Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

Today starts my Thanksgiving week for me, and at home here. I will be leaving soon to travel to the army base to get our son, and bring him home for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Tomorrow family, and friends will be together enjoying the company of each other, eating of course, and having a relaxing day together. I am thankful for so many things, and am thankful I am able to share this special time with others. What are you thankful for?

So, today's post to everyone is short. I am thankful that you visited with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you all again soon. Have a safe, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

                                   HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Watermarking Our Photos For Our Shops, and Online

Watermarking Our Photos For Our Shops, and as we do some things online.

As we sell, show our hobbies, accomplishments, and have things we want to share we often do it with our photos. Pictures can show things that we want others to see. When you show your photos did you ever think of having any issues with someone using them for their own usage? It is something that can happen, does happen, and many times you might know about it till you are notified, or you come across it yourself as you roam the internet. There is no complete way of preventing this from happening, but we can try different solutions to maybe prevent some of it. 

We can watermark our photos. There are many mixed feelings with this. You either love the idea of the watermarks, or hate it. Unfortunately, it is not a definite way of preventing the so called theft of ones pictures. Watermarks can tend to look ugly, and sometimes can ruin the image too. It is one way to consider in protecting your images by being used by someone else for other purposes. 

If you do wish to use them try to make them as subtle as you can. It depends on how fancy, and involved you want this to get. You can use a photo editor to put some text over the image, or overlay a slightly visible designed logo over the image or in some other area of the picture. Some put it at the top, sometimes the lower right corner, sometimes underneath it, etc. With this you can also determine the font you wish to use, the size of it, use some funky font, put a box around it, use color, but it is up to you what you would like done. 

There are different programs that can be used for such a task. Before downloading anything you might already have something on your computer. IrfanView is a popular oldie, but goodie image viewer for windows has a watermarking feature built in. Googles Picasa photo managment has a feature in the Option menu, and Photoshop Elements offers an easy way to create watermarks too. When I do something like this for my pictures I use a free one called Picmonkey. 

As mentioned you can simply overlay some text on top of an image with your copyright info. It can viewable, but it does not have to over power the image either. I like to do simple, hardly visible, but it is there. I generally place mine as close as possible to the image without distracting from you viewing the picture. 

Get as creative as you want with the size, color of text, font, position, and so on. I don't think you need to over complicate things, but this is up to what you would like to have done. 

Hope this little tidbit of information was able to help you some today, or give you some places to look further. Thanks for sharing your time at LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you again soon. Take care, and have a Happy Day everyone!

Pinecone Christmas Tree Decoration Ornament Crafts

Pine Cone Christmas Table Decorations Handmade

Handmade Pinecone Tree Pots

Pinecone Christmas Tree Ornaments

Pinecone Fun Christmas Crafts Ideas




Pinecone Christmas Tree Decoration Ornament Crafts  

I know Thanksgiving is next week, and by now most of us have done what we would like to do for our decorating with that holiday. Many of us have, are doing, thinking about it, and working on our christmas decorations. Some will buy handmade, some will buy items from the stores, and many of us will have fun making and crafting our own things for this precious christmas holiday.

So many thoughts, and so many ideas for Christmas Crafts to share. What you are seeing now is some pinecone christmas tree decorations, and ornament crafts. I have shared just a few things with you, but know there is so much more to see and do. 

Some are able to go out to the yard, and get their own pinecones...like me. Others will get some from neighbors, friends, and you can also buy some at different places too. If you get your cones from outside make sure to get them in the oven for about 20-30 minutes at 250 degrees to get rid of any nasties, and to clean them off a bit before you craft with them. Once you have all the cones you want there are many possibilities that you can craft with them. Make little pot trees, make little trees, ornaments, figurines, wreaths, paint them, and the list is endless. 

A small reminder that Christmas does come a little earlier to us this year following the holiday. Thanksgiving was a little later this year for us. Hope everyone is enjoying all their preparations for the upcoming holidays, and maybe able to get a few more ideas as well. It's not too late to still do some of these things. 

Thanks so much for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you all again soon. I always enjoy hearing from you, and having your share your thoughts and ideas with us all too. Just leave your thoughts with us in the comments for all to see. Thanks again everyone, and have a Happy Day!

ABout Me Page, Me Page, Personal Me Page

About Me Page, Me Page, a Personal Me Page

When we set up shop some where, set up our blogs, even setting up our own websites we often question...along with many other things.....but we wonder if we should do a personal page that is about us. Is it really necessary, does it get read, and does it really help us by doing this. I use to ask the same questions myself. Most of the time I would complete this page because I felt the impression would be I do not complete everything in full, and I didn't want anything over looked. 

I do believe that this Personal Page should be done by everyone. Does haven't to be anything real long, real lengthy, nothing fancy, don't have to give a life story completely either. Filling out this page is your time to share your story, and your style. This page will reflect more on who you are in a personal way.  

If you walk into a store don't you kind of look around to get a feel of the place? If you are interested you walk in further to see more, right? Upon your purchase if you meet the owner it is nice to converse with them, get a feel for the kind of person they are, and if you leave on a good note feeling comfortable about the whole situation you will probably return.

Many of us sell online. It has it's advantages compared to having a brick and mortar store which we see over time. Selling online can be hard not only because customers cannot see the product in person that they are interested in, they cannot feel it, and they do not see us the sellers. When we describe our products we try to include everything we can think of for the customers because they can not be there to see it, or feel it. We should be doing the same with our personal pages too. This is a time for us to share our stories of who we are, how we got started, to show our interest in what we do, why we like what we do, and to also give a sense of our style as well. We want our customers to have a comfortable shopping experience with our stores, and this is another process that should be included. 

Is this a rule for us to do? No, it is not. When we do things for our shops we try to do it with having a customers eye view of it. This is something I have seen mentioned before, asked about, and thought I would share my view on this with you. 

Thanks so much for visiting with LilacsNDreams, and hope you enjoyed your visit as well. If you have something you would like to share you are always welcome to do so with the comments. Love to hear everyone's ideas, and perspective with things too. Take care, and have a Happy Day!

Help Me Name My Shop My Business

Help Me Name My Shop My Business

Selling online has many factors to be considered for setting things up as we have learned. One of those is choosing a name for your shop, or business. Do we use our names, do we use keywords that pertain to what we sell, do we choose a name that fits more to what our personalities are, our tastes or favorite things, and so on.

 When you do choose a name you would prefer not to have it to long, and hopefully a name that would be easily remembered too. Then, you will also find that you might find something you like for a name, but it is already being used by another person too. You could try to use that name in another way with a different spelling, numbers, and etc. Keep in mind when doing this that your name might not necessarily be your name alone. It would be in some way associated with the original name you wanted too.

When choosing a shop, or business name it would be nice if it would tell your story, and style with it too. So, why did I choose LilacsNDreams? I had chosen other names when trying to choose a name for me. I thought I had some other good choices, but at that time they were already taken by someone else too. When I was choosing my name I would search with the search engines, the platform I was deciding to set shop up at, and etc. Like others I wanted a name that was me, my name, not used by others, and that I could grow with. I like Lilacs, and soft colors. Like others I like to dream as well. I wanted a name that would work for the variety of things I was selling at the time too. I am a simple person, and wanted something that would go with this style of me too. That is kind of how LilacsNDreams came to life, and I have had it since 2004.

Another thought as you choose your name that you want. If you sell with other places, have a website, blogs, and etc. Will you use the same name everywhere, or will you choose a name for each place you sell at. Also, if you want more than one shop should you have different names, or what should you do? This idea varies with many people. If you have more than one shop at one particular site, then yes you will need different names to do this. If you want to sell with other places some believe in using the same name, and others feel you should choose another name. My decision was to have the same name, and use it everywhere on the internet I was associated with. When my name is searched in a search engine you will see the different places I am associated with come up with that name. I wanted to use the same name as I felt it was a good way to get my name out there, be seen, get exposure this way, and that when the name was seen it would be associated with me, and no one else. 

So, over time I have kept the same name as my preference. I have domains directed for the name, and over time the name has become mine. Yes, the business license, or permit also has this name. If someone were to buy this name, take copyrights to it, they would have to spend time and money to structure to what they wanted it for. 

Anyway, a little something else to think about when setting up shop for selling online, getting a website, setting up your blogs, and etc. Hope this tidbit of thoughts helps you out a little with your thoughts, and decisions if you are in the process of choosing a name. Just giving a little idea of some things to think of when doing so as well. 

Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see ya'll again soon. Take care, and have a Happy Day!

Avatars Banners For Our Online Shops Platforms Blogs Websites

Avatars Banners For Our Online Shops Platforms Blogs Websites

Many of us do sales online as our business, and for some it is a hobby too. When we set up shop with different venues, market places, platforms, blogs, and websites we often have many questions as we set them up. Colors, do we use animated pictures, do I need a template, should I have a signature with my emails, what about my avatar, and do I need a banner? A lot of things to consider, and this is just some of it to begin with. 

A lot we can discuss, and this opens the door to many things. I am going to start this off with a simple subject now. Avatars, and banners is an issue that I see discussed quite often with different places like Etsy, Ecrater, Artfire, our blogs, and of course some of our websites too. Is there a true answer to this? I have yet to find one that is 100% correct, and says it is the law to do it. But, when we set up shop online we like to treat it like having our own brick & mortar store. Appearance can grab attention, and it can bring the customer in for a closer look. Don't get me wrong, our products definitely bring them in to look, read, learn, and hopefully purchase. As they enter sometimes appearances can reflect on you as a seller too. 

So, do we need an avatar with some of our shops? Do we need a banner with our shops as well? Is it really necessary, and does it really matter? In some ways yes it can make a difference with some shoppers. When choosing these things what do we choose? What is the best thing to use? Many have said that we should show a picture of something that we sell, or have sold. That is a good point. It is also mentioned to show a picture of ourselves with our avatars. I have also seen shared that we should not have these things to busy, don't have too much frill, and then there is also colors too. Yes, it is nice to show pictures of items you sell, give the customer a feel of what it is you do and offer, but I myself also think it is good to show a little bit of yourself. What I mean by that is show a little bit of who you are, your personality, and not only show what you sell, but let the customer feel comfortable entering your shop with a welcoming feeling of who you are too.

I know, it's a bit over whelming right? Don't let it intimidate you. Experiment with it a bit, and get some feed back from customers who buy from you, and from others within your same niche too. 

I myself like to keep things simple if I can. Yes, I use the same banner....most of the same banner pretty much everywhere I have set up shop. I try to stay with the same colors, and use the same avatar as well. I myself feel that this helps with recognition when shoppers are out searching that big old internet for things they want. Does it help? I have had some comments from past customers and acquaintances meeting up with me on Facebook, or maybe Google+ asking if it was really me, they remember me from this or that place, and it was nice meeting up with me again. Sometimes the comment I thought I recognized you which is a good feeling. 

Some like to change things every month with their avatars, and banners too. Maybe not every month, but at different times they will change. It works well for some, and others also have a different view with this. I would Love to change my avatar, and banners myself. I have often been tempted to, but at the same time I decided to stay with everything the same. I am still someone small, still trying to grow, and trying to be recognized by others as well. So, to keep things simple again, and not confuse anyone I keep the same. Eventually I will change things out, and maybe then I will have someone else design things for me. Till then I do it myself, and keep it simple being LilacsNDreams.  

I know I probably didn't give you complete answers to some of this, but I hope it gave you a little bit to think about as you venture onto your online shops. I appreciate you sharing your time with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you again soon. Take care, and Have a Happy Day!  

Holidays Thanksgiving Christmas Are We There Yet

Holidays Thanksgiving Christmas, Are We There Yet?

Happy Holidays Everyone! How are we doing so far. Thanksgiving will be here in a couple of weeks, and it's about 5? weeks till Christmas, right? Where the heck is the time going, and it really is moving along at a quicker speed now too. 

Every year is different on how the Holidays are being treated, which one is getting more attention, and if we want to consider it all festive as it use to be, or just another day. I remember when I was younger (yes, I was there once) being excited for Thanksgiving, all the food, seeing family, spending time playing on the farm, seeing this grand parent & that one too. Then, there was Christmas to be all excited about as well. The trees, the lights, the festivities, the preparations, Santa, and searching for them hidden gifts parents would hide away from us. I actually liked winter, and the snow then too.

Now as each year goes past it seems like the holidays are not quite what they use to be. Some of the fun, and much of the meaning has been taken from it. I feel as though it is pushed upon us, and has become something more of a retail holiday than what the true meaning of it all is. A little bit each year seems to get lost with all the hustle of things. 

So, anyway, how do you celebrate and are you ready for all this? How do you celebrate Thanksgiving? Each year it seems to be the same thing, but this year we are working on maybe trying a few things just a little differently. You know, trying to add a little of the fun back into it all. Christmas will be more festive as our son will be home from army base for about a couple of weeks...unless he changes his mind. Be nice to have some company around the house again, and to be sharing all the fun stuff with family as well. Course we will be thinking of those who are no longer with us, and knowing that they too are celebrating right along with us as well. 

I have been blessed with a few sales the past week, and a half. I am thankful for this, and know that most of the items are being used for preparations in festivities for others as well. I just cannot believe how the time has flown, so much to do around here, and was curious how others were handling this as well. 

Thanks so much for sharing time with LilacsNDreams, and always happy to hear from all of you too. Take care, and drop by again soon. Have a Happy Day!