Make a blog button with a grab box, easy tutorial!

So I decided it was about time to get myself a blog button! {Feel free to swipe it from the sidebar!}
However, there was one problemo with this plan. A lot of the online blog button tutorials are waaaay more complexicated and confusilating than they need to be.
Fortunately I have made a blog button with a friend before, so I got a bit of help from her, and then figured out some of the bugs she had.
So, while most of you probably already know how to do this, I decided to post a tutorial anyways. Just because if you don't know how to do it, finding a good tutorial is a pain. 

_____________________________

1. Design your button. Take a photo, and crop it into a square. Mine is 150 by 150 pixels. That will give you a good size reference. Add your blog title, logo, or whatever you want. You can use pretty much any photo editing program. I used Photoshop to create my button:

2. Post the photo somewhere online. You can post it on flickr, photobucket, your blog, etc. If you do it on your blog, you will have to actually post it. Once it's posted, you can click the photo to view it. Then right click over the photo. There should be an option that says "Copy image URL". Open a word document and paste the URL there for future use.

3. Go to your blogger layout, and click "add a gadget". Add the one titled "Configure HTML/JavaScript."

4. Make a title (mine says "Grab my blog button!"), and then paste this code into the actual gadget:

<center><a href="BLOG URL" target="_blank" title="BLOG TITLE"><a href="BLOG URL"><img src="IMAGE URL" /></a></a> <center>

</center>

<center><textarea id="code-source" rows="3" cols="13" name="code-source"><center><a href="BLOG URL"><a href="BLOG URL"><img src="IMAGE URL" /></a></a></center></textarea></center></center>

5. Fill in your own information. For example, I would put http://paperraindrops.blogspot.com/ as my blog URL, and Paper Raindrops as my blog title. For the Image URL, go back to your word document and copy and paste that in. 

Note: Be sure to fill in your information very carefully. If you delete so much as a quotation mark by accident, it could mess up the whole thing! 

6. Hit save. Now view your blog and hope it works! It should look like this, with a grab box underneath:

7. To test the grab box, copy the HTML from under your new button. Now make a new post draft. Click the HTML button on your draft (right next to the "compose" button), and paste the grab box HTML in. Now click compose. If your grab box HTML works, you should see your blog button photo! Now you can delete that draft, knowing that the code will work for anyone who wants to share your button.

Hope this works for you! 

Let me know if you have any questions!

Of weekends and watercolor teabags

The weekend.

:: a four day visit from a faraway friend :: used bookstores :: impromptu birthday parties :: chocolate cake :: Christmas presents in January :: choir concerts :: watching Emma :: popcorn & tea :: River City Church :: getting hugs from little children and being told that one of their Barbies is still named after me :: introducing my good friends to each other for the first time :: a car packed with some of my favorite people :: ice skating :: realizing how many people I know and being thankful that I'm not really the new girl anymore :: puns & sarcasm :: sleepovers and praying together in the dark :: 

It was a full and wonderful weekend. 

And I'm tired. 

I need to be alone.

I skip ballet.

I finish a painting. Experiment. Stain portions of the paper with actual tea in addition to the watercolor.

 Sometimes.

Sometimes it is good to be alone. Quiet.

{Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.}

Spirograph Modern Art

I'm the kind of person who can get bored just sitting still. My hands have to be doing something. 

So yesterday while listening to my Dutch lesson/audio companion, I broke out the our Spirograph kit! 

I used a black pen and layered a ton of Spirographs over each other. And then I colored in random bits! 

So. Fun. 

You should try it sometime! And if you don't have Spirographs, may I suggest just scribbling all over a paper with a black pen, and then coloring that in? I've done that before, and it is quite entertaining and cool looking as well. :)

Giveaway at Green Bean Gardens!

So, I have this amazing family...
My brother makes awesome stuff out of wood, which I take photos of and post on his etsy shop. And my other brother married a wonderful lady who runs Green Bean Gardens!
Long story short, my sis in law is giving away two of my woodworking bro's items over at her blog!!

You could win a hand-turned rolling pin and a Black Walnut honey stick!
Even if you're not into cooking yourself, these handmade items would make awesome gifts!

Check it out and spread the word!

And while this might not be considered a "real post" ... well, a little sis has got to brag about her fantastic family once in a while, doesn't she?!

And in case you're wondering ...
"Anni" (on Etsy) is actually me.
People call me Anni in real life, and "Inna" is "Anni" backwards, hence my bloggy name.
Although {confession} neither is my real name.
Soooo ... yeah.

:P

sisters, snow & external flashes

Put those things together, and you get epic pictures. :)

{click for larger view}

My sis and her dog, Elssa.

Take my breath away ...

Silence. 

Snowflakes

Because when you stop and look around, the details in life are pretty incredible.

If Shakespeare had texting

You know how texts can only have 160 characters? Well ... that can lead to interesting and entertaining conversations. Especially if conversed with Miss Storyfingers. :)

(I edited our conversation a bit to streamline it and make it more readable for ya'll. However, I am leaving in all original typos and misspellings ... unfortunately.)

Storyfingers:
You know it just mrsterd {I assume she meant "occurred", and her phone intervened incorrectly ...} to me that we could write a greater magnitude of words if we used more diminutive ones. Aren't you glad we refrain?

Inna:
Oh, absolutely. Diminutive words are detremental to our mental well being. Possitively revolting and disturbingly belittling as well. (spell check, I need you!)

Storyfingers:
Nonono "spell check, i find myself in dire straits and you willing assistance would be of invaluable worth."

Inna:
Agreed. However, enscribing all that upon this wee screen would completely wreck and obliterate my painstakingly deliberate usage of presicely 160 characters...



Storyfingers:
Ahahahaha! Methinks it would be worth our while to record the telling of renowned legends for the dual purposes of bringing others joy and acquiring much dough.
[referencing a video I had sent to her]


Inna:
I added some stylish but unnessisary punctuation to that last snippet of writing for the sole purpose of impressing myself by reaching the exact numeral of 160.

Storyfingers:
Ha!

Inna:
It is indeed unfortunate, my dear Shakespear, that I must tear myself from this most impressive conversation in order to impose upon my brain that of acadamia. 


_____________

Ahh, yes. We crack me up. :D

Oh, and may I call your attention to the fact that I used exactly 160 characters on EVERY text? Mmm-hmmm...

However, the impressiveness of that fact dims and I become quite perturbed when I notice the copious amounts of incorrectly spelled words.
*Sigh*
Ah, well. Let's just say it makes the whole thing more entertaining and call it good, wot!

Dear Person: incongruous

Seen in Walmart a few weeks ago:

I like incongruousness. 

Incongruousness. I just made that word up, and it turns out someone made it up before me. 

It's in the dictionary.

Bummer. 

1 minute ear cuff

Are you ready for a DIY that pretty much anyone could do in one {repeat: one} minute?

Well, here ya go then! 

Grab a small paper clip:

Bend it around a skinny pencil thusly:

DONE! 

What is it, you ask? 

An ear cuff, of course! 

Slips on and off easily. 

No piercing required. 

Super cute.

Win, win, win! 

:)

P.S. I'm in the process of adding an about and project page! I think they're almost done, though I might touch 'em up a bit more later. :)

If you notice that any of the links aren't working etc, please let me know! 

{Linking up here}

Boot makeover!

So I've had this pair of boots forever, and my sister had them forever before me. 

The only thing I wore them for was horseback riding at a friends house.

But then one day, I realized that they were kinda cute, and could be updated a bit.

So here's what I did! 

Before again:

First I cleaned off the ... erm, horsiness ... and then I gave them a good polish.
And then I made the fancy lining for them!

Step 1. Cut the cloth to fit inside the boot. Fold the seams back, and pin on top.

2. Sew around the piece on top, using a fancy stitch if you want. I wanted. :)

3. Pin inside boot.
Pins. They're a pain, but it's more of a pain trying to sew without 'em. :P

4. Thread a curved needle, and tie a big ole knot on the end. If you use thread that matches your cloth, the stitches will hardly show.

5. Poke the needle up from the back of your new lining.

6. Poke the needle back down through the cloth, making a small, neat stitch.

7. Pick up a bit of the original boot lining.
Aaannnd ... repeat steps 5-7, coming up from the back, going down through the cloth, picking up original boot lining. Go all the way around your new lining, and tie a knot at the end.

8. Optional. My hand sewing is ... less than fantastic, so I decided to put a bit of fabric glue underneath any places I missed/didn't get pulled tight. Hold in place with clothes pins until dry.

9. Fold down the tops of the boots so your cool new lining shows.

10. Wear new fancy boots and feel ... well, fancy! 

And one pic with crazy socks. Cuz that's how I roll!

Oh, and there's one slight problem with this project that I didn't foresee ...

I don't want to use these for riding anymore.

*Sigh*

Guess I'll have to find another pair of old boots somehow!

{Linking up here and here}

Triple layer mismatch

                   

Toenails. Socks. Shoes.

Mismatching done right!

SEVERE WEATHER ALERT!

Because apparently the shock of 47 degrees in Minnesota in January could kill us or something ...

But I mean, really. Severe weather?? 

Well, I guess it is like 70 degrees warmer than usual this time of year. Yeah, Ok. That is pretty severe. 

But really. *Shakes head*

This cracks me up. It totally does. *Grin*

If you're looking for me, I'll be outside in a t-shirt. 

a perfect dance

A few weeks ago, my family and I decided to go to the swing dancing club in town. It was our first time swing dancing, and it was amazing! 
The odd thing about swing is, that there are individual steps to learn, but they are not danced in any particular order. The guy is the leader, obviously, and he chooses which steps to do next. The girl has to follow. 
Since it was my first time, I didn't always know what the guy wanted me to do. And let's face it, it got kinda messy sometimes. :P 
But every once in a while, something would click, and I could follow along perfectly. That's when it felt like we were really dancing, flying and twirling to the peppy big-band music!

Later that week something struck me.

Life is like a dance. God leads us. If we resist his lead, pull away, do our own thing, it gets messy. But if we just let God take over, relax and follow his lead, life becomes a perfect dance. 

Dancing is special to me, so the idea of life being a dance with God just makes my heart happy. 

I emailed one of my best friends and told her about my thoughts. She wrote back, 

"You know what is amazingly interesting about your flash of insight? I keep a prayer journal and that is almost exactly what I have written down for you! 'God, please continue to LEAD Inna with excitement and let her live even more by your Spirit.'"

Sometimes God amazes me. The thoughts he gives us, the little "coincidences", perfect timing, His divine sense of humor. 
I bet He has fun planning these things for us. *Grin*



For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Romans 8:14

However, there is one place where my analogy falls flat. Guys don't always lead us very well ... but God does. And sometimes if you're doing an aerial,  well ... the guy kinda drops you. ;) 

{Aerials are any swing move where the guy picks you up and either swings you around, throws you in the air, flips you etc. They're amazingly fun!}

Here is a rather embarrassing but still awesome video to entertain you. It's my brother and I practicing our first aerial in the living room. *Grin*