No I’m not getting a tattoo.

And it’s not about exfoliating although I could use a new loofah.

It’s my blog background….my skin…

I’m changing my background for the month of October and highlighting Bumble Bee Foods and the Bee Well For Life program!

BeeWell for Life

BeeWell for Life, a signature consumer program from Bumble Bee Foods, is an interactive program that inspires people to exercise, be active and eat healthier using the dedicated resource Web site www.beewellforlife.com while also making a difference for those touched by breast cancer.  For every mile you walk, run or cycle and log, Bumble Bee will donate $0.15/mile to Breast Cancer Network of Strength up to $200,000 through 12/31/10. From mile logs to calorie trackers, route mapping tools to expert blogs, BeeWell for Life has all the interactive tools to help you make getting healthy simple, easy and rewarding.  Make Your Miles Matter!

My life like many out there has been affected by breast cancer.  My aunt is a survivor and doing very well.  I wanted to do something this year on my blog and this seemed like a good idea.  I am familiar with the Bee Well for Life program through my work on the Bee Squad (this is not sponsored btw) and felt they were a company I could put my trust in… It’s a great partnership…

I know, BBF and Bee Well for Life is awesome!  I’ll be showcasing their graphic and mission on my blog background during the month of October.  In a tasteful way.  Barbie doesn’t like tacky stuff.

Oh and not leaving Barbie out!  She has some ideas of her own to showcase various organizations and branded products.  She’s a gal with a heart as well!

Are you interested in donating your skin?  Let me know!  (linneysellers at gmail.com) Are you a designer or coder that would like to participate by helping add the skins to blogs?  Let me know that too!  Let’s all make a statement in support of this cause!

Thanks to Jennifer James for the “skin”spiration for this endeavor and to my Auntie Peg who is a breast cancer survivor...

Also, yes I was a Bumble Bee Foods Bee Squad Ambassador and got cool perks, but this is not sponsored in any way and is my own idea and initiative.   I chose the Bee Well for Life program because BBF is a great company with a big old heart.

After you have loaded your photo, you’ll want to zoom WAY in.  You want your eyes to be as big as possible.

Then in Effect>Tint, choose a color that is appealing to you.  You can always make it bright and adjust with the fade.

Yes we are going to color your eyes.  Choose a brush size that is small enough and color the area around the iris.

Do too much?  You can always hit the UNDO button.  I do that a lot.

UN-zoom your photo and see if you like the color.  As we said, you can adjust the fade if it’s too bright.

Brightens it up just a little doesn’t it?

If you want to know what The Flip Side is, visit our page.

Here is my entry for the week.

Join our group and show us your reflective side. The flip side!

You look mahvalous!

Love photography?  Love shopping? Join my Brandography flickr group!  A pop culture group of brands, logos and products.  Just for fun.  Because it’s all about fun, right?

I’m so proud of her for that. She never takes him for granted.

She’s realistic about her horse’s potential, but sometimes not about her own.

She’s tough on herself.

Riding is a mental game…as much mental as physical.
Maybe more…

She’s as bright as they come.
She’s talented in every way.
But sometimes it’s just a big head game.
And frankly, just being 17 is one big head game after another.

She’s a girl who’s riding in the clouds, dreaming of wins and victories.

And she’s not one to stand back in the shadows.

I know she’ll succeed.

And every time I see her smile I know she’s a winner.

I had never made granola before so this was a double experiment.  I love the granola bites and had to see how easy or hard they were to make.  They proved to be a challenge, probably because I had never made any granola ever at all NADA…

I started with these ingredients…

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2/3 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup crushed almonds
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 – 1 1/2 cup dried fruit (small pieces like raisins)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix oats, wheat germ and almonds and spread over baking pan and lightly toast in oven.  If you smell them they are probably done.  Maybe over done.  They may need to be tossed and toasted some more to make sure they are evenly toasted.

Mix the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla and salt in small sauce pan and melt, simmering for a few minutes.

Put the oat mixture into a large bowl, add the fruit (we used currants because I forgot my glasses at Whole Foods and thought I was getting raisins)

Then pour in the brown sugar mixture.

Stir

Stir

Stir some more.

This is the part I couldn’t get a good photo of, but take  a melon baller, spray with vegetable spray and dip into the mixture.  Make sure you really pack it hard.  I just pressed the ball against the side of the bowl.  Then put the ball ( it should fall out) onto a pan lined with foil and sprayed with vegetable spray.

You will be balling a lot.  Just sayin’

Took two pans.

Next I baked them in the oven at 250 degrees for 1 1/2 hours and they burned a little.  I would back it to maybe 225? 200?   Or maybe my rack was too low.  I only play a cook on the interwebz.

It’s just to get the sticky out.  That was the tip from Heather, and it worked except for the burning part which is totally mybad.  Let them cool for a few hours before you remove them from the pan.

Fun snacks!  And so easy to make.

Wisk with Stain Spectrum Technology can tackle so many different stains, and we were given a little science experiment to determine if they could tackle grass stains which fall under the Protein category… We received a Stain Lab pack including the new Wisk detergent in the red-hot bottle!

that face…. {shudders}…

Sorry Maggie is a little quiet. Or am I a little loud? You decide.

Either way we loved the product. It worked great on the grass stain! Can’t wait for the next experiment! Bring it on!!

This post is sponsored and content provided by Wisk and One2One Network (where I am the O2O Network blog editor), but all opinions are my own and obviously so are Maggie’s.  She’s 17, you think you can tell her how to think? GAH!

I was truly excited to learn about the brand because I was already a fan,  owning their washer and dryer.  And those had even been replacements for older model Kenmore products.

The technology is changing and so is the face of the brand.  Starting with the logo.

This is the Kenmore you are used to right?

Not any more.

The new look as presented here in a cookie, because we can all relate to sugar..

I know I like it too.

Here it is in real logo form, but I still like the cookie….

Twenty bloggers were invited for a day at the Kenmore HQ’s and we saw all kinds of droolworthy appliances.   We were educated on the thought process of the re-designs on all their major and small appliances.   A few really cool options stuck out in my mind that will be rolling out into stores soon…

*They have done a fabulous re-design of the products, including a handle that spans the entire appliance for a sleek design and improved functionality (imagine floor to top on a fridge, and easy for little hands to access).

*A potscrubber feature on the dishwasher that gets the lasagna off the pan. You can actually turn the pan to the back and special cleaning fixture will tackle that issue.

*Packaging that is fresh and fun and had me curious to see the next product to see the style of the branding.

*******And the Kenmoreconnect feature where you can actually put the phone up to the appliance (well you have to call the service number) and data is transferred to allow diagnosis of the problem.  Can definitely reduce the need for service calls to fix easy problems!*******

I KNOW!

We were treated to a fabulous lunch with the help of Sears Chef Billy Parisi and Little Tech Girl.

After we heard about the appliances, we were broken up into focus groups.  What was so impressive about this event is that they really valued our opinions.  We were even paid for our time there.

Way to go Kenmore!

Later that night we were invited to a battle of the Mom Blogger and Foodie Bloggers.  Got to taste some delish foods and enjoy wine and good company!

WOW, did Janine come along?

It was an incredibly cool experience and I can’t thank Kenmore and Kim at Mom Impact for including me!  Makes me want to live in Chicago and play with them all the time! {call me, heh?}

Disclosure: I was invited by Mom Impact and Kenmore to participate in the National Blogger Event. My costs were covered, I was paid for a focus group and got some cool swag…but as always my thoughts come from my own measly little head…

I was crazy for the cheeses especially the Parmesan Peppercorn.  Each round has individually wrapped wedges, making it great for small snacks.  Or parties if you want to share

Facts from Weight Watchers:

• The new Weight Watchers Gourmet Cheese Wedges – Original Swiss, Garlic & Herb, Parmesan Peppercorn and Jalapeño Pepper – 1 point per wedge.

• The new eight-ounce variety of Weight Watchers Reduced Fat Cream Cheese Spread – 1 point per ounce.

I’m having a quick contest for all flavors of the cheese and the gift basket too!  All you have to do it tell me which flavor cheese looks good to you!  Just leave a comment!

A winner will be chosen Friday September 3 at 8pm.

What is your favorite?

Winner!

In just a few steps.  You know I have Photoshop and Illustrator but find myself pulled back to Picnik for it’s simplicity.

Start with a square in the color of your choice.  If you don’t know how to make this square from a photo, the tutorial is here.

I like the patterns in the floralia stickers.  Choose one that will cover the square on at least 2 sides for the repeat effect.

Add it to the square and increase the size until it covers the block.  Don’t extend the sticker any further than the size of the square.

Save this to your desktop.  Then upload it to picnik.  I know, seems repetitious and if there is a better way to get it into your library I would love to know.

From this point, you go to Collage and make your grid.  I am using squares with spacing at “0″.  The standard saved size for a square is 1024 pixels x 1024 pixels which of course can be resized, but you can determine the number of squares in your grid by this estimate.

Fill in the squares by dragging the same square that you created into each square on the collage grid… and see how cool it looks!

You have a repeat pattern perfect for blog backgrounds, twitter backgrounds, notecards (print them yourselves!) and business cards!

Linda’s Brandography…

I started taking photos of brands/products/logos and posting one every day. I think it will be fun to look back in years to come and see how brands and logos have changed. Don’t you?

Next week?  All Chicago in honor of my trip to Kenmore’s HQ.  I’ve got a few fun photos of the city that I took before this project was a twinkle in my eye.  Subscribe if you are so inclined, but definitely check it out!

Which is your favorite brand?