Blog Blogger Blogging Social Media Networking

Blog Blogger Blogging Social Media Networking with LilacsNDreams. Hello, and Welcome to all who are visiting!

I don’t quite have my valentine piece done to share the completed vision with you. I picked up a few more things to try with it. Sorry about that. So, I grabbed another topic to discuss with everyone. I know I’ve covered some of the Blogging, and Social Media Networking before, but I wanted to share a little more with it today. 

Blogging, and Social Media Networking had grown fast over time. Today it is still very much used with online sales, marketing, brick and mortar stores use different forms, and so on. So, a question is Why Blog? There are different reasons I will point out to you. 

1) Social Media Networking is one reason for it. Blogging is another form of Social Media like Pinterest, 

Facebook, Instagram, and so on.

2) Another reason to Blog is it gets you published. How you ask? By working with things in regards to like your SEO, your keywords used, topics used which helps you get noticed in search engine rankings.

3) Another reason to Blog is for you to get your message out there that you want shared with others. There is no right, or wrong words and pictures to put out there. It’s up to you what you wish to share, what you want others to see, and what the message is that you would like others to relate with. 

4). Blogging is another way to share some tips, ideas, tutorials, questions, answers, and just sharing. 

5)  This has become a great way for teachers, and students to share work, class notes, pictures, etc. Kind of like a newsletter for some companies, and places too. 

Blogging is not just for one form of profession, but for many forms and ways of things that people do. Online Sellers, Brick and Mortar Store owners, Big Companies, Small Companies, Journalists, Photographers, Publishers, Writers, etc. Many people have turned to forms of Blogging as the Social Media Networking area grew.

Choosing the right platform is a task that you yourself will have to look at, and determine the fit for you. Couple of popular ones are with Blogger.com, and Wordpress.com. Some platforms will be for free, and some will offer paid versions too. Some people have websites that they include a blog with it, and I’ve seen some use their domain, or one of their domains, for a blog too. Choose the platform that works for you, that you are comfortable using, and depending on what you want to do for your blog too. 

As you can see I use Blogger, and I have used them for years. I have wordpress too. But, I don’t spend much time with it. I am use to blogger, I’ve accustomed to the ease of use of things around here, its been easier for me to learn to do things without changes done all the time. I have noticed I can be seen in search with wordpress, and if I work things like I should my blog shows in search engines too.

I wish everyone well, have fun in all you do, enjoy, and please be safe. Thank You for visiting with LilacsNDreams! Take care, and see you soon. Toodles . . . . . .

 

Upcycled Repurposed DIY Shutter Inspirations

           Upcycled Repurposed Shutter Table Chippy

            Repurposed Upcycled Shutter Chalk Message Boards

               
            DIY Shutter Headboard Upcycled Repurposed


Upcycled Repurposed DIY Shutter Inspirations   

Welcome to a wonderful Monday with LilacsNDreams! I know that I have talked about this before, but I found some other inspirational pieces I thought I would share with you. 

DIY upcycled repurposed shutter inspirations. There is so much out there that you can upcycle, and repurpose with. Many things from your own home, things people throw to the curbs, founded items from thrift shops, and etc. Shutters are one of those things that can be used in many ways. 

I have seen them painted, and then hung or leaning holding magazines, put together to make a shelf, making a stand that has 2 or 3 or 4 shelves, put together to make room dividers, use as a message board center with clips for everyone, hang them, lean them against walls, decorate with them, and just so many things to do. Many possibilities from what the mind can imagine. 

Above you see pictures for how a small little table was done using shutters on all sides, adorable message boards made with some small chalk boards and clips, and the last one is an adorable headboard made for the bed that adds to the decor of the room. Just lovely, and creative too!

Hey, I hope ya'll had a great weekend. Hope you are able to stay warm as some are getting very cold weather with some snow too. Yes, I am one of them to have a little bit of snow, and some really cold weather! Brrrrr.....

Thanks so much for visiting with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you again soon. Have fun creating with all the possibilities, and have a Happy Day everyone!

Social Media is Better Than Granny and Fun Too

Social Media is Better Than Granny, and sometimes a little bit more Fun Too.

Hi there! Welcome to LilacsNDreams! You know that now a days all you need is a computer, internet connection, and a browser for you to have the best of all worlds literally right at your finger tips. Knowing some of this we create Blogs, open up a Facebook page, set up Google+ to publish online, tweet with Twitter, pin on Pinterest, and so on. Then, you have the "global crowd" that will show up to read, maybe like your page, sometimes tell you well done, will comment back, converse with you, loved your photos, and appraise a good article or video. 

We take photos with smart phones, iPads, and post them to instagram. We pin images to Pinterest, we also do this with likes on Facebook, comments made on Blogs, and Twitter retweets. 

We are all human. We crave the attention, the encouragement, and the pat on the back sort of thing. Provide us with some positive feedback, give us a smile, and we will keep showing up having a go at it one more time. The Social Web provides a 2 way channel where we can publish, and receive the encouragement that drives us to maybe some potential greatness. We now have the tools for this, sometimes gaining more as days go by, and we now have the confirmation of the world wide web too.

All reasons for the online creativity, the expressions that are growing, and as we have noticed at a rapid pace too. This is why the Social Networks, or Social Medias have been touching with our souls, and minds.   

So, why would I mention that Social Networking would be better than Granny? Well, the global crowd that we have never seems to sleep. Think about how your friends on Facebook, your circles with Google+, the followers with Twitter, and your readers with your Blogs from the USA, Germany, South America, or wherever fill in the time gaps that Granny cannot match. Ummm, Grannies also need to nap (LOL), and the social crowd is always there 24/7. 

Blogging, Social Networking, Feedback, and encouragement will sometimes get me up early, and sometimes keep me up late reading, writing, researching, sharing, sometimes hearing a "wow" for what I shared, or even a "well done" gives me even more energy. I am often reminded why I like to Social Network with the few places that I do, and I have all of you to thank for that as well. With all of this I am growing, and keep learning. So, call me old fashioned if you like, but this is what I would consider to be the "Granny Effect".

Just some thoughts, and ideas that I thought I would share with all of you today. We often see people talking about Social Networking, and I thought maybe I would share kind of a light fun view into this idea. 

Hope you enjoyed, and happy to have you share your time with LilacsNDreams as always. Thanks again for visiting, and hope to see you again soon. Have a Happy Day everyone!

Happy Friday to All, Have a Super Weekend Everyone

Happy Friday to All, Have a Super Weekend Everyone!!

Well now, here it is Friday again, and where the heck did this week go? I mean it seems like just yesterday it was Monday, and I had plans made for things to be done this week. Well, here it is Friday, and I have not gotten all done that I wanted too. Never ending job, don't you agree?

Wishing you all a splendid Friday. May you do all that you have planned, accomplish those goals you have set, finish those lists you have made, have some time to maybe do some thrifting, garage sales, have fun creating, and you know....everything that you enjoy doing. Enjoy the weekend, have fun, and be safe out there everyone. Thanks for visiting LilacsNDreams, and see you all again soon.

Its Friday Again Everyone, Have a Wonderful Weekend

WooHoo! It's Friday again everyone! Where did this week go, right? Maybe it is just Me, but the week kind of got by Me this time. I got things done around the house mostly, a lot of laundry with everyone here, dishes, and the usual things. No time for creating this week, but hopefully that will come. 

Been kind of cold here. Trying to be warmer, it's spring, and I am anxious for it to get nice out. Actually really nice would be great! Hope the weather has been good to you where you are at. 

Here we go into the weekend again everyone. Any big plans? Not much for Me this weekend. Just day by day, and see where it all leads Me. Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams today everyone. Take care, have fun, enjoy your Friday, and have a super weekend!

Google Reader Will Shut Down, Now What

Google Reader Will Shut Down, Now What?

It's all over the internet, and if you have not already heard this Google Reader is going to be shutting down by July 1st, 2013. Reading other blogs, and some searching of things this appears to be the original post from Google. There is also another post with Google Reader Blog that covers this as well too. There are more on the list shutting down, and it is being announced as their spring cleaning. 

Not to panic everyone. There are many alternatives out there to consider. Many of them are being over loaded right now with the rush of everyone trying to download, and transfer things. You still have time before the Google Reader shuts down to look around, research some of them, and see what others are sharing about their experiences too. There are many places out there similar to the Google Reader that are also RSS Feed readers too. One of those is BlogLovin. When you search the internet, do google searches for "rss feed readers" you will gain new hope. 

I am already on BlogLovin myself, and have had an account with them for quite a while. So, with this news of Google Reader it is to my advantage that I already have a place for this. BlogLovin has had good feed back, and is pretty user friendly to work with also. If you click here you can visit Me over at BlogLovin too.   

The process is not hard to do all of this. Just take your time with it all, and things will work out smoothly for you. 
• Your 1st step is to go to BlogLovin, and get signed up there. 
• Your 2nd step will be your sign up information which is self explanatory too. 
• Step 3 will be your email verification, and the address to be verified with it
• By this 4th step you should see the Blue Button that reads "import from google reader" which you will click to bring your blogs over that you are following 
• Step 5 don't forget to click the blue button to allow access for your blog import

Once you have that done you can then claim your own blog, choose your BlogLovin follow button you wish to use. Mine is on the right side bar that I have added to my blog here that will stay, and then of course above with this posting you can click that one too. 

Sorry if I am repeating what you already know. Some do not hear of things, have busy schedules to catch things, and some sign in at different times missing announcements too. Whatever it is that you happen to have missed this announcement I hope it catches up to you now with this posting.

As always thanks for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams everyone, and happy to have you visiting with Me. Take care, and see you all again soon. 

Pinterest and Tips For Creating Images People Will Share

Pinterest and Tips For Creating Images People Will Share.

Hello, and Welcome back to LilacsNDreams! Pinterest is another Social Network that has hit the internet, and has grown quite rapidly. It has also become quite popular with people too. People like it because it is another way to share some of the same interests, place to get some ideas from, and can be addictive just looking through everything that everyone is sharing there. You see something you like on the internet, want to hang onto some instructions, found an idea, and etc then all you have to do is "pin" it. Pinterest is like a really big bookmark for many people, and as of recently as become more to some as business now too. 

I have noticed when doing searches on the big old search engine of google that some things being offered are items that were pinned at Pinterest. So, depending what you do it can be helpful in traffic, being seen, and so on. 

From the Social Media Examiner the other day they had shared 5 tips for Creating Pinterest Images That People Love to Share. A few tips were shared in how to get your images ready for you adding them to boards there, and when people come along to pin them, and share them too.

1.)  Use Relevant Labels on Your Images

When someone pins images from your website, or blog post, the label that automatically appears in the description is the name you gave your image. Instead of image1, image2 you wuold like a label image with a relevant name that is specific to the image. Something like green glass anchor hocking vase, or whatever you image may be. 

2.)  Write a Text Message on Top of Your Image

Interesting idea, but I can see how it is helpful too. Add a text message onto your image so that your image will have a description with it at all times. There are many software programs out there to use for this, and many of them free too. Or, maybe you have a preference with one, and some also like to use what came with their computers too. 

3.)  Add Logo or Name to the Image

Add your business name, website, or a small logo can also make images more effective. So, if the image gets pinned everyone knows who created it. Others can find your site with doing this, and etc. I would like to mention that upon doing this make sure that your name does not over power the picture as well. People like to view things, and they don't like distractions in the way too. There are subtle ways of putting your business name on images without it being the center of attention too. 

4.)  Ask People to Pin Your Images

Make is easy for others to share your images by asking them to pin your images. Example would be to display a message such as "feel free to pin" or "feel free to share on Pinterest" Others are more likely to share your images. Kind of like when people ask you to Like them on Facebook, join my circle on Google+, Tweet me, and etc. 

5.)  Keep Your Descriptions Between 200 to 300 Characters

This is for that box that is below the pictures when you are pinning them. It's important to create fantastic images for your website, and blog. It's also important to pin your images with a description, and share it with followers on pinterest. 

A good description that tells a story behind images can capture followers, and makes your pins more shareable too. This is all interesting isn't it? Reminds me of doing SEO, and applying some of it to your images which is good for anything you do. It can help with relevancy, can help with your images also being found with engine searches, and so on. 

If you would like to read a bit more detail about this topic make sure to click Social Media Examiner at the beginning of this, or you can also click on the topic title right after the Social Media Examiner too. Either link will take you to the same place. 

Hope this helped some of you a bit with your pinning, and your images at Pinterest. I know, that place can be very addictive, and fun to see everything too. Thanks so much for sharing your time at LilacsNDreams today. Take care everyone, and see you again soon. 

Happy Hump Day, Remember to Count Your Blessings

Happy Hump Day! Remember to Count Your Blessings. 

 Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone, and glad to have you visiting.

I do believe this week has become some sort of a slack off week for me. Ever get those yourself? Not that anything has gone bad, or that everything is all good, but sometimes we just need those. Don't you think?

I have taken pictures of items, revised them, need to put them into listings at the shops, have been listing a little bit, and doing some relisting, and of course revising some of my listings too. Doctor appointment again yesterday....nothing serious. Just something that has pretty much come to me over time, and become a usual routine....most of the time anyway:) Did a little bit of research on items before I pictured a few of them to see if I should list them, or not. Just that kind of week so far. 

But, I had to come by here, leave a note with ya'll, and let you know I am still here. I have gotten into a routine of making my blog posts for ya'll to visit with, and I feel like I am forgetting something if I do not get by here to do what I have scheduled for me to do. Yes, blogging has become a part of my ritual, my routines, and I enjoy it too. Gives me a little time to share things I know, things I read, share opinions with things, make some new friends, and of course I enjoy hearing from everyone too. 

After watching some things on tv, and reading on the internet I realized I have things good compared to some people. You know they say not to dwell on what you don't have, but to be thankful for what you do have. Even though we do not see it ourselves, we are actually rich in many ways that others would like to have, and dream of. Society has changed so much over the years, and it is so darn hard to do anything good without wondering if it is a scheme, am I being played, is it a worth while cause, where is my money actually going, etc. I enjoy handing money to someone I see on the street if they need it. I enjoy giving money, and actually giving many things into donations because I always felt if something happened that I would need it some day....I sure hope people could be there for me as well, and donating too. Instead many people just stare at those who are trying to get some money to eat, feed their kids with, and find some shelter. Many times people in need are ignored, looked down upon, and talked about too. Sadly, we cannot blame them fully till we know their stories. Some of us  might be surprised to find out that some of these people use to have great paying jobs, had homes, wore beautiful clothes, and some of them even had more than we have ourselves. For reasons unknown, or out of their control they lost everything, and have come to things like we see today. 

As I have always told my kids as they were growing up, Please do not judge someone by what you see until you know more. And, the next time you want to complain that you don't have anything....think about them words, and know what they really mean. In all reality you are rich compared to someone who has nothing. 

So, this is my thought, and feeling for the day I wanted to share with all of you. I do hope that all of you had a great weekend, and the week has been good to you so far. Hang in there now....the weekend is almost here again...WooHoo! Thanks again for visiting, and sharing your time with LilacsNDreams everyone. Hope to see you again soon. Take care, and Happy Hump Day!!

Monday Monday Have a Beautiful Monday Bloggers Blogland

Monday Monday Have a Beautiful Monday Bloggers Blogland!

Where does the weekend go? Why does it go so fast? I can relax all weekend, and on Monday I am still dragging. WOW! Here it is Monday again everyone. Up late last night, had doc appointment this morning, seen the blood suckers again, and home I am....finally! It is getting hot out, and suppose to have heat advisory today also. So, in house chillin, doin things for hubby, and then roaming the net to do my own thing. 

Reading, searching, revising pictures, and hopefully listing a few more things with Ebay. Yes, them wonderful auctions. I still enjoy listing with Ecrater, and have some things at Artfire, and Etsy too. But, when I would like to have inventory move I will put things at Ebay, and then sometimes also at Ecrater. Each place has their own fees, their own costs, so I can sometimes do some different prices with items offered at these places too. Stop by to visit, and see what is being offered. Things change, and I try to do it with my inventory too. 

Nothing special for all of you today with a Blog Post. Just wanted to drop in, say Hi, and wish you all well on this hot gorgeous Monday! Hope ya'll are doing well, and are getting things done as you wanted. Take care everyone, and see you again soon. 

                                                           HAVE A BEAUTIFUL MONDAY!!

Vinegar Water For Cleaning Deodorizing Disinfectant and More

Vinegar Water For Cleaning Deodorizing Disinfectant and More.


Good Day, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Many of us are always looking for ways to clean, deodorize, disinfect our homes. Finding ways to do it effectively, inexpensively, and not having so many different cleaners around with all them chemicals too. Honestly they shouldn't be pricey, chemical-laden to be effective, and don't always have to be store bought either. One well known effective way that is versatile for your home is to use some vinegar, and water. 


Many benefits of cleaning with vinegar. It is inexpensive, no harsh chemicals, it's an effective sanitizer, stain remover, cuts grease and soap scum, dissolves mineral build up, and so much more. There are 100s of uses for this cleaner. I have read you Do Not use it on marble, make sure to test small area before you use it with finished wood surfaces or tile, and like any other cleaner avoid contact with your eyes, and prolonged contact with skin.

As you will learn after more research that vingear can be used with cleaning your home, making health and beauty products, remove odors, rid of pests, and so much more. You need to experiment with different recipes to see what it can do, and to find what works for you as well.

A precaution I did read is to NOT directly add vinegar to materials containing ammonia. This will create some harmful odors for you. 

Vinegar can be used to clean so many things in your home such as chrome sink faucets, BBQ grills, steam irons, items that have a mineral deposit, microwaves, some of your gold jewelry, and I have used it in assistance of cleaning some of that stubborn glassware too. It truly does work. 

Of course with this versatile method of cleaning there are way too many recipes to mention. Also, when you find a recipe you might find at times you will alter it to fit with what works for you as well. You will find recipes to mix it as is with the white distilled vinegar, and water. Sometimes you find mixing vinegar, and some salt can serve a purpose. I also had come across a method for baking soda, and some vinegar that is to work with unclogging and clearing a drain too. 

So, for about $2.00 a gallon what a savings this is for everyone. So many uses, and all in one bottle, or gallon bought too. I do have a small recipe to share with you. I have not tried it yet, but it is a starter for you, ok? Take 1-1/2 cup water in a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, add about 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar....you see the white distilled vinegar used all the time. Heat in microwave for about 3 minutes, and sometimes less. This can help clean out your microwaves after you have mixed this, and can use it. 

Have any special vinegar recipes you found to work? If so, please share them with us, and let us know what you found to work for you. Thanks for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams. Come back to visit again soon. Have a wonderful day!

Blog Bloggers Blogland Have a Great Weekend Happy Fourth of July

Blog Bloggers Blogland Have a Great Weekend Happy Fourth of July!

Hello, and Welcome back everyone to LilacsNDreams! I LOVE blogs, I enjoy visiting other blogs sooo much, I enjoy being inspired by others, and I also love to share about others as well. One of the blogs that I have been following through Bloglovin is called A Beautiful Mess. They are great there! Share things about them, share things about what they like, they are informative, and it is a comforting place to visit. Makes me jealous:) I would recommend stopping by to see what they all offer, and to check out their 'New' look that they have too. It is simple there, easy to navigate around, and you are welcome to leave a comment there as well too. So, when you get a chance stop by to see these 2 ladies who are friends, and have come together doing this. It's fun, and can be a learning experience as well:)

Well, here we are. The weekend of the 4th of July which by the way the 4th falls on Wednesday this next week. Any big plans anyone? Not for me here. I hope to maybe get some more things done around the home...finish painting another coat onto something in my son's closet, and maybe start cleaning the floors up a bit more too upstairs. Contractors haven't done it, and I am tired of it, so I guess I shall do it. Hmmm....maybe I can find some more garage sales, or maybe I will drive to a couple of thrift stores too. Not real sure, and will see what my mood will be waking up tomorrow:)

Thanks for stopping by to visit, and share your time with LilacsNDreams everyone. I wish you all well, and hope to see you again soon. Take care, and be safe!

 

Your Photo File Names Should Be Descriptive Keywords

Your Photo File Names Should Be Descriptive Keywords. You are asking why for this, right?


Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone. Grab a coffee, or tea, or some form of drink to have a seat, and relax. My posts of lately have been about SEO, blogs, domains, and different things to help us all with our Online Sales, Crafting, or whatever it is we have chosen to do. I came up with a small issue that was interesting, and wanted to share with you all. Might be a reminder for some of you too. 


We have all been informed how our Item Titles should be descriptive to help with SEO, placements in the search engines, and etc. Something else to consider that is also helpful is a file name that we use with our pictures (photo.jpg) when we upload to our blogs, websites, venues, social networks, etc. This is helpful for when someone uses one of the search engines, and they choose to limit their searches to maybe photos only. So, if your photo has the file name that was assigned to it automatically reading something like 12345.jpg it probably won't show up with a specific search. But, if someone were to say call their photo ivory-pillar-candle.jpg it will have a great chance of showing up, and being seen on the first pages too! If you have more than 1 picture of the same item it is ok to use numbers as well. Like ivory-pillar-candle-1.jpg, and ivory-pillar-candle-2.jpg.


SIDE NOTE: Google reads spaces as "%20" So, if you uploaded a photo maybe named 
"my photo.jpg" (notice the space?) the actual URL for this photo would be something like http://www.mysite.com/my%20photo.jpg which can cause a lot of your links to be broken if they are not linked to properly. You should either use _ (underscore) or maybe a - (hyphen) for any file that will be used in the URL. Actually, the Hyphen is preferred because Google reads these as a keyword separator. Yes, the underscore does prevent a broken link, and is treated like another character. So, for instance "tealight_candle" is "tealightcandle" with just another character that is in between. Now, "tealight-candle" is going to be read as 2 separate words. 

Isn't this interesting? Who would have guessed, right? After reading something like this a while ago I had done changes to my pictures in my files before using them for my listings at different venues. Sometimes when a search is done using keywords you will find pictures from my listings showing in the groups they show right away on the 1st to 2nd pages in searches. Every little bit we can learn, and do helps us all in one way, or another. 

Hope this little tid bit with your photos was helpful to you, and all that you do everyone. Thanks so much for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams. Make sure you come back to visit again soon, and feel free to share with all of us here as well. 

 

Good Morning Monday With LilacsNDreams

Good Morning Monday With LilacsNDreams!

Hello everyone, and Happy Happy Monday! Oh, I know....hard to get out of bed, feet dragging, feel like you haven't slept, and you are asking....Is it Friday yet?:) Hang in there. Today shall pass, and tomorrow will be better. Just stopping by to wish you all a Great Monday. Hope you had a beautiful weekend, and wishing all a wonderful week. Take care, and make this a great Monday....It Will Be!

Thanks for dropping by LilacsNDreams! See you all again soon!

 

Search Engines Used For Searching Products and Stores

Search Engines Used For Searching of Products and Stores.

Whew! Weekend is over, and here we are again on Monady...it's Monday, and gonna be a great day!:) I had a thought the other day....I know, when don't I, right? It was a thought for another topic to have on my blog. So, I noted it, and here I am to share with you again. We need to quit meeting like this...someone might get one of them there ideas...LOL:) Follow Me into my topic.

Ok, enough of me, now back to my thought I had. When you search for items, or your treasures online. How do you search for them? Me, like many others out there with the internet world go to the computer...yeah I know, the phones too. But, we go to the computer, have a seat, and we go to the internet. So, when you sit down to that keyboard, what do you type into it to look with? I know a lot of people would go straight to Ebay for this. Yet, there is so much more out there to see. Buyers, Sellers, and Shoppers of all sorts need to remember to use the search engines for your shopping needs. Works for research, and getting some ideas of what is out there, who offers what, the prices being offered, and so on. The 2 main search engines that many use are of course Google.com, and don't forget there is also Bing.com too. Many searches have also been done with Yahoo.com, and along the way you will find many other small search engines that are also used by many others too. 

When you have something specific in mind that you want to search for, maybe buy, research it with you need to learn to use the search engines to see more of what is out there available. When using the search engines you can get a nice variety of items that are being offered. While doing these searches you will also learn of other venues, and market places that people sell from. You will also learn of other auction sites that are there besides Ebay too. By doing this sometimes you can find a better price due to the different fee structures that are offered at the different platforms for sellers to use. You will also find that there are other Payment Services that are offered, and not every place is Paypal Only. For instance with Ecrater I myself am allowed to offer Google Checkout, and Paypal. At Artfire I can offer Amazon Payments, and Paypal. Some at Artfire will also offer Propay. At Etsy besides the usual offerings of Paypal they also have a Direct Checkout that some sellers will offer too. 

Keep in mind that if you see something you like from my finds that I show with my LilacsNDreams Shoppe page just contact Me. I can invoice you myself through Paypal, Google Checkout, and Amazon Payments. You would not have to sign into some places, register, and let me know the service you would prefer to use. 

Another good thing with search engines if you know the name of the store, or shop you wish to connect with you can also find that name this way too. Once you put in their name at Google, or Bing you can see all the pages that might come up for that name, and also all the different places that the person is associated with too. Give it a try. Just go to Google.com  Bing.com, also Yahoo.com and type in my name of LilacsNDreams. Upon doing this you will see my blogs, my stores, and different places I am associated with over time.  Neat, huh?

I hope that this little tid bit of information shared with you was found to be helpful, and maybe fun too. Remember, any questions don't hesitate in asking. Same goes for sharing too. It's free, love hearing from all of you, and it's fun too. 

Thanks for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams. Come back to visit again soon. Have a wonderful week!:)

Bookmarking Included With Social Media Tools As Well

Bookmarking Included With Social Media Tools as well. Welcome back, and onward we move with discussions we have had about Social Media Social Networking. 

I have been periodically been discussing different things which involve Social Media, some tools that can be used, and briefly trying to explain some of these things in a little more depth to you. It looks like with today's topic I will be finishing up with some of these discussions. At least for now. Never know what more I will find to add in with different posts. 

Today we will cover a little bit about Social Media Bookmarking, and a few ideas to be used too. Remember as I have mentioned before. There is so much more out there about things I have discussed with you. I hope to have been able to cover some of the basics for you. 

Social Media Bookmarking

Looking at Wikipedia again they show that this involves Methods for Internet Users to organize, store, manage, and to search for bookmarks of resources online. Since 1996 many online bookmarking services have launched. Tagging is a significant feature of Social Bookmarking Services. This enables users to organize their bookmarks in a flexible way. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking is a link I used for what is copied below, and for what was mentioned above too. 

Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves are not shared, merely bookmarks that reference them. Descriptions may be added to these bookmarks in the form of metadata, so users may understand the content of the resource without first needing to download it for themselves. Such descriptions may be free text comments, votes in favour of or against its quality, or tags that collectively or collaboratively become a folksonomy. Folksonomy is also called social tagging, "the process by which many users add metadata in the form of keywords to shared content".^[1]

In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine.

Most social bookmark services encourage users to organize their bookmarks with informal tags instead of the traditional browser-based system of folders, although some services feature categories/folders or a combination of folders and tags. They also enable viewing bookmarks associated with a chosen tag, and include information about the number of users who have bookmarked them. Some social bookmarking services also draw inferences from the relationship of tags to create clusters of tags or bookmarks.

Many social bookmarking services provide web feeds for their lists of bookmarks, including lists organized by tags. This allows subscribers to become aware of new bookmarks as they are saved, shared, and tagged by other users.

As these services have matured and grown more popular, they have added extra features such as ratings and comments on bookmarks, the ability to import and export bookmarks from browsers, emailing of bookmarks, web annotation, and groups or other social network features.

Social Media Bookmarking places you might know of are:

Stumble Upon - This discover engine finds, and recommends web content to users. They discover and rate different web pages, photos, and videos based on personalized preferences.

Digg - Is a Social content site that likes technology related content. The promotion of your own blog aggressively on Digg is not a good idea.

Delicious - Allows you to share bookmarks. This is used for thought leadership with link sharing.

Reddit - A social news website that users submit content, and other users will vote the submission up, or down. This ranking determines the position on the site's front page, and pages. 

Another popular item used for others to visit, see what you have to say, what you are sharing, and so on is with RSS Feeds.

RSS:

Feedburner - is one of the more popular ones known for us to use. This provides feeds, and management tools to bloggers, podcasters, and other web based content publishers. 

Google Reader - is another well known one to use. This is a web based aggregrator capable of reading Atom, and RSS Feeds. 

Technorati - This is an internet search engine for blogs.

I hope that my topic for today, and with the past postings for Social Media and Social Networking were able to help you out a little bit, and give you some ideas into how big this has grown too. I hope that maybe this can help you better focus with the journies of your business, maybe your hobbies, or just things in general. Remember, you are always welcome to share things you may know too. 

Thanks so much for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams. Always a pleasure to have you, and hope to see you visit again real soon. 

 

Social Networking Social Media With Photo Sharing Applications

Social Networking Social Media With Photo Sharing Applications. Here is a little more to add in with some of the discussions we have been having of Social Networking, and Social Media.  As we have come along with some of those posts about Social Networking I hope it has helped with some things for you knowing how big that this all is, and how much is really out there.

Photo Sharing of different applications plays a part with our social networking, and social media of today as well. This is yet another tool we use to share, and to help market our items of vintage collectibles, handmade, homemade, market places, venues, our online sales, and so on. Remember I am only mentioning a few. If you would wish to see more, experience more, or research more I would suggest maybe googling for a little more information, and links. 

Photo and Video Sharing:

You Tube - On this video sharing website users can share, and upload new videos. Here you can put together photos, some music, and then make a mini video of your products to be shared with others on their blogs, websites, and etc. I even seen on tv recently a politician in the area using You Tube to get his word out there for his campaign. 

Flickr - This website is used for hosting pictures or images, and videos too. This community of members can share, and make comments on the media that is shared. Sometimes in a google search of things I have found some images that ranked well enough to be shared within these searches. 

Picasa Web Albums - Another free photo sharing website that is connected with Google. This free Google Tool is sometimes considered by some to use for sharing their images, and for image editing too. Simplicity, free picasa software for photo editing, organizing, and uploading are some things I found mentioned for this use too. 

Photobucket - This free service also has a paid service that is offered too. This service allows you to have photo sharing albums that you make, or organize. You can also display, customize galleries, and slideshows too. Some of these you will notice on different blogs, and websites as well. 

Twitpic - This website is used for users to easily post pictures to Twitter. Since they are one of the top rated Social Networks they should have something to, don't you think?:)

Instagram - This is an iPhone application that has been growing, and I have seen some bloggers using it too. Yes, it is another form of sharing photos. The phone applications is a growing thing used by many. Sorry, I myself have not quite advanced that far yet. But, I feel it might be coming:)

As you can see the form of Social Media is yet another thing that is growing with using photos, making your images clickable, using videos, and so on. It is all good, and advantageous for many who Social Network. As mentioned it is another tool for sharing different things, showing items you make, sharing your great finds for the day when thrifting, and offerings of items you are selling too. 

I hope that this little segment has once again been of use to you. Sometimes those little things we do, or those small little things we put together has more advantage to us than we realize. Thanks again for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you visit again soon. 

   

Social Media Tools Used For Vintage Handmade Homemade and More

Social Media Tools Used For Handmade Homemade and More.

LilacsNDreams Welcomes you. Recent postings have been discussing a bit about Social Media, and Social Networking, and I would like to continue a bit more with this subject. 

Today I will be noting some of the more popular social networks that are being used, and make a little note about them too. Please remember that these places mentioned are not all of them out there as there are so many of them. Just depends on your interests, your business, your personal thoughts and feelings, what your goals are, and so on. So, good luck to you in your choices, and please read on.

Social Media Networks to Maybe Consider:

Facebook:  This social networking service allows the users to upload pictures, and allows text to be shared too. What use to be Facebook Pages, and is now the Facebook Timeline allows you to have followers, or rather people who Like you. With this they can better follow you for your business, and stay better up to date on specials, events, announcements, etc. A regular Facebook page is how many start off to socialize with. Some do not desire to have the extra page, and do quite well too. 

Google+: This is another social network service which happens to be newer than Facebook also. Here you can also upload photos, text, and videos that you would like to share with everyone. When sharing such things they are done publicly, or you can also choose to only share with certain circles of your choice. Having a circle has been organized by you which are different groups of people that you wish to share with. 

Google+ Pages:  This is something that is organized by groups, some organizations, and some businesses that set up profiles for posting which will post information to other groups that would be interested. 

LinkedIn: Another social network that focuses a bit more with business relations.

Ning:  This is a social network that would be designed by you the administrator with the needs that you have in mind. This social network generally includes having a forum, photo galleries, blogs, some have live chit chat, and is a place for others to collect to that share some of the same interests, and same businesses too. It is a way to be active, and interact with others which can be beneficial, fun, and a learning experience for many as well. If you click on my Lets Get Social Tab at the to you can get an idea of what some of them do with some I have listed. 

Pinterest:  Has become another form of social networking which is quite popular now, and has grown pretty fast too. This form is done by using pin boards. You use a photo technique of things that you find of interest which might include vintage, collectibles, repurposing, upcycling, handmade, homemade, blogs, websites, and so on. Another great way to bookmark things you find of interest, for further reference, and also great in organizing some of your thoughts and ideas too. 

Wanelo:  This is another form of social networking using the pin board idea too. Here again you will pin, or save photos into collections that you have organized yourself. With Wanelo the difference is that you are openly allowed to do self promoting here too. 

Please remember that these are the most used, or more popular social networks that have been mentioned. There is much more out there to see, and find. Some days I surprise myself when I come across yet another social network, and am reminded how the internet is such a big place. 

Remember now if you would happen to know of more, or wish to bring more to the attention of all of us here you are more than Welcome to do so. Love to hear ideas, and more input from others that are willing to share with us. Don't forget to say Hi also so that if possible I can also hop over to visit with you. Thanks for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams, and see you again soon. 

Social Media Social Networking Connections and What is It

Social Media Social Networking, Connections, and What is It. 

Welcome again to LilacsNDreams everyone. Social Networking, and Social Media can be done for fun, for pleasure, and for business too. Many things discussed today among many is Social Networking which can also be known as Social Media too. In order to get more of an understanding for defining these I had gone to Wikipedia for this. 

Social Networking Services is an online service, a platform, or a site that builds and reflects from social networks, or social relations upon people. An example is from people who share the same interests and activities, and people with similar interest, activities, and backgrounds that make their own communities. These social networking sites allow people to share ideas, some activities, events, and some interests within their own little networks. If you visit Wikipedia you can read of what I have noted here, and of course a little bit more is shared too. Make sure to not just read the meaning they show, but to further follow down the page reading as well. Very interesting reading. 

Websites that invite you to interact on the site, and with other visitors will fall into the definition of Social Media. Some of our first thoughts when seeing this word is of instrumental. As you read further you will also see how it relates to the issues of Social Networking too. I have found the definition for this at http://www.webtrends.about.com/od/web20/a/social-media.htm. Please visit to also read about this too.

Social Networking can be a great home for us on the Web, or the Internet. Helps you to connect with people, maybe connect with some old friends, reconnect with some long lost friends, and it can also help you with your business career by making some connections too. The Social Networks range from a friend based network like Facebook, My Space, Google+ onto some with movie networks like Flixster, and Last.FM to more of the business Social Networks like LinkedIn, and XING. I did find this little tidbit for this at http://www.webtrends.about.com/old/socialnetworking/u/list-of-social-networks-guide.htm. 


Make sure to come back, and visit with LilacsNDreams. Keep in touch with Me, and also to watch the next few postings I am working on for Social Networks, and Social Media being used, some brief explanations for them of what they do, and so on. 


Thanks for sharing your time with Me. Have a most wonderful day!

Photo Editing Options Offered Since Picnik Closed

Photo Editing Options that are Offered Since Picnik had Closed. 

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! How many of you used Picnik? I did, and I sure do miss it too. Sad that it closed. They had the free version, no sign in, just go to it, and edit your pictures as you needed. I used them a lot to edit my photos for my venue listings, and also for pictures to show with other social networks too. 

There are many places out there offered for you to use, and how do you know which ones are the good ones, the bad ones, the free ones, and etc. Takes time to search for these, and then to find one that suits you, and your needs. Not just because someone else is using it, but what works best for you. So, in this posting I am enclosing a partial list of some I have found, maybe heard about, or have seen others mention to try and use too. Remember, there is no right or wrong one to use. The one to use is the one that suits you, and that you find works for you. After reading this list if you know of others to be mentioned for some to look at, please leave a comment about it with the addy to it also. 

Photo Editing Options:

befunky - apply photo effects, enhance, edit pictures photos online. . . I did not mind this one
picmonkey - this site is being noted as a replacement for picnik to use, and consider, some of the developing people with this site had also worked with picnik also. . . Yes, I played with this one too
pixlr - this is a free online photo editor with no registration
FotoFlexer - is the most powerful online photo editor, and it is free
Picasa - you can organize, edit, and share your photos with this one
PhotoShop -  the free version of this allows you like 1.8 GB free to use, to me it can be complicating to use, but that is also due to the simplicity of others I have used
PhotoScape - this is another free photo editing software
Phixer - this one directly supports Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr along with others
ipiccy - loads pictures quickly, and this site has simplicity to work with. . . I have tested this one also, and found it to be better than I thought it would be too
Gimp - is an open source answer to Adobe Photoshop, and many have found they like this one once you got use to working with it
fotofuze - is a free to use online application, and I found this one mentioned at Etsy

I ask you to please remember that these are not all the programs available being offered. There are many more I have seen others use, and again it is up to you what you use, and what works for you. I have found that I enjoy working with befunky, picmonkey, and ipiccy because of their simplicity of use. ipiccy did load nicely with the pictures I had found too. Any other suggestions, or knowledge of others places please make sure to share them with all of us here. 

Thanks for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams, and I hope that some of you have found this list to be of use to you. I wish you well, and much luck with all of your photo editing needs. Take care my friends, and see you again soon. 

Happy Happy Monday to Everyone Blog Bloggers and Blogland

Happy Happy Monday everyone! Thanks for visiting LilacsNDreams! Hope ya'll had a great weekend, was able to do what you wanted, and accomplish what you wanted to this weekend also. I am off, and running today....LOL:) If you knew me, and could see me....you would know what I mean....it would be a site!:) Dropping by to check on everyone, checking emails, and thought I would drop everyone a quick note here as well. 

Take care, have fun, and enjoy this beautiful day. Be safe, and see ya'll again soon!:)