How to Watermark an Image

Hello everyone, I thought I would do a little tutorial on how to Watermark your images using Picmonkey .  So what is a Watermark??  A Watermark is when you add either your page name or your own name over an image and then fade it so the image can still be seen through the text (see the words Scented Sweetpeas on the above image to see an example).

I know a lot of facebook page owners and blog authors have had issues with people taking their images and using them as their own.  This is really upsetting if you have taken the time to take a photo and edit it only to find someone just takes it as their own :-(

Here an easy step you can follow to help protect your images:

Firstly go to www.picmonkey.com - this webside is great for editing photos in lots of ways.

Click edit a photo – this will open your computer files.

Pick a photo and double click it to upload.

Edit the photo as you wish - there are loads of wonderful photo editing techniques on this site so have fun !

Click the P on the right hand side tool bar

Highlight which font you like and click ‘Add Text’

Type your page name or your name in the text box that appears on the screen which says 'Type your text here'.

Now move the fade button along (this is just below the text colour choice) to fade the word until you are happy with it.  You can also move your text by just clicking on it so it is shown in a box and then drag it to where you want it.

Now click save and save the photo back to your computer.  Remember this will replace your original photo so if you want to keep the original add something like a .1 after the photo name so it is saved as a new file.

I hope you find this useful, feel free to pin this or share it.  x

Busy creating

Hello everyone, wow where does the time go, it seems I only get to post a blog once a month at the moment :-(  I miss it here in bloggy land :-(

I thought I would log in and update you on our Art from the Heart Auction event that took place on my facebook page a few weeks back.  Well we raised over £1090 in the end and I then organised to have my hair cut short in the Easter half term, goodness was I nervous!  I don't really like having my hair cut at the best of times but when my friend (the lovely Amy) said she could get 11 inches off my hair for the charity I felt rather sick.

I kept the piggy tail for a while as my Mum as on holiday and I wanted to show her what I had had cut off and then I posted it off a week or so later.

I hope they can use it as when I went to pop it in a clear packet (as they request on the site) the top hairband came off and the hair came undone so I had to try my best to re plait it.  I was in a cold sweat trying to do that thinking that maybe after all that growing it may not be able to be used :-(  Lots of lovely likers on my facebook page made me feel better saying that they usually make wigs a few strands at a time so I am hoping they can use it.

Not only was it fantastic to raise so much money for that fab charity and raise its profile a bit but it meant I got to meet lots of lovely, kind hearted, creative souls.  A little while after my cut a new creative friend called Corrine messaged me to say she has left a little something for me at my friends craft shop.  I popped in to collect it and wrapped in some gorgeous fabric and then a layer of lovely tissue paper was this wonderful watercolour of me and the bunny Joy which I made for the auction.  I actually gasped when I saw it, it is so gorgeous and really is my style ... thanks again Corrine!

Another lovely lady called Julie from Seven Stars made a crochet bunny for the auction and offered to send me one - I offered to pay but she wouldn't let me.  This cute little bunny, now named Rosie by little Sweetpea, is sitting on my dresser.  All of the artists who took part in the auction were so lovely and made the process so much easier for me by posting their items off quickly.  It is so wonderful to know that the world really is full of kind hearted people!

On not such a lovely note the Easter holidays were rather hard for me.  The Sweetpeas seemed intent on trying to send me over the edge :-(  The older Sweetpeas in particular were hard work, I just couldn't leave them alone for 1 second without one of them trying to kill the other one.   Middle Sweetpea turned 11 and we all went out bowling for her birthday so that broke the half term up a bit but even though I tried to keep them busy it still didn't stop them all annoying each other.

Towards the end of the seconds week I decided maybe getting a friend round may help.  It worked well, Eldest Sweetpea and his friend dug a nature pond whilst Middle Sweetpea played in the house with Little Sweetpea.  It was just what I needed - I really don't think I could have coped with their arguing much longer.

I am not sure my friend was as happy about me having her son round to play ..... luckily she knows me well and sent him in waterproofs.

They did a fab job with the pond though and the honey bees are enjoying sipping water from the edges of it and we now have two fish in there too.

Another saviour for me was a needle felting class that I escaped to one evening in the half term - it was such fun and a real giggle.  I made a heart and was meant to make a carrot but that turned into a fish which I am still creating.  This was held at my friends craft shop and my friend Louise took the class so that made it even more fun.  Notice how the cakes in the first photo have been moved away from me by the second photo - they were very yummy!

Oh and I have been finishing off my crochet ripple blanket .... more to follow in my next post about that.  Take care all of you xxx

Felt Easter Eggs Tutorial

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my crochet blanket, just 3 more ripples to go and then I can begin the edging :-)

I have been sharing activities I have done with my children on my facebook page for a while now and love it when people message me to say they have had fun trying things out, it really does make me happy.  As Easter is coming up I thought I would share this activity with you all, we did this last year but I never got round to sharing it.

To make these cute felt eggs you will need:

A pair of old tights
A plastic egg
Some roving wool
A towel or two
A washing machine
Scissors

Now I did take photos of us making these but can I find my base units lead to get the photos off , no of course I can't!  Right here we go, use your imagination for me :-)

Get your roving wool and pull it into quite long strips.  It is best to tear it rather than cut it as that way you won't see any joints.

Selotape any joins in your egg, e.g. if your egg opens so you have two halves tape round the middle.

Wrap these strips of wool round your egg in all different directions until you get a nice thick covering.  You can needle felt it a bit into place if you like.

Cut the toe off off your old tights and pop your wrapped egg snuggly in the toe area.  Tie the tights tightly (ooh that is a tongue twister if ever I heard one) so that your felted egg is locked in there nicely.

Now pop a couple of towels in your washing machine (preferably ones that need cleaning anyway so you can get two jobs done at once :-)).  Then pop your tied up eggs in there too.

Put your usual soap in the machine and wash on a high heat with a fast spin.

Wait ...........wait ........ wait ........ (this is the hard part of kids - and for me really :-)).

When the washing is finished pull your egg out and untie your tights.  Gently tease the wool away from the tights and you will have a nice egg shaped ball of felt.  If it looks a bit fluffy roll in your hands as fast as you can to felt it into a less fluffy ball.

Now get your scissors and cut open your felt ball to release the plastic egg.

You will be left with a really cute, fluffy, felted easter egg.  Fill with a little chick or some chocolate eggs ... done :-)

We did try to wet felt these by hand to start with but doing them in the washing machine was a lot easier and a bit less messy.

PS only a couple of chocolate eggs were hurt in the writing of this blog, I must confess to eating them ..... it is surprisingly hard to photograph them without eating them you know!  PPS don't forget to hang those towels out to dry :-)

Rippling away ....... Crochet

 

You may remember a couple of years back I taught myself to crochet  (along with the help of a couple of lovely friends :-)).  I have made lots of lovely crochet hearts and roses since then but have always wanted to make us a blanket.

I ordered the wool about a year ago and finally made a start on it in December!  I used the Attic 24's neat ripple pattern and started with around 210 chain stitches but then had to pull them back and redo them with a bigger crochet hook as it went curly (thanks Kathryn for the tip :-)).  The blanket was meant to be big enough to cover little Sweetpeas bed but as you can see it is turning out a lot larger than that lol.

Excuse the lump under the blanket..... it is an escapee ball of wool :-)

I wasn't sure of the colours I had chosen at first as they were slightly different from what I had expected (it is hard to tell the exact colours on your pc screen) but the more ripples I completed the more I loved them.  I have tried to do at least one ripple a day, I would have liked to have done more but the pain I experience in my arms puts a stop to that.

It has slowly grown as the rain, snow, wind and hail have battered against the windows..........

This blanket has been taken everywhere, over to my parents for Christmas, to work for break times (where my workmate tried to have a nap under it :-)), it has been popped over the children if they have been at home ill whilst I have been hooking away whilst cuddling them, I have enjoyed every minute of it and found it very relaxing so we have named it our Comfort Blanket.

Soon, very soon I will be on my last ripple :-(  I will miss creating this blanket.  I do however need to create the edging for it before it is complete, do any of you know of any good edging patterns?

Thanks so much for popping by and taking the time to read my ramblings (I do know I can ramble on , why use 1 word when you can use 10 :-)) and for your sweet comments. xxx

Wow I love this creative community!

A few weeks back you may remember I told you I was in the process of organising an auction to raise money for the Little Princess Trust.  Well the event became bigger than I had ever expected, in the end 47 artists joined the fun !  I must say I was blown away by the response and by how many people wanted to help.

So last Saturday after lots of organisation and promoting I sat here, in front of my little laptop screen, biting my nails and sipping wine wondering if anyone would come along to my page to bid.  I was worried no one would, that the lovely artists who were so lovely to offer up their gorgeous creations would feel let down if their items didn't make any money for the cause, that I had blown the event up too much in my head and heart .......

Well I am very very happy and rather proud to say the event was amazing and did SO much better than I had anticipated!  I had hoped we would get around £350 in donations to buy one child a wig but do you know how much we made??   We raised, and I mean WE, raised £1092, I kid you not one thousand and ninety two pounds!

My little bunny for the auction raised £100 alone!  She is now on her journey to her new loving home :-)  Her name is Joy as that is what her new owner has bought to a very happy little one.  That fantastic total means that we have raised enough for 3 wigs to make 3 children a lot happier!  Now all I have to do is have my hair chopped off to donate to the cause too ..... eeekk!

It makes me so happy to be part of such a lovely, creative community that can use their talent to bring a positive change to someones life :-)    It was a lot of hard work but so so worth it.

On a completely different note, little Sweetpea is now sleeping through nearly every night - you will not believe how wonderful that feels!  It has meant I beginning to feel like the old Zoe, the real me :-)  After 4 + years of broken sleep it feels wonderful going to bed knowing I will probably not wake until the morning.  This in turn has meant  I have been able to go out with friends down the pub a few times ....... happy times have been had when I have been out out :-)

After jesting with friends about being out out a few weeks back (aka Micky Flanagan stylee) I took a pint of milk and a cut loaf to my last session of being out out.  I was going to wear my carpet slippers but it was raining :-(  Happy Days :-)

2012 Conclusion - Finally :-)

September

Well here are my last few photo collages to conclude 2012.  I loved looking back over the years photos (and there were 100s of them!), 2012 was a lovely if not slightly emotional year.  

As you can see from Septembers photos Little Sweetpea went to big school, she is loving it although she does ask if she can stay at home some days.  I am still missing her but have slowly adapted to her being away from me.

We had fun down the allotment last year and also Mr Sweetpea harvested his first honey from his bees.

October

October saw little Sweetpea turning 5, she was ill for quite a lot of that month poor thing but still managed to eat cake :-)  We also had a big family get together to celebrate Nan & Grandad's 60th Wedding Anniversary which was great fun.  ooh we also had our chimney swept - I couldn't help but sing a Mary Poppins tune when I saw the sweep come out of the top of the chimney :-)

December 2012

In December I got some of my photos turned into cards which have sold really well.  I started a huge crochet blanket which I am still hooking away at.  Gingerbread houses were made with my sister and the children and hot chocolate was drunk.  Little Sweetpea took part in her first nativity, again she was ill just before that but managed to get back to school just in time.  Of course there were more family get togethers, Christmas day was spent round my parents with lots of family and friends and a great day was had by all :-)

December 2012

So in conclusion 2012 was a lovely year.

Art from the Heart Auction

Some time ago I read an article about a little girl who had her hair cut for the Little Princess Trust.  This charity raises money and takes hair donations so that they can make wigs for children who have lost their hair through cancer treatment.

It got me thinking .... why not grow my hair until it was long enough to be used to make a wig?  I can't even comprehend how sad a child must feel finding out they had cancer and then to lose their hair due to the treatment they had, it must be a constant reminder of their illness :-(

Fast forward a year or so and my hair is nearly long enough to be cut and sent off and I looked up on the charity site how to go about sending it off.  I found out that it costs £350 to create a real hair wig for a child so then asked on my facebook page if others would like to help raise money for this fab cause.  Well I have been overwhelmed by the fantastic response!  I have a lot of people now wanting to participate which means we are going to have a fab auction of lots of lovely hand made items by some very talented people.

Pop to my facebook page so see what is up for auction, I will be adding new items over the next few weeks.  Also if you would like to join in please do message me via facebook or at scentedsweetpeas@yahoo.co.uk - the more the merrier :-) xxx