You win some, You loose some

Have you ever changed your blog background and lost some of your sidebar widgets? You are not alone. This happens all the time. There are a few ways to change your background.

Simple- The blog designer gives you a short code that you add to a HTML Widget Box on your sidebar. Your background changes but everything else stays put, you will not loose any widgets.

More Complex- The blog designer gives you directions on how to change your Main HTML or replace your Main HTML. This allows the designer to add more things to your blog for you, but the danger is that you may loose some of your widgets (very annoying).

I just checked out this blog:

She has Simple Backgrounds and More Complex layouts!

I like how she spells out each step in the process. Saving you from loosing any widgets permanently.

You should go visit her site, everything is free :)

A Day In The Life

We all have moments we want to treasure. We want to use our later years to look back on our days and bring back all the good "stuff". Our blogs can help us do that.

As a Mom of young children, my days are filled with laundry, meals, running errands, sports practices, more laundry, cleaning, kids homework, the occasional blog post, and more laundry. You get the idea...

My mother, a wise and talented woman (Hi Ma!), once told me to ENJOY all this. She even said I should take pictures of it. What? Pictures of my over-flowing hampers? Yes, she said. Take a picture.

She was right. I will be a Mom of teenagers soon enough. Just around that corner is Grandmom! I will miss this chaos and hub-bub one day. One day I will look back on this busy season and be a little sad. One day.

But, today, I will take pictures of my over-flowing laundry hamper. And my sink with the breakfast dishes crusting over. And my kids toys scattered underfoot. And my children playing and smiling and being little. Because one day, I will not have this. Today, I do.

So my challenge to you today, dear blogging friends, is to document what your day is like. Choose a day (really soon) and take a picture every hour. Document what you are doing, where you are, or how you feel about it. One day we'll look back and smile.

Tired of the Scrapbook Look?

I found a new site today. It runs a bit differently then other sites. It takes more work on your part to install your background... but I think it is well worth the effort. It's called Free Backgrounds- clever, right? You can find it here. It will explain the installing process and then lead you to her Photobucket account.

This is the background I liked :) Here is one for a guy.

And one for an agoraphobic. jk;)

I like the idea of the site. There are no extra links on the backgrounds that lead you back to her site (sometimes those really bug me). And with the information the site teaches you, you can use ANY picture as your background. I'll have to do another post on that later.

Yet, Another Background Site to Check Out

http://scrap-e-blog.blogspot.com/

winner winner c h i c k e n d i n n e r

Thank you all for entering to win a gift from Pocket Full of Posies or functionalWOOD. We had a great response. This morning two winners were chosen at random and without further adieu...

The winner of the Pocketfull of Posies, Weekly Pocket System is:

Shelly Morris

and

The winner of the functionalWOOD, cutting board is:

Mary Glidden

Congratulations to both of you! Will you please email me at ilovethewaysheblogs@gmail.com so I can send your information to our sponsoring companies.

But the fun doesn't end there. If you are feeling a need for something free then check out these sites. They offer free backgrounds:)

Photo Editing

Where do you EDIT your photos?

Where do you brighten them and add text??

I just got word of a new site. Aviary, do you use it?

• I love this site because you don't need to download any software.
• It has more features for photo editing then any site I've seen!!
• It loads fast and can be used for free.

But you know what they say, right? If it's too good to be true it probably is.

When I used this site I found that they save a watermark on your photo. The watermark is just a light image of their name on your photo. You could pay for a subscription, and I must admit the price is reasonable. And if you do have a subscription then you can save your photos without watermarks. I think it is a good substitute for Photo Shop. But...

I still prefer Picnik. Go there. It's free and makes me happy:)

Don't forget to enter the give-away below.

Our Welcome Back Give-Away!

We are back with a give-away! I would like to introduce you to two companies. The first of which is called Pocket Full of Posies, Perfect Pocket Meal Planning.

They sell "a unique pocket meal planning system that is designed to save you time and money." Which is wonderfully useful for busy families.

I can't tell you how many times I've sat down to plan the meals for the week only to give up and buy what ever I find at the grocery store. This system gives you a dinner plan for each day of the week or month, depending on which package you buy. Also on the cards are the recipes and a shopping list! Look how cute the magnetic pockets are:

And now readers of I LOVE THE WAY SHE BLOGS can enter to win this Weekly Pocket Package:

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Our second company is Functional Wood, a wonderful, new etsy shop that specializes in handcrafted wood furniture and household items.

But just because their shop is new doesn't mean that they are new to woodworking; "Skilled craftsman, college educated, over 8 years experience. Enjoy creating functionalWOOD pieces in many styles, from traditional to modern and everything in between."

Check out their handcrafted coffee table:

And now readers of I LOVE THE WAY SHE BLOGS have a chance to win one of functionalWood's gorgeous butcher blocks. There is something about using a butcher block that makes you feel like a real chef; am I right?

So, now for the contest details.

• To enter to win one of the items listed above, become a follower of I LOVE THE WAY SHE BLOGS, and leave a comment to this post with your first and last name (or the first and last name you wish you had) letting me know you are a follower.

Would you like another entry?

• Blog about our give-away and get (3 more entries) leave a comment letting me know you did, with a link to your blog.

• Visit Pocket Full of Posies and get (1 more entry) leave a comment letting me know you did, and tell us what you thought.

• Visit functionalWood and get (1 more entry) leave a comment letting me know you did, and tell us what you thought.

That's all folks! We are so happy to be back!

PS: the contest ends at 10 PM est, November 5th.

We'll be back

Hello Everyone!

We will be back November 2nd!! In the meantime, check out the sidebar links (if you haven't already).

We plan on hosting a fun giveaway when we return. If you are interested in advertising your business for free, contact me at ilovethewaysheblogs@gmail.com.

Happy Blogging

Lilly J

Our Beautiful Blog

Maybe you noticed our new header and button combination?

It was gifted to us by:

Emyline's Flourish's specializes in one of a kind header and button combinations. Therefore, you will never see a blog with your same header (yea!!).

The Good News is that she is well priced and has impeccable taste.

The Bad(ish) News is that she is on Maternity Leave (with twins) and once her store runs out it may be quite awhile before she restocks.

go visit Emyline's Flourish's

Remembering the Quips, etc...

by Tina

I often think to myself, as a push through my day, that I have to remember that. I have to remember that my six year old said the cutest thing. I have to remember that my ten year did something all on her own, without being asked. I have to remember that my husband told me how good dinner was while he made sure the kids cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher for me.


Our blogs are all about remembering. We are documenting these little daily occurrences. I wanted to share with you my way of remembering.


I need life to be in categories, so, I think of these quips from my life in categories. "Cute Kid Quotes" and "Proud Mom Moments", for example. In blogging, I guess they are called Labels.


So a blog post might start out like: "Today Charlie said the funniest thing..." and then it would include a picture of her with a big goofy smile. Or, a picture of my loaded dishwasher and a little blurb about how the kids are growing and helping more.


Find the little moments in your life and snap a picture. That way, when you see the photo, you might more easily remember the reason for taking it. Blog about these little moments and they will become the stories that are told for generations.


Can't you hear your great-great children saying this - Way back '09, your great-great grandmother had a thing called a blog (ancient technology) and she wrote about something your great grandmother, Charlie, said when she was just six years old ....


Experience it, photograph it, blog it, remember it!

Adori Graphics

Hello! Are you familiar with Adori Graphics? She does free blog design makeovers, although I'm not sure how many she does each month, and she also has a couple free blinkies on her site. But the most important part of her blog is her tutorial section. Here is a list of her tutorial topics:

Easy

How to edit your blog entries without going into your "edit posts" view

How to make a label cloud in Blogger

How to back up your blog template

How to remove the border from around images

How to get rid of the dotted line between your sidebar widgets

How to tidy up your sidebar

How to tell where your site visitors are coming from

How to centre your sidebar widgetsInserting text or image links in Blogger

How to remove your Blogger barHow to remove or edit the "posted by" line at the bottom of your blog post

Moderate

How to install the Adori Graphics 3 column blog header

How to intall the Adori Graphics wider 2 column blog header

How to make a link grab boxHow to install your blog awards

AdvancedHow to make a scrolling photo gadget for your sidebar

How to make a menu (navigation) bar 1

How to make a menu (navigation) bar using images/buttons

How to use your blog like a webste

How to alter your html code to accept a header menu

How to add a signature to your posts

How to install my full width header

Creating your own Blogwear

How to make your own background

General Blogging

How to add a water mark to your photos

And recently she advertised for a new blog designer:

Are you a budding blog designer?
Are you a new or budding blog designer and would like to get some more experience? If you are, then maybe you'd like to think about:
submitting some of your work with the intention of it being offered free on this site
applying for a designer position with Adori Graphics If you think you might be interested then please contact me for more information...I'd love to hear from you!

Here is her button:):

Tell me, Tell me..

So I got word of a new site, . Thanks, Tina!

And I put up the button last week.

Did you see it? Have you gone there?

Tell me, does it have everything you've wanted in a background site???

I realise that it doesn't offer matching headers; some people really like that. But it's pretty good right?

Great News! We have our first winner for our first giveaway!

The winner was randomly drawn

and just happens to be the person who claims to 'NEVER win things'.

Congratulations Chelsie!

contact me at ilovethewaysheblogs@gmail.com so we can arrange shipping

Chelsie chose Squeeze Me:)

It's the last day to enter our give-away!

To enter go here: http://ilovethewaysheblogs.blogspot.com/2009/08/whistle-bird-give-away.html

The winner will be announced tomorrow!

Good Luck.

Another Background Site to Check Out