Paper Paint and Pine

Friday, October 7, 2011

. . . Fun Friday Finds-Halloween Ideas . . .

Today Fun Friday Finds is a little different because I'm featuring the top 12 viewed projects from my Wickedly Creative Halloween Ideas Party. I am amazed by how many people have linked up some incredibly creative projects, but these are the top 12 viewed items.

You can still add your great projects to the Party!!

It's open until October 16th so join in on the fun.

1. Family Friendly Costumes @ Sweeter Than Sweets

2. Halloween Test Tubes @ The Autocrat

3. Witch Print @ Bacon Time

4.Witches Feet @ Holiday Snob

5. Boo Banner @ The Scrap Shoppe

6. Halloween Decor @ Fancy Frugal Life

7. Halloween Printables @ Blooming Homestead

8. Witch Party @ Naptime Journal

9. Halloween Hurricanes @ My Heart's Desire

10. Tissue Paper Candy Corn @ Oasis Accents

11. Halloween Sign @ Alderberry Hill

12. Halloween Centerpiece @ Buttercup Bliss

Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

. . . Best Photo Size for Blogging . . .

I will never claim to be an expert blogger but I have learned a lot over the last year and a half of doing it. One thing that has been the most valuable is how to size my photos so they use up a large amount of my posting space. With Blogger you get just a few options on the size of your photos--small, medium, large, extra large and original size. That drove me nuts because if I chose large they never seemed big enough and if I chose extra large they ran over my posting area. Forget trying original size on a photo that is unedited because it was huge.

Then, I discovered the PERFECT photo size!! I have no idea where I read this and I wish I did so I could give them credit because it's been the best tip I've found for blogging so far.

So, do you want to know the perfect size for most blogs? I bet you do! 550 pixels wide and then you can determine the height. I LOVE this tip!

Here is an example of a picture that is just a regular unsized photo,

setting it to large in the blogger format:

Now, this is the same picture resized to 550 pixels wide and 366 pixels high:

It makes a difference! I always use the "scale photo" option when resizing and that way it just automatically calculates the best height so the photo is not distorted in any way. Any photo editing software will have this as an option.

Good luck!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

. . . LaunchHer Feature . . .

When I started my business over a year ago I really thought it would just be a hobby so every milestone that I hit I feel overwhelmed and so fortunate. I keep wanting to pinch myself with every opportunity that comes along and every order placed. I feel so blessed to have wonderful customers and supporters.

Today, the amazing website, LaunchHer featured Itsy Bitsy Paper as their Freshly Launched Business. I think what they are doing over there is amazing! Their site is dedicated to Women in Business and helping promote them. If you aren't familiar with them you should definitely check them out. I feel so honored that they chose Itsy Bitsy Paper to be a Freshly Launched Business. I hope you will take a few minutes to stop by and read the post. There is also a coupon code for LaunchHer readers so that could be handy too with the gift giving season right around the corner.

Thank you to LaunchHer and to all my amazing customers and supporters!!

. . . Cookie Time Tuesday--Soft M&M Cookies . . .

Last week I featured Reese's Pieces Cookies and they were delicious so it only seemed natural to feature an M&M Cookie this week. This recipe came from Lil Luna and it is fantastic! My family gobbled these up the minute they came out of the oven. I am always trying to find an M&M Cookie that is soft and this one finally lives up to my expectations--soft but still a puffy cookie. I hate when a cookie flattens out when it cools and these didn't. I have found a keeper with this recipe for sure!

Today my son's teachers got a bag of cookies with both the Reese's Pieces Cookie and the M&M Cookie and a tag that said "Thank you for being a Magnificent and Marvelous Teacher--I adore you to Pieces" I figured since it was the first day of testing today it was a great treat for them. I liked the play on words by using the 2 "M" words to describe them and then the "Pieces".

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family has!

• • • • • • •

 Print Recipe HERE

You will need:

Sugar

Brown Sugar

Butter

Oil

Eggs

Baking Powder

Baking Soda

Flour

Salt

Vanilla

M&Ms

• Gather ingredients

• Mix butter, sugars and oil together then add eggs

• Add dry ingredients and vanilla

• Add chopped and whole M&Ms and blend well

• Your dough will be very thick

• Roll into balls and place on a silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet

• Bake 7 to 8 minutes

• So yummy!!

Enjoy!

Monday, October 3, 2011

. . . Genius Pancake Tip . . .

Around our house we make a lot of pancakes thanks to my son's obsession with them. I usually whip up a batch and scoop the batter out with a small cup or use the batter bowl to pour it into the pan but it always creates a drippy mess and I hate that. As you probably all have figured out I'm always trying to think of how I can use something before I toss it out. The other day we made pancakes and I was getting ready to throw out the old syrup bottle and I had this lightbulb moment--why not use that as a pancake "pourer". We bought my mom a fancy Pancake Batter Bottle from Williams-Sonoma and I've often thought of getting one myself but now I won't need to. Using this empty syrup bottle was GENIUS! I just mixed up the batter and then poured it into the empty bottle and it worked wonders. The pancakes were perfect circles each time.

Yummy!

Linking Here:

Pinching Penny Party

Blue Cricket Design

Somedays Crafts
Trendy Treehouse

Elements Interiors
This Chic Cooks
Passionately Artistic
Lil Luna
What I Whipped Up Wednesday

Transformation Thursdays
Yesterday on Tuesday

Somewhat simple

Fireflies and Jellybeans

HOH

Thrifty Thursday

Under 100

Stuff for little boys

Life as Lori
Thrilling Thursday

Sunday, October 2, 2011

. . . Sponsor Spotlight . . .

I wanted to spotlight 2 of my awesome Sponsors today, Great Graphics and The Twinery. Both are amazing to work with and you will love their products.

Great Graphics

 Words by Great Graphics:

"I am a graphic designer and owned and operated an invitation and stationery manufacturing business for over 7 years. After selling it about a year and a half ago, I decided I needed an outlet for all that creativity again-so here I am! All the fun-and much less stress!"

Great Graphics offers amazing Digital Clipart and Papers for the designer in you!

Etsy Shop

Artfire Shop

Website

Blog

Facebook

• • •

The Twinery

Words by The Twinery:

"We sell the best, & most vibrant twine on the market! Our twine is 100% cotton, uniquely twisted for a fresh new look - and our twine has lots of color which adds a perfect 'pop' to any project! It was truly created with the creative crafter in mind!"

You have to check out all the amazing colors of twine offered at The Twinery!

Etsy

Website

Facebook

Twitter 

Blog

Thank you a million to these 2 amazing sponsors!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

. . . Free Halloween Download . . .

I've been busy doing Halloween Projects and decorating around the house. I have also been busy printing many fall invitations so the Halloween bug has bitten me for sure. I decided it would be fun to come up with a unique download for October and why not make it Halloween themed?

I hope you will enjoy this print. It is set up to be done as a 5x7 print and you can download it HERE.