Thursday 20 November 2014

Monograms on rich decorative frame for Couple Paper Napkin

Featured Product!

A gorgeous design. Click to customize and personalize. Maybe you'd like to see your name or initials on it?


tagged with: elegance, rdf1, monogram initials, couples initials, rich reds, elegant monograms, golden browns, decorative frame, swirly style, hrfptraz

Elegance series A gorgeous and elegant design made to hold a couple's or individual's monogram initials. The frame is decorative and contrast beautifully with the background that's rendered in deep, rich reds and golden browns. Perfect for the newly engaged or married or just as personal statement to enrich the home.
more items with this image
more items in the Elegance series

image code: rdf1

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672 Deck Of Cards

Featured Product!

A gorgeous design. Click to customize and personalize. Maybe you'd like to see your name or initials on it?


tagged with: star galaxies, deep space astronomy, barred spiral galaxy, bsgsst, starry space picture, galactic arms, supermassive black hole, dust lanes, star forming galaxy, hrfptraz, sky watching

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series This NASA Hubble Space Telescope view of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672 unveils details in the galaxy's star-forming clouds and dark bands of interstellar dust.
One of the most striking features is the dust lanes that extend away from the nucleus and follow the inner edges of the galaxy's spiral arms. Clusters of hot young blue stars form along the spiral arms and ionize surrounding clouds of hydrogen gas that glow red. Delicate curtains of dust partially obscure and redden the light of the stars behind them by scattering blue light.
Galaxies lying behind NGC 1672 give the illusion they are embedded in the foreground galaxy, even though they are really much farther away. They also appear reddened as they shine through NGC 1672's dust. A few bright foreground stars inside our own Milky Way Galaxy appear in the image as bright and diamond-like objects.
As a prototypical barred spiral galaxy, NGC 1672 differs from normal spiral galaxies, in that the arms do not twist all the way into the center. Instead, they are attached to the two ends of a straight bar of stars enclosing the nucleus. Viewed nearly face on, NGC 1672 shows intense star formation regions especially off in the ends of its central bar.
Astronomers believe that barred spirals have a unique mechanism that channels gas from the disk inward towards the nucleus. This allows the bar portion of the galaxy to serve as an area of new star generation.
NGC 1672 is also classified as a Seyfert galaxy. Seyferts are a subset of galaxies with active nuclei. The energy output of these nuclei can sometimes outshine their host galaxies. This activity is powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes.
NGC 1672 is more than 60 million light-years away in the direction of the southern constellation Dorado. These observations of NGC 1672 were taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in August of 2005. The composite image was made by using filters that isolate light from the blue, green, and infrared portions of the spectrum, as well as emission from ionized hydrogen.
more items with this image
more items in the Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

image code: bsgsst

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

Cute ponies for the bedroom and school

Brown Pinto Cartoon Shetland Pony Love Hearts Stretched Canvas PrintsChestnut Cartoon Shetland Pony Love Hearts MacBook SleeveBrown Cartoon Shetland Pony Messenger Bag

Cute ponies for the bedroom and school

If you know a boy or girl who loves ponies then here's a collection that should give you some gift ideas.
Any boy or girl will love them - some for bedroom and some for school. Which of these would be best?

Click the image for more details and to buy. You'll also see more designs from the artist there.

All Seeing Eye Of Horus - Thinking of You Card

A gorgeous best-selling design. Click to customize or personalize. How would it look with your name or monogram on it - why not have a look-see right now?


tagged with: thinking of you, ancient egypt, protection, protecting eye, all seeing eye of horus, good luck charm, egyptian amulet, hrbstslr wedjat, lucky talisman, ward off evil, looking out, mythology, juju

Egyptian series To bring good luck and protect the bearer from ill - the Eye Of Horus talisman. When you give one of these with you, the recipient is bound to get lucky!

more Egyptian items
more items with this image

image code: wedjat

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this

Cute Puppy Dog Birthday Invitation for Girls

Cute Alert!

How can you resist this cute puppy design? Maybe you'd like to see your name or initials on it? Click to customize and personalize...


tagged with: birthday, invitations, girls, girl, party, puppy, dog, puppies, dogs, cute, custom, unique

Cute Puppy Dog Birthday Party Invitation for Girls.
This design was created using original graphics by Scrappin Doodles. and Mel's Brushes at MyGrafico.

»visit the TheCutieCollection store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

Making The Impossible Possible: How I Created A Full Time Blogging Income With No Qualifications

Blogging with purpose

original post »
Image via Flickr user Susy Morris

Image via Flickr user Susy Morris

This is a guest contribution from freelance writer Stacey Corrin.

It was a dark day in November 2012 when I first began to blog. Rain lashed the windows of the home we’d just moved into. Removal boxes lay strewn across the floor and the cries of my newborn twins rang shrill in my ears.

I felt trapped, with no escape plan.

Being a new parent can do that to you. It can make you feel like the only person in the room. It can sap your energy, your personality, your identity. Yet it can also put you on a path you might never consider possible.

Today I want to share how I got from that wretched point to my life now. Three years later, I’m now a successful ghostwriter, blogger and full time freelancer.

 

It Began As A Cry For Help

My foray into blogging began like most peoples does. It was expression, even a cry for help. Most importantly it was an outlet for the turmoil and confusion of young parenthood.

I set myself up with a free WordPress blog and proceeded to spend any spare time, jotting down my thoughts. Off they would go into the ether and I’d feel a little lighter, a little more relieved for having let it all out.

Little did I know that there were people reading my musings. They introduced themselves, faceless entities going through similar situations. They provided support, insight and friendship I’d never found offline.

These people introduced me to a whole community I never knew existed. People from all walks of life were doing just what I was doing. They were baring their souls to the internet and finding comfort in the practice. What’s more, they were making a living from it too!

 

I Immersed Myself In All Things Blogging

That realisation was a revelation to me. Immediately I set about learning all that I could about blogging, SEO, and how to build an audience. It wasn’t an easy process. I learned some terrible blogging habits along the way but I also found that there was so much help out there if you knew where to look.

I discovered sites like this one. I haunted the big names on Twitter and Facebook yet also took stock of the little ones who were making waves. Sites like Blogging Wizard who at that point was still fresh and new.

What was it that made them so successful? What were their secrets? What made them stand out?

And then it dawned on me. These people stood out because they didn’t follow the crowd.

Well, I knew a thing or two about that. Always the oddball at school, I spent the majority of my teenage years sticking out like a sore thumb. So how could I do that with my own blog? How could I stand out and make a living at the same time?

By this point I’d spent two and a half years figuring this blogging thing out. My twins had grown to the point that afforded me more freedom, so one evening I sat down with a notepad and wrote out the things I was good at.

Three things stood out at me:

  • Writing
  • Blogging
  • WordPress

A thought began to blossom. What if I did something drastic? What if I started all over again and built a new blog from scratch? This time I’d do so with the aim of sharing everything I’d learned over the last few years. At the same time I’d market my skills to those who needed them – my blog a testament to them.

 

How I Turned My Passion Into Profit

I realised that through helping others with their own blogs, I could show off what I’d learned along the way. Let’s face it, not everyone has time to write blog post after blog post, on a daily basis. Unless of course like me, you love to write. Thus blogging about blogging and offering my services as a ghostwriter seemed like a smart move.

Through the power of Selz, a simple and free eCommerce platform, I was able to create product listings for my services. People could buy these from my new blog. With a few clicks of a button they could get a ghostwritten blog post and within a matter of days, have it land in their inbox. All attribution would go to them, no strings attached.

The services I offered included:

  • Ghostwriting
  • WordPress content management
  • Virtual help
  • Social media management

These were things that people needed. I knew I could provide them as I did those things every day and over time the word spread. Recommendations came in, people gave great testimonials and I built a small client base.

That was over three months ago.

In that time I’ve written over 80 blog posts of 900 words and over (excluding my own). My blog has grown from zero traffic and shares to posts with over 800 shares alone. I’m now in a place where people want to read what I’m writing. Not because they sympathise, but because they can learn something valuable from my words. Needless to say the clients have poured in too, coinciding with an income that’s sustaining five people.

How did I do it? I listened to what people wanted. Then I promoted the pants off what I created.

  • Jump into Facebook groups and Quora discussions related to your niche and listen to what people are talking about.
  • Talk to people on Social Media instead of just link dropping
  • Offer up solutions through your blog posts, which answer people’s most pressing questions
  • Forget word counts when you’re writing. A post should be as long as it needs to be, to get your message across.

When promoting your content:

  • Join places like Triberr and follow tribes with similar interests. Here you can connect with influencers who will help your posts reach a wider audience.
  • Use the power of imagery with networks like Pinterest. This can be a massive source of traffic if you create excellent visuals to go with your posts.
  • Don’t forget your email list! Provide incentives like content upgrades for subscribers only. Follow up with personal emails that provide value to your list.

The best way of exposing my blog to new readers, was to guest post for other blogs. This has been my biggest source of repeat clients and traffic. By keeping some of your best work for other people’s blogs, you’re making a bold statement. You’re telling people that you care about quality, that you’re not just about self-promotion.

 

It’s Been A Humbling Experience

Looking back to that November day, I don’t recognise the person I was. Blogging lifted me from a hopeless situation into a life that’s rich, vibrant and full of opportunity.

If I can offer any advice to anybody, it would be this:

Always believe in the impossible. No matter how hard it might seem, there is always a way if you’re willing to dream big and work for it.

Stacey is a Ghostwriter and Blogger who creates content for influencers in the digital marketing and WordPress community. When she’s not blogging elsewhere, she hangs out on her own blog, sharing visual content and blogging tips.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Build a Better Blog in 31 Days

Making The Impossible Possible: How I Created A Full Time Blogging Income With No Qualifications

Build a Better Blog in 31 Days

Making The Impossible Possible: How I Created A Full Time Blogging Income With No Qualifications
 #bloggingtips 

Hand-Built Porcelain Sculptures by Nuala O’Donovan Mimic Fractal Patterns Found in Nature

Fun and Random

Hand Built Porcelain Sculptures by Nuala ODonovan Mimic Fractal Patterns Found in Nature sculpture porcelain fractals ceramics

Hand Built Porcelain Sculptures by Nuala ODonovan Mimic Fractal Patterns Found in Nature sculpture porcelain fractals ceramics

Hand Built Porcelain Sculptures by Nuala ODonovan Mimic Fractal Patterns Found in Nature sculpture porcelain fractals ceramics

Hand Built Porcelain Sculptures by Nuala ODonovan Mimic Fractal Patterns Found in Nature sculpture porcelain fractals ceramics

Hand Built Porcelain Sculptures by Nuala ODonovan Mimic Fractal Patterns Found in Nature sculpture porcelain fractals ceramics

Hand Built Porcelain Sculptures by Nuala ODonovan Mimic Fractal Patterns Found in Nature sculpture porcelain fractals ceramics

Hand Built Porcelain Sculptures by Nuala ODonovan Mimic Fractal Patterns Found in Nature sculpture porcelain fractals ceramics

Irish artist Nuala O’Donovan sculpts intricate hand-built porcelain forms that resemble fractal patterns found in nature. Borrowing from shapes found in coral, teasel flowers, and pinecones, O’Donovan examines not only patterns, but irregularities that arise from random or unexpected events. From her artist statement:

The result of using the characteristics of fractal geometry in making decisions regarding the form of the sculptural pieces, is that the form is resolved but retains a sense of potential change. The viewer engages with the piece by allowing their own visual experiences to influence their view of the outcome of the form and its future possibilities. I hope that this aspect of my work also evokes the transitory quality of living organisms, combining traces of history, the present and the future, in the patterns that make up their surfaces and forms.

O’Donovan most recently exhibited with Tansey Contemporary at SOFA Chicago and has numerous exhibitions around the UK in 2015. You can see much more on her Facebook page and her website. Photos by Sylvain Deleu and Janice O’Connell. (via Juxtapoz)

 
#funandrandom 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/colossal/~3/ycVHuC8zOnM/