Category: technology

Tuesday tea party

I think that I am in a chatty mood. Tea parties are for chatting, right? Today I want to talk hobbies. What are some of yours, and do you think that a person can have too many? I honestly pick up a new one each year. I have writing, which is no longer a hobby but more of an occupation now. I have drawing and digital art. I have painting, both acrylic and recently obtained water colors. (I am still not certain how I feel about water colors). I have jewelry design and crafting. (I make some really adorable earrings.) I have resin crafting. I crochet, though badly. I am about to add bath bomb making as well. (It was my daughter’s birthday request. She wants to have a craft we can do together and she is interested in bath bombs.) Of course I have reading, but I really don’t see that as a hobby. I have gaming, both video games and tabletop. I run a biweekly game in D20 style. I have been running games since third edition D&D came out. Currently I run a mish mash of pathfinder and 3.5. I looked into fourth edition and yeah… It’s not for me. I have been looking at fifth. I’m not really impressed. I would love to hear your opinion.

I have been considering adding soap and candlemaking to my activities. I think it would be fun. I took a class 20 years ago in candlemaking. The teacher made it over complex. I remember that I enjoyed it though. I think that the new melt and pour soap bases and the inexpensive soy wax options make both activities easier for me to access. Now I just need to convince my boyfriend that I don’t have too many hobbies… Hmm he may be right though. What is your opinion? Is it possible to do too many crafts? I really want you to tell me about your hobbies, where is your passions?

Join me for my tea party!

Tomorrow my newsletter comes out again. The winner of my monthly drawing will be announced. Are you a subscriber? https://mailchi.mp/1c9329da28c3/pattimouse/

Thursday Reviews

Complete honesty here…. I never have an easy time with doing reviews. I have read so many books that choosing one to review is a herculean task. Then I feel awkward with tech reviews because most of my writing apps are simple. I use word, evernote, and notebooks for writing (two of which I have already reviewed). I use Canva, and photo studio for cover design (I will review photo studio next week.) And artrage for digital art. Though I have many apps that I use those are the ones I use in creating. I always wonder why anyone would pay any mind to my random game addiction for the week (this week it’s a little game called Slidey and it is adorable), and talk myself out of doing reviews for them. I may try to break myself of that.

There is a story behind the book that I chose for today. I bought it at the school book fair when my daughter was in second grade. It was just barely at her reading level. It was something for us to read together. We alterated reading chapters. The characters were so good that we searched out the rest of the series. The dragon in the sock drawer by Kate Klimo. It is worth the read even for an adult. It is middle grade reading level.

Saturday surprise

I think that this challenge is so interesting. I am by no means pro at taking pictures. I think that I can have fun with the prompts in this challenge. Check back every Saturday for my weekly response.

Week one: Storytelling – Self-portrait – Take a picture that tells us who you are without actually showing your face.

#amateurphotographer
#dogwood52 #dogwoodphotographychallenge

The mad poet’s tea party

Did the set up for my newsletter… Want to join? drop your email here. There’s games, info, and even a giveaway in this weekly gem.

Wednesday whimsy

So I have been learning about marketing, both myself and my books. It is enough to leave my head swimming. I have been advised to look into Hootsuite to assist with keeping up with social media. Also to start a newsletter. My patreon is going into high gear starting Saturday. You guys see me during the week. I think that 2019 will be a busy year. How is it looking for you?

What do you want to see me address? And where do you think that I should take things?

Also I am considering including a fun game in each of my newsletters (word finds, crossword, etc)… Would you like to play?

Tech Tuesday

I adjusted the schedule for to give myself options. Thursday reviews from now on will be books only. I have two options for each day and I may adjust further.

Today I am going to talk about the Canva app. The website is wonderful, but this is one occasion when I truly prefer the app. Available for android here. To be honest I don’t know if it is available for Apple as I don’t like the way Apple products work. (But those of you who like Apple, check the appstore and let us know)

It has the base social media image templates. It also has cover design templates. Options for adding graphics, text, or multiple pictures. There are free use pictures, subscription pictures (a monthly fee opens up the use of), and pay for use pictures. The app itself is free.

This is how I have been doing the graphics for my poems and my book cover designs. I enjoy the creative options that Canva offers. I highly recommend it for any graphic design needs. Anything from a flyer or brochure to a book or cd cover. It is loaded with options.

Revisit the Links

https://pattimouse.wordpress.com/2018/12/04/december-links/

I realize I am being lazy here… I will try to get them set in a easier to post format before February. The new year’s day has me bogged down. I apologize.

Scheduled snafus

So my schedule is thrown to the winds from the holidays. I apologize. I will be back on Monday (yes I realize it is New Years Day.) I want to get back on track. 2019 is going to be a busy year for me. I have a childrens book that will release in 2019, At least three poetry volumes will also release. Serena is going to be in an anthology and is hoping for her second book in the zombie series to release. I will be doing more with my art, and updates will be going up on Patreon (pattimouse) about that. Add to that this blog, the possible ezines, and other fun stuff. I will update you as I know dates and such. Thank you for continuing to read my simple blogs.

Also I will be continuing with world building for a couple of weeks. Fridays. Then I will start a series of character building posts. Not sure what I will work on after that.

Monday Poetry

This is a bit of whimsy. We played Cards Against Humanity and the black card asked for 3 cards to make a Haiku. This is the closest I could get.