How to add social media buttons to your blog

Do you see the pink social media buttons at the top of my page? Wow, did that take me a long time to figure out. It took two sets of tutorials, advice from a blogger I met through Etsy, and a LOT of time on my part, fiddling around. But I am very excited to say that I will no longer refer to HTML code as "my greatest foe". We are now becoming friendly acquaintances. If you want to add social media buttons to your blog, I can guide you along the way, but it will still be hard! It might take several sessions and some yelling before your goal is accomplished.

 Here we go!!!!

1) Go here and chosse a set of free social media buttons. Follow the instructions on the blog as to how to download the buttons onto your computer. Disregard the link to the tutorial. It is not helpful!!
http://www.carrieloves.com/2012/12/free-social-media-icons-updated/

2)Go to photobucket, I have provided the link here. Sign up for a free account. You only need an email address and a password, and you're good to go.

3) Upload your chosen social media files to photobucket.

4) Go here for the rest of the tutorial: http://beautifuldawndesigns.net/tutorial-add-social-media-icons-to-blogger-step-by-step/. It is a very user friendly tutorial, but it still took me awhile to get it. If you run into any problems, leave a comment on this post and I will try to help you out!

5) As a general note, because this REALLY confused me, the pretty email icon does not allow your followers to follow you by email. It is a button your followers can click on to contact you directly by email.

Good luck everyone!

Back to where it all began

Almost a year ago, my husband Mark and I visited my Aunt Sheila (my Dad's baby sister) and her husband on their farm in Saskatchewan. Say Saskatchewan 3 times fast :) It's the province to the east of Alberta, where I live.

I've been visiting that farm since I was a child, and I love it. My husband loves it too. We go there as often as we can. Summer or Winter, it is very serene, peaceful and beautiful. This time it was a short visit, only 3 days. I find it comforting that things at the farm rarely change. And I always sleep so well when I am there, because it is so quiet at night and completely dark.


Last February, when we visited, I noticed my Aunt had some dollhouse books and asked her if she was a collector or had ever built a dollhouse. She said she had always wanted to build a dollhouse but had never had the time. This was not hard to believe! Being a farm wife is a lot of work. She always helps my uncle during harvest time. For years they also had a small herd of bison, and an abattoir on their property where they butchered the animals themselves, and packaged the meat to be sold.

When I was a child I remember she had a huge garden, the size of a children's playground. She was always canning fruits and vegetables and taking care of her three boys. Last winter when I asked her about miniatures she pulled a dusty box out of the attic and we had fun going through it together. She has been collecting for years. since her youngest son was born. She had some doubles, so I boldly asked if I could have the extras! Because she has such a generous heart, she said yes. As soon as we arrived back home, I was on the computer, searching for blogs, finding the Miniature Enthusiasts Club of Edmonton, and that, my friends, is how it all began.

When we decided to go back and visit this past weekend, I wanted to give her a treat. She is "setting up mini house" in a glass cabinet and I brought as many printies as I could fit in my bag! We worked together happily, taked about miniatures and what a great hobby it is, and made miniature books and plates that she is delighted with. I promised everyone some pictures so here they are. I think I will update my profile picture too. I wanted to get a good picture of my husband and I, but we didn't have time before we left this morning, he was so eager to get back to the city. The one picture I snapped of him is endearing, we were also in a huge rush when we left, because he had to work on Saturday morning and forgot to put on his regular glasses so he wore his safety glasses all weekend! I think he is one big cutie though.

My Aunt and I are making Tiny Plates and Books!

We're eating at the local restaurant

My Aunt and I. Aren't we cute?

The very traditional, extremely yummy meal we were served at the Restaurant.

My cute Hubby. Aka The Hubs

My Uncle loves to tease me!

I hope everyone enjoyed seeing some personal pictures! Until next time!

Ruth

Look what I found!

My problem is I get distracted WAY too easily....when I have things to do...but I couldn't resist posting this link. Check this outhttp://shadesoftangerine.blogspot.ca/2013/02/recycled-mini-food-diy.html

I can't just post a short post either. Oh, no, that will never do! About a week a go I created an Etsy treasury to help out my fellow Etsy Miniaturist Artisans. They recently changed the way people can search and find Etsy Miniaturist Artisans on Etsy, making it harder to find us! Lots of us are trying hard to make a living at something we love to do, so this is my way of saying to my favorite artisans, I love your work, and I hope to help you sell your beautiful creations! Of course, not everyone can afford to buy minis on Etsy, but who doesn't enjoy looking at beautiful things! So I hope you enjoy this treasury of beautiful hand pick items curated by me.

Who can create an Etsy Treasury? Why anyone! You simply have to create an Etsy profile by entering your email and creating a password, and you're off! For a more detailed explanation in how to create an Etsy treasury, when you go to Etsy, click on Help, and type in How do I create an Etsy Treasury. The directions are very simple! To share an Etsy Treasury on your blog, you can use a browser extension called screen capture. Hint: This is the extension I use to create my blogging tutorials! I use Chrome Browser, but screen capture is also available in Safari Browser and it wouldn't surprise me if it were available in internet explorer as well. So sit back and enjoy the wonderful treasury I have put together for you!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/Mjk0MzY3MDd8MjcyMzk2MzYzMg/miniature-furniture-and-accessories-i?index=0
Here is the link so you can go explore this wonderful list yourself! It is like window shopping! Pretend money is no object. It's a lot more fun that way :P

Well folks, I have to go. So many things to do, so many people to see...I will tease you a bit and say that the giveaway I have been planning to do on my miniatures blog is coming up fairly soon. It will be a different giveaway I can promise you that...I have not seen another giveaway like it anywhere else on the web. It will be a wonderful treat for all my lovely followers!

Hugs and Kisses,

Love Ruth

Free AIM Magazine out today!

Head on over to http://www.artisansinminiature.com to download your free copy of AIM magazine. This is a wonderful free resource for miniaturist that you should take advantage of! It's packed with great features and great projects written by talented artisans.

I am so busy today! I am working on projects for both of my Etsy shops and scheming about when to have my first giveaway on my blog to reward my lovely followers! I am also planning to start shipping my beauty products internationally! I just have to figure out shipping costs. Stay tuned for an update about that. Today I am making lip balm, rose scented hand cream, and a shabby chic soap box.

Happy Valentines Day Everyone and enjoy this great magazine!

Hugs and Kisses,

Ruth

I'll be having two giveaways soon!

I'm very excited that I've had the energy to get my beauty blog up and running again, and I'll be having a giveaway shortly on that blog. Currently only Canadians and Americans will be eligible to enter, but I'm thinking of figuring out how much it will cost to ship to Britain and include the Brits as well.

This is the address of my beauty blog:  http://sweetheartbeautyandgiftbaskets.blogspot.ca/

I'm very excited to welcome Carol of True 2 Scale blog as my 101th follower! I've looked forward to the great seasonal tutorials she offers on her blog regularly (a huge list of tutorials for Christmas, Valentine's Day and Easter!)

I'm really looking forward to our trip to my Aunt and Uncle's farm next weekend. Here is a picture I took of the beautiful landscape the last time we visited in the winter:

I love the peace and quiet of the farm!

My mini story...how I fell in love with Miniatures

This morning I hit 100 followers so I thought it would be a nice time to tell "my mini story". I love asking other miniaturists that question "When did you know you loved miniatures?"
I can be nosey, so I will go on and ask "How did your idea of miniatures change over time?" "Did you every take a class or belong to a club or are you self taught?"

Ruth's Mini Story

Next weekend my husband and I will travel to visit my Aunt and Uncle on their farm in Saskatchewan. It is a four hour car drive. This time last year we went there. My Aunt Sheila has several books on Miniatures. I was quite enchanted with them. I asked her if she made miniatures. Later that day she climbed into the attic, bringing down a lot of dust and many miniatures she has been collecting since the 1970s. I had a wonderful time looking through them, and my Aunt did too. She hadn't looked through them in years!

She has a very busy life as a farm wife. My Aunt Sheila had two of some items, and she generously passed them on to me. As soon as we got home I hit the internet and probably sat transfixed in front of it for hours and hours as I read more and more about this wonderful hobby.

Last May I went to a meeting of the Miniature Enthusiasts Club of Edmonton and was very fortunate to sit down next to one of the nicest, most generous women I have ever been lucky enough to meet. Her name is Pat, and she has been incredibly generous with me, giving me things she doesn't need anymore, giving me advice, teaching me mini skills and I think she is just a great all around friend.

Then I started a blog, and the rest, as they say, is history. I feel very lucky to have found a hobby I adore so much. This coming weekend my Aunt Sheila and I will work on minis together, and I will post pictures of our time together and the beautiful farm. I spent a fair amount of time there growing up and for me it has always been a peaceful haven.

I will also show you some more pictures of my Nursery Room Box. I sent my dear friend Michelle an email this morning, with a link to the last pictures of the Nursery. I told her this will be a present for her :) She is having a baby girl in about a month. I will wait until the spring or summer to drive to Calgary and give it to her though. Michelle loves her present and now I can add some personal touches. I asked her to send me a family photo and when her daughter gets baptized, she can send me a copy of the baptismal certificate and I will shrink those down and hang them on the wall.

I was very pleased with the way the diapers I made for her scene ended up, so I think I will make a small basket of diapers and put them up for sale in my Etsy shop. I think I will make some up in play scale (Barbie size) also as an experiment to see if anyone likes the play scale ones.

I also have a lot of nursery furniture that I haven't used! So I think I will paint it up more nicely and put that up for sale too. I can always buy more furniture for the nursery box I plan to make for myself one day.

I think I will take my cue from Natasha who writes the blog Eat Cake Miniatures and say that if any of my followers see anything I have made on my blog, and would like something similar they can contact me and we can arrange for me to do a commission piece for you. Natasha and I actually live in the same city and (occasionally) see each other at our city's Mini group. She is a much more faithful attendee than I am. When Natasha and I do get together we have a lot of fun and make a big mess! And talk minis non stop.

Here are some recent pictures I took. I could have made them look better if I had taken longer, but I wanted to write this post today! As you can see, the items are arranged in a white box, or a photo box. To get an even better picture I could have set up two very bright lights and shone them at an angle towards the miniatures. That is how I take pictures for my Etsy shop. I will write a full tutorial on picture taking (and include a picture of what the whole set up looks like) in the future. This month I will write it! That's my goal.

I would love to hear my followers' mini stories! If you would like to tell them.

What do you think of my latest additions to the nursery? The small items are hard to see, I know.

A sneak peak at what my next project will be. Can you guess what it will be?

Love Ruth

What I have been up to lately

I have been a busy bee, a busy distracted bee trying to focus and get things done!
Yesterday I painted the roof for my nursery room box. I hope I painted the right side :P I am going to the miniatures club meeting tonight because it is a chance for us to all charge ahead and try and get as much work done on our room boxes as we can. I painted the roof and tonight will take the tiles to the mini group and sit next to someone who has tiled a roof before, since I have not.

I have been busy making things for my Etsy shop, and learning how to take better pictures, I will write a tutorial on how to take pictures, I promise, but just now I have lots of things things to cross off my to do list.

There is non mini life that needs attending to, like a house that needs a spring clean. It has warmed up to -4 degrees Celsius here, so it feels like spring. I'm not joking! I have been leaving the windows open because it was -30 for a week, and when you stay inside for so much of the winter, with the heat turned up and the windows closed, when it warms up a little, we are all happier and all open our windows to let some fresh air in.

I was having a Skype Date with a friend, and lost track of time, and promised Marissa that I would post these pictures today, so I hope you get a chance to look at these pics my dear Marissa.

I have included many items that Wyrna sent me before Christmas...can you recognize them Wyrna?

A close up of the nursery, I still need to add some things on the shelves (Printies!)

I miss my followers when I don't have time to post!

In an ideal world I would post every day. Not everybody likes to do this but I love to write and at heart I'm a blabbermouth with a lot to say :P

Today instead of posting about something practical I will post something fun and inspirational. A couple of years ago I started reading Alice Hoffman's novels. Most people know of her because her book, Practical Magic, was made into a movie. It is a truly delightful movie but it is only a tiny glimpse of what Alice Hoffman is about.

Her books are about everyday people who experience strange and wonderful things. One of her latest books is called the Red Garden and it is one of my favorites. The underlying theme of all her novels is the message that there is always hope, that the human spirit cannot be broken. That is why I love her writing.

I was delighted when I came across this project online a couple of weeks ago. I haven't had time to look through it properly but I think I will now.

It is a beautiful reproduction of the Owen's House in dollhouse scale. The Owen's house is the home of the main Characters of the novels.

Enjoy!

http://heatheraspinall.id.au/OwensHouse/index.html