The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin

So... over at Dandelion Wishes they have this monthly Vlog thing that they do. Vlog being a video log. I watched a bunch of them from April and thought it would be fun to participate this time. However, since I am in the middle of a move I will not be able to link myself up to her's. (if anyone wants to be nice and do it for me. ::wink::) The basic idea is that I answer a bunch of questions about myself and then I show you something. May's questions are: Ocean or Mountains? Sweet or Salty? Early Bird or Night Owl? Edward or Jacob? Book or Kindle? Manicure or Pedicure? MAC or PC? And the show and tell is that I must let you examine the contents of my purse. Now... before you watch this video, I want you to understand that I look TERRIBLE. I seriously don't know what I was thinking when I clicked the record button. Next time I will be sure to do my hair and make-up first. (not that I actually did it after the video either, but still) So, enjoy and I wil...

Have you ever seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? I honestly hadn't until I was an adult with children. Now we watch it all the time, and one of the things I've noticed is how cute some of their props and costumes are. So, I'm going to do another set of Theirs Vs. Ours links. Ready? Theirs Ours Links to making your own rompers: Growing Home Online (the one above) Dana-Made-It Intstructables Theirs---(the little girl) Ours Can I just say how much I love smocks? Remewin has just one that I made... I need to make some more. Links: Prudent  Baby (shown here) Madquilter Theirs Ours Links: Jane Avion (shown here) Theirs Ours Link: Brown Paper Packages (shown here) What do you think? Living in a movie sounds good to me. Now, I'm off to quickly clean my house before my play-daters show up. Remember, I'm on vacation through the end of the year, but I'll try to pop and leave some Christmas love for all of you. Happy Holidays!

 Design*Sponge has this themed post they do called 'Living In' where they take a movie and then they find fun things that look like they came right out of the movie. The problem is the things they find are usually expensive, and as I've mentioned before... expensive isn't up my alley right now. So then I was watching Mary Poppins last night with the kiddos and I was thinking to myself--'That's cute!' or 'Wow, I bet I could make that.'-- and I realized I could do a 'Living In' style blog post that uses the myriad of tutorials and ideas that the great blogosphere has to offer. I could do for the meek and humble what Design*Sponge does for the wealthier. :) I'm nervous that perhaps I'm stealing their idea. I don't want to be accused of taking their idea, I'm merely bowing to the genius that is them and adapting to my own needs and wants. That being said, lets get this party started. What first caught my eye w...

Let's spend some time today discussing publicity of a blog. According to my statistics there are: click here to go directly to my blog 107 of you who 'Follow' me. 135 of you who 'Feedburn' me. 68 who ' Facebook ' me. And yet on those same stats it says that I get less than 30 hits on my blog a day. Hmm. What's the trick? What does a girl, a blogger, need to do to lure in more people? I've tried link parties... they don't seem to be so popular. I've done the whole comment on other blogs thing. And yet after three years of blogging that is all I have to show for it. Don't get me wrong. I love, love, love, love, love blogging. But I would also love, love, love readers. So today I'm going to do a comment party, a call for attendance if you will. It's not hard and it will only take a minute of your time. You answer one (or all) of four questions: 1. What is your blog all about? (link please) 2. What...

Have you guys ever heard of Tumblr? I honestly hadn't until like three days ago, and I've decided it's the best internet spot on earth... besides here. It's like twitter, blogger, and facebook all in one and the best thing is you can feed all of those things into each other using Tumblr. So, that's what I've done. I have all of my blogs (askcannwin, literarysoundtrack and here) all feeding into Tumblr which feeds into my Twitter account--that up until now was getting 0 use. I can click on a little button in my bookmarks bar and insta-share anything I love online... quotes, photos, websites, even videos. I'm still trying to figure it all out, but if you were wanting a little more about who's the who behind this blog you should go check me out over there . Then follow me (or however it works over there). Maybe I'll keep up with an account, maybe I won't, but it seems like a pretty hands off site and I'm perfectly okay with that. N...

Over at the Literary Soundtrack (one of the best book blogs out there, IMHO) Friday is the day for talking about books you want to adore, but have yet to acquire. Since today is the first ever link party, I thought it would be worth it to link up. Maybe, since I'm sure you're here trying to come up with some sort of inspiration for your own blog ::wink-wink:: I thought maybe you could follow my lead. :) So, what's my book of wishing for this week? Well... I just read about this book by a guy named Goran Kropp called Ultimate High: My Everest Adventure. It's about this guy, Goran, who rides his bike from Sweden to Everest... then climbs Everest unassisted and without oxygen... then bikes home. Umm, yeah, totally awesome. And here I am complaining about all this dang weight I've gained. If only I could bike across the country, but who am I kidding? I'd rather just read about it. What book are you chomping at the bits to get? What book is making your h...

Have you ever seen those blog posts where the person takes a collage of things they like and then tells you about each and every one? This is one of those posts... And since I now know how much effort it takes to create said collage, I'm expecting you to take the time to look at this conglomeration of photo's from my Idea's and Inspiration file on my laptop. I can't remember where I got all of these photos, so if you see one you recognize please tell me so I can give credit where credit is much deserved. So, here we go: 1. Soft baskets are one of those ideas that I love, but have yet to create. It's like the cheap way to get what I want... baskets! Image source (and tutorial): Image source: jcarolinecreative.com 2. I love, love, love the notion of built in bookshelves, big windows and cozy reading benches overlooking vine covered gardens. Image source: Not Sure 3. Crazy quilts have become a new fascination with me, and I just recently figured out how ...

Have you ever noticed how blogging has a life of it's own? Have you ever noticed that, like piercing your ears, one time is never enough. My sister called me about a month ago to announce that she had this great idea and she wanted my involvement. Thus began our newest venture in the world of web logging. (I made this!) The Literary Soundtrack (I wanted to call it Bibliophiliacs Anonymous to which my sister announced that I was a nerd) is a blog devoted to literature and music. More appropriately the influence that these two aspects of art and culture have on one another. Have you ever heard a song and thought of how it reminded you of a book? Have you ever heard a song and made up a story to go with it? Have you ever connected the two in your head? I bet you have. That's why many writer's questionnaires ask what type of music you listen to when you write. Music inspires all of us bibliophiliacs, in some form or another. My sister and I have decided that ...

It's been a while since I posted any of the fun sites I've found so I thought (since it's a lazy no school day) to post some today! Various: Pipl.com - I've run across some discussion on facebook about people worrying about their digital footprints. This site is a great place to look for yours. You just put in your name and it will do an in depth search of you (or anyone you feel like stalking). It's very interesting... (also can I suggest searching yourself--or username--in google images. You'd be surprised what pops up.) nibbledish.com - my favorite food site I go here first when I'm looking for a new recipe. picnik.com - this is a free image altering website. It's fun. It's where I made 'Jack' on my last post and where I did this picture: madsencycles.com - my -current- dream bicycle. Blogs: Childmade.com - a catch all site of crafting projects. craftgossip.com - another catch all crafting site. abby's blog - this is ...