100,000

My blog just passed 100,000 views! Who knew that would happen when I started it. So let me take this moment to thank everyone who came by. And to invite you to advertise on my blog by hitting the sponsor tab at the top of the page. You can start a sponsorship at any time. Help me keep this boat afloat.

Ornamental Plus

Ornamental plum tree blooming a the library.

Sponsors Needed Reasonable Ad Prices

I now have a brilliant way you can sponsor ads on my blog for as little as $5 a month, and you can start your monthly ad at any time, like now, or tomorrow, or whenever you need to advertise your blog or product. Just click on the Sponsor Tab at the top of my blog. Snap up the good spots before they are all taken. I can't wait to see who signs up.

Train trip

Beautiful mosaic heart at the Fullerton Train Depot.

Two freight trains pass each other.

Double decker freight train.

Start of the journey.

All aboard.

View from the train.

Shot from a moving train.

I arrived to SLO safely by train but an hour and a half late.  This is why I don't trust the train to get me to work on time.  Luckily my gig isn't until tomorrow.

I made use of my time on the train by reading most of the 2nd book in the Hunger Games trilogy.  I also started knitting a shawl on double pointed needles that my friend Rebecca told me about. And I cut a bunch of photos out of a Vogue magazine that my friend Lynn gave me.  I want to make some fashion collages for my fashion blog. I used a blank composition book to organize the photos into categories such as Big Cats, zebra, Masculine/feminine, Romantic, sexy/alluring, hats, lace, and so on.  When I get enough items in each category I can make the  collage for that topic.

Now it's almost midnight so I should get some shut eye so I'm ready for tomorrow's event.  It will be fun I'm sure.

Making a Grab Button For Your Blog

I finally created a grab button (to the right). I found out how to do it here: http://thelittlehenhouse.com/2011/01/31/how-to-make-a-blog-button-with-a-grab-box-a-tutorial/ Even so it took me 3 tries.  Just stick to the Wordpress directions and ignore the 'for Blogger' blurb and you'll have it in half the time that I did.
Next I'm tackling the social media icon buttons here: http://thelittlehenhouse.com/2010/09/16/how-to-add-pretty-social-media-icons-to-your-blog/

Finger Knitting, Tophatter, So On and So Forth

It would be nice to get to 100 followers someday here on my busiest blog. I was stuck on 69 for the longest time. I'm glad to see I'm finally up to 73. Do less people follow blogs these days because they would rather follow on Facebook or twitter, or some other site?

I did some more finger knitting today. It's very relaxing and doesn't seem to tire my hands out like knitting with needles or crocheting with hooks. I'm trying to use up old yarn I got from a friend who moved away. The first strand reminded me of seaweed, so I thought I'd make a curtain as a backdrop for mermaid's to romp in. 

I'm also studying the ins and outs of Tophatter. I already bought 2 things on there. I have a painting scheduled for Wed's auction. You don't have to be present when your item comes up for sale, but I think it's more exciting that way and you can answer the last minute questions buyers might have.  I hate to see sales lost because someone forgot to put how long their bracelet is, or what the ear wires might be on the earrings up for sale. If you shop for jewelry, there are some excellent items to be had for low prices there. Almost everyone in the auction room seems to have an Etsy or Artfire url attached to their screen name.  Unlike some other sites (cough zibbet cough) that won't let you mention competing sites, Tophatter doesn't seem to mind at all. And the listings are easy to pin to Pinterest so you can show off your purchases or your listings that are up and coming.

My Craft Blog for Kid's Crafts

I've very much enjoying my new kid's craft blog over here: Sweet Tea With Bunny and Me. Now that my kids are grown up with kids of their own I've started to feel nostalgic about those times in my own childhood, and then again when my children were small and so precious. And I kick myself every day that I don't live closer to my grandsons so I can enjoy watching their daily escapades. At least we have Facebook now so I get to keep up better than I would have done before computer days.

New Cartoon Blog and Crocheting a Snood

Yesterday and today I've been working on a cartoon series. I've been drawing cartoons my whole life but have never figured out a way to show them to the world until now. I decided it deserved it's own blog here: http://pigglewigginscartoon.blogspot.com/

I also started a new snood in gold woolease  yarn. I thought it would be good to put some autumn items into my Etsy shops. The year is sure going by fast. I can't believe summer is ending already.

My New Home Decorating Blog

To celebrate my new  home decorating blog that I've dubbed http://novelhoveldeco.blogspot.com/ I'm giving away a pair of my hand beaded earrings to my first ten followers.

They will be sent to the U.S.A address of your choice.

You may request your favorite color of earrings.

To enter, go to the blog, hit the follow button in the right side bar, and leave a comment under the first welcome post.

And by the way, ArtTales already did so and she didn't even know about the give-away, so she wins the first pair if she sends me her address to queenofdreams@gmail.com. Woot!

Little Girl's Room

I'm getting ready to have my daughter visit. Which means I have to hide the things I'm making for her for Christmas. HAHA.
I picked up some root beer colored beads last night at Michael's. I suppose it's a sign of the times that now they have a combo lock on their bathroom and their employee's lounge. Those didn't exist when I worked there. Very inconvenient when you have to use the restroom. And they no longer just tell you the password. You have to wait for them to page someone to come to the door and unlock it for you. Kind of like being in second grade eh? I'm surprised they don't come in the stall to watch you.

At any rate, I got my beads, and got to work on my beaded collar for about an hour before bedtime. I think I have enough beads in the right colors now to finish it. It's getting pretty heavy, but I actually like the way the weight of a beaded garment will hug your body.

I met two knitters at the Nanowrimo meeting yesterday. They just learned so I'm looking forward to seeing them again so I can teach them to knit a hat to go with their scarves. One of them told me about a site called 'Write or Die". If you have trouble writing blog posts in a timely fashion you might want to check it out. I tried it last night but I was so tired, I'll have to try it again. You set it for how many words you want to write and in what length of time, and then the timer keeps you on track. Sometimes I think my blog entries are a little on the slim side so I will definitely try it. Otherwise I tend to daydream instead of write.

Help Me With My Blog

Would someone please tell me how to make a super cool blog like this one? http://magnoliapearlblog.blogspot.com/ I'm so tired of being stuck with the boring blogger templates but I just don't know how to do anything more original.

YouSayToo

YouSayToo gave me an award today. I've been sending my blog feed there for a while now, but wasn't expecting to get an award or anything. It's nice to be noticed. Thanks.

Three Rabbits

I finished the scarf for the bunny out of green fun fur. It worked up so quickly and looks posh. Maybe tomorrow I'll make the carrot, then wrap up the bunny to give to my grandson. Yay!

I have 2 other bunnies started. One I left at home and the other I have with me in my tote bag. Easter is over and I'm still making rabbits. Haha. You know what they say about rabbits, they keep multiplying.

I actually made it through today without spending any money. Yay me!

Create a Day Blog

There is a collaborative blog that I've spent a lot of time posting to called Create A Day. Like many, I've added so many posts and photos and videos there, and imagine my surprise when today the blog was just gone. I hope it's only temporary. Even if fewer and fewer people were participating, it still had a lot of useful information and well, heck, my friends were on there, and I don't know how to reach them now. Hmmm, you'd think they'd at least have sent out a group email saying 'I'm deleting the blog so if you want to stay in touch here's how. Or given someone else a chance to take over the management. Maybe it's a glitch and it will show up on my list again tomorrow.