I’m Still Here {And Alive}!

Hi Friends!!

Wow!  First of all, let me apologize for my absence lately.  I can’t believe it has been weeks since I last posted!  Gah!!  Don’t worry, I’m slapping my own hand! 

I have been so busy!!  I can’t wait to tell you about everything I’ve been up to!

I guess the first and most obvious is the new design {if you’re in a reader you should click on over and check it out}!  You know, I have talked and talked and talked about getting someone to do my blog design for me.  Blah, blah, blah.  The problem is, I could never bite the bullet and just do it!  I just couldn’t justify spending the money {especially since my blog doesn’t really generate that much income}.  So I created a “test” blog and got to work figuring out all that HTML jibberish.  And I have to say….I am tickled pink with how it turned out!!

And because I know you guys are just DYING to know (hehe), here’s the run-down on the changes:

I got a brand new background & header!  I bought the background on Etsy for about $5 and I designed the header myself in Photoshop Elements.  I can’t talk about my header without mentioning the ever so talented Aimee @ Sprik Space!  That woman is amazing!  The yellow stripe you see going through the center is from her pattern pieces series.  Thanks, Aimee!!

I also updated the links in my header navbar.  Some of the links are the same, just updated.  But as you can see, I added lots of new links that I felt were important!

I also created fancy pants titles for my sidebar gadgets & widgets!  I feel so official!

Speaking of sidebar, you’ll find some new things there too!

Like this fancy guy:

Yeah!  I figured out how to add one of those neat-o tabbed widgets like all my fancy WordPress friends!  Here, you can find where to connect with me (Facebook, Twitter, Email, & RSS Feed), Subscribe to my posts with a reader, or search my blog!

I have a brand new button to match!  I would love it if you would grab one and add it to your sidebar or blogroll list!

Some other small things I did:

• Took off the Blogger navbar at the top
• Added code to remove that annoying border/shadow thingy around pictures
• Updated the welcome picture
• Updated my sponsors section
• Added code to make the sponsor’s buttons line up all nice & pretty
• Added an Etsy widget so you can easily visit my shop

What I still want to do:

• Get a new watermark for my pictures
• Get a new signature
• Continue to update & change things as I learn new code

If you find that something is just wacky and isn’t working right, please, please, please shoot me an email and let me know!  I tried to go through and test everything to make sure it was all working right, but you know how it’s so easy to miss some of the little stuff!

You’re going to see a lot from me this week!  I have so much to share with you (Emily’s 10 & 11 month posts (yeah, I totally forgot to do the 10 month one when she was actually 10 months.  Don’t judge!), my Fall front porch, Emily’s first birthday sneak peek, some new wreaths, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some other stuff)!

So glad to be back in the swing of things!

I would love to hear your thoughts on the new blog design.  Tell me what ya think!