photography Archives - 'lil Burghers

Picture Keeper Connect Review and Giveaway

Enter disclaimer text This post is a partnership with Picture Keeper Connect.

picture keeper

As many times as I am “connected” to my phone, I am not connected enough. That became clear when I learned about Picture Keeper Connect at Blogger Bash in July. I’d just gotten a new phone because my old one was overheating. During the event, I had plans to share pictures with some of the brands, but alas, I didn’t have the pictures because new phone, so I was a bit devastated.

I was lucky – when I got home, I realized I’d backed them up via my cloud and most where double backed up on an external hard drive; however, it could have been really bad. This is where the Picture Keeper Connect comes into play.

What is Picture Keeper Connect?

This is a device that’s used to backup photos, videos, and contacts from your phone. It plugs directly into your device in the charging port (if you have an iDevice) or via a USB connector (if you are Android, like me). It puts your important memories right on the device (paired with the Picture Keeper Connect App) as a means of backing up your photos. I’ll stress, you should always double back up, so my suggestion is the PKC and a cloud storage solution, like Photos.

Why do I need Picture Keeper Connect?

Stuff happens. Right? This is a great device to keep on hand because it is:

Convenient (plug in when you want to back it up, have the app remind you when it is time!)
Easy to use (just get the free App and plug in the USB)
Secure to hold your memories
A way to free up space on your phone of 16, 32, or 64 GB worth of memories

Those are pretty good-to-have features when it comes to the tech that’s going to keep your memories at hand, aren’t they? I love it because I am really bad about remembering to hook my phone up to the computer and get the pictures off (see what happened to me in July). This makes it so simple, a busy mom could do it! Kidding aside, it really is simple and fast.

Lesson learned: Have your phone fully charged if this is your first backup. Over 1200 photos in (of 1300), my phone shut down because I started with a tiny percent of battery. Yes, I read the instructions. No, I didn’t listen, hence I am warning you!

What do I once I have one?

Use it. Back up your photos! Once you have, your photos are on a USB which you can connect to other devices to access once your device of choice bites the dust or you move on up. Take the Connect to a photo kiosk and print your favorite photos. Grab another one because you take way too many photos (like me, hint).

What do I need to do to get one?

One, enter my giveaway below. The folks at Picture Keeper want to be sure you’re connecting, so they offered to provide one of you with a Connect. (Awesome, right?!?!) This giveaway runs for two weeks through August 23 at 11:59 PM and is open to US Residents.

Aren’t into giveaways or missed this post until it was too late? Check out Picture Keeper’s online shop to get the Connect starting at $79.99 for the 16GB that I tested out, and use my promo code, lilburghers20, to save 20% and get FREE shipping by shopping here.

Entry -Form

CanvasPop

Enter disclaimer text This post is compliments of CanvasPop.

How appropriate is it that I am off on my girls’ week full of crafting, relaxing, and spending time with my friends (including one of my favorite Pittsburgh photographers) and I’m stopping in to give one of YOU a chance to get your creative on?!??! Highly coordinated, as I do. 😉 But no, seriously. I’m super excited to tell you all about CanvasPop and how they helped me get our first real family of six photo up on our walls.

Ok, first some life rules. All of you have to promise me this in life:

Take pictures. Lots of pictures. Even when you feel sick, gross, or (yes) even fat. Because you don’t look like you think. Take this photo, for instance. One of my favorites, taken a year ago when I was fresh home from a night at the ER.

Share your pictures.
Print said pictures. Don’t let them just sit on your computer, phone, or camera.
Hang up said printed pictures. Enjoy them. Create a wall of photos that makes you smile.

So now, the part I am most excited about. Our first family of six photo now lives forever in our home on a beautiful 16×24 canvas from CanvasPop. Of course, the canvas doesn’t magically come to you via thin air. You have to take some actions…

Go to CanvasPop.com and look around at all the options.
Decide what canvas you are interested and what photo you’ll get printed. We obviously chose the one of all six of us that made us smile the most!
Upload your photo to CanvasPop‘s super easy upload tool.
Edit, if you’d like.
Wait for your support agent to email you that your proof is ready for approval. It will look something like this:
Once you’ve approved, it’s off for printing. Patience (but their shipping is super fast, so you don’t need a ton).
Open the adorable package.
Hang canvas.

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It’s that easy. I mean, honestly, I probably wrote in way too many steps. I’m simply in love with the canvas (and my family).

And…there’s more. CanvasPop is so awesome that they are giving away a canvas to one of my readers! This giveaway will end in a week, so get in on this fast!

Didn’t win but still want a discount? Use code LILBURGHERS35 for 35% off (does not apply to shipping or gift cards and it cannot be combined with other discounts/offers) through January 29. This is the cutoff to get canvases printed for Valentine’s Day shipping.

Happy picture time! xoxo

Experience Columbus: Franklin Park Conservatory

Disclaimer: Experience Columbus sent my family and four other Pittsburgh Mom Blogger families on a weekend getaway to check out their city. We were compensated in the way of attraction passes and gift cards; however, this does not impact the views expressed in my recap posts (including this one). All opinions are my own (or my kids’ / husband’s).

It was the calm after the storm, just what we needed.

Our visit to Franklin Park Conservatory was right at the end of our Experience Columbus trip. So right at the end that I had to assure the ticket counter attendant that YES we REALLY wanted in even though we only had 45 minutes to enjoy. I really needed a calm event before our drive home (after a rain storm, almost dropping the best ice cream I’ve ever had, and a mild mama breakdown). Ahem.

And enjoy those 45 minutes of calm, we did. For 43.5 minutes, we explored the Blooms and Butterflies 20th Anniversary Exhibit. Our ‘lil butterfly fit right in.

Greg spent most of that time trying to catch the brown butterfly that had gorgeous blue wings inside. It was definitely worth his time, although I was using a smaller, tighter, slower lens and this was the best shot I got:

Because normally it looked like this:

Evan and I were busy looking at plants. While I love butterflies (and, fun fact, have a tattoo of one), one of my favorite memories as a kid was of when my mom would take our Campfire Kids / Buckeye Y troop to the botanical gardens in Fort Wayne. This girl is totally going to be that lady that once the kids are grown and the retirement check is coming in will be a gardener. We explored the beautiful plants like…

With just over 2 minutes to spare, we left the butterfly exhibit and while I started at gorgeous glass sculptures, Greg and the kids looked at the butterfly life cycle part of the exhibit. I really wanted to see more plants, so rushed into one more room before we had to call it a day (and a weekend, boo hoo!). But it was amazing to have taken that peaceful time because…

If I had to pick a “best moment” of the trip, it just might be the calm, quiet 45 minutes we got taking in nature’s beauty.

You can experience the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus on your own either by buying a ticket ($12 for adults, $6 for kids over 3) or including this as part of your Experience Columbus Roar and Explore Package like myself, The Pittsburgh Mommy Blog, Champagne to Crayons, Momma on a Mission, and Pgh Momtourage got to do last weekend.

More photos from our trip can be found here on our Flickr page. If you know my husband and want to pass him a “hey, Becky’d love this gift” idea – tell him to pretty please take me back for alone time with the gorgeous plants, ok?

Review and Giveaway: Easy Canvas Prints

Disclaimer: In exchange for a review and side-bar advertising, I’ve teamed up with Easy Canvas Prints. They sent me a 16×20″ stretched canvas print and will supply a winner with one, too. All opinions, as always, are my own.

After being approached to do a review of Easy Canvas Prints, I got excited. My process to order a 16″x20″ gallery wrapped canvas began by filtering through photos to try to find one I liked. From the start, it was clear that I wasn’t in love with pictures of myself because we haven’t done family pics recently. However, I did find one I like (both kids are looking, rare!), and I headed over to their site to make my selection.

photos to canvas

Easy Canvas Prints made it easy for me to choose my size (even though I knew going into it what I wanted, I was able to compare other sizes, “visualize” the size against a model couch, and see how much each print would cost). While I picked a photo I knew was the right dimensions and high enough resolution (taken by a pro), I noticed you could even get Instagram prints turned into canvases. (My only worry would be the number of pixels on one of these). Picking the amount of wrap I wanted (.75″ is what I went with, 1.5″ is an option, framed is, too) was made clear by the next steps, previewing my uploaded image. (For those of you wondering, the site even checks the quality of your image on this step.)

After previewing, I was able to place my order and select shipping options. Within a week, I had my print and was able to hang it on my wall. I was very happy with the final product (but am not happy with what’s up with my camera):

Canvases start at 8×8″ and go up to 30×40″. Ordering is quick, clear, and understandable. I feel like canvases give an extra special touch to memories, one with a more “3d” feel than a standard framed photo. Maybe you have a wedding photo, vacation memory, or even a photo you snapped while having an ordinary day. Canvases take your memories to another level!

You can check out more about Easy Canvas Prints on their Facebook page. Right now, they are running a great special on their site OR you can enter my giveaway to win your own 16″x20″ canvas print. All you have to do is enter using the Rafflecopter, below. Giveaway is ends on July 24 and prize, winner selection, and rules are set by Easy Canvas Prints.

a Rafflecopter giveaway