Cool Tools

Does this ever happen to you? You're paddling around Blogworld and happen upon a widget/ amazing layout/photo with rounded edges and text on top of it and an embedded link and you get all "Omghow'dtheydooothat?! And why is my stuff all tiny and sub par and not awesome?!"

And then you have to go eat half a bag of shredded cheese to calm yourself down?

I mean, you know, hypothetically.

This has happened to me innumerable times. When you find these things on Big Important Blogs it's a bit awkward to email the writer asking for a link to said widget. And it's oddly hard to google "combined rss facebook twitter widget for blog customizable color rounded corners."

So! I thought I'd share my three teaspoons of widget-related knowledge with you guys. I realize that many of you probably discovered these widgets and services in, like, 1996 but you never know, right?

Blog Relevant Tools

Picnik
This is a fantastic (free!) photo editing site. You don't have to register or download anything and you can crop, adjust saturation and exposure levels, round corners and put text on top - among many, many other things. This is actually how I put together mock-ups for my Karma Cards!

Big Huge Labs
If you were particularly impressed by the photo layouts over at Shoppe Yes, it's all thanks to the Big Huge Labs mosiac tool. They've also got great tools to make fake photobooth pictures, photo collages ala David Hockney and heaps of other great stuff.

8tracks
If you like the playlists that I've put together in the past (here's Spring-ful Songs, and here's Music to Grill By) you can make your own at 8tracks. You can even make private mixes to share with just your friends and upload cute cover art.

Polyvore
I'm sure this is crazy old news, but Polyvore enables you to make awesome, magazine-quality layouts with products you find in their archive or just about any product, anywhere online. It's equally good for fashion or interior layouts. Or, you know, Dr. Seuss-inspired fashion.

Is.gd
I literally just figured out URL shortening last week. Up until then I was shortening my messages to accomidate giant URLs. What?! Better yet, this service (just one of many) doesn't require any registration.

We Heart It and Vi.sualize
I think I've mentioned these sites approximately a million times before, but this is where I find 90% of my photos and probably 40% of my inspiration. Because the photos here have been bookmarked and favorited by other people, you get a gorgeously editted selection to choose from, all in JPEG format. Honestly, I much prefer We Heart It, but sometimes I us Vi.sualize when the other site is running slow.

Other Awesome Internet Stuff

Lulu
A website that helps you self-publish books, ebooks, calendars and photo books, with heaps of different binding, paper and color options. The marketing tools, shopping cart, printing are all included at crazy affordable prices!

Big Cartel
If you've got some goods to sell but Etsy's too artsy and Ebay isn't your bag, you can set up your own shop through Big Cartel - for free! The free version is pretty basic - you can sell five products, one image per products with one custom page. But the upgraded version is only $9.99 a month and includes heaps of great stuff!

Picasa
If Picnik is a bit to basic for you and Adobe's out of your price range, Picasa is a decent (and free) middle ground. You can use it for some pretty heavy duty editing as well as store and organize all of your photos.

flavors.me

This fantastic services helps you set up a swanky, professional-looking personal website that links together all your online haunts - your blog, tumblr, facebook, twitter, etc. Imagine! Only one address to print on your business cards! The basic package is free and full packages are $20 a year.

Stereomoods

Awesome awesome awesome. You click on the mood you're in voila! your very own emotionally accurate radio stations. Some of the more intriguing moods on offer? "Epic", "Asleep on my feet," "Spring cleaning," "Dinner with friends", and "Driving Route 66."

Flickr Creative Commons
If you're creating a product and you need photos for it, you will very quickly discover how expensive it is to by rights to something. Perhaps your first born will cover the cost of one really nice photo. However! Flickr Creative Commons will save your ass! Gajillions of Flickr users have been kind enough to post their photos under the 'Creative Commons Attribution' license. which means that you can use (and alter) their photo as long as you credit them! This is actually where I got all of the photos for my Karma Cards and the Year in Yes Calendar.

Now you! What great blogging/editing/life-hack tools do you know about? And my question for you: where'd you get those cool combined twitter/facebook/rss buttons?