I’m sharing a Christmassy photo with some pretty little treasures and yummy goodies from my students, and gifts for friends and neighbors wrapped and ready to give this weekend.

I’m sharing photos of the Holiday Party my husband and I attended at the amazing Mission Inn landmark Hotel. The Mission Inn was built in 1876 and is gorgeous any time of year, but especially during the Holidays. Decorators go all out and the displays are always breathtaking. These are day-time photos, so we’re missing the spectacle of the lights, but it’s still a beautiful site to see, during the day.

In editing these photos, I used a fun selective focus feature that my upgrade to PSP Pro X4 enables. If you have some photo editing experience, you may know this as the tilt-shift effect. I really like this effect, from the first time I saw it in some professional photography galleries online, and then on film using tilt-shift lenses in a couple of recent movies (think Cambridge rowing scene/Henley Final from the Social Network).. awesome.

Click on the thumbnails to see a larger image.

As a Bzz agent, since 2006, I get introduced to lots of new website, products and programs. It’s really pretty cool. One of the most recent places I was introduced to was Smarterer.com. It a place where I can participate in fun quizzes about places I frequent online – twitter, facebook, wordpress, etc, and see how much I know about them and then compare my knowledge score with others who’ve taken the quiz.

They have some cool achievements and badges you collect and display, like the one here.

There are tons of quizzes you can test your knowledge with and you can even add to them and share them on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. It’s totally free and easy to use. If you like to treat yourself to a fun, challenge once in a while, why not check it out.. better yet, ask your friends to join you and compare your scores. See if you are the Smarterer one!

If you are considering a pet for your home, I hope you consider visiting your local animal shelter and saving one of the needy pets there. If you are not sure where your nearest animal shelter is, you can use this site to search for one. Dogs make wonderful companions and in some cases, can provide some additional protection. Dogs and Cats at the local shelters have been dropped off or left behind and really deserve another chance at a loving home. We made the best decision when we picked up Copper and brought him home.

It’s important to note that before you adopt a new pet, to make sure that you will be able to spend time with them, training them and not just leaving them alone all the time. Also, make sure you have time to take them on walks or to the park for exercise, especially if you do not have a large backyard for them to run freely in. Copper loves running through our backyard every chance he gets. He also enjoys playing catch. we go through so many soccer balls, it’s funny! We also take him on walks through our neighborhood. He always gets all excited when he hears the word “walk”.

We love our Copper dog!

New to SwagBucks? Well this is a great time to join! Now through the 17th, Any new user who enters the code 5For5 during sign up will get a bonus 70 Swag Bucks, bringing them to a total 100 Swag Bucks to start with. The code is live now and will expire at 12pm PT on Monday, October 17th. Click here to get your free SwagBucks account started!

Once you are all joined up, there’s more for you! – Get at least 5 new referrals who are NOT members of your household or sharing an address with you. If these 5 new referrals earn just 50 Swag bucks after they join – YOU will qualify for 500 extra Swag Bucks that will be applied to your account automatically by the end of the month. Whoohoo! This is a one-time offer, just one bonus per person. Why not go for it!
Get your Swag Bucks account now!

My son was displaying his art recently at an event in at Sevilla nightclub in our downtown area. The event was showcasing many local artists, musicians and performers. It was a fun, busy place and we were happy to be there supporting our son.

My daughter, myself and a couple of our friends took a day trip to Los Angeles for the Ultimate Women’s Expo at the convention center over there. It was a mega shopping event with tons of new, unique women’s products and samples. We had a fun time there but all agreed that the food was too expensive.

Photos from a regular walking route I take through my neighborhood. I really like my neighborhood. It’s pretty, friendly and cozy. I was also testing out my new phone’s camera. I decided it takes pretty decent photos.

I spent some time today, adding my design service (Graphic Design by Karlyn) to Thumbnail. Thumbnail provides a pretty cool, free service to people and businesses that want to promote the services they offer online. If have not yet connected your business or service to Thumbnail, consider getting your free account started today by clicking my referral link. I earn a few extra thumbnail points if you use my link, so thanks!

At Thumbnail, I promote my design site – karlyns.com – which was also in need of some updated information, so I tended to that. I am pleased with the new changes I made on my purchase page that include pricing changes (needed for some time now!) and more details in the descriptions of design choices and the actual design services I provide. See image..

What I do is Logo design, web banners, buttons, eBook design, animated designs, and no additional charge for high quality print design work, flyers, etc. I’ve been designing since 2000 and offer quick response and high-quality results. I welcome brand-new clients, so please visit www.Karlyns.com for your graphic designs needs. I look forward to designing for you!

For those who enjoy using Swagbucks reward points to get free stuff, there are lots of ways to earn – have you tried Special Offers?

Special Offers gives you a way to rack up Swag Bucks quickly by taking actions ranging fro surveys to free trials to making purchases to liking a Facebook page or simply watching videos. Take the action, get the bucks. It’s that simple.

There are plenty of free offers as well as those that reward you for buying something – you have complete control over your Special Offers experience. The Special Offers page has hundreds of offers from recognized brands through a number of different providers, and the Swagbucks Team works hard to ensure that only the most honest and rewarding offers make it to the page.

You can visit the Swagbucks Special Offers page or look for offers on the rotating images in the Swagbucks homepage. From time to time, Team Swagbucks will send you an message to your Swagbucks inbox containing a limited time offer, so check there frequently! If you ever have reason to believe that an offer is not what it promises, please send an email to offeralert@swagbucks.com so their team can take the appropriate actions.

Try it out today!

As followers of my blog, you have some inside info that others do not. Here’s the tip: The first code will be put out on the Swagbucks Twitter feed (which you can follow if you aren’t yet: twitter.com/#!/SwagBucks) at 6:00am PT on Monday.

Another special offer, just for you. If you are new to Swagbucks, you can get an additional 70 Swagbucks, just for signing up, if you get going and sign up before 11:59pm PST Monday Oct. 3rd. You will need to use the code “BIGTIMEBUCKS” for this offer. Normally, you get 30 Swagbucks upon signup, but if you are reading this and take advantage of this great, limited time offer, you will receive a the 30, plus the additional 70, for a total of 100 Swagbucks instead!

There are many great prices and gift cards you can turn your swagbucks in for. I usually turn mine in for amazon.com credit. I get free amazon gift cards about every 2-3 weeks. It’s a really great deal and remember.. this is a totally free program.

Get in on the fun and rewards! Click here to get started today!