Time to Renew Your Codes

Hello Everyone,

I have a VERY important update for everyone. Since my blog has been growing, I have decided that I can no longer store my images on Photobucket. I simply have too many images. Instead, I have setup my own hosting account where I can store all of my images. As a result, I have had to change all of the codes for the backgrounds, headers, and templates.

This means that everyone that uses any of my designs will need to come back to my blog to get a new updated code for their blog by October 20. After this date, I will be deleting all of my designs from my Photobucket account.

If you do not update your code by this time, your background will disappear. 

I will temporarily change my tag (the one you see in the top left corner of my free backgrounds) so that it contains a warning to update the code. However, if you have friends using my templates or headers or whatever, please tell them to update their code. I would hate for anyone to lose their designs unexpectedly.

I know this is such a pain for everyone...believe me, it took me forever to change all the codes. But it had to be done.

Thank you everyone for supporting my blog!

~Dani

p.s. If you have updated recently, just look through the code and make sure you don't see the word "Photobucket". If you do see "Photobucket", you need to update your code.

Update:
If you are confused about how or where to find the updated codes, let me explain. To replace your old code with a new one, simply search through my free backgrounds (or free headers or templates) and find either the background you are currently using or a new one. Then, copy the code just like you did before. Then, go to your blog and find the gadget that contains the html for your background. Delete the old html and replace it with the new html that you just copied. 

Any code currently on my blog is an updated code.

You must update BEFORE October 20 to avoid losing your background.

If you have used one of my free headers, you may or may not have to update your header code depending on how you put it on your blog:

•  If you saved the header to your computer and edited it yourself, then you don't need to update the code.
• If you simply copied the code below the header and pasted it into the Header gadget, then you DO need to get an updated code.   

If you have any other questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment. Thanks!

Easy Canvas Prints Review

I recently was given the opportunity to review a product for Easy Canvas Prints. At Easy Canvas Prints, they put your pictures on canvas. I was offered an 11x14 canvas print in exchange for the review and was very excited. I decided to upgrade to a 16x20 for a small fee and LOVE the picture that was printed. Now, let me tell about the process:

The ordering process was really quite simple. First, you choose your size and upload your image. This site is really great because it checks your image to determine if it is a good enough quality to be blown up to the size you chose. I was worried about this because I didn't know if the image I chose had a high enough resolution to be enlarged to a 16x20. I really hate having to wait until it's printed to see that the picture is too blurry.

Next, I chose my border style. You can either have a solid color around the sides, a mirror image or a continuation of the pattern (image wrap). I chose the image wrap. The last step is an option to have your image retouched. If you are willing to pay some extra money, they will do that for you. I, myself, wouldn't pay for that, but that's because I love Photoshop and like to do it myself.

That's it...it really was easy....unless you are indecisive like me...and you change your mind about the size after you submit your order. Yeah, I don't recommend this, but it did give me an opportunity to test out their customer service. Normally they don't allow you to change your order after it is submitted because they start your canvas print immediately. But I called within just a few minutes of my order and was able to make the change. I originally ordered the 11x14, the size they offered me, but then realized the bigger size, 16x20 would look much better on my wall. Their customer service proved to be fantastic. The woman that helped me even called me back so that I didn't have to wait on the phone while she figured out how to make the change.

The hardest part of the whole process was choosing the photo to use. I didn't want to use a family picture because, unless they are classic ones like a wedding picture or a really sweet photo of a child, it can become outdated really fast. In the end, I chose something that was meaningful and also timeless, the place where my husband and I were married:

This picture was taken by Brandon Burton.

Here's a side view. (This is the 3/4" thickness.)

This picture is an LDS (Mormon) temple. To learn more, go to http://mormon.org/.

Now, here's the great news for you....if you want to put your own picture on canvas, just click on the link provided. When you go, you'll notice that you will receive 25% off your order plus free shipping.  Want a better discount? If you "Like" them on Facebook, you can get 50% off your order plus free shipping! 

Overall, this was an amazing offer for me! I love my canvas print! The great thing about a canvas is that you don't have to frame it if you don't want to. It looks good alone but also looks great in a frame. (If you choose to buy a frame, buy one with an open back. I've found some at Michael's that work great. You will have to buy a little kit to fasten your canvas to the frame, but it's pretty simple. If you ask an employee, I'm sure they could help you.)

The opinions in this review are entirely my own. I was compensated with a discounted canvas print in return for the review.

My Blog is Back

I'm so sorry about my blog disappearing yesterday! I don't know what exactly went wrong. I have a web hosting service where I manage my domain name (my new web address that is ".com" instead of ".blogspot.com"). This hosting service and my blog were set up to redirect the ".com" address to my blogspot blog. Yesterday for some strange reason it decided to stop redirecting it. I reset everything last night, set it all up again and it is back now. Thank goodness!

How to Make Your Blog Private

For many blogs, the idea of making your blog private doesn't make any sense, esp. if you are a commercial site. However, many blogs are used like a journal to document life events. A friend of mine has such a blog and has recently decided to make her blog private. She said that one day she was looking under the Stats tab on her Blogger Dashboard and then clicked on Traffic Sources. (This shows the list of sites that refer back to your blog.) She saw a site that she didn't recognize and so she clicked on it. On this site, someone had taken a picture of her young daughter, from her blog posts, and posted it on a child pornography site. How horrifying!

I hate hearing stories like this and hope this does not happen to you. If you would like to know how to make your blog private, here you go....

1. From your Blogger Dashboard, click Settings.
2. Click Permission
3. Where it says, "Who can view this blog?", click "Only people I choose"
4. Now, enter the email addresses, with commas separating them, and click Invite.

Now your blog is private!

Your friends and family will receive an email where they will either use their current Google account to login or create a new account. Everyone that goes to your blog address will have to login before they can see it.

Autumn Falls

2-Column (Standard Width)

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   3-Column (Wide Width)

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Design Elements by Just So Scrappy
(from her kit called Autumn Splendor)

Custom Design Update

For those of you interested in my Custom Designs, please read my update here.

Green Notebook Header

Instructions on How to Add a Header

Use with the background: Green Notebook

http://headers.blogdesignsbydani.com/Crazy4Monograms/Green%20Notebook%20Header.jpg

Design Elements by
Crazy-4-Monograms
(from her kit called Class Act)

Removing Border Lines

Does your blog have borders that you don't want? If you have the Minima template you will have 2 border lines around your header, a border around pictures and maybe a few other things. Want to know how to remove those border lines?