taking a break

I just wanted to tell y'all that I'm probably going to be taking a break from blogging for a while-I'm guessing I'll be gone for a week or so. That way, I won't be spending as much time on the computer, and I've been doing a bit too much of that lately . . . :)

Anyway. The same goes for my Picasa and all other accounts. You may still comment on anything, or shoot me an email, but I will probably not reply until I'm done with my break.

One of the only reasons I'm taking a break is because I feel that I just need to get more ideas about what to blog about. I haven't gotten a comment for over a week, so I'm going to try to make some 'more captivating' posts. Be looking forward to a (hopefully) big doll post in a week or so!

~Hannah

{Better then Sonic} - Raspberry Lemonade Slushies

These days in Texas, it's so hot that you can actually cook cookies on your car windsheild. I am not kidding. And if you think I am, feel free to email me asking for a video of how to efficiently cook cookies on your windshield. I would be happy to show you. :-)

Since it's so hot, you need to cool off, right? So yesterday, while browsing this awesome blog, I came across a recipe for Raspberry Lemonade Slushies, from Make it and Love it.

Yeah. And they are better than Sonic times 1,000.

 These are super-duper easy to make, and only consist of lemonade, raspberries, ice and sugar. They are extremely healthy, as you can see, especially if you add lots of sugar. Which we didn't do, but it still tasted good. :-)

 They are a perfect remedy for hot-weather fever.

 Not too sweet or sour.

 Especially tasty if you have two straws. Everyone likes two straws! . . .

 . . . Even Krispy.

See? She was begging me for another slushy! (Or, in other words, staring at me in annoyance.)

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What are some of your favorite memories from this summer? Are you looking forward to going back to school? Sad that summer is ending?

If you want to end your summer and start the school week with something "cool," make these slushies! And afterwards, leave a comment letting me know how they were. It would mean a ton to me!

Hope you have a sweet Sunday! :)

♥ To Rachel, who commented in my last post asking for a tutorial about one of my blog gadgets - I'll try to have the tutorial up sometime this week if I'm not too busy. If I'm busy, I'll get it done on the weekend. :-) Thank you for your patience! ♥

Better Blogging - Tips & Tricks

I've been blogging for almost a year and a half, and I'm no expert, but I happen to know a bit about it. (Why, what a surprise!)

I've made so many mistakes in blogging it isn't even funny. Hard-to-read fonts, ugly designs, bad grammar, pointless posts, begging for comments and followers, posting photos that weren't even related to my writing topics, too-long and too-short posts . . . The list could go on and on.

So - onto what not to do during your blogging experience (and believe me, I am posting these after learning the hard way!) - and I hope that you will find these tips helpful! ;)

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1. Post regularly. I prefer to post 2-3 times a week, because people will then visit a bit more frequently. I admit to being guilty to not posting often on my other blogs, but just try not to let your blog get dusty. Update regularly, and that way you'll get a lot more views!

2. Don't beg people to follow you. Some bloggers just beg you to follow their blog, and it's pretty annoying (that, my friends, being a major understatement)! If you want followers, try giving something away and give people the option to have an extra entry if they follow you (not just on your blog, but also Facebook, Etsy, whatever!).

If you want people to follow you, be very, very patient. I didn't get any followers for a looong time, and I got really down about it. Don't do what I did; just be patient and wait. In the meantime, try to make some interesting posts that people will want to read/have a reason to comment on. If you make posts that interest people, then they'll follow you to get updates of what you're going to post next!

3. Type properly/use a good font. One of the things that drives me C.R.A.Z.Y. is going to someone's blog and finding that their main font is a hard-to-read, tacky cursive font or something else that makes my eyes hurt just to look at! I usually don't read the posts because it's too hard to. Please just save those fonts for your post titles, blog title and/or sidebar titles, and leave it at that.

Go ahead and use whatever font you like, as long as it's easy to read.

And one last thing. Please,don't type like,this (if your space bar works, then use it), or plz dont type like this. Also! If you type like this, it gets annoying! I mean no one wants to see exclamation points all the time do they! Use only one exclamation point per paragraph please!

Thank you.

4. Keep your template clean. This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to blogging. Nothing bothers me more than a design that is either too messy or too crazy. There are too many blogs with ugly color schemes, huge headers, crazy, cluttered backgrounds, tons of useless buttons and gadgets on the sidebars, hard-to-read, unattractive fonts (referring to the point above), backgrounds and graphics that barely (or don't at all) match, and even posts with photos that don't coordinate properly.

Make sure to match up your backgrounds, headers (this counts for header collages, too - please do NOT mix up tons of random photos in those collages unless you're supposed to!), fonts, colors, patterns, etc. It's okay to go for an eclectic feel, just don't mash together a different background, header & sidebar whatnot with mixed-up colors + patterns. Just remember to keep it simple!

5. Finally, make things easy for your readers. When I say this, I mean your readers probably have wanted to search something on your blog in the past, so add a search gadget to your sidebar. Also, something really cool to add to your blog is Linkwithin. It goes beneath each of your blog posts and displays other posts that might include things you just posted about. It's a great to get people looking at your blog more!

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So, I guess that wraps it up. I hope you found these tips helpful! :) If you did, leave me a comment - I'd love to hear from you!

I hope you all have an awesome weekend! :)

One Photo a Week - Week Three (I think?)

 I think it's Week Three, but I haven't a clue. Really, I should have numbered the weeks in the first place. But obviously, I was much too foolish not to think about it. But anyways.

Take a look at this week's photo.

I probably shouldn't have said "photo," because it's actually a collage; I just couldn't make up my mind on which photo to post.

Hey - don't leave. There's a bit more.

Last night, Eric told me he had something to show me down in our pasture (something fun), and so I rather reluctantly agreed to go down there. I grabbed my camera and followed him and Sunny, our dog, down to the pasture.

 What awaited us was what looked like (and what turned out to actually be) an old bike handlebar tied to a rope, which had been wrapped around a high tree branch and then stretched to a smaller tree some twenty feet away. Eric then had tied it to the smaller tree and tightened the rope so we could swing back and forth on it.

In order to swing, you had to grab the bike handlebar with both hands and then get a running start; next you had to kick into the air in order to get up high, and then twist around and repeat. It sounded and looked very boring, but when I tried it it was rather fun. And no, it wasn't dangerous if you had a good grip.

{that's eric in the above photo. he was kind enough to let me post this one blurry picture of him (where he looks all 'inflated' somehow)  . . . but it's something! :)}

 I had more fun taking pictures, though - some of them were of our kitty, Krispy.

 sorry for the horrible quality; blogger must have done it, as it certainly didn't look like this on my camera!

Everytime Eric and/or I leave the house without Krispy, she will automatically go to the front door and meow loudly and annoyingly until somebody opens the door for her.

And to end this post? Yet another photo of the sunset. :)

I hope you all enjoyed the post! Which photo was your favorite? Do tell! ;)

PS. Like the new design?

being still and knowing...

Have you ever stopped for a moment in your hectic, noisy life, just to breath? Just to rest?

Or maybe just to be still, to know that God is God.

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This is just a suggestion for when life is hectic for you, for when life is hard for you, for when you're struggling with something -- just pause, and listen to hear the small voice inside of you say..

"Be still and know that I am God."

I'm sorry if this was too somber for anyone's taste; it was just something that something that was on my heart today, and I felt led to share it with you.

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 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

~Psalm 46:10

something to sew on a rainy day

FYI: It wasn't rainy yesterday. I just happened to feel the need to say something like that. ;)

Last year, we happened upon this shirt at a garage sale...

...and decided to buy it, just for fun. I mean, it looks cool that the shirt says "American Girl Place, New York" on it and you have't even been to New York. Like me. It's so easy to fool people, isn't it??

And yesterday, in my closet, I realized that there was no need to keep this shirt in my closet for forever. I brought my shirt back to my mom and asked if we could make a doll shirt out of the graphic on the front of my tee.

And after finding this cute, free pattern for a doll tee-shirt on Liberty Jane Clothing, we got to work!

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 We cut the shirt down each of the "side seams" or whatever, and then folded the shirt and pinned down the front piece of the doll tee.

 And then we cut it out.

 After this, I did the back and sleeves of the shirt...

And then we began sewing.

I didn't take any pictures of this, but I can assure you it was boring and a little frustrating when we had to take the seam ripper out after listening to the defeaning rather loud sewing machine for forever.

After much pinning, sewing, sewing, and pinning, this was the result. (Mind you, we didn't have any velcro, so until we get some, it was kind of ugly in the back.)

I.Loved.It.

 And this morning, I took Abby out for a photoshoot. :)

 Ignore the little threads everywhere. It was kind of messy.

And to end the photoshoot? Queen Krispy joined.

Hope you have an awesome Tuesday! :)

Oh, and sorry for all of the bad quality/blurry/completely useless photos. Just ignore them.

Lucia's Blog Design Giveaway!!

Lucia over at Umbrella Girl is having a giveway at her blog! She's giving away a blog designing package from her new designing blog, La Lemonada. Head on over to enter - admit it, you need and want a new design. :)

This summer...

...has been okay. It hasn't been particularly special, but I've still really enjoyed it.
Actually, though, I'll admit that I'm looking forward to school - sorta-kinda.

Anyway, here are some things that I've been doing this summer.

1 . r e a d i n g  h a r r y   p o t t e r. I started reading it about three weeks ago, and am on book five. And last night, all I could do was sit in my bed shivering and thinking about that book - and don't tease me, it was creepy. You all will have to admit it if you've read it. (I'm talking about the end of book four. Wow, J. K. Rowlings has a good imagination...)

i wasn't shivering last night. i was just close. ;)

2 . m y  n e w  d o l l  s h e l f.  Not really new, just new to me and them (the dolls).

Yeah, it is. Oh, and sorry for the bad quality. I had to take this while standing in the almost-back of my room, on top of my bed, and I was kind of wobbling. :P I know, sounds foolish... And it was. Good thing no one saw me. ;)

Yeah, but I'm really glad about my new (temporary) doll storage. You see, I never really liked my desk; it was just too... Boyish. And the sad thing was (::sniffle::), we couldn't take it out - it was built into the wall. So I'm liking my desk a bit better now, because it has all my dolls on it. :)

3 . p h o t o g r a p h i n g  &  e d i t i n g .  It's been a lot of fun taking - and editing - photos this summer. I've been experimenting with watermarks and how to add lens flares and remove red eyes.



A bit of that lens flare is natural, but most is fake. Who knew you could do that?

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Anyway, I should probably get going. After all, it's 10:18 AM and I'm still in my pajamas.

Have a nice Thursday and coming weekend!