Blog Guidebook

Guest Post: Making Cool Collages with Photoscape

2012-05-25T18:30:00.001-07:00

Quite often I get comments on my photo-collages.

"How did you do that...?"

"What programme do you use...?"

So here's the answer to your burning question...
How I make Those Cool Photo Collages.

Answer: Photoscape.

Beautiful wonderful easy-to-use, free-to-download Photoscape.

I am so sorry if you are a Mac user. I cannot help you because... finally there's something Windows has that a Mac doesn't!

Photoscape is only for Windows. Sorry. Take that up with the designers. Because really? I've looked around and there doesn't seem to be anything else with Photoscape's features. For Mac. Or Windows.

It's the best photo editing programme Ever.

So go download it for free here, Windows users.
Mac Users. Sorry, I got nothing for ya. Head on back to camp.

{Sorry I've been watching Survivor. Got a little carried away...}

Collages are not only useful and beautiful in Blogs - but can also be used to make the most gorgeous printed PhotoBooks. So even if you're not a blogger, keep reading. Photoscape could come in really handy round Father's Day...

After you install Photoscape open it up and you will land on the above screen.

To make a collage you want to click on "Page"

Page (a.k.a. Collages!)

Collage-making in Photoscape is so simple.

Choose a layout from the list on the right.

Choose your photos from the list on the left (browse your computer)

Drag and Drop the photos into position.

Don't like it? Choose another layout. Or drop in a replacement photo.

So many uses for collages. So many layout options!

Technical Tips:

You change the size (in pixels) of the collage and its proportions by clicking on the acorn icon next to the "size" indicator. Play around with the percentages and proportions until it looks right. If you use extra-large photos in your blog layouts, your photos will need to be at least 600 pixels wide (150%)
You can add frames to give your photos an interesting edge. The best frames are the simple ones. Rounded or the rough-edged "cali" frames work best in collages.
You can increase or decrease the margin between photos, depending on what look you're going for.
If you want to give your collage a frame just around the edge (like in my collage at the top of this post), choose "No Frame" in the collage page. Then click "Edit" and add your border there, just to the outside. This is also where you add text.

5. In "filter" you will see some basic controls for exposure and effects. But I recommend doing any photo editing before making your collage. Just whatever you do, don't apply any frames in "edit" before bringing your photos in!! It will make your collage very messy with some frames being cut off in odd places.

***Vignetting tip: You can apply "vignetting" in "filter" which gives a nice internal shadow to each image's corners. Quite sweet, especially when using a rounded frame.

Now go and download Photoscape for free. Install and start playing. I look forward to seeing lots of fun collages and cool photos on your blogs :)

More Blog Tips...

Check back soon for a short post about making collages with PicMonkey!

PicMonkey Just Opened Collages

2012-05-25T12:59:00.001-07:00

Hey! I was just writing a collage tutorial for PicMonkey and they just launched their collage abilities!

You MUST go over there right now and try it out. It's very intuitive and there are a ton of different collage styles to try out. You can even create your own personal style! However, there is not a text feature when you are working in the collage section. You will have to save the collage to your desktop and then reload it in PicMonkey's regular photo editing section. Remember you can use all your own design elements in PicMonkey and have either a transparent background or a color of your choice (including white) too.

To stay on top of PicMonkey's updates you may want to follow them on Facebook! Stay tuned for my How To Make a Blog Banner Using PicMonkey next week!

Coming Soon To The Blog Guidebook

2012-05-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

The Blog Guidebook's Birthday Bash - June 1-7th Giveaways and Special Features all week long.

{wanna get noticed? you can give away something during our birthday week right here! contact us!}

A List of the Best Blogs To Read This Summer

How To Create a Timeline Image for Your Facebook Page and FB's rules about it

Everyone Can Have Their Own Email Address For Free (not just Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) Example: sarah@blogguidebook.com

Secrets From Bloggy Bootcamp Revealed

Summer Blogging Tips - or - when everything you do feels like it could be a blog post!

Spotlight On - Smitten By Britain

2012-05-22T10:43:00.002-07:00

Being English is not a requirement to love all thing British, that's for sure (I should know...)! Once you start delving into Smitten By Britain, you'll feel the call of the kettle and with tea cup in hand you will soon be walking in the steps of the proper and possibly even speaking rather British too!
There's a lot going happening on British soil these days and you don't want to miss it! You've heard of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee? I lived in England during her Silver Jubilee (you figure that out!). And surely you know that the 2012 Olympics are being held in London...and much more!

Check out Smitten By Britain, written by Melissa S. It was amazing reading her About page and finding an American gal after my own heart! If you're interested in British history, literature, drama and mystery (the Brits do this best in our book!) then you know you're Smitten too! You can also find extensive posts on Culture, Travel, Food, The Royal Family, Recipes - all with the British bent.

Melissa of Smitten by Britain

The Queen's Portrait in Cupcakes

This is an incredible formation!

Visit the real Downton Abbey

I kept becoming entranced by the BBC clips of shows I had never heard of. I LOVED all the photos of the English countryside and historic places, castles, waterways etc. There's so much beauty in England...it's more delicate and conservative than the land masses in the U.S. Reading Melissa's blog truly feeds the need to travel and explore the British Isles!

A few awesome posts you cannot miss are:

A Londoner's Survival Guide to the Olympic Games

Americans Are Lost at Tea

Queen Elizabeth II's Portrait in Cupcakes

Summer Events In London

Plus, don't forget to keep in touch with your inner Britophile - check out Smitten by Britain on:

Spotlight performed by:

Do You Have a Button to Share? Join Our Button ~Linky~ Party

2012-05-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

Above buttons designed by Lyndsay Johnson

It's really fun creating buttons for blogs. I use photographs and graphic elements from the web to do this. It's also possible to purchase design elements on Etsy etc. Have you created a button you'd like to share with the world? If so, you can add it here in our Button Linky Party. Just create a post on your blog about the button you'd like to share with everyone...make sure and create the grab code (on Photobucket), so it's easy to copy and paste the code. If you need help with this we have a tutorial HERE. When you add the post to our Linky Party make sure and use the button image as your thumbnail. This will be an ongoing linky so feel free to add more as you get creative.

Here are some I made as an amateur:

BLOGGING - RESOURCES FOR EVERYONE

2012-05-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry we've been off-radar this week...enjoy some of these resources from around the web:

SEO AND META TAGS TUTORIAL BY SIMPLE BLOGGER

Awesome Blogger tutorials list from Makin' Cute Blogs

Blogging Tools List for Wordpress

Blog U

Blogger Help Desk (Wordpress)

Studio Press (Wordpress)

HOT BLIGGITY BLOG
(FREE BACKGROUNDS)

Blogger Buster

Blogger Tricks

Tips for Bloggers

Develop A Blog

ProBlogger

Blog Bloke

Tricks for New Bloggers

Tips for New Bloggers

HTML Goodies

Digital Inspiration

Tech TNT

Blog Conference Newbie Guide

Best in Blog Monday

2012-05-14T08:54:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday readers! Hope you had an awesome weekend...you may like to join in this fun linky party we found:

Happy Mother's Day to all you bloggy moms!

2012-05-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Week: How To Tell New Readers Who You Are

2012-05-04T08:29:00.001-07:00

Did you know that every three or four months your blog gets a brand new set of readers?

Newbies to your blog may not know everything about you or what your blog offers, so here are a few assignments to add to your blogging calendar (don't have a blogging calendar? Print out ours or get one HERE or HERE):

1. Imagine yourself as a new reader of your blog. What would you want to know first?

2. What do you or your blog have to offer to your readers? Share this information.

3. Do you have important links that you shared before and want readers to know about?

4. Have you had several posts with a really good reader response and lots of comments? You will want to create links to these on the front of your blog (or in a Start Here post or in your sidebar).

Okay, now take the above answers and create a new post (include links and buttons) introducing yourself and your blog. You can begin it by saying "Hey to all you new readers! Thanks for stopping by. Did you know....?"

It might even be fun to have a START HERE page so a newbie can know where to get all the details!

Hope this Tip helps new readers find out all about your blog! What other features would you like to add to our blogging calendar? We'll do it for you! Have a great weekend!

Extraordinary Mommy Book Giveaway

2012-05-04T00:00:00.001-07:00

In Celebration of Mommies Everywhere:

Extraordinary Mommy is the place to find Danielle Smith, business owner, blogger, speaker, mommy extraordinaire and author.

It was an honor being able to sit in on her presentation at the SITS Girls Bloggy Bootcamp last week. Danielle has an inspiring personal story as well as her public persona. I was inspired to purchase her book "Mom Incorporated - A Guide to Business + Baby" and as soon as I finished reading it I knew I had to share it with one of The Blog Guidebook's awesome readers!

There are even free printables in this book and at her website, available to help you get started with your business.

To enter this giveaway please leave a comment stating what your "business" might be below this post with your contact email (one entry), tweet about it (second entry) or share on Facebook (third entry).

I can't wait to read your comments and get even more inspired!

AND HAPPY (early) MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOMMIES OUT THERE!

Each Day is a Gift - Printable Freebies

2012-05-01T17:35:00.002-07:00

Hi, everyone! Lyndsay, here. It's been a while since I've posted, and I thought it might be a nice change of pace to offer some freebies on this first fine day of May! I have some printables as a gift to you. All of the files are formatted to 8.5x11 for your printing convenience. I've included wall art, gift tags, and a birthday reminder calendar. Feel free to share and gift, as well! Click the links below to download and print the files. Happy May!

WALL ART

GIFT TAGS (2x2)

BIRTHDAY REMINDER CALENDAR

Share Your Crafts and DIY Projects at The Blog Guidebook's Crafty Bees Party

2012-04-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

We really wish we had time to be crafty, make amazing little things our children will treasure forever, decorate our creative corners with amazing handcrafted art we, ourselves just spewed out...will that happen one day soon? Probably not. That's why we live vicariously through those who do craft, who do share what they've created...

We've decided to start a blog hop/linky party dedicated to all the "crafty bees" out there in Blogville. We'd love you to join us in celebrating the crafty gal in your life. Here's how it works:

You may add a blog URL of a craft project, DIY, home decor, painted furniture etc. to this Linky. However, you must add the URL of the post itself. You must let the owner of that post know that you shared it here. Leave them the link to this post so they may visit. The great thing about this Linky is that it will help the little crafter get noticed by us busy crafter wannabees (no pun intended!).

So you don't have to be a crafter to start feeling crafty around here! Please place the Crafty Bees button in your sidebar or in a post to spread the word to others. Feel free to post your own craftiness too...no one is left out!

This is our first Crafty Linky Party so let's rock it out people!!! Woooooot!

Depending on the popularity of this linky we will run it several times a month, join our email list for further updates.

Spotlight On - Of Anselm

2012-04-26T06:46:00.001-07:00

She's a little bit shy, a little bit quirky, and a lot of stylish fun! We'd like to introduce you to our latest blog-buddy - Naomi, proprietress of her blog "Of Anselm".

You will be charmed by the freshness and high quality of her blog's sweet style and the sensibility of Naomi's online voice (she designed the blog herself!). You will find beautiful photos of the world around her taken with love and care. She loves to guest post for other bloggers (give her a call) and she shares the bloggy love by writing loving tidbits about her sponsors every week.

Naomi loves penpals - do you have one?

Sponsorship on her blog is currently free, all you have to do is exchange buttons with Of Anselm and you will receive a month of love from her blog...cool idea huh? Check out the details of this arrangement here.

When you've finished reading every last word you might want to pop over to her Pinterest boards and enjoy a moment there...she's got some great boards, including: Parties and Pretty Tables, Typography and Graphic Design, Photographie and many more.

We highly suggest visiting Of Anselm to meet your new best friend!

Source: All photographs by Naomi Anselmo.

Swag Bag Stuff Giveaway

2012-04-25T05:50:00.004-07:00

Here I am with my lovely new friends at Bloggy Bootcamp! Don't we match wonderfully?

We got a little swag bag at the blogging conference and I wanted to share the contents with you! One reader will receive:

New Puristics Totally Ageless Sunscreen Lotion (SPF 15) - full size bottle
SUGGESTED RETAIL $21.99

and

50% Off Couponcard to INDI Custom Premium Jeans - www.indicustom.com
BASE PRICE OF $175

and

The Detail Half-sheet from the presentation by Laurie Turk of TipJunkie.com fame - contains the Top 10 Blogging Success Tips on one side and the Top 10 Lessons I Learned (What I Should Have Done). This is awesome info and I LOVED it!

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below this post stating which blog conference you would like to attend in the future. There's a list of several conferences HERE but we'd love to hear about some new ones!
The winner will receive these items in the mail and must have a mailing address. Good luck!
P.S. Giveaway ENDS on April 30th 10 p.m. PST

The New Blogger - Are You Handling It?

2012-04-24T06:45:00.003-07:00

It's all coming up orange now isn't it? Sorry, you can't switch back*...

we'll miss you, old blue

Blogger finished its upgrades for everyone a few weeks ago (finally) and they've "forced" us to accept the new white and orange colors and "cool" look of the new dashboard. Change is never welcome when we become super comfortable and know where to go without really trying. One of the biggest issues, of course (and we've freaked out about this all year long - since Blogger announced all these changes last year) is how this will change our TUTORIALS. All of our toots are written with the old interface, so now we might have to spend a few months updating them! Yikes!

Here are a few potential issues you may come across, as mentioned by some users:

-Although I use the new dashboard most of the time, I do find myself switching back to the old dashboard for editing HTML. For some reason I get a lot of BX errors when making changes to a template's HTML in the new dashboard, so not having access to the old interface is a worry.

-Blogger's new Dashboard is irritating while writing posts as < br /> tags always get inserted.

-The single most ridiculous thing is you get it just right on the draft, press publish and it looks so unprofessional and has ignored your editing completely.

-I am a Mac user and am beginning to wonder if this is not compatible with the Mac. If so heaven help Blogger too.

-I used to be able to add a link in the LINK box underneath the TITLE field of a new post. CAN'T DO IT NOW!!!

- I can't get to some features in the Comments section... I was having to switch to the old dashboard & make the changes, then switch back. I just checked my dashboard & the option to switch to the old isn't there anymore!

WE OBVIOUSLY DON'T HAVE THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS, AND WE WONDER IF BLOGGER WILL ADDRESS THESE ISSUES. MAKE SURE YOU USE THE "SEND FEEDBACK" BUTTON IN THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF THE BLOGGER DASHBOARD TO LET THEM KNOW HOW YOUR EXPERIENCE IS GOING AND WHAT'S NOT WORKING.

We'd love to hear how our readers are handling the change and what your issues might be. Leave us a comment so we can keep a list of all the ch.ch.ch.changes....

*UPDATE (4/24/12) YOU ARE STILL ABLE TO REVERT TO THE OLD BLOGGER INTERFACE BY CLICKING THE "COG WHEEL" ICON. BLOGGER SAYS IT WILL BE GONE WITHIN THE MONTH (WHATEVER THAT MEANS).

Business Cards for Bloggers - Necessary

2012-04-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Is your blog growing by leaps and bounds? Are you attending seminars and conferences and still don't have your bloggy business cards? Dude!!! You need a cute card to hand out so your new friends will remember YOU!

We have a great list of business card designs to choose from here at The Blog Guidebook (you can find them in our SHOP). Or you can do it yourself! When I was at Bloggy Bootcamp I received a few of the cutest little mini cards you ever saw! I'm ordering some for myself too...click this link to MOO to get some free cards right now.

Networking Blog Hop

2012-04-22T14:09:00.004-07:00

Taken with my phone (we had the same color scarves!)

I reconnected with my friend Kelly from Live.Laugh.Rowe. this weekend at Bloggy Bootcamp! She's such a fun person and I was inducted into the "tribe" (a group of blogging gals) she belong to! I really wanted to share her cool blog hop/linky party here - it's a great way to start networking with other bloggers! Check it out. Try it out.

Jump to the next page to join in from here.

Bloggy Bootcamp Rocks

2012-04-21T09:26:00.002-07:00

Dropping the Bloggy Ball!

2012-04-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! Sorry dear readers...I dropped the bloggy ball this week...it's been a doozy! I'm heading off in a few minutes to St. Louis, Mo to the Bloggy Boot Camp being held tomorrow. Keep an eye on Facebook and possibly Twitter as I'm going to sending you any new tips I find. Hopefully I'll make new friends and get my Trader Joe's and Homegoods fixes for the month. Hee hee. Do you have any favorite treats you love at Trader Joe's? Have you tried the Fig Butter on the gluten free pancakes....? I'll be back in a few with more inspirational and helpful blogging basics!

Guest Post: Blog Decorating

2012-04-16T06:41:00.001-07:00

When I started my blog with Blogger last year, I could have never imagined I would have just as much fun (maybe more) 'decorating' my blog as I would actually blogging. I was hooked, and I had to literally stop myself from uploading new backgrounds and headers every week. And even more, I could never have predicted how much I would even enjoy the html coding part of blogging...I would troll the internet for tutorials on how to install things for your blog like a custom menu and custom fonts for your posts!

I soon started a closed test blog that I could use as my playground. :) (Which by the way, I highly recommend. Then you can try out all sorts of fun stuff and you don't have to worry about messing up your real blog in the middle of all of your learning). As much fun as it was though, I would say it was just as equally frustrating for me. It was almost painful when I wanted to do the simplest thing, but it seemed an impossible task. There's only so much you can learn on your own I guess. Then I came across Cinnamon Girl Studio, and I was so excited at all the possibilities it brought!

They are totally affordable, and they allow you to take a simple Blogger blog (she has Wordpress templates too, I just haven't used them before), and really make it work for you! You can have fully-functioning dropdown menus, and even awesome flash headers (slideshows). Perfect for someone who just loves to make their blog cute and functional. And if you're up for it, it's really not that hard to change out the background, play with the colors, and easily upload your own graphic at the top. You can even customize it even more after that if you're REALLY into the html coding part of things. Here's a blog (pictured below) I designed for a client who first purchased and installed (on her own) one of her templates here. I love that they allow even a family-blogger enthusiast to have something fun like a slideshow on their free Blogger blog without having to invest the money like someone who blogs for their business might be able to justify spending.

Really though, her templates are beautiful all on their own and further customization is really not even necessary! Make sure you go check all of the them out! Here's a link to the Blogger ones. I hope there's a few blog design enthusiasts out there who can benefit from her site! Let me know if anyone has any other questions and I'll try and answer them in the comments section!

Love,
Pam

Remember the Good Old Days?

2012-04-15T06:28:00.001-07:00

When we were brand new and we entered all your info by hand into our blog? Well, we'd like to offer a little encouragement to those of you who would like to add your button to one of our bazillion categories, but don't have the energy to do it. We'll do it for you! Just email us the category (one please) you would like to be listed in and include your button code (create your code using Photobucket or check out our tutorial).

It'll be just like 2010 again~

Check out our Category list HERE.

Get Pinterest Analytics - Using Pinerly

2012-04-14T05:55:00.001-07:00

You know we love Pinterest. We know you love Pinterest. Want to get a handle on your Pinterest use and figure out how to make it work for you? Meet Pinerly (Pinterest's long lost cousin of sorts).

Have you ever thought you'd like to schedule your pins so you don't overwhelm your followers on those nights you're bored and can't stop repinning? Pinerly can help!

“One of the most important things about Pinterest is to disperse the pins over time. So instead of just pinning everything at once, it would be great to have a way to spread your content throughout the day so that even when you are away from the computer, pins that you may have found earlier in the morning will be posted to keep your followers engaged.
We hope that this will allow many avid pinners to do all of their pinning at one time and concentrate more on the things that matter – spend time engaging with their followers, customers, users, or even with their family”.

-Rick Kats, Pinerly’s co-founder

Read this awesome article that explains how to use Pinerly - The Next Web and get the details on what Pinerly is all about.

Right now they are invite only and there's a waiting list. Get invited.

Spotlight On: The Stuff of Success

2012-04-09T05:58:00.008-07:00

Writing from the heart is what draws you in, and Athena at The Stuff of Success does just that. Athena has a multitude of ideas and many generous offerings on her blog.

Athena says: "The Stuff of Success is a blog focusing on all aspects of defining, achieving and maintaining success. My husband and I have three children with special needs and it takes a great deal of personal fortitude and devotion to make each day successful. My husband also has two children (men). This blog is a means of documenting our journey, planning future journeys and enjoying it all along the way."

"I offer the following:

     Ideas to make money
     Ideas to save money
     Craft Projects
     Activities for free or minimal cost
     Refinishing projects
     Recycling suggestions
     Upcycling suggestions
     ...And, a little of life's humor to brighten your day"

Just a sampling of her great ideas for crafts are making a fleece boa (instead of feather because the feathers get all over the house), make a homemade gumball machine and free printables!

A few other great features include Success U Link Up Party and some exceptional giveaways! So click on over to visit Athena and her little family...she'd love you to say hello!

Friday Favorites With The Domesticated Diva

2012-04-06T05:36:00.001-07:00

Got a little writer's block and don't know what to blog about? Feeling lonely and want to make some new bloggy friends? Then Friday Favorites (linky party) may be for you.

Check out this info on Friday Favorites:

Friday Favorites is a blog hop that encourages networking and establishing connections.

Each week, a question will be asked about your "favorites."

You may choose to answer the questions in the comments or in a blog post (that's even cooler)! You aren't required to follow the host, though it's always nice to make a new blogbuddy. This is a great way to get to know each other, find new friends, and gives you a blog post idea when you have writer's block!

Hop on over to Domesticated Diva and try out a great linky.

You can find all the Linkies we've collected on our LINKY PARTIES LIST. If you have a linky party you'd like to add just email us the details or add it yourself in the Weekly List. Have a great weekend!

How To Get Started With PicMonkey

2012-04-05T06:17:00.002-07:00

No. 1 Go to www.picmonkey.com in your browser.

No. 2 Upload your photo or graphic image (or use their preloaded images)

Click this image to get started at the PicMonkey site. You will be prompted to upload your image.

No. 3 Get familiar with your surroundings. Click on the different symbols to see what they will do for you.

No. 4 Once you are familiar with the options you can play around a bit. There is an UNDO button at the bottom left of your toolbox (I'm calling it a toolbox because it has all your options in it). You may also save or upload a new image here.

No. 5 What do you want to do? The sky is the limit! Did you check out all the fun things you can do to your photos? I love the "processes" available (very similar to Picnik eh?). Some of my favorites are Orton, Cross Process and Film Grain. What are yours?

Photo from Pick Your Plum

No. 6 Let's make a photo pretty, just for fun. With your image uploaded, click on the bubbling test tube (effects) and scroll down to LOMO. When you click this what does it do to your photo? For me, it brightened and saturated the colors. LOVE IT! It also give you the option to blur the edge a little more or less. I tried several others, but had to show you Gritty too. It's so cool! Just have fun for now! When you are finished and want to save, click on SAVE and you will get the chance to save your image in the size you want with the correct label (name the pic).

I will be showing you plenty more PicMonkey stuff in the coming weeks...so stay tuned! Holla!

Sarah says: "PicMonkey should be called QuickMonkey!"