I Sugar Coat It In A Skitch!

Happy Friday, friends and welcome back!

I am quite enjoying my newly spiffed up corner of the web and want your visits to be enjoyable as well. I hope you stick around and become serial visitors, so to help you feel more at home I thought I'd show you around. Ready for the tour?

1. I have a logo! He's the little green guy that greets you with cake on each visit. Why an elephant? I have a serious soft spot for the real deal; it's as simple as that! My friend Regina from Specialty Cake Creations suggested I give him a name. I really like that idea! Any suggestions?

2. My rewards program is still in full swing. I have relocated the banner from the bottom of the page to the upper right corner. I've noticed a few people have already redeemed points - SWEET! If you have not already joined, find out how it works here.

3. I am easily bored and crave change, so an image slider is my way of switching things up once in a while. Maybe you'll see something there you missed!

4. New pink social media buttons. Yes, pink! I surprised myself with that colour. Until recently, I was not a fan of pink. I am quickly converting, as I explore my more feminine side.

5. YAY! I now have a more visible navigation bar. My old template had the pages listed off to the side and try as I might, I could not get them to appear at the top. Here you will find links to my recipes, tutorials, about page, contact and my newly introduced Amazon shop, where I feature a number of items I own and use.

6. I have a more prominent post title area, complete with a date tab to give the feel of a page in my sugar diary. The title links to the full post and the author link takes you to my Google+ page.

7. Like the title link, 'take another bite' provides a full serving of the featured treat by linking you to the entire post. Click it to read the full story.

8. The pink comment tab will appear as 'comment' when no comment has been made (which means you get to be the first to do so), or it will show a number when others have commented. Click on it to leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I love hearing from you!

9. Sharing is caring, especially when what you are sharing is sweet! Use these share links at the end of each post to sweeten up someone's day. There's Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the 'More' link provides many additional options for sharing.

10. You'll find my blog signature at the end of each post, or just  before the recipe, when there is one included. I am thinking about changing the colour - should I go with green or pink?? Want to create your own post signature? You can do so here - it's free and easy, no download, setup or account required.

11. Last July, I became a ZipList featured partner.  Above each recipe you will find a link to save your recipe to your personal recipe box, generate shopping lists and plan meals. Press the blue button to get started!

12. When a post includes a recipe, this is the general format you'll see, photo and all.

13. Suggestions for past posts are listed below each post. Click the desired link to check it out. To add a similar feature to your blog, try LinkWithin or nRelate, to which I recently switched. They are both free.

14. Here's where you tell me what's on your mind - your hopes, dreams, disappointments - or just a quick note or question about the featured treat. :). Just click in the comment box and you'll be provided various social media options for commenting, or set up a DISQUS profile for future commenting. I'd prefer if the name you choose isn't 'anonymous'. Thanks!

I switched from Blogger comments to DISQUS about a year ago and I often wonder if that was a good move, especially with the recently updated DISQUS 2012. Would love your feedback on this. Do you find it cumbersome to use? Are you less likely to leave a comment using DISQUS? Let me know!

15. My little sugar look-a-like (so not true) links to my About Page, where you will learn all about my hopes, dreams and fears, or at least why I started this blog.

16. More social media links, just in case you missed the set on the left, or just too tired to travel across the page. In addition to the joining me on FB, Twitter and Pinterest, you can subscribe to my blog's RSS feed.

17. Last I checked, I was at 100 email subscribers! That's exciting to me that 100 people care to have my sweets delivered to their inbox. How about you? Ready to take that sweet plunge? Simply enter your email address, press submit, respond to the confirmation email (you may need to check your junkmail), sit back, relax and let the sweets come to you!

18. Posts most viewed in a given week will appear here, click on the link to check them out.

19 -23 need no explanation, but I guess you could also say that about 1-18. I hope I didn't bore you to tears, or worse. It would be extremely helpful if you let me know if you notice something isn't working quite right. Leave me a note below, or send me an email and let me know the browser (Chrome. Firefox, Safari, IE) in which you viewed it.

There you have it, folks! I Sugar Coat It in a Skitch - or 23.

Thank ya'll so much for popping by! Have a wonderful week-end!