The sun is shining, we've had bucket-loads of ice-cream and this year's sunglasses have been christened.

Just in time for summer, we've made it to the number two slot in Photography on iTunes in Luxembourg, Switzerland and Malta. 

I'm sure that there's a limerick here somewhere.

But this one's only got four lines. Hmm.

Never mind mobile phones and tablets, how about an Android-powered cake? Mmmmmmm. What an amazing spongey creation!

And there was a reason for this marvellous cake. Though sallow in significance alongside our baked droid, we have released a beautiful new version of the Touchnote app (for Android phones).

You can download our new app from the Android Marketplace. Give it a go. Let us know what you think. We’re hoping that you’ll say the interface and photo editing are fun, the payments with PayPal and credit cards are super easy and the new postbox concept (that saves cards and sends them when you next have a connection) is ingenious. That’s what we’re hoping.

If you do have any comments, ideas or (heaven forfend) find a bug, let us know via android@touchnote.com.

We've changed the style of Touchnote postcards. The back of a Touchnote postcard is now more subtle and sophisticated. The front, as always, is up to you.

Henceforth, anyone fortunate enough to be the recipient of a postcard sent from Touchnote.com or using of our mobile apps (for Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile or Nokia) will receive a postcard with subtle blues and greys as the main colours on the reverse.

Postcards were previously printed in cheery reds and oranges, to reflect the happy holiday memories that postcards normally represent. However, we've seem postcards being used to express so very many different sentiments, from love to thanks to commiserations, that we've decided to allow the photo and the message to be the strongest aspects of our printed postcards and tone down our colour palette.

We hope you like the new look. If you have any ideas for further improvements to any of our cards, website or mobile apps, do let us know. We love to talk about these things!

Users have voted Touchnote the must-have entertainment app for Nokia phones in 2010. We're truly humbled, and rather pleased.

Nokia "think you will agree that the quality, value and the overall user experience that goes along with these winning apps make each and every one of them a long-term keeper that we expect you will find yourself using again and again."

If you haven't already used our app to turn photos into postcards directly from their mobile phone, it's now available for Nokia, Android, Windows Phone 7 and iPhone.

And we want even more people to use and love our Touchnote app in 2011 which is why we're already working on new, improved and easier-to-use versions. Sign-up to our newsletter at the foot of this page if you want to be the first to know about the new features we've released.

Once the wrapping paper's been cleared away and the Christmas Day left-overs eaten, it's time for the children (and perhaps you too) to start sending thank you cards for the gifts they received.

But don't waste time coaxing unenthusiastic children into writing a few lines of thanks. Make thank you cards easy and show that they really appreciate their gifts.

You can do this by using your Christmas photos to create a perfect set of thank you cards. There'll be no need for an eloquent, expressive messages, the picture will say it all. Gifts being opened. Toys being played with. Books being read. Jumpers being ...

Best of all, you won't even need to head out into the cold of January to post the cards.

Have you sent your Christmas cards for 2010?

If not, be quick, there are only six days left! And if you're pressed for time, here's a quick way to make exceptional last-minute Christmas cards using photos.

With Touchnote you can use a photo to make the front of your Christmas card tell a story. The story of my year was dominated by the birth of a baby boy, and now he features on the front of a Christmas card as a reluctant reindeer. The grandma's are going to love this card almost as much as they dote on the baby.

So if you're short of time, remember that photos of babies and children work brilliantly for Christmas cards, as do images of pets, scenery, and families.

Be creative and make people remember the card you send them this Christmas.

In this week's Touchnote Photographer of the Week blog, we turn the spotlight onto Amelia Bookstein Kyazze.

Amelias work (a selection of which you can see in our our image gallery) is a stunning blend of landscapes, culture and people. Her passion for photography began when she won a grant to shoot photographs in Nepal for six months and then present her work at Cornell University in the US."Working with refugees and in humanitarian relief in my career since the late 1990's, I have always tried to keep my photographs of people and landscapes both visually beautiful/interesting and respectful of the person and the interaction we shared."

Amelia's two favourite images from her collection are of children laughing (taken in one of South Africa's Townships in 1998) and of children singing (taken in Liberia in 1993). "In all my travels I've been repeatedly touched by how children still laugh, play and celebrate despite adverse conditions."

Touchnote customers use Amelia's photographs to create personalised cards for a wide range of occasions such as for birthdays cards, thank you cards or just beautiful Touchnote notecards. We hope to see more images from Amelia soon, so keep an eye on her work when creating your next personalised card.

With bank holiday coming up in the UK and hopefully more great weather, what a better way to pass time then by hitting the beach and taking some photographs? Beaches present digital camera owners with a number of wonderful opportunities, as they offer beautiful landscape, colours and light.

Here at Touchnote we love beach photography and have numerous images in our gallery that are extremely popular to create personalised cards with. Below are a few tips on how to take great photographs at the beach, so next time you want to create a personalised card you can use your own photo instead.

Find a focus

Many people can feel lost when taking pictures at the beach as while they might capture a beautiful scene they actually have no point of interest and as a result can take pictures that feel empty and boring. When taking a shot look for a point of interest or focal point that will give those looking at your photo a place for their eye to rest. Some typical examples are: footprints in the sand, chipped paint on beach huts or boats, shells on the shore or intersecting blades of dune grass. What is also fun is to look for the little things that tell the story of going to the beach, like shoes at the water's edge, sand castles, sunglasses, sunscreen lotion etc. For best results zoom in closely on your focus point, you can even get down in the sand and stabilise the camera on something to ensure details remain crisp.

Look for some wildlife

The beach is home to many interesting and colourful creatures and shells. Look for starfish and crabs in rock pools, shells in the sand or coastal birds such as gulls.

Capture the movement of the sea

The flow of the sea is a beautiful and tranqiul motion to capture on camera. Set your camera on a tripod and dial in a slow shutter speed, how slow will depend on the brightness of the day, but you could use a polarizer or ND Grad filter to reduce the amount of light entering the lens.

Be creative with post photo production

Why not do a little post photo production and see what impact stripping a photo of color has upon it? There's something about a black and white shot at the beach that completely changes the mood and feel of a shot. It's also a great way to bring to life beach shots taken on dull days as shadows and light will stand out more.

Head to the beach when it doesn't look so inviting

A beach can really come to life on days that everyone avoids it. Stormy seas, threatening and dramatic clouds and wind slowing lifesaver flags all make for atmospheric shots.

So whether sunny or stormy, the beach is a great place to practice and experiment with your photography.

We look forward to seeing some of your own creations next time you create a personalised card. They are particulary good for creating postcards, thank you cards, birthday cards and get well soon cards.

I want to believe is by far one of the most impressive art exhibitions of all time. Chinese-born artist Cai Guo-Qiang the creator, took over the New York's Guggenheim Museum and transformed the building's iconic rotunda with large scale instillations of exploding cars and flying wolves.

When Cai Guo-Qiang was still living in China he began experimenting with gunpowder. He would sprinkle it on fibrous paper then light it to create a drawing with the burned residues. He moved on to produce outdoor explosion events, using fireworks to create spectacles on the ground and in the sky. By now, Cai is an old master of blast art and is known for portraying social and political commentary through his work. He has compared this exhibition to a walk through a scroll of his life and that he wants to depict the contradictions of violence and beauty.

Inopportune: Stage one

The most startling work of the exhibition is Cai's "Inopportune: Stage One," made up of nine cars filled with light tubes that give the impression of being frames from a movie of a car exploding upwards through the central atrium of the museum.

Head On

Other works displayed on the ramp that leads visitors around the museum's rotunda and our personal favourite include "Head On," featuring a stream of 99 wolves that start on the ground and end up flying though the air before crashing into a glass wall.

Inopportune: Stage Two

Cai's "Inopportune: Stage Two," is also fascinating, made up of life-sized tigers pierced with arrows.

Artists such as this do not come along often so if you get the chance to see Cai's work jump on it.

You can see more at: http://www.caiguoqiang.com/shell.php?sid=2

Enjoy!

Here at Touchnote we love photography and try to include as many inspiring photographers work in our image gallery to create personalised cards with. What we also like is street art, our favourite artist being Banksy. Street art can be seen all over our cities in different shapes and forms as artists challenge conventional art by situating their work in non-art contexts. One of the inspiring aspects of these street artists is that they do not aspire to change the definition of an artwork, but rather want you to question the existing environment that they have placed it in. They want their work to communicate with everyday people about socially relevant themes.

The little people project

Slinkachu is a street artist with a very interesting project called the 'Little People Project' which he started in 2006. This involves the remodelling and painting of miniature model train set characters, which are then placed and left on the street in different scenarios. It is both a street art installation project and a photography project. What this artist is trying to communicate is the notion of surprise by attempting to encourage city-dwellers to be more aware of their surroundings. The scenes that are created reflect the loneliness and melancholy that result from living in a big city, as the characters are so small and insignificant to their large bustling surroundings. Most of the little characters are hand painted and remodelled by the artist himself.

A project such as this is not necessarily difficult to create; you just need some imagination and free time. Why not set up and photograph some fun scenarios of your own? You could use the images to send personalised postcards or greeting cards to people for their birthday, wedding or anniversary. You will definitely have the most original card to give!

Also remember to keep an eye out next time you take a walk, you never really know what you could be missing.

See more at http://little-people.blogspot.com/