• Two Column Design
• One Column Page Template also included as a check box option for each page.
• Sidebars include right sidebar, top sidebar, bottom sidebar, and dynamically widgetized footer
• Valid XTML
• Horizontal Menu (works great with new customizable menu found in WP)
• Vertical Menu also available if desired within the theme
• Built in Social Icons
• Built in div for Header Logo or Graphic

Let me show you what you’ll need to know in order to download this theme and edit the Header and personalize your social icons.

First, let’s cover how to access this theme.

• Click here or on the image below to download this theme.
• Choose “Save File” when the option appears.
• Unzip the folder so you can edit the contents as desired, or you can upload the zipped folder directly to your site if desired. I recommend unzipping it first, so you can do your editing before it’s uploaded.

Secondly, let’s talk about editing the Header.

• HUGE NOTE: If you copy code from this site, always make sure to put it into Notepad or another text editor first. Do not copy and paste directly from this blog or your code will not appear correctly. The quotation marks often are messed up when you do that.
• Within the folder you’ve downloaded, you’ll notice a folder that says Templates. Open this folder and then open up the Page.php file in Notepad or another text editor.
• Not far from the top, you’ll see the following code:
  <divonclick=”location.href=”;” title=”Home” style=”cursor: pointer”;></div>
• This first line is where your header logo or image will go. Just make sure to place the url to your site within the single quotation marks (like this: “location.href=’http://yoursite.com’;”) so that your image will be a click-able button back to your home page (or whatever other link you want it to go to).
• Just below that line, you’ll see four almost identical lines for your social icons. Again, just add the appropriate urls for your own social sites. If there is one you don’t use, just delete it.
• Save and close this file.

Adding your Header Image or Logo

• Now it’s time to add your graphic. First save the image you want to use to the Images folder in the theme you downloaded.
• Next, using a text editor open up the CSS file and find the following code:
  div.art-header-png
  {
  position: absolute;
  z-index: -1;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  width: 266px;
  height: 118px;
  background-image: url(‘images/logo.png’);
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  background-position: center center;
  }
• You can change the dimensions to match your image, as well as the placement of the image in the header. Most importantly, make sure to change the background-image url to match your image name. For example, if you saved your image as Mylogo.jpg, then your code for the background image should look like background-image: url(‘images/Mylogo.jpg’);
• Once you are done editing, save the file and you are ready to upload it to your site!

If you don’t want to use an image, but simply the logo text, delete that png, and scroll down a little more in the CSS to find the logo styling code. You can change the font size, color, and placement to be put exactly where you want it. It is very small and blends into the header background right now.

Enjoy, and please let me know if you have any comments, questions, or concerns!

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• Adding Buttons to the Header: If you were used to going into the Header.php to add links and images, you can actually do this now directly into the Page.php (the page template). This actually makes it a lot easier for adding new templates. You’ll also notice that they already created a single column template for you to use so you don’t even have to create your own. How cool is that!
• Adding Buttons or items to the Footer: Again, all of the info to edit is directly in the Page.php file now.
• Removing Page Titles: You don’t have to dig around for the code anymore. It’s actually just one little php file called post_titles.php. However, one thing to note is that removing this will also remove your post titles. Not cool. I know there is a way to get around this and will post soon on it.
• CSS: All your CSS is still basically the same, and who doesn’t love the new footer and other extra widget functionality?!

I’ll be posting new helps and tips for Artisteer users very soon. One of these tips includes getting rid of that your block header image when you don’t want to add a title to a particular widget. I want to give credit to the person who helped me on that, though, so I’m just waiting for him to give me his website so I can give proper credit where credit is due.

So, stay posted for more great tips and tools!

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How can you get an iGoogle Page? First of all, you’ll need to set up a Google Account if you don’t already have one. That’s, of course, very easy to do. Setting up an iGoogle page after that point should just be one of the options under your account settings, but if you can’t find it, just type it into your browser and you’ll be directed right to it.  Below is my current iGoogle page. Please leave some helpful gadget ideas that you’ve seen or any other iGoogle tips you know.

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The other cool addition is the Featured Image option. You’ll notice this toward the bottom of the right hand column of your dashboard. This allows you to upload a picture (or choose a picture already in your post) to display as a thumbnail by the title. This is perfect if you are going to be only showing snippets of your post on your blog page. When a person clicks on the post title, the full post will appear with the larger image in the post wherever you positioned it and will no longer display the thumbnail version at the top. There are also some options to set filters. More details can be found at the WordPress support page.

To see a working example of using both a full post in a category list as well as the featured image option in a category list check out my recently added Sammy the Skunk stories. Please note that only the first two stories have been added. Story One shows the full post version and Story Two demonstrates Featured Images in action.

Please leave a comment if you have any questions or other useful information regarding either of these two features.

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The deep woods was a perfect place for the forest animals to live. The trees were tall for climbing, the bushes were bushy for hiding, the overgrown grasses and wild berries were good for eating, the dead branches and dried leaves were used for making homes, and the lake and river were good places for the animals to play or get water to drink.

The main entrance was a path that was guarded by Mr. and Mrs. Owl. Mr. and Mrs. Owl loved the forest animals and were watching day and night to make sure no danger would come to them. They greeted new animals and asked why they had come to the woods. Then the owls explained the ways of the deep woods.

One day a handsome animal with beautiful light brown and red fur pranced into the deep woods. His tail was like a plume. It waved as he walked, and the fur on it was so long it almost touched the ground. He was quite a magnificent-looking fox.

When Mr. Fox entered the deep woods he was greeted by the owls, but he never talked to them. He nodded his head and quickly ran down the path where he disappeared into the woods.

It wasn’t long after Mr. Fox entered the deep woods when Miss Deer saw him breaking one of the rules of the woods. He was seen running after the other animals and frightening them. Mr. and Mrs. Owl did not have a chance to tell Mr. Fox the rule about chasing in the woods. The only time an animal could chase another was when they were playing “tag.” Now the animals wondered, “Was Mr. Fox playing with them, or was he hunting them?”

It was on a beautiful sunny day when a little skunk named Sammy entered the deep woods quite by accident.

Sammy and his mother and father had a beautiful little home outside of the deep woods. He went to school. He went shopping with his mother and dad. He had rules to live by. He had chores to do. He slept in a soft bed.

Sometimes he would look at the deep woods and wonder if there were skunks like him. No one that he knew ever went into the deep woods, and his mother and father told Sammy to keep away from it. Sammy wondered why, but did as his mother and father told him.

Sammy was playing outside one afternoon when a group of older animals, bigger and stronger, made fun of him because he was so small. They said he was never going to amount to anything and he would never do anything important in life. They ran after him and chased him to the edge of the deep woods.

“Oh, poor little Sammy,” they laughed. “Don’t go into the deep woods! A little ant may eat you up!” They ran away and left Sammy standing by himself. He felt very hurt. Big tears began to roll down his cheeks.

“Why do they make fun of me? I know I’m small. Maybe they’re right. Maybe I will never amount to anything.” He looked at the path leading into the deep woods. He took a few steps in, sat down, and put his hands over his head.

From the deep woods came a voice. “Who-o-o? Who-o-o?”

Sammy turned his head one way and then another. He wondered who was asking him his name.

Who do you think was asking Sammy his name? Click here to find out!

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“Sammy. My name is Sammy,” he replied.

“Who-o-o? Who-o-o?” came the question again.

This time Sammy said a little louder, “I’m Sammy! I’m Sammy the skunk!”

Sammy looked up and saw two owls sitting in a tree, looking down at him.

Mr. Owl began questioning Sammy. “Can you tell us why you are here? Are you a runaway? We have many animals that come into the deep woods to get away from something. If you have a problem, we could help you out. We’re very wise, you know.”

Sammy stopped crying and wiped his tears from his face. “My friends make fun of me because I’m so—” Before Sammy could say another word, he heard a thundering noise. It was so loud he couldn’t hear the owls telling him to hide! The animals of the deep woods were hurrying to get away from something.

“Run! Run! Get out of the way! Oh, this is terrible! This is awful! I have no time to stop and talk! Mr. Fox is running after us! He’s coming!” cried Miss Deer.

Miss Deer pranced past Sammy and shouted, “Oh dear! Oh dear! That is all I have to say! Oh dear! I must go fast! Mr. Fox is after ME!” She glanced back at Sammy, who was standing and not knowing what to do or where to run. “Follow me! Follow me!” she cried. Instead Sammy stepped behind a tree, so the other animals wouldn’t run over him. Then he did something very brave.

He peered into the woods and saw a sleek-looking animal coming toward him. Sammy stepped out from behind the tree and didn’t move. The fox stopped and smiled. He leaned down and whispered in the ear of Sammy, “My, but you’re little.” Mr. Fox laughed out loud and started running after the other animals.

Sammy wasn’t very happy about what Mr. Fox said to him. He had heard those words too many times before. He called to Mr. Fox. “Mr. Fox, oh, Mr. Fox, I have something for you.” Mr. Fox stopped and looked around at Sammy. Sammy stood firm and glared back at him. What could this little skunk have for him? Mr. Fox didn’t feel he was in any danger, so he began to walk back to Sammy.

What do you think Sammy was going to give Mr. Fox? Click here to find out!

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Sammy stood like a statue waiting for him. As soon as Mr. Fox stood in front of him, Sammy sprayed Mr. Fox with everything he had! Mr. Fox yelped and turned around in circles before he took off down the path. Sammy started to laugh as he saw Mr. Fox running away. He shouted, “Mr. Fox, you’ll never be able to sneak up on any of the animals in the deep woods again! They’ll smell you before you can get close to them!”

The forest animals were watching from a distance and now began to come out to see who this very brave animal was. Miss Deer was the first to speak. “You weren’t afraid of Mr. Fox! What is your name? We have never seen you in the deep woods before.”

“My name is Sammy,” he replied.

Miss Deer bent her head down, and Sammy began to back away. She was very big compared to him, and for a moment he was afraid. Miss Deer sensed he was scared and lovingly said, “Oh, don’t be afraid, Sammy. We want to thank you. Have you come to live with us? We’d love to have you.”

“No, not exactly,” said Sammy. He hung his head and began to tell them what happened.

“I was chased to the edge of the deep woods by some friends who said some bad things about me.” He paused for a moment and, with a slight smile, raised his head and said, “I believe I’m already beginning to feel better! I know I’m small, and maybe I’ll hear hurtful words again, but today I actually did something to help all of you.”

“Sammy, real friends don’t make one feel bad,” said Miss Deer. “If you spend some time with us, we’ll show you what true friends are really like. Stay with us today and I’ll introduce you to the other forest animals.”

Mr. and Mrs. Owl smiled as they saw how the animals surrounded Sammy and showed their appreciation and acceptance of this little skunk.

Throughout the day the animals introduced themselves and took Sammy to their homes. They showed him all the fun places in the deep woods.

Every once in a while, when the animals were running and playing, they would smell a skunk and think they saw Mr. Fox watching from a distance.

Sammy wondered what Mr. Fox was thinking and feeling. Did he do the right thing by spraying Mr. Fox? Did that hurt Mr. Fox’s feelings just as much as words had hurt his?

How do you think Mr. Fox was feeling? Click here to find out!

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• Social Media From Scratch (WordPress Site with animated Header)
• National Memorial Burial Planning (WordPress Site with Flash Header and Intro Video)
• Embracing Beauty (WordPress Site as a sister site to the blog Beauty 4 Moms and still a work in progress)

I’ve been far busier with life projects that have kept me from doing more design work. However, I did have a free day and redid my sister in law’s blog. This was a fun project to do. This blog is private, so you won’t be able to see it, but you can see the front page anyway.

I’ll continue to work on updating this site, and will take on some jobs as I’m able to. I plan to put out some free holiday themes this year as well, so stay posted!

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It was getting darker outside, and it was time for Sammy to leave the deep woods. As he bid farewell to Mr. Owl and Mrs. Owl, Sammy listened to their encouraging words.

“Sammy, you may be small, but you used what you had today to help others. You are very brave. I’m sure Mr. Fox isn’t happy about what happened to him, but I think you taught him a lesson. He’ll never run after the forest animals again, and we’ll always know where he is.”

Sammy was happy to have new friends. The animals followed him to the edge of the deep woods, and he turned and waved at them as he walked home.

Sammy’s mother and father were waiting for him. “Where have you been?” asked Mr. Skunk. Your mother and I were worried about you.

Sammy told them about the fox and how he had helped the forest animals. “The deep woods is a wonderful place! I found many friends. Do you think I can go back again?” he asked.

Sammy’s mother and father nodded their heads yes, but warned him to be very careful.

As he lay in bed that evening he thought about Mr. Fox. He knew that someday soon he would go back to the deep woods. He wanted to visit his new friends, but he also wanted to see Mr. Fox. He fell asleep thinking about what he would say to him.

Do you think Sammy will ever see Mr. Fox again? Click here to find out!

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Sammy had become well known by the animals in the deep forest. He had sprayed Mr. Fox as only a skunk can do, and the fox stayed away from the other animals and the animals stayed away from him. Once in a while they would see Mr. Fox in the river washing, and the animals would grin and walk away.

Sammy thought about Mr. Fox often. It was true that all the forest animals knew just where Mr. Fox was at all times, but they also deliberately stayed away from him. They laughed at Mr. Fox from a distance. Sammy knew how it felt to be made fun of. He certainly didn’t like it, and he wondered what he could do to help Mr. Fox.

One day Sammy went to visit Mr. and Mrs. Owl to discuss Mr. Fox. He wanted to know if they had seen him and how he was doing. Under his arm Sammy carried a can of tomato juice. Sammy knew if Mr. Fox could wash himself with tomato juice it would take the skunk smell away.

As he entered the deep woods, Mr. and Mrs. Owl were not in the tree. It was unusually quiet and Sammy began to be concerned.

“Is anyone here?” he asked. He started walking deeper into the woods, hoping to find someone.

“Hello, your friend Sammy is here,” he called, but nobody answered.

He had gone only a short distance when he saw Miss Deer. She seemed very confused and was talking to herself.

“Let’s see, it’s down this path for a little ways. Then I must turn and take another path, and then I come to the bend and turn either left or right. Oh, this is terrible. It is awful. I’m lost in my own woods!” She began to cry. “I don’t know where the surprise party is going to be.”

Just then she looked up and saw Sammy. “Oh, Sammy, how nice of you to come to the surprise party. The surprise party is for everyone, but I haven’t the slightest idea where everyone is! Can you help, Sammy?”

Do you think that Sammy can help Miss Deer? Click here to find out!

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