Face Lifts~

While I may not be a fan of face lifts, I certainly enjoy giving them... at least to some of my older themes, in much need of an updated look.  Joining this group are "A Fondness" and "A Heart for You".

A Fondness

A Heart for You

Both don brighter colors with more exquisite elements to help add even more whimsy. You can view them by clicking the titles or images above.

Enjoy~

WordPress

I'm not sure if I should jump for joy or collapse in exhaustion but after over 2 months of grueling work I've finally finished my first WordPress custom blog template.

Much of the time was spent learning the ins-and-outs of working with WP themes and child themes, a lot of which was through online college video training (thank you Jordan♥).  I also had the occasional assistance of a techy who's help I could not have done without (thank you, you know who you are).

I ran into other issues with this particular project, in that this blog runs on the Genesis Framework. It's a fantastic array of built-ins but makes for some very complicated coding and dissecting too.

All-in-all I've learned so much it blows my mind and I'm really looking forward to transferring all of my prefab themes over to this new platform.  I've begun accepting orders from my previous customers who've migrated over to Wordpress and I'm looking forward to filling some long awaited custom orders too, as I've had so many requests throughout the years that it'll be nice to finally say "yes" to them.

You can check out the migrated theme at this link: http://thejohnsonfamilylive.com/

Best♥

Christmas in July - "Cream Trim"

This year we're celebrating Christmas in July with 50% off all our Christmas imagery. The thought was to pass on some nice savings for our customers who like to get a jump start on their holiday supplies and crafts.

So a special thanks goes out to Gail of Rocky Springs Vintage for including our "Country Christmas" banner in her delightful new Etsy Treasury "Cream Trim" featuring Christmas in July listings!

Enjoy~

On the way...

A funny thing happened on the way to the challenge ~ I missed it.  *frowny face*  Even in the midst of March's craziness I was soooo hoping to participate in Creative Everyday's Challenge. Leah chose "Black and White" for March's theme and it sparked such fun responses in my mind ~ none more so than the childhood riddle, "What's black and white and read all over?"

I remember getting my first riddle book ~ how much fun it was to tell jokes and how patient my parents were listening to them over and over again, always as though I was telling them for the first time.

I've wanted to do a newspaper theme for quite awhile now so this was the perfect tie-in for that and the challenge sparked this new theme ~ "Read All-over"...

I enjoyed coordinating a collection of printed objects and making the faerie ~ see her there, sitting on the swing inviting visitors to read the accompanying blog?  She was a bit of extra work but I really love how she came out.

So even though I missed this month's challenge there's a new one already posted for next month and heaven knows I should be able to pull that one off. So, what's the theme you may ask? Why my favorite thing of course... "Color". *smile*

Wishing you all a wonderfully colorful weekend!

Enjoy~

A Gremlin's Match for Centering Banners

While working on several customer blogs recently I noticed that the "center banner" code from my tutorial How to: Center a Blog Header, really wasn't working very well.  It's not that it completely malfunctioned, it's just that sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. This is something we like to call the Blogger Gremlins.  Those pesky little hiccups that pop-up randomly and interfere with how things are supposed to work, only not all of the time.

I thought it was about time to put an end to this little bit of nonsense, so I went on the hunt for something better and happily I found it!  It's an easy process for "pushing" a blogger banner over to the right and I've put the instructions together in one of my easy to follow step-by-step tutorials titled: How to: Push (or Center) a Blog Banner.  I left the previous tutorial still posted, since the glitchiness comes and goes, so you can try them both out and see what works best for you.  And for now, maybe that gremlin will go off and play somewhere else... I hear Tumblr's a fun place to visit.

Enjoy~

New Themes ~ Nuptials & Garden Party

With all the extra work I've been doing lately; revamping blog themes, keeping up on custom orders, and working on challenges, it's been a struggle to get in here and post as much as I should.  So I'm happy when I do have something completed and ready to place in the spotlight. Today I'm focusing on a couple of new themes I recently created ~ Nuptials and Garden Party.

Nuptials

Nuptials just kind of fell in place with it's soft hues boasting an elegant yet natural wedding theme.  I love this color combination, they blend so beautifully together ~ I can't help but think of a beautiful afternoon in the countryside with flowing white chiffon.  And it's nice to finally have an addition to stand along side my Cherish theme which up until now was the only marriage theme I offered.

Garden Party

Garden Party was a different story in that I've had this theme in my mind's eye for quite awhile now.  I knew I wanted to create a theme that set a stage for some enchanted yet cozy event, filled with whimsical elements and adorned with glowing lanterns.  I'm really please with how these sets cam out and I hope you enjoy them too.

You can view all of the elements for each set by clicking on the titles or images above.

Enjoy~

New Prefab Themes

As I've been working through my prefab themes to switch everything over to work with the newer Blogger templates I've also been taking the time to create a few new prefab themes. This was one part of my work that I let fall to the side with the increase in custom projects last year. I'm happy to be putting more focus on this part of creating ~ I always have so many ideas flying around in my head that it's nice to let a few out.  So here is a sampling of some of the new themes you can find under the Themes section...

Cotton Delight

I originally created this theme as a subtle backdrop for the blog I use to create screenshots for my tutorials.  After several requests from followers I've now published this for public use.

 Fanciful Filly

 I've wanted to do a horse theme for such a long time and am happy to finally have a start. I'm looking to add more color selections of this in the near future.

Winter Wonder

 I was a bit ashamed of the meager offering I have for winter themes so this is hopefully the first of several new ones to help us warm the winter months and chance those wintery blues away.

Providence

 This theme was a custom reject ~ yes, I actually get those from time-to-time.  A giveaway winner decided to keep her own blog theme so all of the elements are free including the banner.

I'll have more coming in the future as I continue to work my way through the sea of themes and backgrounds.  I hope you enjoy these new looks and all the goodies they include!

Best,

Customer Shout Out!

Once again I have the pleasure of giving a few shout-outs to some recently completed projects.  These are always so much fun because not only do I get to show off some fun themes I've been working on but I get to introduce you to some really wonderful creative souls!

Projeto Corujinho

First up is this theme created for Projeto Curinho.  Now if htat title sounds a bit foreign, it's because that's Portuguese.  Not many of you may know that I lived in Brazil many years ago so this project was extra special to me.  This blog theme was created around a charitable cause ~ offering golfing lessons to underprivileged children in Brazil.  Visiting the blog you'll see photos of the children having fun and it's easy to see how much this special project means to all of them!  I was honored to have an opportunity to work on this theme.

The Johnson Family Live

Next we have The Johnson Family Live ~ a delightfully homey blog centered around family, fun, and food.  If you've ever had a project just flow then you'll understand how happy I was when this one simply fell together at every turn.  The end result is a wonderfully elegant yet down-to-earth theme that offers a cozy backdrop to this fabulous family's life and adventures.

Bonnie's Heart & Home

Lastly we have Bonnie's Heart and Home ~ it's funny how some themes just seem to take a bit longer, not because of any one particular aspect or cause but simply how putting the individual theme plays out and this theme was one of those. Starting on our journey nearly a year ago, Bonnie and I worked together to bring her personal vision of home and spiritual beliefs together in one lovely theme.  The outcome was a multifaceted theme that fits her lovely style to a tee.

As always a huge thanks to my wonderful customers, not only for selecting me to create for them but for allowing me the honor of bringing their personal visions to life ~ it's always such a pleasure! I do hope you'll take the time to visit each of these wonderful blogs and comment and Follow ~ it's one of the ways we can reach out and make this blogging community a little more friendly and personal. 

Enjoy~

New Seasonal Themes

There must be a good 25 themes roaming around my brain at any given time.  It's not that I don't want to set them free, it simply boils down to a lack of time.  So you can imagine the resounding cheers from my muses as I've finally created some new themes ~ what a delight to finally set a few free. Themes that is, not faeries.  And it's just in time for holidays too which is great since I can't remember the last time I created a new prefab holiday theme!?!

So here's the new assortment of seasonal goodies, just in time to spruce up your blog...

Glitter and Ice

Country Christmas

Blitzin'

 

...and hopefully I'll have a chance to set a few more free in the very near future, we have to beat Santa's sleigh now! To view the individual themes simply click on the images or titles above.

Enjoy~

Holiday Samplings

With the holidays quickly approaching, now's a great time to spruce up your blog or shop with a Plumrose Lane seasonal theme.  Whether it's a warm and cozy look like Blissful Harvest or one with festive sparkles like Glistening ~ there's a holiday theme for everyone. 

The faeries and I have been busy updating these themes with new background codes in three sizes, enhanced versions of the original theme elements like those shown below from Golden Moments, and an updated selection of sidebar tags to include new titles like ~ Labels, My Pinterest, and Wish List.

Best of all there's a sale going on in my Etsy shop ~ now through Wednesday ~ so you can save big with 25% off everything!  Just enter coupon code: GobblerSale during checkout.

Enjoy~

New Customor Shout-Outs

Seems like only yesterday I was posting a new customer shout out and sure enough it nearly was ~ just goes to show how busy I've been lately and that's always a good thing.  Not only do I get to be creative but I also have the pleasure of making a few more visual dreams come true, whoot!  So here's a sampling of some of my latest completed projects...

The Olde Farmhouse 

This theme was centered around Joy's love of country elements and high contrast colors.  Working in elements like a personalized crock, rooster, and charming home added a welcoming feel to the set.

 For the banner I began by creating an original country scene to work as a fitting backdrop for the charming shelf, valance and window ensemble.  Joy then selected a simpler background as to not detract from the main focal points.
 

Kimi's Jewelry & Gifts 

This theme involved pink, pink and more pink! Kimi's love of all things glittering, flittering, and pink really brought life to the gorgeous collection of roses and other shimmering accents in her original theme.

We carried this ensemble over into a large selection of additional digital creations, from Facebook and Twitter images to shop sets and business cards.

Flip Flops & Pop Tarts - Seasonal
 
Doing up a seasonal change is one of my personal favs and for this changeover Dawn selected to begin with one of my original shop sets, Tattered Christmas.  Building upon this weathered seasonal theme I created a selection of top navigation tags, along with a banner, background and seasonal signature image.

It's always such a pleasure posting these shouts-outs and I hope you've enjoyed this newest selection of eye candy.  I hope you'll take a moment to visit all of these wonderful bloggers and say "Hi" ~ making new friends in blogland is certainly one of the greatest gifts of all!

Best,

Customer Shout Outs

I'm so happy to share with you another selection Customer Shout Outs.  These are always the most fun to post about, not only because I have the joy of knowing there are several more items crossed off my ever increasing "To-Do" List but because I have the pleasure of spotlighting my wonderful customers.

For me there's nothing more amazing than watching these projects unfold because I never really know how they will turn out. Taking a customer's vision; their likes and interests, and putting it all together is as much a mystery to me as it is to them.  It's like watching a beautiful flower bloom without knowing what type of seed you've planted.

So here are some of my most recent customers ~ I hope you'll take the time to visit, check out their themes and get to know them better...

Glamour to Whimsey

For this project the customer was already using one of my Etsy shop sets and wished to continue the theme over into several other realms included a selection of printed items.  From a Facebook cover image and mailing labels to packaging stickers and business cards this theme transitioned beautifully.

The Crystal Tree

 customer's original logo above

This project began as a simple 2-sided business card. The customer contacted me to create a new business card using her existing logo.  Putting my own 3-D twist on her darling image I brought her enchanting crystal tree to life through a swirling magickal scene. 

Not long after that project she returned with a request for an event banner.  Although it was a challenge recreating these elements in a much larger format, as 3 inches doesn't always transition well into 4 feet, the end result was truly wonderful!

 

Pip's Pastimes

This customer was actually a winner for one of my previous customer's giveaways.  Carol of Craftingranny's Card Shack held a giveaway extravaganza earlier this year and chose one of my custom blog themes as a giveaway prize.  Working with the winner was a sheer delight and we both enjoy how the final product turned out.

Loving Heart Reiki

This project involved turning a professional Reiki instructor's black and white "sacred contract" illustration to life through vivid colors.  Her requests were simply that the overall design stick to the original image and that it possess a glowing effect.  In the end I was as impressed with the outcome as she was since from a technical standpoint I created this in Photoshop rather than Illustrator.

Go Pink Wednesdays

This project was for a weekly blog event through the month of October to help spread the word for breast cancer awareness.  The task was to create an eye catching button that captured the theme centered around nail polish.  I chose to incorporate the pink ribbon into the actual polish and couldn't be happier with the outcome.

 

Carole's Soulfelt Creations

And finally we have this most recent blog theme which I previously posted about as the customer chose to gift me with a most beautiful poem.  This project was a sheer delight ~ weaving together a collection of spiritual elements and vintage ensemble seemed like a challenge at first but as with so many of my themes the pieces just seem to fall together so naturally and in the end it's nothing short of magick and divine inspiration.

Thanks so much for taking the time to share in my latest projects. There are many others I'm just finishing up with and so I hope to be sharing those very shortly in the coming weeks.

Best~

New Tutorials

Sorry I've been a bit MIA the past few days ~ what with class finals, work and trying to catch up on everything else there just hasn't been much time in the day for blogging.  Any free time I've had has been focused on trying to get my Tutorials section a bit more up-to-date for the new Blogger interface.  I'm happy to say I beginning to make a dent in that list and have a few new tutorials added including:

How to: Install a Decorative Blog Background

How to: Install a Blog Header

How to: Center a Blog Header

How to: Add a Favicon

How to: Add a Post Signature

with more on the way very soon.  You can click this link to be taken to the entire list.  I also figured out how to delete a blog, as many of you have asked about that one, and there are other new goodies and tricks I've learned, so just as soon as these little fingers can them created they'll be published.

I've also had several recent requests for my Tutorials Book which is in the process of being updated as well so I'll make an announcement just as soon as that's completed.

One tip I would like to mention ~ for any of you who have signature images installed on your blogs, I've found they're behaving very oddly when writing a new blog post, so if you've experienced a broken image and/or an annoying "skipping" behavior, simply delete your signature code for the meantime until Blogger gets that issue straightened out.

The last thing I wanted to mention is that I finally found the "Send feedback" link I had heard so many referencing ~ if you go into the back area of your blog, on any page, you'll see it showing in the bottom left hand corner...  

Simply click that link to open a small window where you can leave feedback about a specific page or feature.  I encourage any of you who are having difficulty with your blogs to let Blogger now ~ the more feedback they receive the better change we'll have of things improving.

Wishing you all a wonderful start the week!

Enjoy~

Top Secret Project ~ revealed

Recently I had the pleasure of working on a "big" top secret project and I'm so excited to finally share it with you.  Not long ago a friend of a friend/customer contacted me, wanting to order a custom event banner for a birthday gift.  I was delighted at the opportunity  ~ I love being part of a surprise and it's always so much fun seeing my designs transition from digital to print.

Event banners are especially challenging in a number of ways ~ working on such a large scale can be very tricky as most elements blur when increased in size, so it's important to pay close attention to the full size results while working on the overall design aspects.  This means a lot view changes, back and forth between the two sizes, but when done right the end result is spectacular and worth the additional time.

I'm delighted to say the surprise gift was a huge success! And when I say "huge" it wound up being a whopping 6+ feet wide!!  Kim over at the Lazy Cowgirl loves her new banner and I'm absolutely thrilled with the photos she sent, shown above.  To find out more about my unique event banners just visit the Business Tools section in my Etsy shop or contact me.

Oops~

Don't you hate it when you make a mistake, I know I do?! And of course there's nothing worse than making one in public. *sigh* It seems my most recent mistake was while creating the Return to Oz theme I completely forgot about Mr. Scarecrow, sheesh! I mean really... poor guy, completely left out in the cold. And the irony is he's my favorite character ~ who doesn't love to "...while away the hours and consulting with flowers..."!? Funny story ~ that song used to pop into my head whenever I went through something in my last marriage, I'm not sure if I wished I had a brain or wished my ex did. I digress....

Anyhoo, for all of you who picked up a free copy of the Return to Oz banner, you can grab the newer version which now includes the Scarecrow. Just click on the title or image above to view the theme page ~ the banners are posted at the bottom. The free versions will be available under Sunday, August 5th.

Enjoy~