New Look, new Series, and new shop items!

Hi all! Thanks so much for bearing with me while I updated the look and feel of the website. I had a couple of css explosions and some fun php screw ups. If you notice anything funky going on, please shoot me an email at kristin [at] craftleftovers [dot] com.

Usually reading from the rss feed? Here are some of the things that have changed:

1. More color and fun in the blog’s design. I happened across the Twenty Eleven template on wordpress.org and was able to customize it to give the whole site a new look.

• Most importantly, it’s better organized with pages and subpages in a drop down menu. Patterns as well as other archived posts are easier to find than ever before.
• The about, resources, reading room, and favorite blog list pages are all back to where they should be: under the about menu item.
• There’s a search field in the sidebar.
• I’ve added a widget so you can easily share posts you enjoy.
• The posts are summarized (sorry that this had to roll over into the rss feed, I cannot find a plug in that limits it to just the website view) so it’s easier to browse the homepage, categories, and archive.
• The layout is cleaner, simpler, and easier on the eyes.
• I’m working on fixing the loading time on the site, I’m not sure what’s holding it up, but summarizing the posts did seem to help quite a bit – all those images trying to load at once really made things lag. I’ll keep searching for ways to make it better.

2. A new series: The Little Woods Homestead. Instead of staring a new blog venture, I’ve decided to share my homesteading adventures here every other week or so. After mulling it over for months, I’ve realized that it completely falls in line with the Craft Leftover theme of resourceful creative living. Like the post last Wednesday on canning small batches of things from the garden and farmer’s market.

3. The shop got a face lift too! Similar to the Little Woods Homestead series, I’ve opted to keep things simple and not open a second shop to sell my prints in.

• I’ve added the “Art Work” category to the shop where you can purchase prints and some select originals. Right now there are just a couple of things, but soon there will be a whole collection to select from. Plus:
• You can sign up to be an affiliate and link up to the Craft Leftovers Shop. You can earn a commission anytime someone clicks over to the shop to make a purchase. Sign up here.
• The shop looks more similar to the Craft Leftovers blog, which is always nicer than looking totally different.

And one last shop note, it’s been too long since the last issue of Craft Leftovers Monthly came out, I wanted to let you know that I have been steadily working on the next issue and it will be out soon. And by soon I’m hopeful that I’ll have it printed by the end of the week.

Since I’ve cut back the over all amount of blogging I have going on (as well as many other extra activities) and I’m really focusing exclusively on Craft Leftovers, I’ll be happily turning out issues on a regular basis again – as well as posts. After getting some feedback from some dedicated readers I’ve decided to return to a 3x’s a week schedule with an extra post or two worked into the mix when I have news, shop updates, and other random spontaneous things come up.

This week I’m posting about my diy wedding invitations that I just sent out, then on Friday it’s a toss up between those fabled throw pillows and a zine display case I’m building from scrap wood to take on the craft fair circuit this holiday season. Most likely the zine display because that’s what I’m most excited about right now and my sewing studio is full of wedding supplies and decorations.

See you soon and happy crafting!

Kristin Roach