Remember when I made these free social media buttons for you?
Well you spoke up and asked for more…
So here’s the new {revisited} “Elegant” social media set…now with Pinterest & Google+! (Dont like blue? Read on…)
Download:
You can download the entire set of png files here.
If you need instructions on how to use them or change the color check out this post.
Enjoy, my bloggy friends…
I love giving away stuff…in the form of giveaways, tutorials and fun little things you can use for your blog.
So today, how about some pretty, girlie social media buttons for your blog or website?
Download:
You can download this set of icons in png file format here.
How to Use:
The beauty of png files is that they can be easily modified by color, size, transparency, etc. So, the same Facebook file above can be modified in a photo editor like Photoshop or on PhotoBucket.com to look like this:
How to modify the color In Photoshop Elements:
1. Open the png file.
2. Go to Enhance>Adjust Color>Adjust Hue/Saturation. Use the sliders to change the hue, saturation and lightness.
3. Click Ok, then save the file.
…In Photoshop:
1. Upload the png file.
2. Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Use the sliders to change the hue, saturation and lightness.
3. Click Ok, then save the file.
…On PhotoBucket.com:
1. Upload the png file.
2. In the album, hover over the image and select Edit. Then select Adjust and use the sliders to change the hue, saturation and lightness.
3. Click Done.
The default size of the icons is pretty large at 200x200px. That will give you plenty of wiggle room for sizing appropriately for your blog. Typically, an icon will be around 50x50px and you can resize in your photo editor or when you upload to your blogging platform.
Any questions? Speak up! And enjoy… 
I’ve been using Twitter for two years now. It was at Blissdom ’09 that I took the plunge into the Twitter universe.
Since then, my “twitterosophy” has morphed a few times.
First, I started out basically in denial. Even as a blog designer, I didnt quite get the whole idea. Why was it important to my blog? How would it benefit me? How did the whole thing even work, anyway? I knew about it, marveled at it from afar, but I needed it explained a little more before I could really jump in with both feet.
From there I went into what I like to call the “bit obsessed” stage. Once I realized the powerful force of this social media tool, I started to follow anyone with a pulse. If you followed me, I’d follow you (not with an automatic follow tool, however). If I visited a blog once, I’d look for the twitter link. If you Follow Friday-ed me, I’d follow you for sure. Seems to me this is a pretty common Twitter practice.
But recently I’ve undergone yet another transition. I started realizing that following 2500 people was no easy task. I found myself not even checking my Tweetdeck columns because it was information overload, and if there is one thing I don’t need in life is overload. It really defeated the whole beauty of Twitter…the connections. I began to feel like I could never keep up or respond to the tweets I really cared about responding to. That was, if I even saw them in the stream.
So I did something a little radical. Some might say it was social network suicide…especially given my business. But I thought I’d at least try it and see if I liked it. One night I went through and cleaned house. I reduced my follow list by about 85%.
Here’s what has surprised me…
Its been an eye opening experience and I have to say this is the way it works for me. Not to say that I’m not constantly updating and following new and interesting people. What’s my “criteria” for following new “Twits” you may ask? Well, basically I will follow:
By no means is my “twitterosophy” some sort of exclusive, elitist mentality. Its nothing personal if I don’t follow you back or follow you first…for reals, promise. I simply know my limits and would rather be a good twit to some than a mediocre twit to many.
So tell me? Disagree? Agree? What’s your twitterosophy? What’s your criteria for following another twit?
A while back, I was searching the internet for some shabby chic style social media icons. I couldn’t find any, so I created some myself and shared them with you. Since then, at the request of several readers, I added a few more icons to the set.
Check ‘em out…
To save, simply right click on the image(s) you want and select “save image as” and save it somewhere on your hard drive. You’ll notice these are extra “big” at 125×125 pixels and you probably wont need them quite so large, but you can easily resize them in a photo editor or when you upload them to your blog platform.
Enjoy!
When I started blogging, I wanted to be the perfect student. So I tried to glean all the awesome blogginess from my bloggy mentor, Metropolitan Mama. One of the ways I did this was to totally steal copy her blogroll. I figured if those blogs were good enough for her, they were good enough for me.
One of the first blogs I began to follow was Adventures in Babywearing. And if you haven’t heard of it, you’ve been living under a rock somewhere. Stephanie is such a delightful person and writes about the many joys, challenges and adventures in motherhood…something she does with grace and class. I got the opportunity to meet Stephanie in person at BlogHer ’08 and she’s as kind in person as she is on her blog.
Stephanie was the winner of the Mother of All Bloggers contest back in April. As part of the contest, the winner received a blog makeover or other service by yours truly. Because Stephanie already had the cutest design ever by Ruby & Roja, she opted to have a Twitter page made to coordinate with her look. This is what we came up with…
Thanks Stephanie, for the opportunity to take your ideas and run with them.
So if you’re not already, follow Steph at @babysteph and be sure to visit her blog. You’ll be a better blogger, mother, person for it.
Here’s a great question from Sarah from Mom Balance:
“How do I add a Twitter badge/link to my sidebar”.
Its not hard, Sarah…here are the steps:
1. Depending on what platform you are on (Blogger, WordPress, TypePad), you’ll need to create a new sidebar item or widget (or “gadget” in Blogger; “TypeList” in TypePad).
2. Find a graphic you’d like to use as your link badge. There are a whole bunch if you Google “Twitter bird” or “Twitter badge”. Here are a few…
(Also, you can just use a simple “follow me on Twitter” phrase.)
3. If you decide to use a badge, you will need to follow the same process to upload it to your server as you would any other graphic, so we can point to it in the next step. If you use a service like PhotoBucket to upload images to your blog, do that now, and take note of the URL (location) of the image.
4. Now, in your new sidebar widget/gadget/typelist, insert this code, replacing the text in red with your information:
<center>
<a href=”http://www.twitter.com/yourtwittername“>
<img src=”http://www.yourimagelocation“>
<br>
follow me on Twitter
</a>
</center>
5. Close and save the widget and it should show up looking something like this:
6. There is also a way to add a feed widget directly from Twitter that displays your most recent tweets. To add that to a sidebar, follow the directions here.
Not so hard, was it? Any questions?
**Update: Winner of the Twitter background design is Kris!**
Today I’m kicking off another round of Q & A on this here blog of mine…but with a little twist.
Here’s the skinny: Ask any question related to the mechanics or technical aspects of blogging in the form of a comment. It can be anything from how to add a custom banner, uploading a photo, adding a WordPress plugin, domain names, hosting…whatever. I’ll be back in the following weeks to answer your questions to the best of my ability.
And the best part? Your comment will enter you to win a Twitter background design…like this one or this one, or even this one. If you aren’t on Twitter (say what??), we’ll come up with something (maybe a mommy/business card or blog badge?)
Please submit your entries before Wednesday, March 4th at midnight.
So…ask away.
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