Poolga

I found this fun new website for anyone with an Apple product. I personally have an iPhone (which I may or may not be completely obsessed with...), and I'm loving this site so far. It's called Poolga.

They have awesome artists who have designed their art specifically for these great products. You can download each picture in different formats, depending on which device you have, i.e. iPhone or iPad.

But they do a better job of describing what they're really all about, so here's a blurb directly from their website:

Poolga came to life in 2007 when we got our hands on the (then) revolutionary iPhone. Frustrated by the lack of decent wallpapers out there, we struck upon the idea of showcasing established and up-and-coming illustrators by distributing their work for use on mobile devices. Today, Poolga is one of the few online outlets flying the flag for good quality imagery - no cheesy landscapes, scantily clad babes or muscle cars here!

Poolga (pronounced "pool-gah") is the nickname that a friend used to call her baby before she was born. In Spanish "pulga" means "flea." The baby is now called Sofia.

So last week when I found these, I downloaded and saved close to 60 or so of them! I also picked out special ones and sent a few to my boyfriend, and picked out a few for my sister. And now I have TONS of awesome pictures to use as my backgrounds! Here are10 (although I had a really hard time narrowing them all down for the blog...) of my current favorites on the site. That man with the ocean beard on the top row is my current lock screen wallpaper, and the ice cream in the bottom left corner is the inside wallpaper! Both are fun and summer-y but in different ways, but I like that about them.

I really don't know anything about Android phones, but if you have one, you should probably check this out, just in case you can use them too. (Then let me know so that I can spread the word to those folks as well!) They have hundreds of pictures on the site, so I'm pretty positive when I say almost everyone should be able to find something appealing to them! So pop on over to Poolga.com for some pretty pictures on your pretty iPhone :)

Love to y'all on this extremely long Thursday...

Profiling The BBN

A little over a week ago I joined a new community - the Better Blogger Network. And so far I'm loving it. It's a place for blogging peeps to join together and share information and support. There is a lovely group of ladies running the site that offer tips, suggestions, advice and other helpful info about blogging and everything that comes along with it. You can join groups and chime in on discussion boards to connect with other members and make new online friends. 

Everything I've seen on the site so far has been interesting or helpful or exciting to read. It's been a real good thing so far. The site has only been around for a month or so, but they already have over 500 members on it already! And to celebrate these 500 members, their hosting a pretty awesome giveaway, open to anyone who is a member. And I for one would love to win it! But of course who wouldn't?!

If you're a fellow blogger, head on over to the Better Blogger Network, and go ahead and sign-up, because I think you'll like it. You can also check out my page HERE if you would like. :) Find some other lovely blog ladies and add them as friends. You're sure to see some good things and make some new friends as well.

Can't wait to spend some more time on the site and make new blogging friends!!

 

PicMonkey

So, in stalking around Pinterest and a couple of random blogs this morning, I've found a new photo editing website. I used to like Picasa's "Picnik," but they kind of did away with it, and so I haven't been able to whiten teeth or thinnify photos or brighten the colors in a few months. But PicMonkey is even better than just those few things.

I've just barely begun playing around with it a little bit, but I'm already loving some of the awesome things that it can do. Right now, it's in the trial phase and so the features that you would normally have to pay for, are all free. I guess if they want money eventually, I need to play around a lot with them now to decide if it's worth it or not. But for now, it's all Fo Freeeee!! And I definitely intend on utilizing it as much as possible.

My plan is to play with it for a few months and get really good at making my "ordinary" pictures look at least a little more professional using some of their cool features and effects and other fun stuffs. Then, hopefully it will aid in my attempt to take professional-looking pictures for Megan and Bo to document their new engagement. :)

And remember again those Pinterest boards I was talking about? Well I went and made a new one myself all about Learning Photography. Its all purely research I assure you, and I am of course not enjoying any of the extra time I've spent on Pinterest in the last few days...... *wink*

Here's just one pictures that I've played around with a little bit. The top one is the original, un-edited photo, and the bottom one is what I did in PicMonkey.

EDITS: brightened pic, tuned up colors a bit, whitened both of our teeth, and made myself a little bit more tan.

They're not huge changes, but I do think it enhances the picture at least somewhat. And I'm sure the more I play with the program and learn how to use it, I will obviously get better at it. The site itself is pretty easy to navigate and most of the features are self-explanatory. The couple that I don't know how to use will probably only require a little big of Google-ing in order to learn what it meansa, and then I'll be "burning" and "dodging" things all over the place...

I don't plan on making this my sole photo editing software, as it's still not as simple and quick as Picasa is. It's basically just an add-on editor for photos that just need a little somethin' extra. Still though, I'm pretty psyched to play with it more in the future and make some of my pictures a little prettier!!

Love and happy weekend wishes to everyone!! :)

Plenty of Colour

Today I found a pretty cool website, and I wanna share it. If you like pretty things, and colors, and random fun things to look at, then you'll like this blog.

So check it out: www.plentyofcolour.com

Here are just a few pictures of fun things on the blog...

Pinterest Love

So I've become obsessed with a new website I found a few weeks ago. Pinterest.

It's an online board where you can catalogue your favorite things in life. The point is so that you don't forget that one day you wanted to make a collage of vintage maps, or that you have an excellent recipe for the most delicious cheesecake.

I've been on it for a few weeks now, and I'm am literally obsessed. Once I'm on the site, I find it very hard to finally get off and do something else, something more "productive."

So girls, if you like pretty things, funny pictures and some cool craft ideas, I suggest you go check out Pinterest. You're supposed to need an invite to join, so if you do, let me know, and I can send you one! (Boys, I'm not purposefully leaving you out, but the site is just more girl-centered.)

Below is just one example of the random things on Pinterest that makes me smile :)

Love to each and every one of you! ♥