Has it really been that long? My little blog has sadly been neglected for some time.
Rather than begin a new blog I will retain this one and allow it to find a new direction. It will still be creative but I will share my projects more for inspiration than as step by step tutorials. This will give me the freedom to be able share my makes without spending too much time away from my family.

Motherhood, school runs, play dates and after school activities certainly take much of my time these days. I do however still sew and get creative whenever opportunity presents itself. I am looking forward to allowing this blog to take on a new adventure.I will be making a few modifications the the layout so if things look a little out of place please be patient as I will fix them as soon as I can.

New Blog Look Vintage Style

I have been trying to update the look of my blog for a while now and finally manage to find something I like. Vintage Made for You has so many gorgeous designs and best of all they are free. If you have been viewing my blog whilst have been testing out the different looks, my apologies, it must have looked like there was a gremlin or two here!

If you don't remember what my blog looked like before the new background was installed here you go...

After

Before

I am really loving the new design and I am now thinking of changing my header too, so I am working on that to see what I can come up with.

Bling Up Your Blogger Blog - Add A Favicon

For those of you that have not heard of this before a favicon is the little image right up the top there in the web address bar. I have just added a sewing machine to mine.

You will be making changes to the html part of your blog so make sure to create a backup of your blog template before you make any changes. Copy and paste it into a word document then save to your hard drive.

Visit this site to upload a pic and they will make it usable as a favicon. I used a free clip I found on the web and saved to my computer.

Once you have uploaded your image, copy the information where is says host it a iconJ, then you need to expand the widgets on your blog and scroll about a third of the way down. Paste the info to the html part of your blog as below.

]]>< /b: skin >
PASTE LINK INFO HERE
< /head >

If you need step by step directions with pics you will find some really easy instructions here.

I was done in a matter of a couple of minutes. I hope this helps some of you bling up your blog!

New Looks for 2009 - Blog Template Changes

I have been wanting to make a few changes to my blog template for a while and finally sat myself down and did it!

I didn't do this all on my own I had some help from Amanda at Blogger Buster over here, and found the lovely patterned background here.

I read somewhere that with the tiled background images you can use them to create your own papers. This will be great if/when I can work out how! :)

Let me know what you think.

Want to see Websites I like? Stumbleupon is the key!

How many of us have loads and loads of bookmarks saved and don't remember what they were for. Well if you are anything like me, I find it is sometimes quicker to Google the page I am looking for, just to find it again.

Sooooo I decided a while back to start using Stumbleupon to keep my bookmarks in one place and share them with others. It is a social bookmarking site where you download a toolbar to your web browser and then you can give web pages you like the thumbs up (this is good) or thumbs down(bad) if you don't want to see that kind of thing again. You can also randomly stumble through websites in topics you like so you can bookmark and share them with others on your own stumble blog.

My StumbleUpon blog has tags/categories so I can sort the pages depending on the topic and I can even write a review too. I often use my reviews and thumbnails to help remind me as to what is on the page to make it easier to find later. If you go and have a look around you should find enough to keep you busy for a while. (wink wink!)

You can read more about StumbleUpon and download the toolbar from here.

So if you want to find out what I like head on over to my Stumble blog. I have tried to keep it mostly sewing and crafts related to help spread the creative inspiration and share some fun things with others. There are tags/categories on the right hand side of the page to make it easier to see topics you are interested in. If you like my blog SewDelish or even my StumbleUpon blog please leave me some love by giving them the thumbs up! Even if you don't have the tool bar, you can easily give them the thumbs up by clicking on the little icon that looks like this.. at the end of each of my posts.

See you all soon, hopefully you don't get so hooked on stumbling that you forget to pop back in a say hello! :)

Adding a Watermark to Your Photos.

I thought I would share with you the information I used to learn how to make a watermark for my photos.
It is here and actually uses photodraw, but the instructions are very easy to follow so you can adapt them to suit what ever program you have.

I usually make the watermark using fancy fonts and I save it separately to just copy and paste each time I want to add a watermark to a photo. It saves having to create a watermark each time. My current watermark is made using a free fonts downloaded from the web. One of them is a floral font. I just add text boxes with the individual images/font letter and arrange them until I am happy. I then group them as one image and adjust how transparent it is before saving as my watermark. Make sure the colour will show up on your photos. You don't want it too light or too dark.

Here is a site that explains how to add a watermark to your photos using word or photoshop,

and here is how to do one in a flikr account,

Lastly here is a video for visual learners.

Adding a watermark will not stop someone from copying your photos and claiming them as their own, (as has happened to me) but it will show who they belong to and hopefully prevent it. If you add your blog name too this will help.

I hope the links above help you add a watermark to your photos. If you find a really easy tutorial you would like to share I will add the link here. Just leave a comment below for me to check it out.

Have fun creating!

SewDelish
xx

Plagarism and Blogging

To those of you that subscribe to my blog or are regular readers, there will be a few changes happening in the near future. I have had to change the feeds back to partial feeds again due to some of my blog content being stolen.

This person has directly copied one of my blog posts including the watermarked images and pasted it into their blog as if it were their own. They have not provided a link back to my blog and also what is worse, they are making money from my work using Google Ad sense.

I will not be providing the link to the offending blog because I feel they do not deserve the link from me, visitors nor money raised from any ad clicks. There are a number of posts on the offending blog that I believe to be stolen from other bloggers and again no credit has been given to the original authors. The whole blog looks like it was created in a few days just to make money from ad clicks.

I am flattered that someone would love to share my work, but to give me no credit or a link back and completely plagarise everything is more than frustrating. The post copied is not the issue here, just the fact that it was copied entirely to make money from and without permission sought nor credit given. I have now reported the incident to Ad sense as the blogger is not only breeching copyright laws, but also Google Ad sense policies.

If you are a blogger yourself I would recommend putting a watermark or name and copyright information on all of your photos before you upload them to the internet. That way there is no dispute as to who they belong to.

I love to inspire creativity in others, just as I find inspiration from the work of others, but credit needs to be given where it is due. I regret having to make changes, but I feel it is necessary and hope it will not prevent your enjoyment of visiting.

Awards!

I have been given this award by 3 lovely ladies.

Natalie, Lauren and Caroline

Thank you so much ladies.

I have tried to pass them onto some different bloggers this time.

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.

2. Link the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you’ve nominated

So here goes:

http://www.scrapandstuff.canalblog.com/

http://kraftykitn.blogspot.com/

http://buttonsforbrains.blogspot.com/

http://www.valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com/

http://ellephantasticcards.blogspot.com/

Awards!

I have been generously given these three awards by the lovely Cambiel. It was such a lovely surprise to receive them. Now for me to pass them onto three other deserving people.

My Recycled Bags
Sweetiepie
Craftfairy

Friends Around The World

Over the last few months of blogging I have made numerous net friends from all around the world. One of them has sent me this, so now I am passing it on too.

If you have an account with Technorati (it's free, link is below) then doing this will help increase your ranking too and spread your blog to the world, but you don't have to be registered with Technorati to participate.

If you wish to join in. Just copy all of the above info from ::Start Copy Here:: to where is says ::End Copy Here:: and create a new blog post, then paste all the info there. Don't forget to add your blog link to the end of the list.

::Start Copy Here::

Rule:
1. Copy from ::Start Copy Here:: through ::End Copy Here::.
2. Add your blog to the list. Feel free to add all your other blogs. Just make sure to post this to each of the blog you added in the list.
3. Tag other online friends you know.You don’t need to be tag in order to join. If you want to join just post this one in your blog.
4. Let me know your blog’s name and url by leaving me a comment HERE. I will add you to the master list.That way, everyone is happy and can meet new friends too!
5. Come back once in a while to get the master list! Let’s see how this makes our Technorati and PR goes up!
6. DO NOT REMOVE THIS: scrap page made by Yen. Using alphas and tapes from Kate H., flowers from Ida,paper by Catrine.

1. Me and Mine 2.Creative In Me 3.Little Peanut 4. Pea in a Pod 5. Sugar Magnolias 6.Because Life Is Fun 7. Piece o’Kaje 8. Mon a Bric 9. Celebrate Life 10.My Journey11. Deeply In Love 12. Pink and Brown Diaries 13. Happyheart 14. Wilstop 15. Fun|Fierce|Fab 16. Nita’s Random Thoughts 17. Nita’s Corner 18. Thomas Web Links 19. Thomas Travel Tales 20. Make Money Online 21. Great Finds and Deals 22. PRC Board Exam Results 24. My Wandering Thoughts 25. Nita’s Ramblings 26. Just Me.. Eds 27. Etc Atbp 28. When Silence Speaks 29. Juliana’s Lair 30. Juliana’s World 31. Juliana’s Library 32. Blessed Chic 33. Can of Thoughts 34. Hailey’s Domain 35. Hailey’s Beats and Bits 36. ISL family 37. Arbitrary Thoughts 38. D’ Cooking Mudra 39. My Big Picture 40. Dancing in Midlife Tune 41. Blessings In Life 42. My Colorful World 43. Dare to Blog 44. Life Realities 45. WebGeek Journal DotNet 46. WebGeek Journal 47. Let’s Travel Philippines 49. MY DAILY THOUGHTS AND MOODS 50. A Sweet Taste Of Life 51. My Life in this Wonderful World! 52. Denz Techtronics 53. Denz Recreational 54. Surviving Deplyoment 55. Ester’s Raptured Dreams 56. Nipa Hut 57.Picture Clusters 58. My Wanderings 59.Maiylah’s Snippets 60. EuLehKulit 61. Life Quest 61.Being a wife. Being a Mom. 62. MoMie SPace 63.Woman Xplore 64. PinayWAHM 65. Agring’s Simply Digital 66. Agring’s Home & Garden 67. Agring’s Homecooking & Baking 68. Agring’s Electronics & Entertainments 69. Scrap Addict Sundays 70. Mommy Talks 71. Aggie Scraps 72.Teacher’s Corner 73. My Drift 74. lancernews 75. My so called Life 76. See Me for what You Will… 77. kathycot.com 78. buhaymisis.com 79. All about Mye life 80. Everything has a Reason 81. Life’s Impression 82. Some Thoughts I have 83. Life’s Lessons 84. Just Let Go 85. Pieces Of Me 86. Winding Creek Circle 87. BOTH SIDES NOW 88. Happy Life 89. Blessed Sanctuary 90.Confessions of an Army Life 91. moms….. check nyo 92. Mommy’s Little Corner 93. Wanna Be SuperModel 94. Gandacious 95. Jo-Jo’s Place 96.My Quiet Zone 97. Proud PINAY 98. Simply Jen 99. Jenny Said So 100. A Slice of Life 101. My Blog 102. TIP OF AN ICEBERG 103. Coffee Cup Princess 104. Deranged Insanity 105. Just Another Day 106. Stev & Emz Journey 107.Runaway THoughts of Emz 108. Heart of Rachel 109. Nora’s Notes 110. In the Life Of Mne 111. In my Kitchen 112. Nyumix’s Blog 113. Everything’s Here 114.Out of Nowhere 115. My Simple World 116. Seek Health. Feel Great 117. Smile Puppies 118. Almanacqueen 119. The Life of an Outback Pinay 120. Dancing With Butterflies 121. My Treasures 122. Everything Green 123. 124. Memoirs of a Filipina 125. The Pit Gadgetry! 126. My Daily Life Experience 127. Married and Happy About It 128. My Discoveries 129. iCreate+iDeas 130. My Healthy Living Journal 131. Busy Moms Cook 132. Christian Weekends 133. Reflexes 134. Caramel Corn 135. Sunny Side Up Foodie 136. A Mothers Horizon 137. Bits and Pieces 138. Whats Up! 139. Simply Me 140. Life and Me 141. A Handful of Surprises 142. Anything and Everything in Between 143. from here and beyond 144. The Nameless Blog 145. Exploring Asia 146. Malaya 147. Swan Portraits 148. BUSYNESSWORLD 149. Sprawt 150. Thinking Consciously? 151. BLOGSILOG 152. Cherry’s Comfort Zone 153. DigiScrapz: Captured Memories 154. Buzzy Me 155. Thinking Out Loud 156. Wishing and Hoping 157. Jobs for Davao 158. Jobs for Cebu 159. Filipino Jobs Abroad 160. PRC Board Exam Results 161. Nakedminds 162. Personal 163. Interesting 164. squeeshies 165. Shenzee’s World 166. Geekyology 167. Swanportraits 168. Rumination Under the Clouds 169. In My Home by Ria aka Msculit 170. It’s my Party (and I’ll cry if I want to…) by Ria aka Msculit 171. Malaya 172. Cheese: Jherson84 173. Beans: Jherson 174. EP Treasures 175. Republic of A 176. Nora’s Family Treasures 177. Points of View (Discussion Blog) 178. Gala Tayo! 179. Lucky Peso 180. Buhay Pinoy 181. Pinay Mommy’s Love Blog 182. MOMEMO 183. OnlineBiz and Resources 184. Lourdes’ Mia 185. Pinay Mommy’s DigiScrap and Musings in Life 186. Pinay Mommy Online 187. ‘nna 188. My Sweet Escape 189. The Next Chapter 190. Painted Life 191. Petty Ramblings of a Petty Queen 192. The Real Deal 193. My Beautiful Life 194. Berry Blog 195. A Tsinay Blog 196. A Celebration of Life 197. My love.mylife.my everything. 198. Gamay and Dako Adventures 199. Ester’s Daily Thoughts 200. Choc Mint Girl 201. I AM KCAT 202. RanZ-Goodies 203. RanZ-Famous 204. A Time to Weep and a Time to Laugh 205. Surviving the Circus of Life 206. The Nook207. Allen’Wifey 208. Fern’s Backyard 209. Amor’s Blog - My Place in Cyberspace 210. The Other Side of Me 211. Stylishbabe111407 212. The Inner Shopper 213. TheGeneralInfoBlog 214. my angels world 215. Pinoy Raket Online 216. My Life 217. BloggingInMyPyjamas 218. Baby Shern 219. Mariel 220. So Real 221. Okay, I am Arms and this is my blog 222.Lucid Creativity 223. Read my Mind 224.A Simple Life 225. My debt blog 226.1stopmom’s blog 227.Mommy Gamer 228. My First One Million Pesos 229. Mindless Thought 230. MommyandMe Boutique 231. My Life’s Labyrinth 232. 100% Kelly 233. Of Colors And Styles 234. KadusMama 235. The Maven 08 235. Rainbows 236. My freehand 237. Sentiments of a Effed-Up Man 238. Princess Vien 239. My freehand 240. Confessions of an Enchanting Princess 241. Marites-Pinay Heart Wanderings and Musings 242. Me, the Islands and the World243. Leaf In Deforest 244. MAX 245. Lhedy 246. Making sense..(somehow) 247. Our Life Together 248. The Chic Shopaholic 249. In Depth 250. That Blog 4 Me 251. A Nice Thought 252. Live it Up! 253. Chronicles and Tales Unlimited (RED) 254. Momhood Moments 256. It’s a woman’s world! 257. Forgotten 258. Esophoria 259. Pixel Dust 260. GladyGirl 261. Uncomplicated 262. Gentle And Compassionate 263. Kwentong Kengkay 264. Mind Juice In Full Throttle 265. Jo’s Precious Thoughts 266. Hobbies and Such 267.Jenny’s Wandering Thoughts 268. A Window to Our World 269. Let Them Eat Cake! 270. Live Love Life 271.Theif’s Stolen Collections 272. Panda’s Multiply 273. Kitty’s haven 274. lancerlord 275. The YTB Celebs Blog 276. Welcome To Earth David 278. Pinaymama’s Diary 279. Pinay Mom in Czech Republic 280. Ally And Allies” 281. Beauty of Life 282. Creations 283. Watchamacallit! 284. Nellypie’s Chatterbox 285. The Daily Matters 289. Bread & Butter 290. tazdogz blog 291. my 3 boys and i 292. Dabawenyako 293. Icelog 294. Days of Our Life 295. Precious Moments 296. Crissy’s Haven 297. Baby Jhari 298. The Maven ‘08 299. Our Growing Family 300. Confessions Reborn 301. SEWDELISH 302. Live from Waterloo 303. The So-Called Me 304. EP DESIGNS 305. Toni-Marie.net Excelling in Excess since 1988… 306. The Monotonous Life 307. Hit-or-Miss 308. Crazylicio.uS 309. Latina On Travel 310. MoneyGirls Blogging On the Internet 311. MsMoneyGirl Stock Magazine 312. Top College List 313. Free Personality Test 314. YOUR BLOG!

::End Copy Here::

Thanks goes to.......

all of my wonderful readers and visitors!

I have just logged on quickly and discovered that I have now reached 10,000 visitors since beginning my blog. So if you have been one of them, or left a comment or three, thank you.

To celebrate I will be giving away some crafty blog candy. Just leave a comment and make sure I can contact you. I will draw a couple of names to receive some blog candy in a few days.

Please Note the Stepping Out Challenge deadline will be extended until the weekend due to other commitments. Feel free to enter if you haven't already.

SewDelish
xx


Edited 21/5/08 to add:
The winners have been announced here.

SewDelish has made the Top 100 Australian Women Bloggers List

Yay! I have made it onto the Top 100 Australian Women Bloggers List. The position where a site is on the list is determined by the average of it's Technorati rank and it's Australian Alexa rank.
I have made it to 75th on the list. An accomplishment considering just a few weeks ago I didn't even qualify.

Click on the pink Australia and you will be taken to the list. There are some great blogs to discover. So go and have a peek.

Don't forget to have a go at my Stepping Out challenge. Details HERE.

You Make My Day Award

I received a wonderful surprise You make My Day Award yesterday from the lovely Tullavilla over at Edwina's Random Ramblings.

Now I will pass it on to 10 other lovely people. Just right click the award and save to your computer. Then you can upload to your blog and pass it on too!

Little Cotton Rabbits

Happy Birds Crafting Haven

Natalie's World of Sparkling Cards

Lazy-Trout

Crafterella

Thrift Shop Romantic

More to come shortly.

Blog Candy Crafty Surprise in the Mail

Wow! Look what just came in the mail for me from the lovely Susie over at White Ribbon Cards!
Some pretty ribbons, flower embellishments, rhinestones, and card making things!

Now I am going to pay it forward to three lovely people, so be on the look out!

Only a few more days to enter the contest. The link is on the right. Have you had a guess yet?

Changing Layout

My apologies for some of the strange happenings around here. I am trying to make things a little easier to find and also make some more room for links to pages you might like to visit.

If anything is not working properly, please let me know, so that I can fix it.

If you like some of these changes, you might like to check this site. There is a lot of information for new bloggers wanting to add some of their own personality to their blog! I find most of the information very helpful and easy to follow.

I don't like to post without a photo so here is our Little Easter Bunny having a nap. He is 18 mths old and a fully grown mini rex. One of his ears is heart-shaped, making him very special indeed! I will try to get a photo of his ear next time I remember. Just too cute!

Craft Prize - Blog Competition

Yippee! I have reached 2000 visitors since I started my blog back in mid December.

To celebrate I am holding a contest.

The prize is the box and everything contained within it. International entries accepted and very welcome. I will also pay the postage. Entries open to male & females. This would make a great gift for a crafty person.

The noodle box contains lots of craft items suitable for cardmaking, scrapbooking and what ever else you can think of. Great value - Over AU$30 retail. Some items have been removed from their packaging in order to make room for more in the box! There are silk flowers, foamies, ribbons, sequins, mini bells, organza bags, stranded beads, 1m lengths of wool and more.....
How many? Well that's for you to guess!


BLOG COMPETITION RULES:

* All you need to do is guess how many items are in this box. Just leave a comment below with the number of items you think are in the box. Only one entry per person.

* The winner will be the one with the closest answer and will be announced here on the Friday 14th March.

* BONUS: Would you like to have an Extra entry to this competition?:
If you post about this contest in your blog and link to it you are permitted a total of 2 entries! This will be checked before announcing the winner.

* Don't forget to check back or subscribe to my blog's feed, just in case you are the winner.

PLEASE MAKE SURE I CAN CONTACT YOU. Email me through my profile page if you wish to remain anonymous.

* SewDelish reserves the right to disqualify persons not abiding by the rules of this competition and the judges decision is final.

Please note:
If you want post your guess anonymously please Email Me with your guess and a reference name.

Don't be fooled, I have managed to fill it with lots of crafty items, ribbons and embellishments.

Have you found all the HINTS yet?

What Do You Think Of My New Look?

Just a quick post as I have been a little busy today. I have been learning a little about HTML since I began this blog and have been playing. I am not too sure about the new colours though. I would love to know what you think and if there are things I have missed changing.

I think I have been used to looking at the spots too long and become accustomed to them, so I am unsure of this new look.

This is what my blog looked like before the changes

I found some great information, that is easy to follow from Blogger Buster on changing templates easily and if I can follow these instructions I am sure anybody can.

The Big List of Sewing Blogs

I'm listed on The Big List of Sewing Blogs by Suzical. She has a huge collection of links to some great blogs and checks each one out before listing it. I keep finding myself going there just to check out some new additions and to see what fellow stitchers are up to.

Today I discovered a gorgeous Valentine's Day love handbag made by Perfect Little Purses. She has it listed on ETSY. I would snatch it up in an instant, but red just isn't a color that suits me. Oh well never mind.

I also discovered tutorials for Magic Boxes by Life s Lou and her exploding boxes through this site Today's Creative Blog.

It is so easy to lose oneself looking around the web. I sometimes forget where I began looking. If you would like to see some of my sewing projects they are here. I have a number of tutorials and lots more to come. You can pop back to check or subscribe to my blog by clicking on the subscribe button up the top.

Tagged

I've just been tagged by Heather's Heartfelt Stitches.

If I have tagged you here is what to do -

Link to the person that tagged you and Post the rules on your blog.

Share 7 things about yourself on your blog, then tag 7 people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I am quiet, short, honest, thrifty, a collector of many things, determined, and an animal lover.

I have tagged these creative people:

Make and Takes

The Knottygnome Knits

The Craft Table

Katey Jane Designs

Silver Custard

Sarah


Others coming shortly! If you would like me to tag you, leave a comment.

My First Blog

Well I have lurked around a few blogs for a while and recently decided to give it a go.



Sooo here goes!! (deep breath and relax, it can't be too difficult!)


Firstly a little about myself. I love all things beautiful and the more girly the better. Although I love frills and lace I also have a fondness for gorgeous simplicity too. I have many creative loves and have recently found another. Those of you out there like me will most likely understand what I am on about. Creative passions are addictive!



One of my absolute favourite blogs would have to be Heather Bailey's here http://www.heatherbailey.typepad.com/

I have recently discovered a long hidden passion for vintage and antique sewing machines, in particular Singers. With this discovery I learnt about some amazing sewing machine attachments and wow! They really knew how to make things back in the old days. I can create lots of wonderful projects using vintage feet not available for todays machines.

I guess I should tell about the treadle I nearly bought, but glad I didn't. Not so long ago I found a very old husquvarna viking sewing machine in a cabinet in a second hand store half an hour away from me for only $50. After a quick inspection (at this point I knew absolutely nothing about antique sewing machines) I noted there were more than a couple of parts missing and it needed a great deal of restoration . I thought for a minute and figured that it wouldn't be too difficult to find parts. After realising how hard it was going to be to get home I decided that if it was still there in a week and I still wanted it, the machine was meant to be mine.
The first thing I did when I got home was go to google and search and search and search. Well needless to say I found basically no information on the treadle I wanted to buy. So no hope of finding parts easily. BUT I then discovered Singer sewing machines!!! Attachments, spare parts, manuals, all kinds of collectibles and did I mention attachments!! Oh what FUN! I am going mad over Singers!

So I will leave you there until next time

SewDelish