Super Important Info, New Backgrounds, & Freebie

It's time. Remember a while ago when I told you about the changes Photobucket made? Well, because of those changes, we have had to fork out a lot of money each month to continue to provide you with the most awesome blog designs on the planet. Unfortunately, we just can't keep carrying that burden. We did a lot of research to make sure that our solution to this problem was the best one possible. We will be hosting our images and your bandwidth on a new server. What does this mean for you? It means that the code we've previously had on our website will no longer link properly after JANUARY 31st. All you need to do is hop over to ShabbyBlogs.com now to snag the new codes for your favorite SB goodies (backgrounds, buttons, blinkies). Easy peasy! And, if it's new background code you're looking for, you're in luck because we just released 15 brand new holiday designs! Eeeeep! I know I'm biased, but they are rather lovely. :) So, go grab the code for your favorite SB lovelies and you'll be on your merry way!

We're making a lot of changes around here and we are so excited! From the new code to the new team and new website launching on _____, things are rocking and rolling in Shabby Land! One other change we are making is that we are, for the first time ever, setting aside some space on our blog and website for sponsors. Not only will this help cover our expenses, but there are so many amazing companies and individuals out there that we would be honored to promote at Shabby Blogs. We have a few openings left, so if you are interested, just send us an email with "sponsor" in the subject field and we'll give you all the juicy details. :)

Last, but not least, I've whipped up this super adorable freebie for you to use on your blogs. I created this chalkboard goody using the actual chalkboard in my kitchen and this super cute element from Michelle Underwood's newest digital scrapbooking kit- Joy. You can customize it however you'd like and use it in your posts or on your sidebar. The sky is the limit! Just click on the image below and save the full-sized version to your computer. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Freebie & Sneak Peek

You know how I've been talking about revamping ShabbyBlogs.com and making it even more awesome? It's been a long time coming, but that's because we wanted it to be more than just awesome. We wanted it to be freakishly awesome! That's why we teamed up with some of the most talented and downright fabulous people on the planet... and now I get to tell you who they are! But first, a tiny sneak peek at the new SB- set to relaunch on December 9th:

I told you it was awesome! This is just a super small sampling because I don't want to spoil it, but mark your calendars for December 9th! It's going to be sweeeeeet!

Are you dying to know who I worked with on this marvelous make-over? I am dying to tell you! It's Moselle!!! Have you heard of them? If you haven't, you sure are going to! Not only are they some of the most talented creative minds on the planet, but they are also some of the absolute nicest people you'll ever meet. I love nice people, but I especially love nice, talented, generous people. If you do too, you're going to love Moselle! To give you a little taste of their niceness, talent, and generosity, they have offered a little freebie just for you! Check this out:

Give Thanks Bunting and Acorn Apparel from Moselle

Acorn Apparel: accessorize your home with these charming, whimsical, woodlandish, autumnal acorns! Make bunting, name cards, or hang tags!

Give Thanks Bunting: with this little lovely, Moselle shares some basic (but of course, gorgeous) elements and leaves you with plenty of wiggle room to create your definition of beauty.

Both downloads come with simple instructions and suggestions to make it your own! Happy creating...and happy Thanksgiving!

Get your freebie download here!

PS. Brand spankin' new winter backgrounds and goodies are coming soon!

Giveaway WINNER!

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who voted for Forrest's Liberty Swing project to help the disabled. I really mean that. Thank you! Even though he didn't place in the top 10, I know he will still raise the money needed for this great cause. Anyone can donate through his website...so just keep that in mind. ;) I am so proud of Forrest and all of you for your support. Helping is a very cool thing and I love you guys for it!

Now to find out who won the Shabby Blogs giveaway!!! Are you excited? My little "Random Number Generator" and I sure were! I know most people do their winner-picking online, but we like to keep some things old school around here. It's way more fun that way...and I promise my 2-year-old is fair...when toys aren't involved. :) So, without further ado, here is THE WINNER:

Can you see that? It's shopping-diva!!! I'm so excited for you and I hope you love this collection of treasures as much as I do, Miss Diva! Also, it looks like you're from Greece? That's so awesome! (Of course my daughter would pick someone as far away as possible.) Your package may not arrive until the year 2015, but it's coming! I promise. :) CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Oh, but I love to give things away. You know that. So I had to ask my little helper to pick another winner. (What relief when she didn't stick her finger in her nose when I said that to her!) This lucky blogger will be getting 2 lovely frame decals:

See that? It's Jen from Midwestern Modern Momma!!! Yaaaay! I am so excited for you! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Did I mention that I like to give things away? Because I do. I really do. So we picked another winner to get the sweet frame decals:

Check it out! It's Melanie from Homestead & Bread! CONGRATULATIONS Melanie!!!!!

Okay, okay. Just one more. I can't help myself. The final person to win the frame decals:

It's the super sweet Natalia...who, I have to say, is the absolute most adorable thing! CONGRATULATIONS, Natalia! I'm so excited for you!

Congrats to each of our winners and thank you so much to everyone who participated! If you were a winner, please email me (shabbyblogs{at}gmail.com) with your address so I can get your goodies to you! X's & O's!

10 Days Left

Click here for giveaway details and here for more information about the Liberty Swing project.

I know you may be tired of hearing about this, but what's the point of having a blog with 8,600 followers if you can't use it to help people, right? This will probably be my last post about this cause- until I announce the winners of our HUGE giveaway. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has voted and helped spread the word so far. There are so many nice people in this world! :) Thank you!

PS. How much do you loooove Mr. & Mrs. Owl salt and pepper shakers!?!! I bought them at an antique shop earlier this week just for you...but it's hard to part with those little cuties! :)

Shabby Blogs Team Call

{click to enlarge}

You know we like to share here at Shabby Blogs, right? We love sharing our blogalicious goodies with you and even our own shabtacular finds (see giveaway below). So, why not share THE Shabby Blogs Blog??? We're looking for a few seriously awesome individuals to join our Shabby Team! If you are interested in any of the above positions (or would like to pitch us your own) just email shabbyblogs {at} gmail.com with shabulous in the subject line. Due to the massive amount of email we get, we may not be able to respond to every applicant...but we will try our best!

Sooo many cool things are going on at SB right now! The new and even more rad website is getting closer and closer to launching...I promise! Squeeeee! We're so excited!!! It's going to be infinitely more fabulous and easy to use. Plus, we will be adding whole new freebie categories that have never been offered anywhere before! I can't give too much away, but believe me when I tell you it's going to knock your polka-dotted socks off! Double squeeeeeeee!!! Stay tuned!

New Goodies & A Giveaway

Yeah, I know. Fall has actually been here for a while now, but I've been too busy outside enjoying it to upload our gazillion new designs...until now, I mean. They are online and they are fabulous so grab them while they're hot! I'll also be listing brand new headers and buttons in the next few days so stay tuned! :)

Thank you to everyone who voted for Forrest through the Pepsi Refresh Project. Thanks to you, he made it into the top 100 and gets to stay in the running for another month! You know what that means, don't you? You can keep voting!!!!! Let's get him in the top 10 by remembering to vote for this awesome cause each day!

I don't usually do giveaways, but because I soooo want to see Forrest get the opportunity to put a Liberty Swing for the disabled in at our local park, I am going to host one. My own! But rather than give away a custom blog design, I am going to give away a very special Shabby package from my very own collection. Random bits of loveliness from my favorite antique stores and flea markets sent with love from me to you. If you love shabby and vintage, you will LOVE this surprise package! Having said that, I am horrible with surprises (especially ones I am excited about) so I just may post sneaky peeks on the Shabby Blogs Facebook page. :) If you want to enter this special little giveaway, here's what you need to do:

*Leave one comment if you posted on your blog about The Liberty Swing Project...and please leave a link so we can visit you!
*Leave one comment if you added the voting widget to your blog (found on the right-hand side of Forrest's voting page)
*Leave one comment if you tweeted about The Liberty Swing Project
*Leave one comment if you shared it on Facebook
*Leave one comment if you voted at least 5 times for the Liberty Swing (You can vote each day, both online and by text so if you vote 10 times, you can leave another comment!)

I will count each comment as one entry and choose the winner at the beginning of November. If there are a lot of entries, I'll choose more than one...because I totally want you to win! :)

Forrest Friend Freebie #2

Hello, friends!

Did you vote today?

If you didn't read the post before this one, scroll down and check it out! We've only got 10 days left to get Forrest and the Liberty Swing in the top 10! This is such a wonderful cause! I know we can work together to help this really amazing young man install a swing for the disabled at our local park. Pretty please continue to spread the word and VOTE VOTE VOTE! :) Remember that you can vote once a day and also text your vote every day as well! (Pepsi#: 73774 Vote#: 102161)

Thank you SO much to everyone who has already helped bump Forrest up in the polls. Just to show our gratitude, here is a Shabby Blogs Post Pretty just for you! Click on the image to see the enlarged version and then just right-click on it to save this little fella to your computer. You can add text to create your own button or add a little fun to your next blog post. (What is it about gnomes that makes them so endearing? Love those kitschy cuties!) Just one more Forrest friend popping in to encourage you to keep SWINGING the vote. Keep it up, you guys! We {heart} you for it!!!

Forrest Friend & Freebie

We have officially survived the first week of school! It really went better than I even hoped. I've missed my little 2nd-grader and kindergartner so much, but I've had a total blast playing with my youngest who is still at home with me. We go to the park almost every day...which is kind of silly because all she ever wants to do is swing and we have a swing in our backyard. :) All three of my girls have been like that. Isn't it neat how much children love the simple joy that comes from being on a swing? That's why when I heard about my friend Forrest's quest to bring a swing for disabled children to our local park, I vowed to do whatever I could to help. Before I became a stay-at-home mom, I was a nanny for quadruplets with Cerebral Palsy. It was a truly incredible experience which will forever remain with me. I have such a soft spot in my heart for the sweet individuals who suffer from this condition.

Forrest is a 14-year-old whose brother, Zach, has Cerebral Palsy. While growing up, Forrest watched helplessly as his older brother missed out on the fun of playing at the playground. He made it his mission to bring a Liberty Swing to Whitehall, Michigan. When this swing is installed, it will enable Forrest's brother and all others who are in wheelchairs to participate in an activity that many of us take for granted. Liberty Swings were created in Australia and are not cheap. They cost $16,000 with shipping. (That is A LOT of shoes!) Having said that, this amazing young man has already raised $10,000. Seriously, how many 14-year-olds do you know who would work that hard to raise that kind of money...and for such a worthy cause? Forrest's love and determination are so inspiring! He recently became involved with the Pepsi Refresh Project to further help him reach his goal. Have you heard about that? Simply put, people submit ideas and the ideas that get the most votes, get the funding. If that's Forrest, he will have enough money to purchase and install the original swing as well as purchase another one! Will you do me a favor and vote for this very special project? It would mean so much to me...and to so many others! It only takes a minute to vote and you can do it again each day. Will you please please please help? Yep. I am totally begging. You can share this idea via Facebook, Twitter, and just about anything else from the voting page. You can even text Pepsi at 73774 and enter the following number in the body of the text to vote for the Liberty Swing project: 102161. Nothing would make me happier than to see this thing plastered all over the internet. Let's do something good, friends!

Vote for the Liberty Swing Project

The clip isn't working on the Pepsi site so here's a little video to illustrate exactly what this swing is all about:

Oh, and just to show my gratitude, here is a freebie I cooked up for you, my good-doing friends. It's just a silly little doodle I'm calling the Forrest Friend Freebie, but it looks rather sweet in your blog posts. As always, if you need a little help figuring out how to customize this little goody, check out the video on our FAQ page. Here's an example of what your finished freebie may look like using my favorite 2nd-grader to demonstrate:

Go VOTE and then download the Forrest Friend Freebie HERE!

Candy Bar Wrapper Freebie

There are two kinds of moms in this world. First, you've got the moms that dance around their empty houses like leprechauns when their kids go back to school. Then, there are the moms that create fictitious dentist appointments just so they can pick their kids up from school early because they miss them so much. As pathetic as it sounds all laid out in black and white like this...I'm the second kind of mom. (Shocker, I know.) I bought school supplies for my girls the other day and almost burst into tears. When I realized what a weenie I was being, I gave myself an imaginary glove slap on the cheek and decided to celebrate the impending...you know...school thing. It is in this spirit that I created a little freebie for you. It's a candy bar wrapper that you can totally customize and send to school with your child for their teacher! Sweet, right? It's sized for those extra large candy bars and all you have to do is add your own photo and text, print it out, cut it out, and hand it out. Now I know that everyone isn't a mom- so don't think I forgot about the rest of our Shabby Bloggers! I also created another candy bar wrapper that is perfect for any occasion. Customize it for a birthday, a girls night out, or just because! Let's face it. You never need a reason to give the gift of chocolate. :)

Candy Bar Wrapper Freebie:
Download

We've also got a few back-to-school backgrounds and will be posting them at ShabbyBlogs.com in the next day or two. Happy happy happy!

Juicy details about some of the awesomeness ahead at SB is coming soon too! ;)

*For the school-themed wrapper, I used Gina Cabrera's Wheels On The Bus kit. It is soooo stinkin' cute! For the other wrapper, I used Michelle Underwood's That Was Yesterday kit. Love love looove it!!!

Change is good.

Listen. Do you hear that? I'm pretty sure you can actually hear crickets on my blog right now. Doh! In case you were wondering, the answer is no. I was not abducted by aliens. I was, however, abducted by my kids...and maybe just summer a little. What? People blame seasons for allergies so why not blame them for absences? Although I've been totally and completely MIA to you, I have been right there for my husband and three little girlies- who won't stay little for long. So, while I know I should feel horribly guilty (and sometimes I do) I am not going to say I'm sorry. Sorry. I just won't do it. Oops. Okay, but seriously...look at this face:

"Sorry, my love, but mommy can't make you a leaf crown because she has to fix the coding for Blogger's new template designer feature and answer about a thousand emails."

Beeeeeeep!
Wrong answer.

See what I mean? You say no to that face! :) In all seriousness though, I have had the most magical time with my family this summer and thank you with all of my heart for your patience. Man, I LOVE my Shabby Bloggers! Love love love!!!

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Okay. Now that you know I haven't been abducted by aliens and that I make a killer leaf crown, let's get on to the juicy BLOG stuff. Have you tried out Blogger's new template designer?

I am so excited that bloggers will finally have an easy way to adjust some of the aspects of their blog that previously meant going code-diving. (Yes, I invented that term, but you know what I mean.) So awesome, right? If you've played around with this feature, you may have noticed that adjusting the width of your blog a lot and/or picking one of the more funky templates may make your Shabby Blogs background equally funky. Here at SB, we are all about funky...just not that kind of funky. The biggest problem is that the Shabby Blogs logo/link may get thrown to a weird spot on your blog. Not cool, Blogger. Not cool. Soooo, the question is:

Can you take advantage of Blogger's new features while still keeping your totally awesome Shabby Blogs background?

Shabsolutely!!!!!

The first thing you need to know is that Blogger's "Picture Window" template works best with custom backgrounds. So, if you are using Blogger's template designer, you'll want to select that template. (If you're still a "Minima" template user, rock on. You don't have to do a thing.) The second thing you need to know is that adjusting the width of your blog may mean tucking away your standard-sized background and grabbing a wide (or 3 column) design instead. Just keep that in mind. And thirdly, we've been working on a ridiculously awesome code just for the new Blogger templates. It'll mean no funky logos or general icky-ness. We don't like icky-ness on our blogs and I'm guessing you don't either. I'll be spending the whole day tomorrow updating the code for all of my backgrounds. If you are happy with the way your blog looks now or if you haven't had any problems, just keep on keepin' on. But, if you want to switch your code to something that gets along a bit better with Blogger's changes, head over sometime in the next little while and snag the new code.

I know this is the longest post I have ever posted in my life, but hang in there because I have one more change to address. (My kids are asleep so thankfully it's not a diaper!) Many of you may have heard the buzzzz about PhotoBucket also making changes lately. While their changes may not affect you, they are affecting Shabby Blogs- and most free blog design sites. Simply put, since I host my images on PhotoBucket, each time someone views one of those images (your blog) it takes bandwidth from PhotoBucket. On the bright side, there are a wicked lot of people out there using Shabby Blogs goodies. I can't even begin to tell you how rad that is! On the downside, Photobucket is getting seriously weighed down having to pay for this massive bandwidth. So, they want Shabby Blogs to pay for it. I won't tell you what it costs, but I will say that I could easily lease a BMW for that amount. Gulp. While this has been a little tricky, there is no way Shabby Blogs is going anywhere. Wait a second. That doesn't sound right. We ARE going somewhere, just not nowhere. Huh? Whatever. You know what I mean. In fact, we've taken this challenge as the perfect opportunity to revamp SB and make it even more insanely awesome than ever before. We've teamed up with the absolute MOST OUTSTANDING team of creative geniuses ever assembled to launch a brand new and even more rad Shabby Blogs in the next month or two. We're like blogging ninjas. (Do ninjas wear pink?) I am so excited about this that I will dedicate my next post to announcing more of the details, but trust me. Shabby Blogs is going to seriously rock your world...and we are here to stay.