Fotor, Free Online Photo Editing Review

June19th By Leave a Comment

Being a mom, I take a lot of photos. I snap them, usually with my phone, and sometimes I even send them to our home computer. But, too often that’s where they stop and sit. I look at them on the screen and ask “why”, why have I not bought a newer camera? I know with some real editing most of my photos could be share worthy, even print worthy, but editing can be a tedious and time consuming task. Good software can also cost a pretty pricey.

Thankfully I was asked to review Fotor, a Free Online Photo Editing site. Fotor’s free photo editing features including photo collage, photo effects, text, photo cards and more. No downloads, no need to even create an account.

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I was expecting just the basics, and maybe a limited supply of tools, what I found was endless possibilities!

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Fotor offers a large work space, with a nice selection of tools all around the screen. From the basics, to the extreme. I’ve been playing with it for weeks and still haven’t tried everything.

I found myself a little frustrated that the software will let me add a border and text, but offers a limited supply of fonts, and no way that I can see to change the size of either one.

I do like the before and after photo view. Not having much experience with photo editing, this gives me some prospective while making changes. Most of Fotor photo effects have been quick, and pretty easy to use. Which I really like !

Hello my sweet faced hound! Now I see you!

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My teenage daughter had fun playing around with the collage mode. Fotor offers a lot of control in this mode, like resizing photos, and even the layouts. Though they also have several nice pre-made layouts already avaible. Fotor even offers a wide selection of greeting cards that you can easily customize.

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I plan to keep http://www.fotor.com bookmarked on my family computer. It’s definitely a quick and easy way to turn my so, so photos into share worthy, and even print worthy photos.

FTC disclosure: Monetary payment was received for my time to share this review. I was not asked to write a favorable review. All opinions expressed and photos used are my own and honest.

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Celebrate National Strawberry Shortcake Day with Driscoll’s Berries #Giveaway

June13th By 43 Comments

June 14TH is National Strawberry Shortcake Day. That’s my kind of holiday! One of my earliest memories is enjoying fresh strawberries right from my grandmother’s garden. A love that has stayed with me through the years. In-fact whether it’s fresh berries, dessert or jam, Strawberry seems to always be at the top of my list.

History: Did You Know?

  • The first recorded Strawberry Shortcake recipe published by Eliza Leslie in The Lady’s Receipt-Book in 1847.
  • Botanically speaking, the strawberry is not classified as a true berry but is a member of the rose family.
  • Driscoll’s founders began growing sweet, flavorful strawberries in Pajaro Valley, California back in 1904.
  • Approximately 2 out of 3 American households consume fresh strawberries, totaling approximately 1 Billion pounds per year. That’s an average of 12 pounds of delicious, fresh strawberries per person.

    • One thing I like about serving Strawberry Shortcake is that it can be fancy or simple, and equally delicious.

    The secret is the berries. Driscoll’s Berries!

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    A product of the U.S.A. Driscoll’s Berries are picked ripe, juicy and full of flavor. Our teenage daughter has always chosen healthy foods over empty calories, so we often have a bowl of strawberries, black berries and raspberries cleaned, and ready to eat in our fridge. They go perfect with breakfast or even as a snack on their own.

    National Strawberry Shortcake Day is one holiday this mom can’t let pass without proper celebration! Time being a real issue this week, I decided to purchase some already made pound cake and whip topping.

    The Driscoll’s Berries were delicious. Very juicy and sweet. I really like that I was able to use every berry from the package. Unlike brands I have previously purchased.

    To whip up a quick dessert, I mashed about 25% of the berries, cut and mixed in the rest. That’s it! There was no need to add sugar, or even let them sit over night.

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    I’m not sure which is the better judge, the smiles I saw while my family enjoyed dessert together, or the empty plates. Both tell me Strawberry Shortcake with Driscoll’s Berries was a hit.

    Another reason to smile is sharing the goodness of Driscoll’s Berries!

    One lucky Five Dollar Shake reader will win $20 in Driscoll’s Berries Product Coupons! Enter to win by using the widget below. If you have any issue with the widget or would like to enter by email, please contact me at shakingit@gmail.com.

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    Cascade Platinum Review #MyPlatinum

    June8th By 6 Comments

    “I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”

    Now, more than ever, people eat with their eyes, and the evidence is all over sites like Facebook and Instagram. With that in mind, Top Chef judge and editor of Food+Wine magazine, Gail Simmons, has partnered with Cascade to discuss why presentation is just as important as preparation.

    • From prep to plating:
    It’s more than just a great-tasting recipe, but also perfect presentation. Sparkling dishes, shining flatware and spot-free glasses truly let you put your best food forward with culinary creations that pop!

    • Gail recommends impressing with a Platinum Presentation:
    “The easiest recipes pop with unexpected, gourmet presentations.

    Cascade Platinum achieves a clean so powerful it helps keep the dishwasher sparkling while delivering a variety of dish care benefits:

    • Delivers Cascade’s ultimate clean for dishes
    • Scrubs away tough 24 hour stuck-on food
    • Eliminates the need to pre-wash dishes
    • Provides exceptional dishware shine
    • Contains the Grease Fighting Power of Dawn

    I recently received a bag of Cascade Platinum Pacs to put to the test.

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    So, put them to the test I did! From everyday cooking, to backed on mac & cheese, to my homemade lasagna, that uses almost every pan in the house, I cooked, mixed, and baked it up all week, and counted on Cascade Platinum to help work on the clean up.

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    Unlike the dishwasher detergent we’ve been using, Cascade Platinum hasn’t let me down yet! These little pacs left no food on our pans, or water marks on our glasses. Both of which have been a real problem. A recurring problem as we’ve tried switching to several brands of detergent. Our stainless steel pans haven’t had this much shine in years. Also impressive, is our ceramic casserole dish, it hasn’t had this kind of sparkle since it was new.

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    Often before entertaining company I’ve had to check the glasses for water marks. On a daily bases, I’ve been pre-washing dishes, and scrubbing pans before and after they go through the dishwasher. I love that Cascade Platinum tackles these jobs so well. Leaving me with time I’d much prefer to spend with my family.

    After five days of using Cascade Platinum Pacs, the inside of our dishwasher has never looked so clean or smelled better. I had no idea that switching detergents could make such a difference within the machine.

    Looking in to it, that would be due to the Cascade Platinum Technology!

    Cascade Platinum features a premium, advanced triple-action formula specially designed to deliver Cascade’s best-in-market performance:

    • Increased enzyme power delivers better tough food cleaning than Cascade Complete Pacs
    • Unique liquid-top dual surfactant system delivers exceptional shine for the dishes AND helps keep your dishwasher sparkling
    • Specially designed chelant and polymer system helps prevent hard-water film build-up on your dishes, glasses and even the interior walls of your dishwasher
    • The chelant is designed to fight Calcium that comes in with hard-water and food to help deliver virtually film-free dishes wash after wash

    Yes, these little pacs are powerful when it comes to clean! BUT, how about the cost? Before looking it up, I expected the cost to blow out my budget. Which means if I were right, I’d be back to standing in the kitchen each night after dinner, instead of relaxing with my family.

    Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised. The suggested retail price for Cascade Platinum is only $0.29 per dose! Not bad. Definitely not budget blowing.

    So, to that – I’ll be enjoying more meals like lasagna, knowing I now have a powerful little helper when it comes to the clean up.

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    Enter to win!
    To celebrate the release of the Cascade Platinum Pacs, Cascade is holding a “My Platinum” contest on Instagram. It’s a four week contest that encourages followers to upload pictures related to the weekly contest theme.

    Enter to win the My Platinum Contest by uploading a photo to Instagram using the hashtag “#MyPlatinum” and the tag “@MyCascade”.

    You must first register here to you win!

    Here are the themes and the entry period:

    Week 1: My Platinum Plate (Entry Period: 6/3-6/9)

    Show us your best dish styled from the sparkling plate up!

    Week 2: My Platinum Bite (Entry Period: 6/10-6/16)

    Show us your best bite and most creative use of sparkling silverware!

    Week 3: My Platinum Clink (Entry: 6/17-6/23)

    Show us how you serve up creative concoctions in sparkling glasses. Cheers!

    Week 4: My Platinum Table (Entry Period: 6/24-6/30)

    Show us your sparkling tablescape for your most special celebrations!

    Grand Prize Winner (Entry: 6/3-6/30)

    I know I’ll be entering each week. Will you?

    Stay social now and after the contest with Cascade by liking them on Facebook!

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    Motor City Comic Con 2013

    May27th By 9 Comments

    A few weeks ago I took my girls (+ one boyfriend) to the 24th Annual Motor City Comic Con. A three day event here in the Detroit area. This year the number of attendees was a record breaking 20,000, due mostly to a one day appearance of Marvel legend Stan Lee, and media guest Norman Reedus, of The Walking Dead, and The Boondock Saints fame.

    The massive crowd sure didn’t stop us from having fun. We loved it.

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    Bethany with Cas Anvar ( Call of Duty, Halo ).

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    Her boyfriend Julian with the green Power Ranger.

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    Captain America is my homeboy!

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    Allison with her first, and only TV crush, Aaron Ashmore (Smallville, Warehouse 13).

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    Comic Con is a great place to express your nerdy love, like ours for Star Wars!

    Were the lines crazy long? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes! Will we go again? You can count on it. Only thing we’ll do different is to purchase weekend passes, instead of a single day pass. My daughter Allison is an artist and huge comic book fan, I know she would have enjoyed a second day to visit more with the graphic artist and talent that was there.

    We came, we had fun, thanks for kicking our nerdy butts. See ya next year MCCC!

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    7 Things on Sunday

    May19th By 5 Comments

     

    1. Bought two items on eBay.
    2. Spent an evening out with my thirteen year old daughter. Shopping, dinner and the hair salon.
    3. Made plans with an old friend.
    4. Drove my daughter and her friend to their eighth grade farewell dance.
    (next year HIGH SCHOOL! How’d that happen?)
    5. Had dinner off the grill for the first time this season.Yum!
    6. Went to Motor City Comic Con (total geekville, it was awesome).
    7. Enjoyed a movie with my sister and step mom.

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    Remembering My Grandmother and Carrying On Tradition

    April20th By

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    My childhood had a storybook grandmother. She loved me to pieces, and always had a way of making me feel that her world revolved around me. Which to this day, I like to believe that it did. After all, I am her baby’s baby.

    Not only was she kind, and fun like a storybook grandmother, she enjoyed to cook, and bake from scratch. You could walk into her kitchen and find a homemade pie on her table on any given day. On a rare occasion that no one was around to cook for, she was known to cook a nice dinner for herself and her dog. Making him the best fed German shepherd on the block.

    Years later, her daughter, my aunt, is also very talented in the kitchen. Like her mother pies are a major specialty. Our family tends to count on her to bring homemade delicious pies to every holiday gathering. I can’t deny that I look forward to seeing her walk through my door, pie in-hand on my birthday each year. Always my favorite, peach.

    Knowing that my aunt is not getting any younger, I recently felt the responsibility to become next inline for the pie making. Only one problem – I’ve never done it! But, I had sat next to my grandma’s table and watched her whip-up a pie from scratch a gazillion times over the years. How hard can it be? So, the day before Easter, I decided to give a homemade banana cream pie a shot, and this is how it went.

    First I’ll start by sharing the fact that Crisco.com has nothing on my Aunt Florence! I followed their so-called perfect pie crust recipe, and ended up with a big hard ball of dry dough. I tried to roll it, but it kept falling apart. I tried wetting my fingers in water, as I remember seeing my grandma do, but had no luck. I scraped it, and tried again, thinking I had to have done something wrong. Not that there was much to go wrong! To no surprise, the same thing happened. By this time, I had been in the kitchen for two hours, was starting to yell at the dough, and everything was covered in flour, including me. This was not how I had pictured this going! Strangely, I don’t have one memory of my grandmother ever yelling at the dough. So, I scarped the second pile of hard dough, and made the smartest move of the day, I gave the family pie expert a quick phone call. Thankfully, my aunt was home to give me a quick run down of how she throws together a pie crust. Of-course, I had to calculate measurements like a “pinch” and a “sprinkle” but, some how I it all made sense.

    The third batch of dough rolled out beautifully. I knew I should have just made that call from start! I did have to peace together a lot of the dough to completely cover the pie pan. Making my first pie crust far from perfect, But, at this point I was starting to get a real sense of accomplishment. After all, I’m suppose to be able to do this.

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    I then made the pudding, and cut the bananas. Pulled out the real heavy whipping cream and started whipping. Even using a hand mixer, I felt as if my shoulder was going to fall off before the whip turned to the consistency fit for a pie. Good thing I had whipped whipping cream before, or I would have given up it took so long.

    After an entire afternoon in the kitchen, and that’s not counting the clean-up, I ended up with this. My first completely homemade pie.

    Was it worth all of that work? Yes! It was delicious. And, just as important it was from scratch, made with love, just as the two generations before me had made. I thought of my grandmother with every bite, and wished she was still with us. She would have been proud. Just as my aunt was, when she called the next day to ask me how my pie turned out.
    Carrying on this family tradition might be a little harder than it looked, and take some practice, but I think I’m ready for it. After all, it can only get easier from here. Next up, apple!

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