DOs & DON'Ts of blogging

Actually, I think they're all DON'Ts. So you should probably take all of the following as big No-Nos. If you still decide to follow these tips, though, I don't want to be held responsible for your failure ... You've been warned!!! Haha :p

If you've had your blog for a while, you must have realized that pictures account for a great part of it. I don't want to sound shallow, but the truth is that I don't usually read posts that are super long and have few or no pictures at all. That's why, in my opinion, it is important to take some considerations into account when taking photos for your blog. Let's start with a list of what you shouldn't do.

DON'Ts

1.- Don't have photo shoots on windy days or make sure you tie your hair when taking pictures outdoors.

 

2.-  Don't be photographed holding food proudly (esp. carbohydrates) if you're not happy about your weight gain. I mean, come on! You're practically telling the world you have no self control. (I totally have no self control)

 

3.-  Don't show ugly tan marks. Or better yet, don't be a dork like me when you go to the beach and sunbathe barefoot.

 

4.- Don't forget to clean your house thoroughly if you plan to take photos there. Also check what's under your furniture and if you find something, hide it very well.

 

Look at that dirty mirror! Dimitri doesn't even want to look at it, haha!

 

DOs

1.- Cover your face if you don't feel like putting on make-up; books, magazines, bags (see the top right pic in this blog), anything can work! I say grab a book as a first choice; it'll help you look intellectual.

 

 

2.- Hide behind doors if you don't want to show how fat you've gotten. 

 

3.- Can't afford to stay up-to-date with the latest fashion trends? No biggie! You can always revamp what's already in your wardrobe. No money to buy a pair of the so-called boyfriend jeans, for instance? Do like me and wear a pair of husband jeans ... I matched it with a husband shirt.

 

4.- Are you jealous of the top fashion bloggers who get freebies from famous brands? They always get to wear whatever is going to be hot that season, I know ... You may not have that advantage, but that's all right; choose to be a trendsetter instead of wearing what you're told! ;p I'm planning to impose wearing gloves in summer; I think it might catch on. 

 

The important thing is to look like you really own it; it's all in the attitude, guys. Next thing you know, everybody will following the trend that you imposed ;).

 

5.- Don't want to show your love handles? Cover your sides with a big present or if possible, someone who's bigger than you.

Hope you're all getting ready to have a great weekend! ;D

My latest library purchases

Hello, everybody! Hope you've all started the week with a smile :D. Fortunately, and thanks to a big stash of medicine, I'm feeling way better now! Actually, I've been breathing better than ever :P. I feel more energetic and awake than I can recall.

Anyway, I've just realized that I haven't shown you lots of books that I bought at the library sale these past weeks, so why not do it now? ;) Remember to check your local library for great bargains! ;) The books you'll see below ranged from 25c to $1.  A little heads up: some county fairs set some days when they received donated books instead of charging an entrance ticket. Such books were given to schools and libraries. We got a huge amount of new books today, so I think it's a great time to check the shelves in the book sale area ;D.

I'm particularly thrilled about the first book. I started reading it today on my way back from the library and I'm going to keep reading it as soon as I publish this post :p.

We're considering repainting our bedroom walls, so I thought the book on the left might come in handy. I brought the second one is for David.

Have you ever heard of a cat named Dewey? He was a stray who was found at a library. Apparently, his story is quite unbelievable. There's a sequel to this book, btw.

One about Lewis and Clark ;) and a manual I'm sure I'll be opening a lot, hehe.

I have plenty of books to read before these ones, but I couldn't help buying them.

 

 

I got  some crafty stuff, too.

 

And some more children books for my collection, hehe.

Oh, and I also found these Christmas gift tags; there are lots of them! I guess I'll keep using them for a few years, ha.

 

What books have you been reading lately?

Do you collect any books or magazines?

Have a great week! ;D

Hugs!

A week in pictures

Hello, everybody! Hope you're all having a nice weekend! First off, I want to thank  Jenna, Carrie and Lissa for having played along! ;) (See my previous post). Next, I want to talk about the highlights of my week, because I have to say it's ended up being a poopy one. But, fortunately, I've had more happy moments than crappy ones :).

I got this cute handmade bracelet from Courtney, I had won over at Chantilly's blog :). I was waiting to take some pictures of me wearing it, but I still haven't had the chance to do it. Thank you so much, Courtney! :P

We also got our wallpaper from Anthro in the mail; I can't wait to see it on our wall!

We also had the birthday of a little one at a park :). Her parents had forgotten to bring a stick for the pinata, so my brother-in-law's crutch came in handy, hehe.

From then on there's not much to say except that I got very asthmatic :(. I took several allergy pills that usually work, but they didn't anymore; I had to resort to my strong medicine from Argentina, which worked only the first time I took it. Since I had committed to go to the library on Thursday and Friday, I did go, which didn't help. Buuut, at least I could bring these vintage books that were tossers! They're from the 50s and 60s. I don't know why I'm into collecting vintage children books now; I just love their illustrations.

I also got some Dr Seuss books for the little girls in the family.

And here are some curious finds, as usual :p.

And then my poopy days started :/ ... I got from bad to worse, until Friday night it got really unbearable. I could only take ridiculously small puffs of air, couldn't sleep at all and honestly, got scared. I'd never been that bad before. We rushed to the clinic on Saturday morning and after a shot, some breathing treatment and a prescription that was very expensive to have filled out, I can finally say that I'm feeling much better :). I have a shitload of medicine to make my lungs happy, hehe. I need to see the doctor again tomorrow to have my heart rate checked (apparently it's too high) and then find a specialist, but I'm so glad I got over that ugly feeling of not being able to breathe ok!

That's why I haven't been checking your lovely blogs as often as I'm used to. I honestly didn't even feel like turning on the computer, but I'm back now! ;P So I'll be catching up with all of you, wonderful people!

Hope you're having a great weekend! ;D

Hugs!

Just for fun ;)

... And because I'm curious and love reading about you, fellow bloggers; I've come up with a fun form (?) that will let me know you a little better. I was going to tag people at the end, but I think it'll be funner if you do it only because you want to ;). So, if you feel like writing, go ahead and indulge me with your replies in the comment box or in your own blog. Pleaaseee? :p You can choose the fields you want to complete; thanks a lot! ;D

*.-  Self portrait (I used http://laphotocabine.com/ to take these pics)

A guilty pleasure: cheddar cheese Ruffles ... Seriously, I can wake up at 3am, go to the pantry and start eating them :/.

A pet peeve: Noisy eaters and people who grab food from my plate without asking. Oh, and girls who make a duck face when they pose for pictures (even if they do it mildly) ... Duck faces are not cute!

A color with a funny name: Alice blue (html).

Something you can totally live without: peanut butter.

A made up word you use: huggo (instead of hug, only in very informal writing).

A word you have trouble pronouncing/spelling: There are several :( ... I always hesitate before I say  "pear", "plaid" and "hazardous" (I tend to stress the second syllable in "hazardous"). As for spelling, one of the many words I usually misspell is "title" (I add an extra "t").

Something you'd rescue from the 80s: fluorescent colors.

Female and male names you like: Pierina, Gideon.

If you could be a movie character for a day, who would you choose? Amelie Poulain ... who wouldn't! Right?

So this is the list:

* Optional self-portrait

A guilty pleasure

A pet peeve

A color with a funny name

Something you can totally live without

A made up word you use

A word you have trouble pronouncing and/or spelling

Something you'd rescue from the 80s

Female/male names you like

If you could be a movie character for a day, who would you choose?

Happy midweek, everyone! ;D

Recycling old books

Hello, folks! Good morning/afternoon/evening! Depending on when you read this ;p. I took these pictures yesterday, but I'm glad I haven't posted them till now, because, well, yesterday was not that good of a day. Every time I wake up asthmatic (like yesterday), I have several different nightmares which ruin my day. I know they're just nightmares, but now that my mom has passed away, whenever I dream about her, I don't know, those dreams stick with me and disturb me the whole day ... Does that happen to you, too?

Today is a happy day, though, so I'm in a much better mood :). I got my green card yesterday in the mail, which is great. Right now I'm enjoying my morning coffee while listening to the radio; Zooey Deschanel will be there in a while. Plus, it seems it's going to rain, yay! I love rain :p.

Anyway, yesterday I went through some library tossers I'd brought home before the recycling staff  put their hands on them and came up with a few ideas. 

Cards & gift tags

This is the first book I worked on. It has lots of interesting images, both big and small. I used the bigger ones to make cards and the smaller ones to make gift tags.

To make the cards and gift tags, I used: book pages, construction paper, a paper cutter, a punch, glue and a cotton swab.

There's not much to explain, really; I just glued the pictures onto the construction paper by means of a cotton swab in order to avoid bubbles and wrinkles, and after a few minutes I cut the pictures and made a hole on top.

 

Since we don't have fortune cookies in Argentina, I always include a fortune when I send a letter there. I thought it'd be a good idea to glue fortunes on some of these cards. Of course I only send the cool fortunes, hehe; some of them are weird!

Garlands

I also used some pages of the same book to make a garland which can also be used to wrap a present, maybe? ;)

To make this garland, I used: book pages, a heart-shaped cookie cutter, some ribbon, scissors, a marker, glue and a cotton swab.

 

This, too, is very simple. I folded the pages so I could take 2 exact same hearts every time, drew the hearts, cut them and then glued a heart on each side of the ribbon. Start gluing the paper hearts from the middle to the sides of the ribbon.

Envelopes

To make these envelopes I used a book about European cafes, scissors, glue and a cotton swab.

Here's a picture where you can see how I've folded the sheet of paper before I glued the edges.

 

It's a no-brainer and you can actually fold the sheet in many different ways as long as the envelope looks neat ;). Make sure you fold the edges inwards, so you can not see them once you close and seal the envelope.

 

Easy peasy!

You can do all of the above with pretty much any kind of paper (as long as it's sturdy enough).

Hope you're having a great day! ;D

Hugs!