diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 127b2c09e..f201c73c8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -105,11 +105,11 @@ _(deprecated, not recommended)_
 
 ## Customising
 
-When using Alembic as a theme means you can take advantage of the file overriding method. This allows you to overwrite any file in this theme with your own custom file, simply by matching the file name and path. The most common example of this would be if you want to add your own styles or change the core style settings.
+When using Alembic as a theme means you can take advantage of the file overriding method. This allows you to overwrite any file in this theme with your own custom file, by matching the file name and path. The most common example of this would be if you want to add your own styles or change the core style settings.
 
 To add your own styles copy the [`styles.scss`](https://github.com/daviddarnes/alembic/blob/master/assets/styles.scss) into your own project with the same file path (`assets/styles.scss`). From there you can add your own styles, you can even optionally ignore the theme styles by removing the `@import "alembic";` line.
 
-If you're just looking to set your own colours and fonts copy the [`_settings.scss`](https://github.com/daviddarnes/alembic/blob/master/_sass/_settings.scss) and main theme styles file [`alembic.scss`](https://github.com/daviddarnes/alembic/blob/master/_sass/alembic.scss) into your project at the same file path (`_sass/`) and change variables however you wish. The settings are a mixture of custom variables and settings from [Sassline](https://medium.com/@jakegiltsoff/sassline-v2-0-e424b2881e7e) - follow the link to find out how to configure the typographic settings.
+If you're looking to set your own colours and fonts you can overwrite them by matching the variable names from the [`_settings.scss`](https://github.com/daviddarnes/alembic/blob/master/_sass/_settings.scss) file in your own `styles.scss`, make sure to state them before the `@import "alembic";` line so they take effect. The settings are a mixture of custom variables and settings from [Sassline](https://medium.com/@jakegiltsoff/sassline-v2-0-e424b2881e7e) - follow the link to find out how to configure the typographic settings.
 
 ## Configuration
 
diff --git a/_sass/_settings.scss b/_sass/_settings.scss
index 3064789d0..da033c884 100644
--- a/_sass/_settings.scss
+++ b/_sass/_settings.scss
@@ -1,39 +1,39 @@
 // Background colours
-$backgroundColour: #ffffff;
-$codeBackgroundColour: #fafafa;
-$featureBackgroundColour: #f9fafa;
+$backgroundColour: #ffffff !default;
+$codeBackgroundColour: #fafafa !default;
+$featureBackgroundColour: #f9fafa !default;
 $accentColour: #05bf85;
 
 // Text colours
-$headingColour: #242e2b;
-$bodyColour: #384743;
-$linkColour: #05bf85;
-$hoverColour: #008000;
-$focusColour: #fa407a;
-$captionColour: #a8adac;
-$white: #ffffff;
+$headingColour: #242e2b !default;
+$bodyColour: #384743 !default;
+$linkColour: #05bf85 !default;
+$hoverColour: #008000 !default;
+$focusColour: #fa407a !default;
+$captionColour: #a8adac !default;
+$white: #ffffff !default;
 
 // Typography
 $bodytype: (
-  font-family: 'Georgia, serif',
+  font-family: "Georgia, serif",
   regular: 400,
   bold: 700,
   italic: italic,
   cap-height: 0.75
-);
+) !default;
 
 $headingtype: (
   font-family: '"Merriweather", serif',
   regular: 400,
   bold: 700,
   cap-height: 0.75
-);
+) !default;
 
 $monospacetype: (
-  font-family: 'Menlo, monospace',
+  font-family: "Menlo, monospace",
   regular: 400,
   cap-height: 0.68
-);
+) !default;
 
 // Font import, if you're using a non-standard web font
-@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Merriweather:400,700');
+@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Merriweather:400,700");
diff --git a/alembic-jekyll-theme.gemspec b/alembic-jekyll-theme.gemspec
index e82eda06c..f44854e3e 100644
--- a/alembic-jekyll-theme.gemspec
+++ b/alembic-jekyll-theme.gemspec
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.name          = "alembic-jekyll-theme"
-  spec.version       = "3.0.11"
+  spec.version       = "3.0.12"
   spec.authors       = ["David Darnes"]
   spec.email         = ["me@daviddarnes.com"]
 
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_runtime_dependency "jekyll-feed", "~> 0.9"
   spec.add_runtime_dependency "jekyll-commonmark", "~> 1.2"
   spec.add_runtime_dependency "jekyll-include-cache", "~> 0.1"
-  spec.add_runtime_dependency "jemoji", "~> 0.9"
+  spec.add_runtime_dependency "jemoji", "~> 0.11"
 
   spec.add_development_dependency "bundler", "~> 1.14"
 end
diff --git a/index.md b/index.md
index 21149678a..ac67f00fd 100644
--- a/index.md
+++ b/index.md
@@ -93,4 +93,4 @@ When using Alembic as a theme means you can take advantage of the file overridin
 
 To add your own styles copy the [`styles.scss`](https://github.com/daviddarnes/alembic/blob/master/assets/styles.scss) into your own project with the same file path (`assets/styles.scss`). From there you can add your own styles, you can even optionally ignore the theme styles by removing the `@import "alembic";` line.
 
-If you're just looking to set your own colours and fonts copy the [`_settings.scss`](https://github.com/daviddarnes/alembic/blob/master/_sass/_settings.scss) file into your project at the same file path (`_sass/_settings.scss`) and change variables however you wish. The settings are a mixture of custom variables and settings from [Sassline](https://medium.com/@jakegiltsoff/sassline-v2-0-e424b2881e7e) - follow the link to find out how to configure the typographic settings.
+If you're looking to set your own colours and fonts you can overwrite them by matching the variable names from the [`_settings.scss`](https://github.com/daviddarnes/alembic/blob/master/_sass/_settings.scss) file in your own `styles.scss`, make sure to state them before the `@import "alembic";` line so they take effect. The settings are a mixture of custom variables and settings from [Sassline](https://medium.com/@jakegiltsoff/sassline-v2-0-e424b2881e7e) - follow the link to find out how to configure the typographic settings.