Blogger2Blogger #3 - Emma

Hello I'm back again with another gorgeous Blogger, Emma from 'The Glittery Details - A Beauty Blog'.

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"A blog made by a 17 year old British female. Displaying a passion for all things beauty related and girly through words and pictures."

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→Hello! I hope your'e all fired up for the questioning! It's not too gruelling, don't worry!

Hello! I definitely am! - slightly nervous though hehe

→How long have you been Blogging for?

I have had a tumblr for almost a year now, but I have been proper blogging (on blogger) for about 4 months now!

→Why did you start Blogging? Did someone/ something inspire you?

Yes! after watching countless beauty youtube videos and reading through hundreds of beauty blogs - i thought 'I want to be apart of this - so why the hell not!' - also everyone with in the community seems to be very friendly!

→Were you scared to start Blogging to strangers?

not so much scared but nervous! I just kept thinking what if no one like what I write haha! I was also quite embarrassed about it and still am a little bit.

→How easy do you find Blogging? Html/ time/ money wise.

It can be quite hard! Along side college and the extra homework I get it can be difficult  to find the time to do, also having the money to buy the products to blog about is a challenge as I don't work - but I try, also my boyfriend likes to treat me so that helps! But the hardest part is the html and editing the layout - I just do not understand it haha! 

→Which audience is your Blog aimed at? Please also describe your Blog.

My blog is cute and girly with a pink and white theme (I <3 pink!). It is place with some reviews/opinions and pictures with swatches about different kinds of beauty products - with some personal and jewellery posts thrown in too! I feature mainly drugstore products as they are what I can mostly afford although I do have some higher end products on there as well.

I aim my blog at girls who are also beauty obsessed! I love to interact with other bloggers and find out their views and opinions on products!

→Do your friends & family know of your Blog? Are they supportive?

Only my boyfriend and a couple of my close friends know about my blog as I am still quite nervous about it! But they are all supportive - especially my boyfriend - he loves reading my posts and seeing comments and that :)

→Would you like to still be Blogging in 5 years time?

I would love to be doing this in 5 years!- that would be amazing! not too sure my purse will like it so much haha!

→Do you see yourself having a potential career from your Blog?

I haven't really thought about it! But probably not - im doing this as a hobby and a passion, im not really looking for anything more. On the other hand a career of blogging sounds fab!

→What are the pro's & con's of having a Blog?

The pro's would be 1) being able to talk and connect with people who have similar interests to you 2) it is a place where you can be who ever you want to be and write about what you wish 3) being able to kind of research products that you want to buy and find swatches and other peoples opinions on it before buying it so you do not regret it!

The only con I can think of is that you can get a little disheartened when you do not get many comments or views - but it is all in good time!

→How much time & effort a day/week do you put into your Blog?

I would say that I put quite a lot of effort into it but time is my main obstickle! I try to post about 4/5 times a week as everyday can be a little challenging. Put when putting together a post I spend about an hour and a half making sure the pictures are okay and I haven't made any spelling mistakes! I spent about 4 hours the other night changing the layout! 

→Has Blogging changed your life?

Not dramatically but I do spend alot of time blogging and looking at other blogs! It has also given me a place to escape to where I can just relax and write up my own opinions! 

→What is your holy grail beauty product?

Foundation with out a doubt! Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection to be exact! (there is a review on my blog). I some times have problem skin and this always helps to cover it - I also find that just applying foundation helps me wake up abit a look much more refreshed!

→Have you any wise words for those unsure or new to Blogging.

Just be yourself, write about what you want to and how you want and the rest will come!

→What do you think of this new feature?

I think it is a great way to connect bloggers that may not otherwise find your blog!

→Random last one! Which sweet best describes your personality and why?

Mint Areos as I am bubbly!

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I recommend you all check out Emma's blog!

Top Tip - Header

Hello readers! 

I thought it was about time for another Top Tip, and this week it is about Blog headers. 

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When you first start out with a Blog it may seem difficult trying to perfect the header of your Blog and will more than likely end up frustrating you! I know from experience that it took ages trying to figure out how I wanted mine to look, whether I wanted images, fancy writing, borders and so much more. So I am here with a few handy links and advice which should hopefully help you out. 

Blogger does offer an wide and varied range of fonts for your chosen header name however if you still don't find any that you like then this is what to do...

Creating a header is simple...as long as you have either Photoshop, Paint or even Powerpoint! I used Paint and opened up a blank rectangular sheet like the one below. 

I used my favourite site dafont.com  and downloading a font style (they have so so many to choose from, its great!). To download a font style and then use it is pretty easy and all info can be found on the site so don't fret. I typed in my header choice which was "hushedsecrets", chose the colour and format; and I then saved it as a Jpeg. Go onto the 'Design' tab on your Blogger dashboard and click on the header 'Edit', this will bring up a new pop-up window where it will give you varies options - in my case, and what I suggest to do in order for yours to look like mine, tick the "instead of title and description' which will then remove any text you had in place as part of your header. Upload your Jpeg file of your newly designed header and hey presto it is up and ready to be admired at! To adjust the widths either simply adjust the width of your Blog using the 'Template Designer' or make the rectangular sheet on Paint larger. 

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The new craze of writing text filled with an image is floating heavily around the Blogesphere lately and so I thought I would share with you my own method. 

Step 1: Open Powerpoint

Step 2: Insert Word Art text

Step 3: Type in your header name

Step 4: Highlight your text 

Step 5: Click 'Text Fill' 

Step 6: Slick 'Picture'

Step 7: Choose picture then upload

Step 8: Copy text into Paint then save

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If you don't feel like you can design a header to suit your needs then I highly recommend you check these Blogs out as they will do it for you for a small price. 

http://abbzzwdesign.blogspot.com/ has designed various Blogs including http://www.dizzybrunette3.com/

http://rachinald.blogspot.com/ has designed various Blogs including http://www.beautycfw.com/

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Has this helped you?

What do you think of this week's Top Tip?

Blogger2Blogger #3 - Serena

Hello! I'm awfully sorry for the lack of posts but here I am back with a brand new Blogger, the gorgeous Serena from 'Be broke, be stylish, be slightly boho'!

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"I'm an 18 year old Irish/Italian living in Dublin.I completed a 1 year course in art and design portfolio preparation and now I've taken a year out to save up for the fashion school of my dreams in Rome, Italy! Feel free to comment nothing is more rewarding than feedback"

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→Hello! I hope your'e all fired up for the questioning! It's not too gruelling, don't worry!

Thanks for having me! It’s all good I love answering questions!

→How long have you been Blogging for?

Well I started at the beginning of September, so almost two months now!

→Why did you start Blogging? Did someone/ something inspire you?

I actually started out of boredom! I’m out of college and I was unemployed at the time so I had nothing to do with my days, then two friends of mine, Lorraine and Stephanie started blogging, when I saw how successful their blogs were it really inspired me to keep going with mine and not give up!

→Were you scared to start Blogging to strangers?

Yeah, I was pretty scared about the way people would respond to me, I have some pretty contraversial blog posts on topics like grehound racing and Pagaent kids. I also like dissing bad celebrity outfits!.. The response so far has been really positive though, I’m just waiting for someone to comment and tell me off! Lol

→How easy do you find Blogging? Html/ time/ money wise.

I find it really easy! I always take advantage of the ‘Preview’ button and make sure everything is perfect before posting. Depending on what I’m writing about it can take me really long, some topics need lots of research and lately my internet has been really screwed up and halfway through a post it will just turn off! I have that fixed now, I think! Lol So far it hasn’t cost me a penney but I have been doing quite a bit of Impulse buying, when I’m in shops and see something nice I always think ‘I’d love to blog about that!’

→Which audience is your Blog aimed at? Please also describe your Blog.

I’d say my blog is aimed mainly at girls who are in their teens and older. If I do however get male followers I’d probably try to add suff for them because I love mens clothing and accessories!

→Do your friends & family know of your Blog? Are they supportive?

My family know and they’re really supportive, they actually set up google accounts just so that they could follow me! They were my only followers for the first few weeks of blogging. Some of my friends know about it too and they’re also supportive but a lot of my friends wouldn’t know much about blogging so I don’t ask them to follow me unless they’re really interested.

→Would you like to still be Blogging in 5 years time?

Yes hopefully I will, I find it so much fun! Even when I had no followers I still made sure to post every day, it’s kind of become part of my life now!

→Do you see yourself having a potential career from your Blog?

I’d love to in the future because I love writing and I hope to work in the fashion industry. 

→What are the pro's & con's of having a Blog?

Well the pro’s are you get to express yourself, There’s nothing better than having an angry rant and recieving comments from your followers that they agree! Its also great because you can share things your interested in. It’s probably the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done! The only con is that it’s quite slow to get into. I only started getting followers on my second month in but as I said before I still posted daily. You just have to have patience and not give up.

→How much time & effort a day/week do you put into your Blog?

I like to post daily because I always have so much to talk about, some days if I’m really busy I might give it a skip. I usually spend over an hour per post, some posts can take up to three hours if I have to do research or browse around for pieces of clothing.

→Has Blogging changed your life?

I wouldn't say it’s changed my life, but it has improved it. As I said I started it out of boredom, and lets just say I’m never bored anymore! It’s also really given me confidence in my writing and I’d love to have a career in fashion journalism. 

→What is your holy grail beauty product?

At the moment it’s the Naked Palette by Urban Decay. I got it for my birthday and it’s the best gift ever! It has every colour you need from your creams, browns and golds to you silvers and blacks, you can really create any look with it!

→Have you any wise words for those unsure or new to Blogging.

I say Go for it! It’s so rewarding and really fun too! It’s your blog so don’t feel pressured into writing about things your not interested in, you can write about whatever the heck you want! As I said before it’s hard to get into and getting followers can be a slow process but keep your head high, keep writing and don’t give up!

→What do you think of this new feature?

I think it’s such a great idea! I’ve been waiting for something like this to come along to get us new bloggers some recognition!

→Random last one! Which sweet best describes your personality and why?

Hmmm.. sweets.. I’d probably be a fizzy cola lollipop, Because I’m sweet but I can also be a little sour about some topics! I’d actually love a lolly now...

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I recommend you all check out Serena's blog!

Top Tip - Borders

Hello Bloggers!
As promised here is some useful information for those who need that little bit of extra help with HTML and Blog design. If you wish to post images with or without a border then this Top Tip is for you!

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Sometimes once uploaded the image can have a white border around it or a grey shadow and this might not please everyone and therefore this code is the one you need to apply to your Blog. 

Step 1: Go to Blogger dashboard 
Step 2: Click on "Design"

Step 3: Click on "Edit HTML"

Step 4: Tick the "Expand widget templates" box
Step 5: Press CTRL and F at the same time (a little box shall appear)
Step 6: Type ".post-body .tr-caption" into the box (it will then highlight the text within the large HTML box
Step 7: The highlighted text will be apart of this paragraph - delete the 3 bold lines
Step 8: Repeat this twice as there should be another section within the large HTML box containing this paragraph again

.post-body .tr-caption-container img {

padding: 0;

background: transparent;

border: none;

-moz-box-shadow: 0 0 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, .1);

-webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, .1);

box-shadow: 0 0 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, .1);}

}
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Or perhaps you would like to add a border to your image so it stands out, therefore you need to use a few HTML codes in order to achieve this effect. I will now explain the terms so you shall understand what they are when I refer to them: 

Border - there are a lot of border styles and we can change its colour.

Padding/ Background - the background between the image and the border and we can make it a picture or just a plain colour. 

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Simple border: The HTML for an image with a solid border, 1px in width, colour pink - Add your image as usual and in the "Edit HTML" tab add all the coloured code after the image location and before the />. To change the colour simply replace the code, however always remember to use # at the start. To enlarge the width increase the number and visa-versa.

<img src="http://PLACE LINK HERE" 

style="border:1px solid #CC0099;"/>

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Border with padding: Apply the same technique as above however insert this HTML code into the "Edit HTML" tab. The padding for this code will be blank. Again, the same rules in order to change apply from above.

<img src="http://PLACE LINK HERE" 

style="border:1px solid  #CC0099; padding:6px;"/>

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Border & coloured padding: Using the instructions from before apply this code to the "Edit HTML" tab. To change colours, width etc please see above. Please note the coloured padding is described as the 'background colour', do not fear!

<img src="http://PLACE LINK HERE" 

style="border:1px solid #CC0099 padding:6px;

background-colour:#000000;"/>

For a wide range of HTML colours please click here

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So what do you think of this tutorial style post on borders? 

Let me know if it helped anyone at all!

Also suggestions on next Top Tip would be much appreciated!