Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts

PicMonkey Photo Collage + Word Art Tutorial

Hi friends! I hope you guys had an amazing weekend. I certainly did... soaked up the sun in our backyard, celebrated a dear friend's birthday, partied it up (virgin margarita style!) for Cinco de Mayo, had some showings at the house and really just enjoyed the last few days. 

Remember a few months ago, when we all chatted about the demise of our beloved Picnik? Since then, I've been playing with different photo editing options. Per your awesome suggestions, I tried out lots of Adobe products, such as Lightroom and Photoshop Elements. While they're certainly amazing programs, they were a little too complicated for me. At least for right now.

But then I learned about the new, wannabe Picnik: PicMonkey. Once I started playing around in the program, I realized it was pretty good! It has most of the amazing features Picnik had along with a few more fun editing options and funky effects. Momma likes. The only thing is that they don't offer photo collages... yet. But I figured out a way around that!

Last week over on BabyCenter, I shared this tutorial I created for PicMonkey. It's all about how to create a photo collage and word art in the program. You could easily use PicMonkey to edit your blog photos, create art to decorate your house, design personalized greeting cards or even make a last minute Mother's Day gift! I love it, so many options.

I promised I would share which photo editing alternative I ended up choosing. 
So without further ado... my PicMonkey tutorial!


Step uno. Save a blank page in Paint (or a similar program) and open up in PicMonkey.


Step two. Rotate and resize your blank page. I used a 5x7 for this tutorial.


Step three. Pick a font... or two! Don't be afraid to play around, they have so many cute options.


 Step four. If you're creating word art, I suggest using a few cohesive fonts and colors to liven it up.


 You can choose colors that are already on the page by clicking the rectangle shown and then clicking the object whose color you want to copy. So if I want the exact same color green in "mothers" for the line that says "children," I'd start typing children, click the rectangle, then click "mothers." Boom, the word "children" is the same color as "mothers."


 Step five. Find a cute quote to type up! I found this one on Pinterest.

 Step six. Add some fun "overlays" or clip art to your masterpiece. I faded mine to the back of the text for a more subtle approach.



Step seven. Add a border.


Step eight. Stand back and admire your fabulous word art! Feel free to print this one for personal use.


Now what if you want to add photos to your project?

Step one. Start off with a blank page, same as above.

Step two. Because there is no collage version available yet on PicMonkey, you add photos as an "overlay." Simply click on the overlay category and then choose "your own." You are given the option then to upload photos into the program! Jackpot.


Step three. Simply add as many photos as you'd like! I just chose one for this project.


Step four. Then play with all of the fun features just like we did above... font, graphics, overlays, text, colors, borders, etc... the PicMonkey world is your oyster!


Step five. Love your new creation. I think these are so fun and easy!
I've also been using PicMonkey to create the collages for my weekly preggo bump pics.


It's so fun and easy to use, I just had to share.


So, whatcha think? Are you a PicMonkey fan like me?

Atlanta Blogger Meet Up

Last weekend, I was so lucky to meet up for dinner with a few amazing Atlanta bloggers. We had the best time chit chatting about blogging, design and life in general. And hello, all of these girls are the cutest! See what I mean?


Whitney and Lori May also joined us for dinner, but had to run before we got a chance to snap a picture.

It was so amazing connecting with these ladies... I feel so lucky to share the blog world with them!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Vlog Part Dos

I'm back today with part two of my Q&A video blog! 

This is a fun section... I spill lots of details about me and David, our next house, my plans for the blog down the road and a peek of my big ol' baby bump. It's a good time! : )

Some things you should know:

1. I have no clue why I said whole milk. I think because I just said whole wheat? I drink skim....
2. Yes, my prenatal vitamins have made my hair grow, so I have those weird wispy baby hair bangs. You know you like it.
3. I hope you like choppy bad editing, because you'll get lots of it towards the end! I kind of kept rambling and had to cut myself off a few times : )

Without further ado....


Or you can find the video on YouTube here!

My Vonderful Vlog!!

Live from my breakfast room... my first vlog!

Thank you guys for all of your awesome questions. I rambled through about half of them in this part of the vlog, so there will be a part two later this week. Just a heads up... part two includes a little baby bump action. Fun stuff! This part of the vlog is mainly me answering questions and spouting off my two cents about all things blogging. What can I say, the girl likes to blab!

A few things to note... there's some really bad editing that happens throughout the video (anytime I cut out means Maggie or Tucker barked at a squirrel... or I lost my train of thought, which kept happening as you can see!). Also, I apparently don't really breathe, but just talk really fast in a whole bunch of run on sentences. Suh-weet. And apparently I love the word "um." Um, I guess I was nervous.

Here goes nothing...!



Sorry for the mid-sentence cut off there at the end... like I said, bad editing! Hope you enjoyed part one of my very virst vlog. Part two is all fun questions. And maybe some singing and dancing. Get excited.

PS. I really hope your computer connection is as slow as mine... while the video finishes uploading, the freeze-frame shots of me, mid-sentence, are hilarious!

PPS. If the video doesn't show up on the blog for you, it should be available here.

Vloggy McVloggerson

 via

 Nice title, right?

I was thinking the other day... it's been about 1.5 years that I've been blogging. Crazy talk! It's been so much fun sharing our DIY and life adventures with all of you. But you know what I realized? In all of that time, I've never done a vlog. Otherwise known as a video blog post for those of you who had no clue what that meant, like me. How can I call myself a true blogger having never poured my heart out to all of you live and in person?! Hellooo, let's fix that.

So, I need your help. Would you like to see my mug in video here on Ten June? Assuming the answer isn't a whopping heck naw, I'll set up the vlog in a Q&A format. And I want the questions to come from you! Let's hear it... what questions do you have for me?

Here are some examples....

How do you balance having a full-time job and blogging? (I get that one a lot!)

What is your life theme song?

How are you handling the stress of trying to sell your house right now while pregnant?

Do you talk to Tucker and Maggie in the same weird way you reference them on the blog? And do you know that they're just dogs and you talk about them like they're people?

Michelle, do you pick your nose?

Any topic, from home decor (paint colors? furniture choices?) to life in general (moving? pregnancy?), is fair game! Of course, I reserve the right to only answer the questions that make me look good (duh). Only kidding. I want lots of good questions that span the topic spectrum. 

Leave your vlog question(s) in the comment section of this post or shoot me an email! 
 I need lots of questions for the vlog, so don't be shy!! Thanks for playing along guys : )


Psst! Check out my latest post on BabyCenter about an amazeballs DIY nursery project I found. Here's a hint: you can save a bunch of money (um, $700ish?!) and wind up with this....


Head on over and read the post right here!

Haven Conference 2012


I'm excited to officially give you guys the thumbs up that I'll be attending Haven Conference this summer right here in Atlanta! I just couldn't say no to a fabulous blog conference right here in the peach state.

The home decor/DIY blogging conference, which is hosted by some fabulous bloggers (Rhoda, Kate, Beth, Chris and Sarah just to name a few!), should be a pretty fun time! They've got some great speakers lined up and some really exciting workshops to attend. And it will be my first blogging conference ever, but I can only imagine the best part will be meeting all of YOU! It's time to put some faces to all of your amazing blogs!

So lay it on me.... who's attending Haven this year?! 

And if you haven't signed up, now's the chance. Tickets are almost sold out. And c'mon, if seeing my big ol' 7.5 months pregnant self isn't motivation in itself, not sure what is ; )

Haven Conference 2012


Pssst! Don't forget! Tomorrow is the big Winter Pinterest Challenge link up over at Young House Love, Bower Power and my own darling Hi Sugarplum. Be there or be square!


Blogger Secret Santa

A few weeks ago, the fabulous Mrs. Limestone paired up a few bloggers for a game of blogger Secret Santa. It has been so much fun sending out fun gifts and even receiving a couple myself!


Look at all of the fun goodies that have showed up on my front door.





 The first package I received in the mail was this adorable paper goods set. I'm in love with the striped tape and Christmas gift tags! My wrapping is going to look cute this year thanks to my Secret Santa!

I also received another package yesterday with this beautiful set of journals.




The dyed books are so beautiful- I want to frame them instead of write in them!

So a big thanks to my Secret Santa. Here's a list of the participants... help me guess! Who do you think is my Secret Santa? And check out the posts from these bloggers and see if you can figure out who I've been giving to? Thanks to Mrs. Limestone for setting this fun exchange up!



Pssst! Don't forget that you still have a chance to enter to win a $50 shopping spree to Mikarose! Come on over and enter here!


My Blog Birthday!

Guess what happened a year ago today?


I was more or less scared out of my mind to start blogging. Honestly, I thought it was kind of weird. What kind of crazies post pictures and details about their projects, their home and their lives?  
This crazy. And I love every. single. minute. of. it!

It actually took me about a month to tell my closest friends that I had started a blog. And about six months after that before I told all of my other friends and family. Do you know who gave me the courage to share my blog with all of those people? All of you. Seriously! It was the love and support from all of you crazy kids that truly pushed me, kept me going and left me inspired. Blogging is truly one of the most supportive communities I've ever seen- this group constantly and consistently addresses each other from hundreds or even thousands of miles away with the sweetest, kindest and most genuine comments ever.

I'd like to think that my writing has matured, my content has evolved and my design style has grown. But above all, I know for a fact that I've learned the most about support. And I have definitely learned that from all of you! So thank you, my friends! Thanks to each of you for the last year of sweet words, funny comments, true inspiration and overall support.

Alright, enough with the sappy stuff... basically, you guys rock my world.

I am so excited to see what this next year of blogging holds for me! You can check out most of the last year's projects and the before/after scoop on my House Tour tab. I promise a bunch more projects (potentially a finished master bathroom renovation, but don't hold your breath!), a lot more laughs and hopefully a whole lot more mutual love and support. 

Happy blog birthday, Ten June!


PS. Pop over to Michaela's blog today,
where I'm giving away one free e-design to one her her readers!

San Francisco Blogger Meet Up!

Hi friends! After hopping a red eye flight to Atlanta, I'm back in town (tired and hot as I get used to the muggy Georgia heat again!). I had a blast touring San Francisco with my sister and I promise to share all of our fun pictures later this week. And of course, while I was over on the west coast, I met up some amazing blogger friends!

So here's the skinny on our meet up.

Before the meet up, my sister (Tori) and I met up with Michaela, Courtney and Natasha. We had so much fun meeting and catching up in real life- it's as if we've been friends forever!



Anyone check out my HOTT farmers tan? That's what happens when you bike across the Golden Gate Bridge with a short-sleeved t-shirt and no sunscreen on! Um, yes, I would get an awful sunburn (on only 2/3 of my arm) right before I go to meet a room full of strangers with cameras. Awesome!  It's okay, you're laughing with me, not at me... right? : )

 The event was generously hosted by Malka of Closet Innovations and Cristin of Simplified Bee at the San Francisco Design Center in downtown San Francisco. 

(and thanks to everyone for sharing your pictures with me!)

Michaela and me

picture from Courtney

me, Erica and Courtney
picture from Michaela


me and Tori

picture from Cristin


It was an amazing evening filled with lots of design chat, laughs and friendship. 
There were so many amazing, inspiring bloggers and designers there! I felt so blessed to be able to attend. Now we will have to get a big east coast blogger meet up together... who's with me??

Happy Friday!

Hi friends! What do you have planned this weekend?

I'll be doing laundry and getting packed for my big trip to San Francisco next week! In addition to the big blogger meet up, my sister and I will be in the city for a few days on vacation. I'm having some trouble packing- summertime + 60 degree weather is pretty confusing for this Georgia girl who is used to 100 degree+ heat indexes! I'm thinking layers? So sweaters and shorts or skirts for the day with longer pants for night? I'm just not sure! Maybe daytime sightseeing outfits like this....

What do you west coasters think? You've got to help me and my sister pack!

Also, what are some things you Bay Area folks recommend us doing? Of course, we're going to do all of the big touristy stuff around the city, but I'd love to hear suggestions for "off the beaten path" restaurants, shops, areas, nightlife and any other things to do! Oh! And we will hopefully hit up wine country for a day (we are thinking we'll drive from the city unless any of you have any good recommendations for a guided tour?), so any suggestions for that area are also welcomed.

Thanks for the insight!

Have a great weekend!

Did You See?

Have you seen these adorable projects around the blog world lately? I've been bookmarking my little heart out for the last few weeks (actually, some of these are a month or two old, but I heart them!) and just had to share all of the amazingness with ya'll.
























I'm smitten.

So much inspiration to be found out there... thanks for sharing, ladies!
What fun projects have you seen out there lately? Leave us a link in your comment if you'd like to brag on a fellow blogger and their amazing work!
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