time to upload them my daughter reminded me that we don't have the usb cable.  Sigh!!  I forgot that we had gone to a store and they said we would have to order it from Sanyo. 

Picture this in Red.  Small & Cute.

We had company on Saturday because it was my 49th birthday.  My 80 year old mom, God Bless her, rode with her husband an hour to come and make me dinner.  My dad drove over the Santa Monica mountains, literally, and brought a German Chocolate cake.  I had a great dinner and I got my house cleaned for my birthday. :)  My daughter and her dad did the cleaning.  For some wierd reason I get more energy when others are cleaning too, so I focused on my room.  I had tons of papers and boxes to go through and it was overwhelming, but I was tired of the mess.  I wanted to show off my new Cricut I bought a month ago, for my own birthday gift, and the video I created for A Fanciful Twist's Halloween Blog Party.  I ended up with a great dinner, a very clean room.  Iwas able to put my fixable lamps from CSN and organizing my office stuff better.  Whew!!!

I got two for almost free because they were cracked and I was doing a review on them.  I call them my blogging lamps.

I feel so much better and so much more creative.  I continued this creativity with displaying my newest project and taking pictures of my daughter from Halloween.  I even though of the caption of what I'd put under the picture.  I used to do that when I started scrapbooking, I'd have a "story" in my mind when I took the pictures.

Just think of what I can do with these pictures.

Last night I ran to Frye's I tried to get the usb cord for the Sanyo Video Recorder, forgetting that I probably need to get it from the manufacturer.  I had visions of Sugar Plums of me creating several blogs with my projects.  Since I've only been blogging seriously for 6 months, I was really proud of myself.   Sigh!!!  Nothing!!!  Now I have to find this stupid thing.  The whole time I walked through the store I thought, no one wants to see cute Halloween stuff in the middle of November.

Clearance Sales so there is room for Christmas stuff.

Well..I'm not doing all of this for nothing, so I'm going to show you what I've done when I get the new usb cord. :)  Then I'm going to pray that Thanksgiving and Christmas go more smoothly.  What is the important thing?  The pictures?  The pride in showing my "art"? or is it.. ahem..actually enjoying the day and watching your child/children enjoy Halloween, their favorite Holiday.  I did enjoy watching my daughter's joy.  We looked at the pictures on the Digital viewer and now we can anticipate what I'm going to do with everything.

Ok, I had to get this out.  If you are still with me, thanks for reading.  I had to figure out a way to get this frustration out and I knew that my fellow bloggers would understand.  You have had projects and plans go haywire right?

I'm linking this to because we all have these moments and need to remind each other we're all not perfect (almost purrfect here). lol

 

31 Days to a Better Blog Day 4- Successful Blog in my Niche

I have chosen to look at 3 different blogs.  One about Barbies, since I sell them; 2nd about fibromyalgia and 3rd a Blogger that I follow in Blog Frog.

The first blog is:  http://mukla-barbie.blogspot.com/

This blog is all about Barbie dolls.  It talks about all the collector dolls, dolls that can be played with, Barbie Cars, Parties, controveries and more.  It is a great "go to" place to get an idea of what is out in the Barbie World.  There are other sites like this but this one has the best info and pictures.

The 2nd Blog is:  http://fibromyalgiaexperiment.com/

This blog is about a woman who is trying to find ways to cope with fibromyalgia symptoms and ways to make the symptoms dissappear.  Again this is a good blog for me since I have fibro and constantly trying to find ways to be symptom free.  She has clear posts and good links to follow.  She combines medical, emotional and personal information.  I can relate to her and am glad to read about someone like me.

The 3rd Blog is:  http://theredheadriter.blogspot.com/

I found this blog through the communities of Blog Frog.  Red (that is my nickname for her) has 8 blogs and has links to all of them.  Some give information, some have humor and all have stuff that helps all bloggers.  I have asked Red for advice with my blog and she has graciously taken time to help a newbie.  I look at how she has things organized and learn about that, but I also look to see what I would do differently.  She is the top (as far as readers and followers) blogger in Blog Frog almost 4000 followers in her community.  This astounds me!  I have 63 as of today. :)  It isn't just cause she is a successful blogger that I read her blogs, it is because she has a great sense of humor and is a giving person.  To me this means success can come when you can laugh at yourself and the world and when you are caring and giving to others.

I'm linking this post to: http://theblogfrog.com/757946/forum/41326/day-4-analyze-a-top-blog-in-your-niche.html

Chick Click Carnival

I've joined the Chic Click Carnival.  See the instructions in this blog to find out how to win one of three prizes. 


This is not simply a linky party, the purpose of the “Chic Click Carnival” is to introduce yourself and one fellow peep you found using the Visit Our Peeps widget. (more info below).

All submissions are competing to be the host of next Thursdays click carnival who will receive hundreds of new visitors. There will be two additional winners, one for the giveaway and one for a Free 6 Month subscription to the widget. This weeks judge is Cindy from Skip To My Lou.

* If you would like to giveaway a product over $50 and be featured, let us know.

Last Thursday’s Winners

The Host for the Chic Click Carnival this week is Creative Kristi {{high fives!}}

Bloggy Blog Designs winner is Charm Bracelet Diva

Visit Our Peeps winner is Simply Created

How To Play

All are welcome to link a post to win a fabulous prize from a Visit Our Peeps widget Mom-preneur. Contest ends Thursday at midnight. Entries for this carnival need to incorporate the following or it will be removed:



A brief introduction of yourself, don’t forget to link to your favorite post.

“My favorite peep of the week” you found using the Visit Our Peeps widget with a link to their blog and/or shop.

Visit Our Peeps widget inside the post for people to find their new peep. Here is the code:





The Three Prizes


Friday, Cindy will pick three Linky participants randomly.

1. Grand Prize: One winner will be next weeks host of the Chic Click Carnival.

2. Another winner will receive a FREE 6 month membership to the Visit Our Peeps widget.

3. The third winner will receive a Life-Squared Wax Baby Hands & Feet from Julian & Co, a $129 value.

JULIAN & Co. jewelry is about love for families, was created by a fashion forward mom when she couldn’t find a baby bracelet small enough to fit her premature son, Julian. Each piece is handcrafted and personalized to order.


These are my answers:

My favorite peep is:


http://jannawilson.typepad.com/thewhimsyshoppe/

When I first started to blog I thought you created a new blog for each post. Then after seeing other blogs I realized what I was suppose to do. I started over and have this as my blog. Anyways, the link is one of my earliest blogs/posts that I had created. I was really proud of myself!!

My favorite blog post is: http://wizardofoz2009.blogspot.com/

New Blog Party

I found a new blog party.  This I can relate to:  being over 40 and loving it. 
The hostess from Never Growing Older is hosting this party.  Go check it out and the other blogs that are linked to the party.

While I was blog hopping I found this give away at Frugal Plus.

If I delite one template and put in another ...why does the old one still show?

I was just starting to think I got the blog templates all figured out.. Bamm  problems again!!  I went and delited to the template I had over the weekend cause I wanted summery colors.  Well I found the perfect template but it showed for a minute and disappeared.  I delited it and put in the template from google, but then it showed the template I had done the other day.  Oh NO!!  God give me patience.

The good news is that I finally got my picture scanned so I could frame it for a belated father's day gift.  I  cropped, softened the view in picasa and cut and framed this picture.  I think it's so precious!  My daughter saw it and said.  That is when Daddy liked me.  Aww that made me sad.  We've been having problems with her with school and following directions.  He has been hounding her and I'm trying to get him to back off.  He's trying but he's so worried about her.  I told him that she's going to be ok.  She has been to therapy and talking with two of the school councelors.  Now she just wants to start over.

Over the summer I'm going to review her math with her but having her work on math software.  I posted a link to the software that I decided on.I wanted to find something that she enjoyed.  Her dad wanted her to do work sheets.  I told him that it would be too much work to just get her to do the work.  I know that the math games will teach her and help her.  Since I have a credential in Elementary Teaching I think I know what I'm talking about.  This is what has upset me is that he is insinuating that he knows more.  It hurts my feelings and drives me nuts.  I'm fighting for my sanity these days.  When he acted like he knew best, I looked up the math standards for 6th grade in California.  I made a note of what skills she should know and then I pointed out that those skills are what is covered on the Clue Finder's software.  Then  I showed it to my daughter and she said, That is exactly what I need.  He is still arguing with me.  I told him to calm down.  If you knew him you'd understand that I'm not being too harsh.  He has OCD and refuses to get help for it.  Instead he blames me for things that go wrong. 

The reality is that we are married in name only because we can't afford to seperate and get a divorce now.  Since I'm disabled but not elligible for disability I'm between a rock and a hard place.  This is why I'm working so hard to get my blog and my website working.  Would you believe that he is a graphic designer and I'm stuck trying to figure stuff out?

Yesterday afternoon I showed him my blog.  I was proud about being able to link what we were doing with different products.  He later told me I wanted things both ways.  I said what do you mean.  He saw that I had mentioned my husband.  I said well I could have called you my child's dad but the reality is that you are my husband and I was talking about us enjoying father's day with our friends.

Ok I'm done venting!!  At least for now. :)