Sprucing Things Up, With A Bit Of Help

I don't know how many of you have noticed, but this week I redesigned my blog.  Hopefully I didn't catch too many of you off guard.  I've been having a little bit of an identity crisis when it comes to the blog.  I first started my blog as a way to promote my etsy shop, but my blog soon became my main focus. I had already named my shop Leafy Tree Top, but I really wanted my blog to say something more about making, creating, sewing, blah blah blah.  So, I titled my Blog: Made by Me. Shared with You.  My url is leafytreetopspot.blogspot.com (tying it back in with my shop).

Goodbye old banner.

 If you were to google a particular project of mine, then my blog title: Made by Me. Shared with You. appears in the search,  not Leafy Tree Top Spot.  After having Leafy Treetop Spot my main read on my blogger header, I decided that I wanted to switch things around.  Hopefully you don't mind, but that is kind of the boring back story.

I also wanted to do some spring cleaning.  It seemed like my sidebar was an unsightly mess.  So, to make things easier for you, I created a tutorial page with thumbnail images, and eliminated the text links.

 Additionally, I lined up my contact information in a nice little row at the top of my sidebar. You can find an email me button, a link to my pinterest boards, a link to my buttons page (so you can share the love), and also a link to my newly created flickr group.  If you've used one of my tutorials before, I'd love to see some images.  Adding them to the flickr group is a great way to share them with me, and with the other readers.  So please, pretty please, link up your projects.

I now have an about me page, there's a bit of information about me and my family.  Probably more information than you really care to know.

And making my blog a whole lot prettier, are some nice new photos.  My dear sweet husband will occasionally snap a photo of me if I bat my eyelashes at him, but he doesn't love to do it.  So when I went to redesign my blog I contacted my friend Kandice, of Kandice McDermott Photography.  She was such a sweetheart to work with, and did a fantastic job of making me feel comfortable in front of the camera.  I don't know about you, but I hadn't had a portrait of me taken since high school.  I was more than a little nervous.  There was something about getting all dressed up, and throwing on an outfit that wasn't covered in baby spit up, that did wonders for my self esteem.  You should try it.

Kandice managed to get many good shots for me.  I would never consider myself photogenic, so I was really pleased to see how well the shots turned out.  She was a really energetic photographer (even though she's about to have a baby). She was running all around, telling ME that she didn't want me to have to move around too much. You can see more of the photos from our session here on her blog.

And here are a few of my favorite shots from her other photo sessions.  If you are a South East Idaho local, then you should definitely look into her.  Her prices are really reasonable, and she's great to work with. She has a good eye, and is really laid back and fun.  She'll work around any ideas that you have.  Check out her  blog. Thanks so much Kandice for helping me spruce up the ol' blog.