Pictures looking a little dark these days???

Hello everyone. I'm sorry I don't have anything creative or crafty to share with you today, but I do have some valuable information. Many of you with blogs may have noticed that your photos or the backgrounds you are loading to your blog are coming out darker than they should.

This is due to Google's very annoying habit of changing things and not telling anyone what they are doing!!!

Since Google+ became a part of our Google account (whether we like it or not and whether you are using the Blogger profile on your blog or not) they have added a new feature to all our accounts.

It is called Auto-Enhance and it has been turned on by default for all Blogger blogs. Apparently, it does not always effect every single image. Only the ones it's tiny little brain deems necessary for enhancement.

For me and my blog design business, this had become a real pain because all the backgrounds I was loading for clients were turning colors and were not loading as they were intended. Luckily after some research I was able to discover the problem and now have to turn off this feature for all my clients.

If you are having this issue and don't like what it is doing to your photos or the backgrounds you are adding, here is how to fix it.

First go your dashboard and click on the down arrow next to your name in the upper right corner.

 Now click on account settings

 

You will see Google+ Settings . Click Edit settings.

Scroll down until you find the Photos and Videos section. You will see Auto Enhance. Click Off and you are done! No more dark "enhanced" photos!!!

I hope you found this info helpful.

I hope to be back doing more creative things soon. Right now all my time is being spent getting ready for my class this Spring for Kim Caldwell's event, An Affair at Downton!!

New Storage for the Studio

I have been rapidly running out of space in my studio for quite some time now. More and more stuff just keeps showing up!!! (It's a sickness I know, but I just cant help myself!! LOL!)

I finally decided I needed to do something about it. The top of this dresser was just not being used in the most efficient way. I had in my head that I was going to find a short bookcase to put on top of it, so hubby and I set off on Saturday to search the local garage sales to see what we could find.

Unfortunately I did not find a bookcase, but I did find this....

It's not exactly what I wanted because it doesn't provide quite enough storage space, but it is definitely a step in the right direction and for $4.00 I couldn't pass it up!!!!

I think it was probably a shoe caddy for one of those "put together yourself" closet organizers.

It is definitely an improvement over what I had as it allows me to see what I have and cleaned up some space in the drawers below so the items that are there are more easily accessible as well.

Instead of everything being loose in the drawers I have categorized the lace pieces into plastic baggies, making it much easier to find what I am looking for.

Now that all the little stuff is in the cubbies above, the drawers are much neater and I am much happier!!!

I'm still going to keep my eye out for a short bookcase, but in the meantime... this will do nicely!!!

Guest Blogger at F.P.T.F.Y.

Hello my friends!!! I hope your New Year has been wonderful so far!!!  I am so sorry I have been away for so long. I'll tell you why in just a sec. but, first I wanted to share with you some fun news. (well, it was fun for me anyway!!)

The very  sweet Keren Dukes from Free Pretty Things for You, asked me to be a guest blogger!

This was a first for me and I has very happy to do it. It's always wonderful to be introduced to a whole new set of Bloggers. I concentrated the post on a few tips to help with Blogger blogs, so please pop over to Keren's blog and check out the post and all the wonderful goodies that she has to offer as well.

So back to why I have been away. It's really no excuse, but I have been on a journey of sorts. (Trust me, it has not been a fun one!) Since I started Valentine Design people have been asking me if I do Wordpress blogs. I have always had to say no, but I felt like it was time to change that. I have been spending everyday with my nose stuck in a book or at the computer trying to figure that thing out!!

Oh my gosh! I think I have aged 10 years and lost half my hair!!!! (It feels like I should have anyway) Wordpress is a whole other animal from Blogger and I still have a looong way to go before I'm ready to add that to my list of services. I just wanted to let you know what I have been up to, and I hope you will stick with me while my posts are a little more sporadic than usual!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!