Another week is nearly done and it’s time for another weekend.I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the sun might come out for this weekend, but I won’t hold my breath. But that’s enough of the very British talk about the weather, lets crack on with some lovely links.

If you use Blogger then you might be interested to know that they are rolling out some changes and if you can’t already then you will very soon be able to create your own permalinks. You can read all about it in this post from Tots100 which explains exactly what permalinks are and why you should use them. It also explains how you can access it if it hasn’t been rolled out to your account yet.

There is another new photo linky on the block which is all about fun. Pop over to The Crumby Mummy and you can link up any photograph which is fun, whether it was fun to take, be in or edit.

One of our readers is sporting the lovely glittery social media buttons we offered up as freebies a couple of weeks back. They definitely look very pretty in pink on Bubba Babble‘s sidebar.

When we were at BritMums Live, Mammasaurus let on about a free photo editing gem she had discovered called Photoscape. I’ve only just downloaded and am starting to play around. But she’s written a great tutorial on using it to make really pretty collages.

You’ve got to smile at these great photos from one very creative photographer dad. I’ve seen this link a few times now and it never fails to raise a giggle and to make me think outside the box for photos a bit.

 So all that’s left to do is open up the I Heart My Snap linky so you can share the pictures you love.Any pictures. Everyone is welcome. Just make sure you link back. And feel free to use the badge if you wish.

We have been taking a little break at I Heart Snapping, which you may have noticed by the fact that our posts haven’t been as regular.  This is due to a combination of things- the main one being computers breaking, holidays and of course a little weekend trip away to BritMums Live.  Therefore because of this reason there won’t be any links we love this week.  Don’t fear though- we still have the I heart my snap linky open for you to link up your favourite photos.  The rules are so simple- just link up any photo or photos you are particularly proud of, it could be an old post or a new one- we just want to see the photos that make you smile.  If you fancied visiting some of the other entries and leaving a comment, it is always very welcome, as we bloggers love comments!

We will be back on top form next week with some more great posts.

IT’S FRIDAY!!!!! Is it just me or do the weeks seem loads longer the week after a bank holiday? But it’s finally here… the weekend and the links we love.

We love seeing people putting our tutorials to good use and will try our best to share your handiwork if you let us know about it. Lauren at Real Housewife of Suffolk County used our Picasa tutorial to make herself a new blog header. Go check it out because it looks lovely.

One of our lovely readers has been showing off some of her art work this week and talking about the creativity in her life. If you haven’t checked out Aly McLoughlin Harte’s blog yet then you should. We loved her post on doing more of what you love.

We featured the lovely Chloe Bridge this week in our first ‘Leave It To The Pros‘ post and she’s been talking work on her own personal blog. It’s great to read stories about people finding happiness in creative jobs.

The fantastic community that is BritMums have been running a fun photography hashtag on Twitter and challenging people to take a photo on a given theme everyday. You can find out more here if you’d like to take part or just search the #snaphappybritmums to see some great pictures.

And speaking of BritMums, the I Heart Snapping team are off to the BritMums Live conference next Friday and Saturday. If you’re going then too then don’t be shy and come and say hi to us. We get a bit giddy with ideas and inspiration when we are together but we won’t bite. You can find a picture of us on the About page so you know who you’re looking for (and the blonde one has a big baby bump too!). Please do say hello.

Last week we launched a fabulous competition for you all and you’ve still got a week left to enter. The lovely people at Blurb who make the most gorgeous photo books ever, are offering some of our readers a voucher towards making their own book.

If you’ve never used Blurb before then this is the competition for you because 3 of our readers will be getting a £30 voucher to spend on any product they like. You can make planners and notebooks as well as photo books of your favourite images, there are so many possibilities. There is one condition, you have to be new Blurb customer to enter.

And all you need to do to enter is subscribe to I Heart Snapping which you can do over in the sidebar).

Plus for extra entries you can like our Facebook page,

follow us on Twitter

or tweet “I want to win a Blurb voucher with @IHeartSnapping http://www.iheartsnapping.com/2012/06/08/links-love-heart-snap-competition-all/ ”.

Make sure you leave a seperate comment for each entry and we’ll let you know next week who our lucky winners are.

So all that’s left is to open up your I Heart My Snap linky. There are no rules, just link up a photo you love; old or new, in it’s own post or part of a larger one. Last weeks linky was a bumper one so get linking up your photos for this week.

Have a great weekend.

It’s Friday again, although this has to have been the shortest week ever. I definitely think we need more four day weekends and three day working weeks. So the long weekend and the jubilee celebrations means that lots of people got out and about enjoying their families and their communities. And as a result blogland is full of lovely red, white and blue celebrations which is enough to make anyone very patriotic.

Kerry at Multiple Mummy and our very own Katie at Mummy Daddy and Me Makes Three shared posts of their jubilee celebrations with lots of lovely photographs.

We gave you some freebie social media buttons and Keeping Up With The Joneses is showing them off very beautifully. Let us know if you’re using them too. And we’ve got more freebies coming your way soon.

We all have blogging low times when we wonder why we do it. But Dana at The Wonderforest received a lovely email about why her blog is important to someone. So why not share a bit of blog love yourself; write a comment, send an email and let those blogs that you love know.

If you’ve never used Blurb before then this is the competition for you because 3 of our readers will be getting a £30 voucher to spend on any product they like. You can make planners and notebooks as well as photo books of your favourite images, there are so many possibilities. There is one condition, you have to be new Blurb customer to enter.

And all you need to do to enter is subscribe to I Heart Snapping which you can do over in the sidebar).

Plus for extra entries you can like our Facebook page,

follow us on Twitter

or tweet “I want to win a Blurb voucher with @IHeartSnapping http://www.iheartsnapping.com/2012/06/08/links-love-heart-snap-competition-all/ ”.

Make sure you leave a seperate comment for each entry and we’ll let you know in two weeks who our lucky winners are.

So all that’s left is to open up your I Heart My Snap linky. There are no rules, just link up a photo you love; old or new, in it’s own post or part of a larger one.

Have a great weekend.

It’s a late one and a quick one for this week’s Friday post. The weather has just been too nice to stay indoors and blog so the I Heart Snapping team (and their offspring) have been hanging out on picnic blankets in the sunshine. Fingers crossed this weather hangs around because not only does it make us very happy but its much more fun for taking photographs if you can go outside and have some adventures.

So just a few fab links for you to check out this week…

Ever wanted to make one of those funky little animated picture thingies that you sometimes see around blog land? Then check out this tutorial from The Paper Mama.

The infamous photograph linky The Gallery had it’s 100th outing this week with the theme picture postcard and the entries were stunning. So if you must be online this weekend instead of enjoying the great outdoors, then pop across and check out all the pretty.

For a great post on all the different ways that you can show a bit of blog love, go and check out this post at Wonder Forest…. because it’s always nice to spread a bit of love.

And finally, give a high five to Karin at Cafe Bebe. She decided to give our photo blog banner tutorial a go and now has a lovely new look banner to show for it.

That just leaves I Heart My Snap…. So get linking up your beautiful photographs. And don’t forget to grab the badge and link back to us so your readers can find some more gorgeous pictures.

It is Friday which means that it is a double whammy of loveliness, firstly it is the weekend and secondly it is time for Links we Love and I Heart My Snap.

Here is what has been making us smile in the blog world this week….

It was Cybher last week and we had a lovely time.  One speaker which really inspired us was Mario at Someone Once Told Me.  It is such a simple concept but every day Mario takes a photo of someone holding up a piece of paper with some meaningful words that someone once told them.  We both had our photo’s taken so expect to see us appearing on the website very soon.

One lady that I always love following on instagram for her wonderful photos is @rocketbum  aka The Mummy Life, she does so many wonderful edits of her son- her blog and instagram feed is well worth checking out.

If you have a little one you love taking photos of you should check out Pretty.Little.Things which has started on Love from Mummy and Hollybobb’s blogs.  Originally started by Lucy and I, we are very excited to see them make it even better.

If you want a super all round lovely blog to start reading- check out  More than Toast.  I have been following her blog for ages and it is just fab.  Expect all sorts of going’s on- Alice writes about home design, recipes, and babies- which is just as well as she has just had another little addition yesterday.  Congratulations Alice.  She takes lovely photos too.

Love Bryony has a had a bit of a spring clean- we love what she has done with the design of her blog, doesn’t it look great?

Finally check out Dorky Mum’s post all about twitter- how fantastic is this post?  So true and what a wonderful bit of writing.

If you have seen a post that deserves a shout out, or have written one yourself, be sure to let us know.  We love to promote other blogs.

We are loving checking out your photos for I heart my Snap, they brighten up our day.  If you fancy linking up a photo (or photos) your especially proud of, why not do it below?  We love seeing what you have come up with.  Remember to check out some of the other entries too, it’s all about sharing the love.  And if you fancy it you can grab our badge.

It’s Friday, so it’s nearly the end of another week and for those lucky lady bloggers who are off to Cybher this weekend, it’s the beginning of the fun. Both of us are super excited about going on Saturday and getting to put faces to names as well as hopefully picking up lots of lovely and inspiring ideas to make I Heart Snapping even lovelier for you guys.

This week has seen lots of loveliness in the blogging world, and this week we’ve especially liked…

Hollybobbs has given her blog a new look which is looking lovely. We’ll be giving you lots of easy to follow tips and tutorials over coming weeks so that you can snaz up your blogs too if you want.

As part of the See It Snap It Love It linky, The Crumby Mummy got crafty with nature and took a fantastic collection of pictures in response to the theme ‘Love’.

Rare and Beautiful Treasures shared some beautiful pictures of a gorgeous beach boy. Fingers crossed we get some weather like this in the UK soon so we can all go and take pictures like this.

The blogging world has gone giddy with excitement after both the Brilliance in Blogging Awards and MAD Blog Awards announced their finalists this week. And we are very proud to say that both members of the I Heart Snapping team have been recognised. Katie has seen her blog nominated in the MADs for Best Blog Writer, Best Family Life Blog and Most Helpful, and Lucy has been nominated in the photography categories for both awards; the Snap category of the BiBs and the Best Blog Photography in the MADs.

If you’d like to vote for us both we would be eternally grateful.

So that just leaves I Heart My Snap. We’ve been loving all the photo gorgeousness that you’re linking up each week, so grab a badge and shows us your best pictures.

So you’ve started a blog, you’ve given some thought to your blog design and creating a brand image, you’ve set up your RSS feed so that people can follow you and keep up to date on your blogging; now you need readers. You need people who will pop by your little piece of cyberspace and read what your write. In an ideal world, you’d like a few of them to stick around long enough to maybe comment on what you’ve written, or even subscribe to your content so that they can continue to read more of what you do.

Developing and growing a readership is a funny thing. Different things work for different kinds of blogs.

Family and Friends

If you are happy for family and friends to read your blog then they can be a good place to start. Tell them you blog, tell them the address. Friend and family are likely to be invested in your blog right from the start because they already know you.

Social Media

If you chose to be anonymous, or simply to not share your blog with your real life friends and family, then you are starting from scratch in finding ‘friends’ for your blog. Social media is going to be a good place to start.

Open a Twitter account for your blog, find other bloggers who blog about similar things and follow them. Get involved in conversations, ask questions and on the most part you’ll find that they will follow you back, help where they can and welcome you with open arms to the blogging community. Tweet links to your new posts telling people a bit about what you’ve written.

Have a Facebook page for your blog. Twitter is fast moving and links get quickly lost in a busy timeline, Facebook on the other hand is slower. If you post a link to a new piece on your blog then people are more likely to see it.

There is also instagram, blog lovin and networked blogs plus a multitude of networks and online blogging communities which you can join to meet other bloggers; all of these things will help you broadcast your content. Make sure you have a link to your different social media accounts on your blog, and make it obvious and easy to find. These are all ways for interested parties to make contact with you and learn more about you, which is what may turn them into regular readers.

Reading and Commenting

But how do you find interested parties? By showing an interest in them first. The most effective way of finding really fans and readers for your blog, is to be interested in their first. Comment, comment, COMMENT on blogs you like. Make sure you leave thoughtful responses to their posts and not a simple “Loved this.” If you comment frequently and with sincerity then they will notice and will more than likely come and see what you are about.

Linky Parties

Linky parties are a great way of finding bloggers with similar interests to you. Linkys are basically a collection of different bloggers links all in one place. Take the I Heart My Snap linky for example. Every Friday it opens up and you visit any time in the week to link up a picture that you love. If you pop round to the other people who have joined in and pop a comment on their post, then they will more than likely return the favour. The I Heart My Snap linky obviously brings together bloggers who like to share pictures, but there are linkys for all sorts of bloggers with all sorts of themes and topics. They are a great way of finding bloggers that share your interests and therefore may like your blog.

Make Life Easy

In reality the majority of people visiting your blog will be passing through. They won’t all stay. But some will. Some will like what they see, be interested in what you’re talking about and want to stick around. Make it easy for people to connect with you, by having your social media links clearly available, by offering your RSS feed in an obvious place. If I have to search too long for a way to connect or subscribe then I don’t.

The same goes for commenting on blogs. Make it easy for your readers and they are more likely to do it. Remove unnecessary hoops for commenters to jump through. Do you really need them to fill in a code in a box if you are going to moderate all comments anyway? Most readers don’t like too many security measures when they want to comment. It takes ages and they get bored and don’t comment.

Find YOUR Voice

Lots of people are fans of finding a specific niche for their blogs, but all to often a niche will restrict what you feel you can write about. Think carefully before you set yourself up as a food blogger if you also like to do arts and crafts and talk about music. Once you become established and have a regular band of readers and commenters it can be trickier to branch out and change your direction too much. So think about what it is that you love and what you want to blog about; what makes you interesting or different?

But most importantly, be yourself when you write. Don’t try and copy someone’s else’s style because people will see right through it. And don’t try too hard to be funny or cute or clever, just be yourself and you’ll seem more approachable and more authentic, plus your blog is more likely to be something which really makes your proud if you have been true to yourself.  Try to think of your blog as your time capsule or diary and the sort of things you might want to see in 10 or 20 years time are the sort of things that your readers will like to read now.

What a miserable week full of rain, rain and more rain for most people in the UK.  Hopefully there will be a promise of sunshine soon so we can all get out and take some lovely photos.  In the meantime here are some links that we loved this week.  Why not go over and have a read, you won’t be disappointed.

First up we love to see our tips put in to good use.  Here is Mascara and Mud using piZap and don’t you think her blog post looks fab?  Their collages are guaranteed to brighten up a post.

Also check out Jenniesnow who also tried out her new piZap skills.

If you haven’t checked out Mummy Mishaps, you should do- Jenny gets a mention this week because her blog is just full of lovely photo’s for you to look at.

Next weekend we will be going to Cybher, a blogging conference for women that blog.  We are very excited and hoping we will come away feeling very inspired.

You may have seen the hashtag #photoaday being used on instagram, well that brainchild is Fat Mum Slim, an Australian blog that makes us smile.  Go and check it out.

Love this photo from Would like to be A Yummy Mummy- what a great and funny moment captured.

We loved all the I heart my snap entries last week- this one from Life Love and Living With Boys made us smile.

Finally have you seen these amazing instagram iPhone cases from Casetagram?  I want want want one.

If you have a spare five minutes then why not join up with I heart my snap?  It is quite possibly the easiest photo linky in the world- just choose a photo you are proud of, whether it is old or new and show it off for the world to see.  Link up here, grab the badge and make sure you share the love by commenting on other blogs too.  We look forward to seeing what you have got for us this week.

It’s Friday again already, which means that the weekend is almost nearly here. And it also means that it’s time for a bit of love here on I Heart Snapping. We’ll be sharing some lovely links for you to enjoy, then giving you the chance to link up photos that you really love. See, we’re all about the love on a Friday.

In the interests of Fridays being all about links and linkys, this week we’re sharing some lovely photo linkys which you might like to take part in. SO here are some photo linkys to love…

Possibly the easiest photo linky on the planet, if you haven’t heard of Silent Sunday then where have you been? The brainchild of Mocha Beanie Mummy you simply post one picture from your week on a Sunday. No words, no titles, just a picture, that’s it. It’s now hosted on Love All Blogs each week, check it out.

If you like a bit more structure to your linkys then check out The Gallery linky on Sticky Fingers. Tara sets a theme every Friday and then opens her linky on the following Wednesday.

You might also like to check out the I Spy linky run by Mum of One. Every week a letter is chosen and you have to photograph something for that letter and then let people guess what it is. The linky opens on a Wednesday. Some of the pictures get really obscure, definitely good if you fancy yourself as an abstract photographer.

If you’ve got a funny photo which tells a story, then you simple have to link it up with Saturday is Caption Day on Mammasaurus. You are guaranteed some giggles all of Saturday as the witty comments pour in.

If you are bravely taking part in the 366 photo project (one photo every day) or the 52 project (one photo every week) then you can link up a picture from your week to The Boy and Me’s 366 linky on a Sunday.

If you just love taking and sharing pictures of your babies, then Our Footprints On The World’s photo party is the place to go. It opens on a Wednesday and closes the following Monday, and is crammed full of cuteness.

And finally, our very own I Heart My Snap linky which opens up every Friday. You share a picture, any picture, or even a selection of pictures. It can be in its own post or one from the archives, just add our button, link up here and your away.